Oshima Shipbuilding plans to develop a fuel which will use a combination of refinery byproduct and natural gas to meet low-sulphur emissions standards, according to multiple press reports.
The "Super Eco Fuel" will use both lightcycle oil (LCO) and gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology. LCO is a type of low quality refined product used to reduce viscosity of heavy fuel oil while GTL uses natural gas and water.
DNV GL says the fuels can be mixed to create a product that would meet the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO) 2020 sulphur emissions cap of 0.5%.
Further, the fuel could be further diluted with water to create a blend that would meet the 0.1% sulphur standard imposed in the regional emission control areas in North America and Europe.
Testing of the fuel is ongoing.
