Methanol as a Fuel in Shipping

Review and Outlook to ICE Research Within MENENS

Book Chapter (2025)
Author(s)

Konstantinos I. Kiouranakis (TU Delft - Ship Design, Production and Operations)

P. Vos (TU Delft - Ship Design, Production and Operations)

Rinze Geertsma (Netherlands Defence Academy, TU Delft - Ship Design, Production and Operations)

Research Group
Ship Design, Production and Operations
DOI related publication
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-89444-2_106
More Info
expand_more
Publication Year
2025
Language
English
Research Group
Ship Design, Production and Operations
Volume number
Volume 3: Eco-efficient Mobility Systems
Pages (from-to)
735-742
Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Abstract

Waterborne transportation has long been the backbone of global trade, with the reciprocating internal combustion engine (ICE) as the dominant power source. In the efforts to decarbonize shipping, methanol has emerged as a promising alternative fuel due to its easy storability and favorable combustion characteristics compared to non-carbon fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia. In the MENENS project, one of the research objectives is to better understand, further develop, and demonstrate different engine technologies that can employ methanol fuel in marine-sized engines. This study reviews maritime stakeholder research on methanol fuel for marine ICEs, emphasizing the chosen injection and ignition strategies across different engine technologies. In this paper, we aim to identify research gaps concerning methanol as a marine engine fuel, and provide insight into the initiatives and proposed research direction within MENENS.