IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute

Particulate and gaseous emissions were studied from a large two-stroke slow-speed diesel engine equipped with an open-loop scrubber, installed on a 78,200 metric tonnes (deadweight) containership, under real operation. This paper presents the on-board emission measurements conducted upstream and downstream of the scrubber with heavy fuel oil (HFO) and ultra-low sulfur fuel oil (ULSFO). Particle emissions were examined under various dilution ratios and temperature conditions, and with two thermal treatment setups, involving a thermodenuder (TD) and a catalytic stripper (CS). Our results show a 75% SO2 reduction downstream of the scrubber with the HFO to emission-compliant levels, while the use of the ULSFO further decreased SO2 levels.

The operation of the scrubber produced higher particle number levels compared to engine-out, attributed to the condensational growth of nanometer particle cores, salt and the formation of sulfuric acid particles in the smaller size range, induced by the scrubber. The use of a TD and a CS eliminates volatiles but can generate new particles when used in high-sulfur conditions. The results of this study contribute to the generally limited understanding of the particulate and gaseous emission performance of open-loop scrubbers in ships and could feed into emission and air quality models for estimating marine pollution impacts.