Alternative Fuels for Marine Engine Applications

A special issue of Journal of Marine Science and Engineering (ISSN 2077-1312). This special issue belongs to the section "Ocean Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 May 2026 | Viewed by 1652

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centre for Sustainable Engineering, Teesside University, Borough Rd, Middlesbrough, UK
Interests: production planning; production management; optimization; oil and gas reservoir simulation; chemical engineering; energy sustainability; operations management; CO2 capture and storage; adsorption; offshore technology; hydrogen production
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Special Issue "Alternative Fuels for Marine Engine Applications" aims to advance the global transition toward sustainable maritime transport. Curated by Professor Sina Rezaei Gomari, this issue invites cutting-edge research on low-carbon and zero-emission fuels such as hydrogen, ammonia, biofuels, and synthetic alternatives. It seeks to explore innovations in fuel formulation, combustion performance, emissions reduction, and engine retrofitting strategies. By fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, the issue aspires to bridge the gap between research and real-world deployment, supporting decarbonization goals and regulatory compliance in the marine sector. Contributions from academia and industry are welcomed to shape the future of clean marine propulsion.

Prof. Dr. Sina Rezaei Gomari
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • alternative marine fuels
  • low-carbon shipping
  • hydrogen and ammonia combustion
  • biofuels for marine engines
  • emissions reduction technologies
  • sustainable maritime propulsion

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

30 pages, 9792 KB  
Article
Research on Combustion Characteristics of Ammonia/N-Heptane Dual-Fuel Marine Compression Ignition Direct-Injection Engine
by Zhongcheng Wang, Jie Zhu, Xiaoyu Liu, Jin Huang, Haonan Wang, Zhenqiang Fu and Jingjun Zhong
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2026, 14(4), 354; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse14040354 - 12 Feb 2026
Viewed by 500
Abstract
To address the decarbonization requirements of the shipping industry, this study establishes an in-cylinder combustion simulation model for a medium–high speed four-stroke ammonia-fueled marine engine based on the CONVERGE v3.0 platform. A diesel combustion model was first developed and validated against experimental data. [...] Read more.
To address the decarbonization requirements of the shipping industry, this study establishes an in-cylinder combustion simulation model for a medium–high speed four-stroke ammonia-fueled marine engine based on the CONVERGE v3.0 platform. A diesel combustion model was first developed and validated against experimental data. Building on this validated model, an ammonia/n-heptane dual-fuel combustion model was further developed by coupling a chemical kinetic mechanism for ammonia/n-heptane. To overcome the challenge of igniting pure ammonia, a combustion strategy employing intake port injection of n-heptane and direct in-cylinder injection of ammonia fuel was adopted, leveraging thermal compression ignition. The results indicate that under initial cylinder conditions of 1 bar and 350 K, misfire occurs when the ammonia energy proportion (AEP) reaches 70%, preventing stable ignition and combustion of ammonia. Based on an analysis of intake boundary conditions, the influence of intake supercharging coupled with intake heating on ammonia combustion characteristics was investigated. As the AEP increases further, the combustion of n-heptane deteriorates significantly. At a 90% AEP, the combustion efficiency of n-heptane is approximately 67% at an initial temperature of 350 K but drops to about 28% at 400 K. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Alternative Fuels for Marine Engine Applications)
Show Figures

Figure 1

24 pages, 415 KB  
Article
A Multi-Criteria Decision-Support Framework for Evaluating Alternative Fuels and Technologies Toward Zero Emission Shipping
by Georgios Remoundos, Anna Maria Kotrikla, Maria Lekakou, Amalia Polydoropoulou, George Papaioannou, Ioannis Pervanas, George Kosmadakis and Stelios Contarinis
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2026, 14(4), 346; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse14040346 - 11 Feb 2026
Viewed by 732
Abstract
This paper presents an MAUT-based decision-support framework, developed within the NAVGREEN project, to enable the evaluation of alternative fuels and technologies in shipping decarbonization pathways toward zero-emission targets. The framework integrates stakeholder-derived weights elicited through the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and systematically evaluates [...] Read more.
This paper presents an MAUT-based decision-support framework, developed within the NAVGREEN project, to enable the evaluation of alternative fuels and technologies in shipping decarbonization pathways toward zero-emission targets. The framework integrates stakeholder-derived weights elicited through the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and systematically evaluates alternatives across five criteria: cost, technological maturity, safety and regulatory compatibility, carbon footprint, and social acceptability. Alternatives are mapped into a common utility space through criterion-specific utility functions and aggregated into a composite utility score, enabling transparent and reproducible comparison of single and combined solutions. To strengthen applicability beyond a single illustrative application, the study incorporates a structured scenario and sensitivity analyses (policy stringency, infrastructure constraints, conservative regulatory environments, and weight and parameter perturbations) to assess ranking stability under plausible future conditions. A case study on an Ultramax bulk carrier is used solely to demonstrate the operability and workflow of the method, rather than to empirically validate technology choices across all ship types. Optional AI-assisted elicitation may be used as a supporting aid to harmonize indicative inputs when data are incomplete; however, validation of AI-generated estimates is outside the scope of the present study and is identified as future work. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Alternative Fuels for Marine Engine Applications)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop