Johnson Matthey to supply SCR system for Staten Island ferry

4 April 2011

Johnson Matthey has been awarded a contract by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the New York City Department of Transportation to provide a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) emission control system for the John A. Noble Staten Island Ferry.

The project is part of ongoing efforts to reduce NOx emissions in the New York City metropolitan area as an offset to the emissions associated with the harbor deepening and dredging project, which will occur over the next decade. Johnson Matthey’s SCR system—capable of reducing NOx and CO emissions by better than 90%—is the most effective and proven solution for NOx reduction.

The 500-ton, 196-foot John A. Noble, capable of carrying nearly 1,300 passengers, is powered by two Caterpillar 3516 diesel engines. The ferry was built by Derecktor Shipyards, Bridgeport, CT, which will install the new SCR system during routine maintenance scheduled to be finished in May 2011. M.J. Bradley, Manchester, NH, is the engineering consulting firm overseeing the project.

Using urea as the reducing agent, the John A. Noble SCR system includes a Johnson Matthey oxidation catalyst, SCR injection system, piping and urea ammonia grid. Two large urea holding tanks will be mounted on either side of the boat for better balance. The SCR system was designed to physically fit into the ferry’s extremely tight quarters.

Johnson Matthey (then Argillon) also supplied the SCR system for sister Staten Island Ferry, the Alice Austen in 2006. The Alice Austen project was a demonstration of proof-of-concept of SCR retrofit on older vessels.

Source: Johnson Matthey