EPA to Award $740K for Testing of New Pollution Reduction Device on Tugs
03 December 2009
The US Environmental Protection Agency will award a $739,500 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant to Foss Maritime Company, Environmental Solutions Worldwide (ESW) and the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA), which are partnering to test a pollution-reducing device on two Foss tugs, the Garth Foss and the Lindsey Foss. The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency will manage the project on behalf of EPA.
| Xtrem Cat. Click to enlarge. |
ESW developed the pollution-reducing device, the Xtrm Cat Diesel Oxidation Catalyst. It is on EPA’s emerging technologies list and is projected to reduce particulate matter (PM) by 25%, hydrocarbons (HC) by 25% and carbon monoxide by 70%.
The Xtrm Cat is a proprietary substrate/catalyst based on ESW Group’s proprietary Particulate Reactor and ESW’s Stealth Cat™ Diesel Oxidation Catalyst filter employed on two stroke US Marine Light Armored Vehicles.The four 4,000-horsepower marine engines on the Garth and the Lindsey will be retrofitted with the catalysts in combination with a closed crankcase ventilation (CCV) system. ESW is currently seeking verification of its catalyst/crankcase ventilation system for high horsepower marine and locomotive uses. The six-year partnership with Foss and the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency will allow ESW to determine if the system is durable enough for extended maritime use.
It might be cheaper to retrofit these tugs to use Capstone turbines, 20-200Kw ones and electric motors, than to clean up the exhaust. The Capstone inverters are not necessary for this application, and the exhaust can make steam for a small steam turbine. Any number of turbines can be run at full power or not at all. ..HG..
Posted by: Henry Gibson | 04 December 2009 at 08:50 AM
At some point reel people are gonna wax a bit nostalgic not smelling diesel around big marine systems. Not saying the toxic or pollutants should not be eliminated. But, human nature likes sense stimulation. Which is why the EV industry is seeking responses to engine sound synthesis. We like sounds to accompany physical action (see sci-fi films)
There may be a whole industry in this kind of sensory synthesis that is clean but satisfying to human expectation.
Non-human engineers need not apply;)
Posted by: Reel$$ | 05 December 2009 at 08:53 AM