Methanol-ready engine wins RINA approval

Classification society RINA has granted an Approval in Principle (AiP) certificate to MAN Energy Solutions for its methanol-ready MAN L/V 32/44CR engine. (Image: MAN Energy Solutions)

MAN Energy Solutions has received Approval in Principle (AiP) for its methanol-ready L/V 32/44CR engine from the classification society RINA.

The AiP covers an upgrade concept for the four-stroke engine for conversion to dual-fuel running on methanol to provide greater flexibility to shipowners. The engine comes in 12, 14, 16, 18 and 20-cylinder variants and has a bore and stroke of 320 X 440 mm.

Patrizio Di Francesco, EMEA Special Projects manager, RINA, said the AiP is based on RINA’s recently published Methyl Alcohol Fuelled Ready notation.

“Methanol is a fuel with a lot of potential as a clean, carbon-neutral fuel and the industry is already showing concrete appreciation of it,” Di Francesco said. “The successful cooperation with MAN is a further step towards the availability of future-proof solutions for shipowners.”

Elvis Ettenhofer, head of New Marine Solutions, MAN Energy Solutions, said a major advantage of MAN’s four-stroke portfolio is its inherent retrofit potential, which enables the company to provide shipowners with cost-effective solutions and flexibility regarding future fuels.

“In this latter respect, there is no doubt but that interest in methanol is growing and that it will have a prominent role to play within shipping,” Ettenhofer said.

Methanol has several physical advantages as a fuel, including a liquid state at ambient temperatures and its accordingly easy handling aboard vessels compared to gaseous fuels, MAN said. Under combustion, methanol also emits fewer NOx emissions and no SOx or soot emissions.

In preparation for the fuels that will power a decarbonized future, MAN Energy Solutions is also developing solutions for methanol, which can become carbon-neutral if synthesized with green hydrogen.

Finally, methanol is also much less hazardous to marine life compared with conventional marine fuels. The AiP certificate permits the use of outer ship hulls as bunker tanks, thereby increasing fuel-storage capacity onboard.