Mitsubishi Shipbuilding tests marine CO2 capture system

Mitsubishi Shipbuilding had been working on a small-scale demonstration plant of the marine-based CO₂ capture system to verify the equipment’s use, its parent company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) said on August 5.

The company worked with shipping firm K Line and classification society Nippon Kaiji Kyokai to conduct test operations and measurements for the small-scale demonstration plant. The equipment has now been installed onboard the Corona Utility, a coal carrier for Tohoku Electric Power Co. operated by K Line, at MHI’s Honmoku plant at the Yokohama Dockyard & Machinery Works.

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This project is being conducted with support from the Maritime Bureau of Japan's ministry of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism, as part of its assistance project for research and development of technological advancements in marine resource development.

The demonstration involves converting the design of an existing CO₂ capture system for onshore power plants to a marine environment, and installing it on board an actual ship in service. The company said this project, called Carbon Capture on the Ocean (CC-Ocean), is intended to achieve CO₂ capture at sea.

By the early next year, MHI and K Line will conduct verification tests with the ship crew operating the demo plant and evaluate its safety and operability to the practical application of the system as a marine-based, compact CO₂ recovery system.

“This is the world's first demonstration test to be conducted during actual ocean navigation. The knowledge gained will be used for future development of technologies and systems to capture CO₂ from the exhaust gases of marine equipment and ships,” MHI said. “Further, the captured CO₂ can be recycled for use as raw material in synthetic fuel, providing a significant contribution to reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.”