Engine maker Everllence has confirmed the successful operation of its 90-bore ME-LGIM (-Liquid Gas Injection Methanol) engine on ethanol at all load points during trials in Japan.
The company first introduced the ME-LGIM platform more than a decade ago, with the first methanol-burning engine entering service in 2016 in the methanol carrier segment.
Since then, it has expanded the technology to other vessel types, making the ME-LGIM the best-selling methanol engine on the market, with more than 225 units ordered for new ships and over 50 already in operation.
The ethanol trials now give Everllence a fully operational reference engine to demonstrate the fuel’s viability on its established dual-fuel platform.
Ole Pyndt Hansen, Senior Vice President and Head of Two-Stroke R&D at Everllence, said:
“The past few years have brought steadily growing interest in ethanol from the market.
“We always do our utmost to listen to these signals and have accordingly been carrying out the necessary design considerations for quite some time; this has provided us with a solid technical foundation.”
Bjarne Foldager, Head of Two-Stroke Business, added:
“It’s a proud moment to see yet another ‘first-ever’ for Everllence and that we, once again, have been able to draw on our company’s long engineering heritage.
“We already have five dual-fuel technologies in service along with an ammonia-powered engine that is on the verge of release.”
