Natural Gas Combustion in Marine Engines: An Operational, Environmental, and Economic Assessment

The present study contains a detailed assessment of the state-of-the-art technologies of two-stroke (2-S) and four-stroke (4-S) dual-fuel compression-ignition (CI) engines and four-stroke spark-ignited (SI) natural gas engines from technological, operational, environmental, and economic standpoints. Emphasis will be given to the examination of the effect of natural gas combustion on the performance characteristics and pollutant emissions of marine two-stroke dual-fuel engines and four-stroke dual-fuel and gas SI engines. Also, the CO2 and CH4 using EEDI analysis are examined for LNG carriers equipped with three different propulsion systems. The final outcome of the proposed study will be the definition of the parameters that should be taken into account to identify the optimum two-stroke and four-stroke natural gas engine technology frame, which can be used in the near future, as either main propulsion (two-stroke or four-stroke) or auxiliary (four-stroke) engines in marine applications.