Wed 21 Nov 2012, 08:06 GMT

Manufacturer provides summary of fuel-related products


Company gives an overview of its marine business with focus on environmental and energy applications.



During Alfa Laval's Capital Markets Day in Copenhagen on November 20, the company gave an overview of its marine business with focus on environmental and energy applications.

Alfa Laval communicated its commitment taking leading positions in the following areas: solutions for reduction of sulphur emissions, solutions for waste fuel recovery and waste heat recovery.

The company pointed out that more stringent marine legislation was driving demand for environmental solutions. In addition, Alfa Laval said that high fuel costs and IMO’s Energy Efficiency Design Index for new ships increase demand for more energy-efficient products and solutions.

During the morning session, Peter Leifland, President for the Marine & Diesel Division, talked about new growth opportunities for the division, based on both new and well-established products and technologies.

"We see interesting growth opportunities in two areas; environmental applications and energy-saving solutions. With the acquisition of Aalborg Industries we have further strengthened our position in the marine industry. Today we have both newly launched and existing products to meet current and future legislation. Our offering within the environmental area as well as for energy-saving initiatives, is expected to mitigate the downturn in ordering of new ships at the yards," Leifland said.

Harmful emissions - SOx

IMO’s convention for the reduction of sulphur oxides (SOx) is already ratified and implemented in some Emission Control Areas (ECAs). The convention demands that sulphur emission levels in these ECAs should be 0.1 percent from the year 2015 and globally the emission level of 0.5 percent will be required to be met by all vessels by 2020.

In order to reach these levels ship owners will be able to either use more expensive fuel, with lower sulphur content, or continue running on heavy fuel oil and invest in a scrubber.

Alfa Laval estimates that 5,000 ships are sailing more than 50 percent of the time in the Northern European ECA. Of these 5000 ships, the company says it will focus on existing and new vessels with large engines and estimates that approximately 1,000 - 2,000 vessels will be equipped with scrubbers over a period of five years. Alfa Laval expects to book orders in the short term with deliveries to start before the end of 2013.

Alfa Laval’s PureSOx is a scrubber solution that was launched in September 2012. The average order value is approximately EUR 2-3 million per ship, excluding installation. Alfa Laval says it intends to take a market-leading position in this area.

Waste fuel recovery

Fuel costs often add up to more than 50 percent of a ship’s running costs. With this in mind, Alfa Laval has developed a completely new product - Alfa Laval PureDry - which is a combination of a high-speed separator and a decanter. It is expected to be able to reduce fuel costs onboard ships by up to 2 percent.

The product was recently launched and the price level will be EUR 120,000. Alfa Laval expects to sell around 100 units in 2013 and estimates that in the long run, Alfa Laval PureDry will be an attractive solution for most oceangoing vessels.

Waste heat recovery

Waste heat recovery systems (WHR) recover energy from the exhaust gases, enabling fuel savings and lower costs. Alfa Laval has two products.

The first product, WHR after the main engines, is an established solution that was added to Alfa Laval’s product range through the recent acquisition of Aalborg Industries. Annual sales for this product are currently EUR 30-40 million with good future growth potential predicted. Alfa Laval says it has, and intends to keep, the market-leading position in this area.

The second product is WHR after the auxiliary engines - a new product launched in September 2012. The average price is EUR 70,000 and Alfa Laval estimates that this product will be an attractive solution for many oceangoing vessels in the long term. Alfa Laval says it also intends to take a market leading position in this field.

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