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With
its space-saving, durable, and energy-efficient design, the Vahterus Plate & Shell Heat Exchanger is a perfect match for the marine industry.
Heat exchanger solutions for alternative fuels
In a world grappling with rising greenhouse gas emissions, Vahterus emerges as a crucial ally for the maritime industry. As global shipping strives to meet ambitious emission reduction targets set by the International Maritime Organization and FuelEU Maritime, Vahterus offers practical solutions, from LNG heat exchangers to advanced systems for potential fuels like methanol and ammonia. Text & images by Vahterus
Frontrunners in ammonia With over 30 years of experience with ammonia vaporizers and condensers from the refrigeration industry, where ammonia is used as key natural refrigerant, Vahterus has extensive references of working with the substance both in the lab and on the field. They deliver over 1000 heat exchangers annually to ammonia applications, and although these are mostly land based refrigeration systems at the moment the company expects the growing demand to come, especially from the marine sector. The fully welded Plate & Shell heat exchanger technology( PSHE), invented by Vahterus, offers a uniquely impressive safety record due to the total containment. One of the driving factors for the utilization of the PSHE is the high amount of safety inherent within their solutions. Their expertise has now been transformed into supporting the global energy transition, with first deliveries to ammonia marine fuel gas systems already underway with the support of a large reference list of heat exchanger solution deliveries and ongoing orders to ammonia cargo systems.
There is no planet B for the next generation Global greenhouse gas( GHG) emissions continue to increase year by year despite a wider consciousness about the effects related to climate change and pollution. International shipping is playing a vital role and is responsible for close to 3 % of global CO2 emissions. During the year 2023 International Maritime Organization( IMO) made further changes to speed up the pathway for emission reduction. Now the ambitious target is to be net zero( GHG emissions) by 2050. IMO is not the only party setting these additional rules to mitigate the emissions, there is also a national and continent-wide approach i. e. FuelEU maritime coming into force at the start of 2025 in the EU, afterwards CO2 equivalent tons will have an assigned monetary value. For the owners and operators, their vision about the future is cloudy- there is a lot of uncertainties to cope with regarding the new and upcoming regulations. One thing is that there is not a clear single fuel or technology to tackle the emission reductions. However, there are multiple possible solutions centered around a handful of alternative fuels that could provide a path
40 Heat Exchanger World April 2025 www. heat-exchanger-world. com