Couple Systems - Exhaust Gas Cleaning Systems

Couple Systems provides environmental technologies for international ships, including exhaust gas cleaning systems. The company was founded in 2001 in Hamburg, Germany.

Dry exhaust gas cleaning systems

Couple Systems has developed a very effective exhaust gas cleaning system for marine diesel engines, the DryEGCS® Process. The new DryEGCS Process exhaust gas cleaning system for ships is based on a dry sorption process. It removes more than 95% of particulate matter, sulphur and nitrogen oxides from ships' emissions.

All other abatement technologies on the market have settled on wet scrubber processes. The DryEGCS Process is the most recent process and can be characterized as completely new to shipping.

Dry sorption exhaust gas cleaning

In the first stage the process is based on the so-called dry sorption process in which the exhaust gas is fed through a fixed-bed filter filled with calcium hydroxide granulate. This neutralizes sulphur oxide such as sooty particles. In a second stage, nitrogen oxide is split catalytically in a catalytic converter, just as in cars. The system is very simple and extremely robust.

In order to meet the emissions values in the future, ship-owners must either buy expensive MDO or invest in an exhaust gas cleaning system. The merchant ships, cruise ships and ferries that operate exclusively in emission controlled areas (ECAs) are under compulsion, to use the expensive MDO.

On average over the last five years, the price difference between HFO and MDO was $325/t. A merchant ship burns approximately 4.3t of fuel per day/per megawatt of power. The ships of the merchant fleet have 3MW to 100MW of engine power. Therefore, depending on the engine power, the additional costs per day for MDO are between $4,000 and $120,000.

By contrast, not only is a return on investment for the DryEGCS Process achieved in less than one operating year, but, more importantly, the ship-owner meets legal limit values and complies with the most stringent environmental regulations. With the DryEGCS Process the ship-owner can sail anywhere in the world using significantly less expensive heavy fuel oil.

This process has been employed for many years in waste incineration plants and around power plants and has proven itself in significantly tougher conditions than in shipping. The DryEGCS Process system is completely manufactured in Germany.

Approvals and development partnerships for our exhaust gas cleaning system

Couple Systems exhibited the DryEGCS Process for the first time at the world’s leading trade fair for shipping, the SMM 2008 in Hamburg. There was rapid and very positive feedback from potential customers.

MAN Diesel is the global leader in the production of marine diesel engines. Once MAN Diesel became acquainted with the DryEGCS Process, it offered to form a development partnership. By October 2008 this had been approved.

Also, the Hamburg University of Technology, Institute of Energy Systems / Marine Engineering has initiated a 'DryEGCS Process working group' with the participation of respected companies such as Caterpillar, MAN Diesel and Flensburger Schiffsbaugesellschaft.

Couple Systems will be happy to answer any further questions about our exhaust gas cleaning system; please contact us.