It is widely known that the marine diesel engine came into full use in 1903 when the river tanker Vandal was put into service by Branobel and it became popular in the 1910s when the marine engine manufacturers Sulzer Brothers revolutionized it. But after a century the sustainability of the diesel propulsion model is becoming a cause of concern for all the seafaring sailors around the world. If you own a boat then you’re probably concerned about this too. Now read on to find out more about diesel engines in general and whether they can be replaced.
Even though modern diesel engines power much of the world’s equipment and are widely known as the prime movers of the world the use of diesel engines has been reevaluated in the 21st century as many are starting to seriously look at other forms of energy to power everything from their cars to marine engines.
The first point we need to look at is that diesel runs on mineral diesel which is extracted from crude oil. According to Breda and Marko Kegl who wrote in their 2013 book “Green Diesel Engines”, crude oil covers about 37% of the world’s energy demands. In 2013 there were 2 trillion barrels, out of which 900 billion had already been consumed and 75 million barrels were being consumed daily, then it came down to 1.65 trillion barrels in 2016.
Now after 10 years most nations are at the lower end of their depletion curves and the world’s supply of crude oil will only last at the most another 30-40 years.
Now if we look at suitable alternatives, there is biodiesel which is a form of oil made from animal and vegetable fat and is slated to be the number one contender to the traditional diesel propulsion model. Diesel is made of hydrocarbon components whereas biodiesel is made up of Acid Methyl components which provide much cleaner emissions, but not even that can provide a 100% solution. So it becomes apparent that no alternative can fully replace diesel fuels for the foreseeable future.
Apart from that modern diesel engines are made for mineral diesel and cannot be suited for biodiesel and other renewable energy. And other studies have shown that traditional diesel engines with mechanically controlled fuel injection systems had a substantially low amount of emissions.
Another important alternative can be natural gas-LNG Liquefied Natural Gas is natural gas (methane) cryogenically liquefied. LPG Liquefied Petroleum Gas is mainly propane and butane alone or in mixtures liquified under pressure. LPG is produced from crude oil refining and natural gas processing.
LNG is more popularly known as butane or propane, It is known to be widely flammable and is composed of a combination of hydrocarbon gases. It is widely known around the world as the more efficient gas as it is considered to be clean and efficient and safe for the environment.
The replacement of marine diesel engines seem a faraway dream, but we can understand that improving the processes like fuel injection system can greatly improve the emission process of engines. Even though the complete use of an unpolluted alternate fuel seems like a distant dream MVDE focuses on lowering carbon emissions and MVDE focuses on lowering carbon emissions and continue to ensure quality of its diesel engines.
