Everllence demonstrates ethanol engine viability

The tests were carried out at the firm’s facilities in Frederikshavn, Denmark, and build on a decade of work with alternative fuels that began with methanol.

“This engine platform has shown great promise when burning alternative fuels and, during testing, we even managed to expand the ethanol fuel-share compared with methanol,” explained Rasmus Frimann Nielsen, senior manager and head of four-stroke small-bore engineering.

“In general, the past few years have seen steadily growing interest in ethanol from the market. Tests in Frederikshavn have now provided us with the technical know-how to take us to the next level.

“We are still evaluating the data, however it confirms our earlier assumption that we could run the 21/31 engine on ethanol without issues.”

Everllence first moved into methanol propulsion more than ten years ago, with the world’s first commercial two-stroke methanol engine entering service in 2016.

The company followed up in 2024 with the launch of the 21/31DF-M, a small-bore, four-stroke methanol-burning GenSet that is already in commercial use. Adapting the same platform for ethanol, engineers say, required incremental design changes rather than a complete redesign.

“Everllence has pioneered many fuel-flexible solutions with ethanol on the 21/31 platform just the latest,” said Lars Zimmermann, director of sales & promotion for marine gensets.

“Now we need legislation in place that considers the case of ethanol as a viable fuel source, as well as developing a requisite market demand.”