Test & Training Centre opened

The 250m² testing area is built around a 2-MW MAN medium-speed, four-stroke marine engine. It comprises commercial and prototype equipment from all of Alfa Laval’s marine product groups. A dedicated control room and a training complex are connected to the test system. Located close to the Limfjord, the test centre is supplied with seawater via an 800m-long pipeline.
The process lines are full size and basically organised as they would be on an actual vessel at sea, though connected to a unified control system. They comprise a fuel line, an integrated water line, a steam line and an exhaust line, as well as the heat exchangers and other auxiliaries needed to support them.

Green technologies on the rise
The initial reason for building the facility, Alfa Laval said, was the advancement of the company’s exhaust gas cleaning technology PureSOx.
Apart from further developing the scrubber, which has recently seen repeat orders from both DFDS and Spliethoff, the centre will be working with NOx reduction in association with the company Haldor Topsøe. The project will focus on selective catalytic reduction (SCR), which is a technical alternative to exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), a process already supported by Alfa Laval’s PureNOx, a water treatment system that uses a centrifugal separator to clean the wash water in the wet scrubber.
In other areas, the Alfa Laval Test & Training Centre will be working to combine greener methods of operation with financial benefit. Energy efficiency will be heavily explored at the facility, as a means of both saving money on operating costs and further reducing CO₂ and other emissions, Alfa Laval said.
Among the facility’s key components in this regard is the new FCM One, with which a more efficient changeover between HFO and distillates can be managed. Another key component is the centre’s exhaust gas boiler, which will be involved in one of the first research projects.
For the city of Aalborg, the start of operations at the centre has meant an immediate energy bonus. The power generated by its 2 MW engine is fed into the local grid, while the facility’s excess heat is made available for district heating.

Training opportunities
The new centre will allow Alfa Laval to intensify its training activities, adding Aalborg to existing training sites in Stockholm, Manila and Shanghai. Beyond in-depth training for Alfa Laval sales and service employees, the centre will provide a range of external training options.
In future, shipowners and operators can send engineers and technical supervisors to the centre for hands-on training in new technologies and Alfa Laval products as well as service training aimed at minimising maintenance-related operating costs. For shipbuilders, there will also be training in the sizing and configuration of equipment for maximum economy, as well as the impact of design choices on service possibilities and the equipment’s daily use.
“The Alfa Laval Test & Training Centre is the ultimate proof of our commitment to R&D and meeting the challenges faced by the marine industry,” summarised Alfa Laval’s Marine & Diesel president Peter Leifland. “Its inauguration was a celebration of that commitment and the starting shot for a new era.”