Emissions control for small marine vehicles

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A good measure of the effect of human activity on the earth's atmosphere is the concentration of nitrogen oxides, collectively referred to as NOx, with nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and nitric oxide (NO) being the most significant. The interaction of NOx with ground-level volatile organics, atmospheric oxygen and water vapour, in sunlight, is associated with near-surface ozone, smog and acid rain, each with harmful consequences for animal and plant life. The burning of fossil fuels is the major contributor to NOx pollution and exhaust remediation is required. Regulations specifying NOx limits for large marine vessels have now been extended to include all small marine vessels down to 24m length, from Jan 2021. Suitably matched exhaust remediation devices for these small marine diesel fuel engines are not in production, and such vessels designed and built after 2020 will be required to install systems to meet the emissions standards. This is likely to involve use of oversized systems. This proposal aims to create alternatives allowing better-matched systems that will provide improved performance without the cost of mismatch.This proposal outlines a first engagement with a Canadian naval architecture company with worldwide sales, which designs small-medium sized yachts and other utility vessels. We will examine exhaust remediation approaches to generate several new choices for small vessels, which meet the proposed requirements and provide choices to meet future requirements of increasing stringency. The current use of urea or other ammonia sources to reduce NOx is burdensome and alternatives will be propose and examined in this study. In the longer term, we aim to provide novel solutions for marine exhaust remediation problems until alternatives to diesel based power-plants for transportation are established.