MAN Energy Solutions and Alfa Laval have joined forces to develop a methanol fuel-supply solution for MAN four-stroke engines and its fuel-injection technology. As a result, the first four-stroke engine types will be capable of retrofit to methanol operation from 2025.
MAN Energy Solutions and Alfa Laval previously collaborated on decarbonising shipping in 2014 when the very first methanol solution for two-stroke marine engines was in development. To date, this is still the only such system in use at sea with over 150,000 hours of operation.
‘Enabling the switch to low-carbon fuel is a great way to decarbonise the maritime fleet,’ says Bernd Siebert, head of Retrofit & Upgrades, MAN Energy Solutions. ‘Now we want to support our customers and make methanol-running just as possible for four-stroke engines.’
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Adaptable design
As a low-flashpoint fuel-supply system supplier, Alfa Laval’s role in the project will draw on its adaptable design and the experience gained from over seventy methanol projects, some of which have been in operation since 2016.
In the new venture, Alfa Laval will provide the low-flashpoint fuel-supply system itself, as well as the control system, fuel-valve train, and auxiliary functions like the purging system. It will initially design and build a prototype at its facility in Monza, Italy, before delivering it for testing on a methanol engine at MAN Energy Solutions facilities in Augsburg, Germany in early 2024.
Picture: An Alfa Laval low-flashpoint fuel supply system for methanol (by Alfa Laval).
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