DNV has issued an approval in principle for Wärtsilä Ammonia Release Mitigation Systems (WARMS), a new system from the technology company.
The system is designed to mitigate the risks of ammonia; Wärtsilä noted the fuel can be hazardous to health and the environment unless it is handled and stored “with great care”.
The AiP covers the system’s use on ammonia-fuelled ships with the DNV class notation Gas Fuelled Ammonia, or on ammonia-fuelled gas tankers with the DNV class notation GF NH3.
Dalibor Bukarica, DNV’s head of section, piping systems & alternative fuels, said Wärtsilä’s new system was developed in line with a technically advanced rule set.
“Ammonia can be an important part of the future maritime fuel mix, but we need to ensure that with every step forward, safety is at the top of our list of considerations,” he said.
“That is why DNV is so pleased to be able to award this AiP to Wärtsilä for their innovative new Ammonia Release Mitigation Systems.
“With the Gas Fuelled Ammonia notation, we set out to offer a practical path for realising ammonia as a zero-carbon fuel option.”
And Ole Fjeld, Wärtsilä Gas Solutions’ product line manager, inert gas systems offshore, said regulations are expected to become more stringent as technologies are developed to enable global acceptance of future fuels.
“WARMS is designed to comply with both existing and anticipated legislation and is an important element within Wärtsilä’s decarbonisation journey.”
Wärtsilä designed WARMS to continually and accurately monitor emissions.
It said the system features staged and controlled combustion, minimal energy consumption and waste, and offers a “green and safe” alternative to venting pure ammonia, diluting it with air, or bubbling it in hazardous dirty water tanks.
