Alfa Laval and Swiss engine designer WinGD have established a partnership in which Alfa Laval will deliver two fuel supply systems (FSS) for testing WinGD’s ammonia-fueled engine in early 2024.

Ammonia is anticipated to become a key fuel in the shipping industry’s efforts to reduce its impact on carbon emissions. To advance the use of zero-carbon fuels, WinGD is at the forefront of developing ammonia-fueled engines, with the recent achievement of the first Approval in Principle (AiP) from Lloyd's Register for their X-DF-A dual-fuel range powered by ammonia. (Earlier post.)

In the next step of their ongoing ammonia test campaign, WinGD has partnered with Alfa Laval to provide two customized ammonia fuel supply systems for their Engine Research and Innovation Centre in Winterthur, Switzerland.

Alfa Laval will deliver the FSS for the injector test system and FSS for the engine test bench in early 2024. The project is in the framework of WinGD’s and Alfa Laval's earlier agreement for cooperation on methanol and ammonia, signed in 2022. This gives both companies the chance to optimize the overall fuel supply and use it for later application onboard.

Alfa Laval’s role in the project will draw heavily on its technical know-how in fuel supply technology and experience with a wide range of fuels, both conventional and alternative. Alfa Laval FCM, the industry’s leading low-flashpoint fuel supply system (LFSS), has a flexible design and fully automated operations to ensure safe and smooth process control. (Earlier post.)

This project will provide a testing environment to help both the companies carry out development activities of the engine and equipment associated with it. Alfa Laval will also investigate and develop a mitigation system to secure safe handling of ammonia.

WinGD recently concluded a four-party agreement underwriting Belgian bulk carrier operator CMB.TECH’s order of X72DF‑A ammonia-fueled engines. CSSC Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding (QBS) and engine builder CSSC Engine Co (CSE) were the other signatories in the joint undertaking to power a series of 210,000 DWT bulk carriers to be delivered from Qingdao through 2025 and 2026.

WinGD’s X‑DF‑A engines operate using high-pressure fuel injection with a small portion of pilot fuel, and will have performance and fuel efficiency comparable to the company’s diesel-fuelled X‑Engines. No aftertreatment is required for N₂O emissions, while selective catalytic reduction is used to ensure Tier III NO_x compliance in both ammonia and diesel modes.