Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) - ship's Fuel For the Future?

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JFC
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Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) - ship's Fuel For the Future?

Post by JFC »

I am aware of considerable use of LNG in some passenger vessels in Norway and also increased use of straight gas or duel fuel (LNG and Diesel) around the world primarily in other countries in Europe. There has been some success with new construction and retrofits.

I would appreciate any comments anyone would have that has had some work experience with LNG as main propulsion fuel? What did you expect and what did you find?

Primarily I am wondering about:

- the bunkering process, how does that work, from a truck delivery to the ship, or from a tank ashore? What can of procedure is required?
-the approach with shipyard refits with LNG fueled ships....can you pump the gas down and store it onboard in refit?
-how long does it take to start up a ship from cold or dead ship condition? Starting with the bunkering process, then to starting engines from cold. particularly straight LNG system.
-experience with the performance of engines using LNG. All gas fueled equipment (Main engines, S/s Generators, stdby emergency equipement etc?),
-condition of machinery at survey
-storage tank surveys
-cleanliness
-safety

Any other comments or experiences would be appreciated, thanks...
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Re: Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) - ship's Fuel For the Future?

Post by kenjh »

I'm looking forward to any reply's ..I am running a pair of very small diesels and have picked up a lng system I am trying to adapt to clean up my exhaust ..but am not finding any info other then the truck guys that are boosting power ..my 1.6 V W 's should respond the same as your 5,000 horse power monsters.. right??caan you run L N G on a diesel without major modification??
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Re: Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) - ship's Fuel For the Future?

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Re: Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) - ship's Fuel For the Future?

Post by JFC »

Kenji,
Currently the LNG combustion process for large diesel engines is with spark ignition or ignitors to burn the gas/air mixture. There are some large dual fuel engines provided by such engine suppliers as Whartsila and also single fuel (gas) engines supplied by Bergen Diesel in Norway. There is also other engine suppliers daily stepping up with gas engine options as we speak.
Depending on the size of your engine there are several truck conversion, or small engine conversions available. You may want to have a look at "Westport Innovations" website, a Canadian company that has been involved in this and has done considerable work with Cummins, and more recently I saw an anoucement with GM. I hope this helps with your small engine.
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Re: Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) - ship's Fuel For the Future?

Post by JollyJack »

Discourage incest, ban country "music".
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Re: Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) - ship's Fuel For the Future?

Post by JFC »

Does anyone have any first hand experience, starting a straight LNG ship up from a dead cold ship condition? Bunkering, Cooling, starting machinery, etc..
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Re: Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) - ship's Fuel For the Future?

Post by JFC »

I cannot believe our blog here is silent on this?

???
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Re: Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) - ship's Fuel For the Future?

Post by JK »

That knowledge is held by the majority who do not post.
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Re: Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) - ship's Fuel For the Future?

Post by Madzng »

Several months back I was fortunate enough to attend the launch of the MAN Diesel ME-GI engine.

It is a electronically controlled engine designed to run on LNG.

During the launch they demonstrated the engine starting on fuel, changing over to gas operation, and then running up to full load.

Once at full load a gas leak was simulated to demonstrate the safety system. The engine switched within one or two revolutions from LNG operation to conventional fuel operation. the whole change was virtually unnoticable.

I have been trying for the last couple of days to reduce the the presentations and oher information that was handed out on the day, but have so far failed. Short of printing the documents and scanning at a lower resolution I am out of ideas.

The closest I can come is this link to a paper by MAN Diesel.
http://mandieselturbo.com/files/news/fi ... ne.htm.pdf

If you are interested to receive the documents PM me and I will e-mail them across.

When time allows I will send them to Martin for uploading on the the main website.

With regards to the future, the engine is definately ready, the infrasttructure ashore isnt there and wont be until they see demand. Ship owners wont order them, unless the infrastructure is there. So who will take the first step? Shipping companies or the fuel supliers?

There is still a huge amount of work to be done before we will see general commercial vessels sailing with LNG as a fuel.

The bunkering process and vapour recover, will every supplier take back vapour which may or may not be contaminated in your onboard tanks? What about tank location onboard, does it have to comply with the same regulations as a gas tanker? Training requirements for the crew and barge operators,

What about the bunkering operations, wil ports allow container vessels to load LNG whilst containers are dropping down onto the deck, will the ports close to citys and big populations allow vessels to bunker LNG alongside?

Will ships have to stop after cargo and load the fuel at a safe point far away from people or anything which could cause an explosion?

There are many vessels out there carrying more fuel than tankers which have to apply special standards.

We know how the US coastguard views LNG carriers, how are they goingto treat a standrad vessel with LNG tanks onboard?

Increasing fuel prices will be biggest driver in making this a viable option for most vessels, but only when other options have run out.

There are many questions, lots of suggestions but very few agreed solutions to this future fuel, for it to be anything but specialised for few more years yet.
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Re: Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) - ship's Fuel For the Future?

Post by D Winsor »

Duel Fuel or Natural Gas only Fairbanks Morse O/P engines have been used in the natural gas fields for years as pump engines and the diesel version has been used as both propulsion and generator engines on ships for years. In fact the Fairbanks instruction and parts manuals had maintenance and parts information for the Duel Fuel and the Natural Gas engines
I had heard many years ago that Colt had been working on making the duel fuel Fairbanks suitable for use on ships and oil rigs all though I have never learned if the program was successful or viable.
Troubleshooting 101 "Don't over think it - K.I.S.S. it"
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Re: Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) - ship's Fuel For the Future?

Post by Madzng »

Just taken this from Lloyds list - published 10th November 2011

Liquefied natural gas is the fuel of the future, but there are potential drawbacks

ONE of the most compelling challenges that the containership industry will have to face in the near future will be to further reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. Ships must cut emissions of sulphur oxides to 0.5% by 2020 from 4.5% today, as dictated by the International Maritime Organization.

In the newly designated emission control areas around the US coast and other environmentally sensitive areas, including both the Baltic and North Sea area, the upper limit drops to 0.1% by 2015 from 1% today. In addition, engines on vessels constructed in 2016 and later would need to comply with the Annex VI Tier 3 NOx limits, when operating in an ECA.

Lloyd’s List Intelligence data shows that the fully cellular fleet stands at 5,038 ships with an aggregate capacity of 15.2m teu and an orderbook through to 2015 of 745 ships of 4.9m teu.

There are two considerations here. First, since liner services offer fixed itineraries and port rotations, their exposure to ECAs will become greater and more consistent compared to, say, tramp services. Second, the substantial future fleet increase, including the current dry bulk and tanker fleet and orderbook, will inevitably increase consumption demand for heavy fuel oil and consequently push prices upwards, thus affecting the most significant operating cost of ocean carriers and independent owners.

To deal with the existing emission control legislation in the Baltic and Northern seas, ocean carriers have today found protection in the use of proper exhaust cleaning systems (scrubbers), which comply with the currently planned environmental requirements. However, any future strengthening of legislation may render this safety net unworkable and open the door to alternative fuels.

For many industry participants, liquefied natural gas is the fuel of the future and it is viewed as being the most effective measure to cut the amount of gases and conform best with environmental regulations. LNG is basically natural gas compressed into liquid form. Natural gas is mostly methane and has the highest hydrogen content energy of any fossil fuel, meaning it is the cleanest-burning.

The emission reductions achieved by using LNG compared to conventional oil products can be summed up as the following: NOx 85% reduction, SOx 100% reduction, particulates 100% reduction and CO2 15%-30% reduction.

In addition, LNG is a much cheaper energy source with vast reserves compared to oil, and with the US having developed the technology to exploit its huge shale gas reserves, there are massive expectations for its development and use as alternative fuel.

However, what are the potential drawbacks associated with using LNG as fuel for the container industry?

The most significant challenge is the loss of cargo space due to cylindrical LNG fuel tanks, which have the disadvantage of shape and space required in order to achieve a similar ship sailing range and functionality to oil-based bunkers. Then there is the question of positioning and safety requirements in the engine room. For newbuildings, it should be easier to find space for the deployment of large gas storage systems, but the process of retrofitting will be more difficult on an existing containership. If specifications are changed to burn LNG, it could add up to 10%-15% to construction costs.

In the LNG Fuel for Shipping conference held in Stockholm in September, Wallenius, the Swedish car carrier operator, advised that it had been looking at installing LNG equipment on its car carriers; its figures suggest that it would cost $10m-$15m more than a conventional installation, reduce cargo capacity by 5%-10% and result in a 50% reduction in the vessel’s operational range before it needs to refuel.

Then there is the lack of LNG bunkering infrastructure. According to DNV Energy Research, while there are many LNG terminals around the world, very few would allow individual ships to bunker at their premises, as any interference with the terminal’s core business of delivering gas to consumption markets would be deemed commercially unacceptable, the risk analysis for the terminal might not allow the increase in traffic and the jetties might not fit the boxships in need of bunkering.

Another concern is uncertainty over tax duties imposed on the use of LNG as marine fuel, which may partly eclipse some of the benefits associated with the lower price of gas compared to conventional oil.

Finally, fitting a vessel to use LNG as fuel, whether single or dual fuel, may limit its resale value as this technology is not needed yet in most parts of the world. The extra cost of installation may not be recouped on sale, and it might even prove to be a hindrance.

On the other hand, the increasingly sensitive environmental legislation is bound to continue to curb drastically the use of the lowest quality of oil products, and as a result, the industry will be forced to search for alternative fuels.

LNG is the most economically viable solution in ECAs, and with plans to extend these to include both the Mediterranean and Marmara seas, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand, among others, its importance could grow to become the dominant fuel source for all merchant vessels in the next 50 years.

With investment in infrastructure, we could see LNG being shipped to ocean-going vessels by specialist barges from land-based LNG storage tanks in a method similar to how heavy fuel is distributed today, and with ocean carriers and independent owners always on the lookout to reduce operational costs, LNG could prove an attractive economic alternative as it is cheaper and cleaner than conventional oil.
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Re: Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) - ship's Fuel For the Future?

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Lloyds List 31st October 2011

VESSELS operating in Northern Europe could be using up to 4m tonnes of liquid natural gas as a fuel by 2020, with up to 11 new LNG export or bunker terminals being developed in the region.

The prediction, from a provisional baseline report of research commissioned by the Danish Maritime Authority, also confirms that while there is the political will within Europe to develop the bunkering infrastructure, questions remain over shipowners’ eagerness to turn to LNG as a tool to meet the environmental challenges ahead of the forthcoming regulatory deadlines.

There has been a surge in interest in recent months in getting vessels to run off gas, either with a dual-fuel engine that will give the choice of gas or oil-based bunkers, or using a pure gas, lean-burn engine. Proponents for gas-powered shipping point to its lower emissions of SOx, NOx and CO2 than a comparable amount to distillate fuel. A perceived financial advantage is also used as an argument for shipowners to use gas.

Operators or owners of vessels plying short-sea routes that are almost exclusively within emission control areas are seen as being most likely to turn to gas-powered shipping. But while many consultants and lobby groups push the benefits of gas, owners are still hampered by conversion or newbuilding costs and a lack of infrastructure for refuelling.

Europe is expected to increase its natural gas imports, as its own supplies dwindle and demand increases.The DMA report points to small jetties that are to be installed at import terminals in Zeebrugge and Rotterdam by 2014. This will allow small-scale shipments to increase around Europe, especially to bunkering terminals.

There are, according to the status report, in addition to the existing 14 bunkering terminals in Norway, planned terminals in Rostock, Gothenburg and Turku that will be below 100,000 cu m storage capacity.

There are also planned terminals in Swinoujscie, Padilski, Rostock and Porvoo.

While LNG meets the sulphur limits for shipping in the emission control area after 2015, it is commonly accepted that it will not be a viable option for most tonnage currently in operation.

And while the Danish report shows the promising development of infrastructure projects in northern europe, it does highlight the amount of work to be done if the fuel is to be widely available, reporting that there is only one dedicated LNG bunker vessel in the region, Pioneer Knutsen.

“The lack of bunker vessels is an obstacle for bunkering today and will most probably be a bottleneck at the terminals and small-scale jetties planned for the coming three to four years,” the report states.

The continuing project that forms the basis of the status report is now to look at the shipowner options for the future.

While LNG meets the 0.1% sulphur target, it will not meet the tier III NOx 2016 limits when used in some dual fuel engines.

The DMA will now use the project to assess the shipowner options, both as a newbuilding and as a retrofit solution, and compare it to other options, such as using distillate fuels and then using scrubbers with heavy fuel oil. This will include assessing scrubber availability and possible charges that may be linked to waste management of the scrubber sludge.
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Re: Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) - ship's Fuel For the Future?

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Lloyds List 28th September 2011

THE growing interest in natural gas-powered shipping has led the Dutch shipowner Anthony Veder to order a new coastal liquefied natural gas tanker from Germany’s Meyer Werft.

The company already has one vessel, Coral Methane, and while it was built with the capabilities to carry different grades of liquid gases and chemicals, has been used almost exclusively in LNG shipment trades around the North Sea and Baltic.

Another small vessel, owned by Norway’s Knutsen, has also been active in delivering LNG supplies.

The development of an LNG network is as crucial as the development of rules that will help designers build gas systems into their ships.

There are projects ongoing, and proposed to address this issue, and with the European Commission recently announcing that more of the Motorways of the Sea and Marco Polo project funds will be allocated to the maritime sector, there is a strong belief they will materialise into some concrete developments.

Nine Baltic ports are the latest to announce their intention to seek funds from Europe. Industry speakers at the Stockholm LNG Forum last week cited the need for harmonisation in the developments.

One of the early proposers for the development of LNG fuel in the Baltic was the Magalog project, based in Germany, that began studying LNG fuel feasibility in 2008.

The Danish Maritime Authority has taken up the mantle and is backing another European Union funded project that will see two new Fjordlines ferries have dual fuel engines installed, and look at the supporting infrastructure needed in Hirtshals, Denmark, and in the Norwegian ports of Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiansand.

DMA project director Mogens Schroeder Beck says the baseline report due out next month underscores some of the assumptions being made by the industry: LNG is attractively priced, but the fuel tanks have to be bulky to get similar range and functionality as if the vessel was running off an oil-based bunker. There is a high initial investment needed, but the payback period can be reduced while the secondhand price for a vessel with a dual fuel engine and LNG tanks is likely to remain attractive.

The report will also highlight some of the challenges the industry will face, namely that there is a shortage of seafarers on short sea trades with LNG handling experience; there is a lack of standardisation on the bunker point on the LNG powered vessel; and there is an unclear dividing line between the role of the public utilities and the private sector at the moment.

The clear challenge for the development of the LNG powered ship industry is to get the “hard infrastructure” developed, he says, to allow the possibility for owners to use it.

Engineers are working on the designs for LNG bunker terminals and the shipborne storage systems.

LNG can be stored in different types of tanks, the key difference being pressure. The pressurised tanks, known as Type C, are able to withstand boil off pressure better and are expected to be more popular in the long run. They have the disadvantage of space, shape and containment, but for short sea operations, often seen as the key target for LNG fuelled shipping, they are a suitable solution.

German engineers TGE have suggested land- and barge-based storage systems using type C tanks.

The Mynas terminal south of Stockholm has a 20,000 cu m full containment tank. The development of the terminal was mainly to secure LNG supplies for the local refinery and to provide LNG backup for the developing road biogas market in Sweden. However, Linde, the owner, has developed the facilities with an export capacity as well as import, to allow it to be used as a fuelling depot for the LNG powered vessels themselves, or the small LNG bunker tankers that the industry may need to develop.

A subsidiary, Cryo AB, is one of the main suppliers of shipborne type C fuel tanks for the growing Norwegian market and has been developing its tank design as more demands are placed on the industry.

Other tank types for storing LNG include the prismatic tanks, often seen on LNG carriers. These are built into a vessel’s design and unlike the type C are not independent containers. The benefit of these is that they are not as cylindrical and can utilise a ship design’s available space better.

Wärtsilä, the fuel system and engine supplier to the new Viking Line ferry in Finland, is proposing a new aspect, one which will also help overcome the potential problem of not being allowed to bunker during cargo operations with passengers on board. Wärtsilä is designing a system in which the tanks are loaded on and off the vessel when in port, with the empty containers being switched for full ones. The operations are substantially quicker than the time required to cool an LNG bunker manifold and hose down to the required temperature, load the bunkers, purge, warm up and disconnect.
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Re: Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) - ship's Fuel For the Future?

Post by Madzng »

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Re: Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) - ship's Fuel For the Future?

Post by JFC »

Interesting information on the MAN engines. MAN was in my office recently and are also developing technology to convert existing engines over to LNG utilizing existing cylinder entablatures etc......So there is lots of new developments.

I would be really interested in talking with someone that has first hand experience, I did speak with some Norwegian Marine Engineering collegues at a conference last year, but I had yet to develop the knowledge to ask the questions that I am interested in having answered now (always the way).

I would appreciate any comments anyone would have that has had some work experience with LNG as main propulsion fuel? What did you expect and what did you find?

Primarily I am wondering about:

- the bunkering process, how does that work, from a truck delivery to the ship, or from a tank ashore? What can of procedure is required?
-the approach with shipyard refits with LNG fueled ships....can you pump the gas down and store it onboard in refit?
-how long does it take to start up a ship from cold or dead ship condition? Starting with the bunkering process, then to starting engines from cold. particularly straight LNG system.
-experience with the performance of engines using LNG. All gas fueled equipment (Main engines, S/s Generators, stdby emergency equipement etc?),
-condition of machinery at survey
-storage tank surveys
-cleanliness
-safety

Any other comments or experiences would be appreciated.

Cheers
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