Real-time energy consumption and air pollution emission during the transpacific crossing of a container ship

Chin-Ko Yeh; Chitsan Lin; Hsueh-Chen Shen; Nicholas Kiprotich Cheruiyot; Duy-Hieu Nguyen; Chi-Chung Chang

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-19605-7

Real-time energy consumption and air pollution emission during the transpacific crossing of a container ship

Sci Rep. 2022 Sep 10;12(1):15272. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-19605-7.

Authors

Chin-Ko Yeh¹, Chitsan Lin^{2

3}, Hsueh-Chen Shen¹, Nicholas Kiprotich Cheruiyot^{4

5}, Duy-Hieu Nguyen¹, Chi-Chung Chang⁶

Affiliations

¹ Ph.D. Program in Maritime Science and Technology, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung, 81157, Taiwan, ROC.
² Ph.D. Program in Maritime Science and Technology, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung, 81157, Taiwan, ROC. ctlin@nkust.edu.tw.
³ Department of Marine Environmental Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung, 81157, Taiwan, ROC. ctlin@nkust.edu.tw.
⁴ Super Micro Mass Research and Technology Center, Cheng Shiu University, Kaohsiung, 833301, Taiwan, ROC.
⁵ Center for Environmental Toxin and Emerging-Contaminant Research, Cheng Shiu University, Kaohsiung, 833301, Taiwan, ROC.
⁶ Department of Construction Management, College of Technology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, 77004, United States.

Abstract

This study presents the real-time energy consumption of a container ship's generator engine on two round-trips from the West Coast of the US to the East Asian ports and analyzes the ship's PM₁₀, PM_2.5, NO_x, SO_x, CO, and HC emissions, shore power usage, and factors affecting energy consumption. The average total energy consumption and air emissions for the two round trips were 1.72 GWh and 42.1 tons, respectively. The transpacific crossing segment had the highest average energy consumption (2848 ± 361 kWh) and pollutant emission rate (78.9 ± 10.0 kg h^-1). On the other hand, the West Coast of the US had the least energy consumption due to shore power adoption. Furthermore, switching from heavy fuel oil (HFO) to ultra-low-sulfur fuel oil (ULSFO) greatly reduced the emissions of PM and SO_x by > 96% and NO_x by 17.0%. However, CO and HC increased by 16.9% and 36.1%, respectively, implying incomplete combustion. In addition, the energy consumption was influenced by the number of reefers and wind. Therefore, this study recommends further research on energy-efficient reefers, generator engine optimization, and shore power adoption to reduce emissions from container ships.

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants* / analysis
Air Pollution* / analysis
Fuel Oils*
Ships
Vehicle Emissions / analysis

Substances

Air Pollutants
Fuel Oils
Vehicle Emissions