The costs—both financial and environmental—of crude oil have made people more aware of alternate fuel options. While some owners and builders have explored electric propulsion, Feadship and the owner of Kiss recently tested GTL (natural gas to liquid), a synthetic fuel that has been proven to be cleaner and less expensive.
While the process of converting natural gas into liquid fuels has been around for many years, it’s taken time to ramp up production. Shell, the energy giant, was the first to begin experimenting with the conversion process for commercial purposes in 1973. Fast forward to 1993, and Shell’s first commercial plant was operational in Malaysia. The government of Qatar gave the green light to an even higher-capacity commercial GTL plant in 2006. (Qatar’s North Field has the world’s largest supply of natural gas, about 15 percent of the global availability.) Operated with Shell, that facility’s first commercial shipment occurred in 2011.
Synthetic fuels made from natural gas are attractive for several reasons. The synthetic diesel and jet fuels are said to be high quality. They also burn cleaner, since there’s no sulfur and there are lower emissions overall. They reportedly make engines run quieter, too. Natural gas is less expensive than crude oil. Equally noteworthy, according to Shell, GTL requires no changes to a powerplant’s components. It can be blended with traditional diesel, even jet fuel.
Indeed, some commercial trucks throughout The Netherlands have been using GTL since 2012. The country’s largest rail transport operator is using it as well. And, every winner of the 24 Hours at Le Mans auto race since 2006 has been using GTL.
Feadship says it learned about GTL when it was working on the Feadship Future Concept known as Aeon in 2009. Feadship remained interested in testing it, as did a few of its clients upon learning of the possibility. Kiss ended up being the test bed.
Feadship fed one of Kiss’ generators a blend of GTL and diesel, then measured emissions, sound levels, vibration, and of course fuel consumption. The reported results? Thirty-percent lower emissions for particulate matter, a.k.a. soot, and hydrocarbons from unburned fuel. Feadship further says carbon dioxide and nitric oxide were each reduced by about 10 percent. Sound and vibration within the engine room changed insignificantly, however. Despite that, and despite what Feadship says is about a 10-percent higher cost for GTL versus traditional fuel, the owners’ team and the yard believe the overall benefits are of higher value. (On a related note, the yard’s team included a student working on his thesis, about future fuels, with De Voogt Naval Architects.)
The captain of Kiss, Oliver Varley, puts it this way: “Yards and crew have a responsibility to minimize any negative effects vessels have on their surroundings.”
Feadship intends to conduct further GTL tests with clients of its other megayachts during sea trials.
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