Western Morning News (Saturday)
New frigates designed to cut emissions
THE UK’s new fleet of Type 26 frigates, based at Devonport Naval Base, are set to be upgraded with giant ‘catalytic converters’ to ensure the Navy’s latest generation of warships can reduce their impact on the environment.
Harnessing technology used in diesel cars and trucks – but on a much grander scale – the technology will remove many harmful elements from engine exhaust gases.
It will allow the submarine-hunting ships, which enter service in the second half of the decade, to operate in some of the most environmentally-sensitive parts of the world as well as meet the standards set in heavilyregulated waters such as the North Sea and off the Eastern Seaboard of the USA.
A version of the system has already been fitted to the Royal Navy’s two newest patrol ships, HMS Spey and
Tamar. The duo are on a five-year mission to patrol the Indo-Pacific region, including operating in some of the most remote, unblemished regions of the planet. Minimising their environmental impact was a key factor in their construction and is now being built upon in the next generation of warships now taking shape at BAE Systems’ yard at Govan on the Clyde.
HMS Glasgow and her seven sisters are being fitted with Selective Catalytic Reactors – a box about three metres tall and two metres across equipped with large-scale filters and converters. As exhaust fumes from the diesel generator pass through, a urea solution is sprayed in which causes a chemical reaction to reduce the majority of nitrogen oxide emissions. Instead of the gases – harmful to the ozone layer, a key component of acid rain and a factor in global warming– the process instead produces water and oxygen.
Commander Richard Wadsworth, a senior marine engineer officer with the Type 26 frigate programme, said: “The urea we will use is effectively the same ‘Adblue’ solution that you see sold in fuel station forecourts for trucks and vans. It thermally decomposes in the hot exhaust and reacts with NOx to produce water and nitrogen. It reduces NOx emissions, which is good for the environment.
“It means that the Type 26s will be ‘IMO Tier III compliant’ for NOx emissions and will be able to operate worldwide including in several ‘special areas’ which have higher emission regulations.”
The Royal Navy said the catalytic reactors are part of a wider programme of enhancements and improvements to reduce the impact of the Navy’s operations on the environment. In addition, to underline the ‘environmental credentials’ of HMS Spey and HMS Tamar, all ballast water taken on board is treated with ultraviolet light to sanitise the water which means the ships won’t carry invasive species around the world in their tanks.
In November 2020, BAE Systems was awarded a contract by the Ministry of Defence worth £3.7bn to construct the first three Type 26 ships to replace Type 23 frigates. A total of eight ships will be built on the Clyde as part of the programme and will start being delivered to the Royal Navy from the mid-2020s, with the first to enter service by 2026.