Alfa Laval announced that its Test & Training Centre in Aalborg, Denmark will soon be expanded to five times its current size. This development, focused on LNG and other alternative fuels, will address new challenges and possibilities for marine customers as they strive to meet environmental and energy targets. The company claims that the expansion will create the world’s most advanced test centre for environmental and combustion technology – regardless of fuel type.
Opened nearly two years ago, the Alfa Laval Test & Training Centre is a cornerstone of customer-focused technology development. It is already a massive facility, boasting a 250 m2 testing space where a 2 MW diesel engine and equipment from all of Alfa Laval’s marine product groups create the closest possible simulation of a full-sized commercial vessel. Now it will be expanded with an additional 1100 m2, dedicated to environmental and combustion technology in burners and heating systems for vessels using LNG and other alternative marine fuels. The wider operations are expected to begin at the turn of the year 2016-2017.
“LNG and other fuel alternatives will play a key role in meeting the marine industry’s environmental and energy challenges,” says Peter Leifland, head of Alfa Laval’s Marine & Diesel Division. “Through the expansion of the Alfa Laval Test & Training Centre, we will support this shift with cutting-edge technology development.”
Preparing the way for LNG
As Leifland suggests, the expansion of the Alfa Laval Test & Training Centre is in step with the new direction being taken by many ship owners. In just 15 years, it is expected that 7000 vessels will be sailing with LNG, compared with a mere 500 today.
“This is a remarkable change, driven in part by the successive tightening of NOx and SOx regulations by IMO,” says Bodil Nielsen, Test & Training Centre Manager. “LNG is an attractive solution, because it reduces NOx by 85-90% and virtually eliminates SOx.”
By moving from petroleum-based fuels to LNG, vessels can cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20% overall. However, as Nielsen points out, “Advanced technology is a prerequisite for making the switch.”
Source & Image Credit: Alfa Laval
