Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group, has been working in cooperation with Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (“K” Line) and Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK), to conduct test operations and measurements for a small scale demonstration plant of the “Marine-based CO₂ Capture System”, in order to verify the equipment’s use. The equipment has now been installed on board the CORONA UTILITY, a coal carrier for Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc. operated by “K” Line, at MHI’s Honmoku Plant at the Yokohama Dockyard & Machinery Works.

This project is being conducted with support from the Maritime Bureau of Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), as part of its assistance project for research and development of technological advancements in marine resource development. The demonstration involves converting the design of an existing CO₂capture system for onshore power plants to a marine environment, and installing it on board an actual ship in service. This project, called “Carbon Capture on the Ocean” (CC-Ocean), is intended to achieve CO₂ capture at sea, a world first.

Logomark of CC-Ocean project

Specialist Mitsubishi Shipbuilding engineers will travel on the ship during its voyage, providing commissioning of the compact CO₂ capture demonstration plant, and conducting performance evaluation assessments while at sea, as well as analysis of the separated and recovered CO₂. By the end of fiscal 2021, MHI and “K” Line will conduct verification tests with the ship crew operating the demo plant, and evaluate its safety and operability, with the aim of practical application of the system as a marine-based, compact CO₂ recovery system.

This is the world’s first demonstration test to be conducted during actual ocean navigation. The knowledge gained will be used for future development of technologies and systems to capture CO₂ from the exhaust gases of marine equipment and ships. Further, the captured CO₂ can be recycled for use as raw material in synthetic fuel, providing a significant contribution to reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Mitsubishi Shipbuilding, amid rising awareness of decarbonization globally since the enactment of the Paris Agreement, is continuing its efforts to find solutions for reducing GHG emissions from ships and marine equipment, and is contributing to environmental conservation. This project is part of MHI Group’s initiative for energy transformation (shift to energy with a low environmental load), and will contribute to the realization of carbon neutrality on a global scale.