Marine Propulsion & Auxiliary Machinery April 2014

April/May 2014 • The journal of ships’ engineering systems

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“There is a lot of talk about shippers demanding ‘green’ transport, but are they also willing to pay for it?”

Patrick Verhoeven, secretary general, of the European Community Shipowners’ Associations

17.04.14 15:52

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contents

April/May 2014 volume 36 issue 2

21 Gas-fuelling extends to PCTCs (credit: UECC)

regulars

5 COMMENT 7 DIGEST 11 ON THE AGENDA 15 BRIEFING 99 FUELS & LUBES 103 BUNKER BULLETIN 104 POWERTALK

enginebuilder profile

17 LNGCs support Wärtsilä’s dual fuel engine orders

41 Steam turbines have a niche in LNG carriers (credit: MHI)

two-stroke engines

20 EcoCam cuts consumption on MAN B&W MC engines 21 Car carriers join the LNG-fuelled fleet

four-stroke engines

23 Bergen package powers offshore vessel; DF engines for German ferry 24 Quadruple Cummins outfits drive large FSVs

gas carriers

27 Trips and slips in the dash for gas 30 Gas turbines renew challenge for power

yard profile

33 HHI builds its LNG reputation

45

Gas turbines hold their place in naval programmes (credit: Rolls-Royce)

repair & maintenance

35 First gas-fuelled retrofit to go ahead 36 Oman to boost LNG repair skills; Damen’s Brest yard extends LNGC bookings

environment

39 MHI hails its LNGC’s environmental merits; LNG project awaits environmental report

steam turbines

41 Steam turbines retain niche LNGC market 42 Kawasaki offers steam turbine and diesel options

gas turbines

45 Compact power for warships 46 GE’s LM500 for Korean patrol boats 48 Vericor targets fast naval and passenger craft

80

Patrick Verhoeven (ECSA): will shippers pay for green shipping? (credit: ECSA)

www.mpropulsion.com

cryogenic engineering

50 Finalising the LNG bunkering rulebook 51 US fast-tracks LNG-powered ships Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 1

contents history

April/May 2014 volume 36 issue 2

57 Victaulic traces its roots back to World War I

CIMAC at Marintec

Executive Editor: Paul Gunton t: +44 20 8370 7003 e: paul.gunton@rivieramm.com

59 Driving system integration is key to efficiency

generators & switchgear

62 Drive towards better shaft generators 63 Lloyd’s approves medium voltage switchgear 64 Loop system beats short circuits; Shore power connects in minutes 66 Aggreko gains RINA certification; First marine contract for PM specialist

thrusters

68 Azimuth thrusters approach half century; Schottel’s hybrid debut 69 Special service speeds up repairs 70 Wärtsilä overhauls thrusters ranges; pushing through the ice 72 Sensing problems saves cash

waterjets

Contributing Editor: Doug Woodyard t: +44 20 8650 1573 e: doug.woodyard@rivieramm.com Sales Manager: Rob Gore t: +44 20 8370 7007 e: rob.gore@rivieramm.com Sales: Jo Lewis t: +44 20 8370 7793 e: jo.lewis@rivieramm.com Head of Sales - Asia: Kym Tan t: +65 9456 3165 e: kym.tan@rivieramm.com Production Manager: Richard Neighbour t: +44 20 8370 7013 e: richard.neighbour@rivieramm.com

72 Jets tailor thrust for niche markets 73 Rolls-Royce’s Kamewa serves a broad market 76 Crewboats extend waterjet references

Circulation Manager: Joanne Collett t: +44 20 8370 7795 e: joanne.collett@rivieramm.com

marine propulsion awards

78 Marine Propulsion's readers and staff vote for the publication's first annual awards

NOx & SOx control

80 NOx and SOx control are high in the emissions-control agenda 81 Repeat orders roll in for scrubbers 82 Meeting Tier III; Japan joins the scrubber club 84 IMO compromises on NOx

heat exchangers

87 GEA backs German green initiative; Icebreaker gets new heat exchangers 88 Corrosion forces heat exchanger exchange; Heat exchanger vital for scrubber 90 Understanding cargo heating is urgent; Wärtsilä develops evaporator for LNG fuel

condition & performance monitoring

92 Sensor networks enhance ship performance 93 Data can improve key indicators 94 Vibration monitoring via satellite; infrared sensor checks fuel quality 95 Co-operation will enhance performance monitoring; SDARI updates ‘Dolphin’ concept

Korean Representative: Chang Hwa Park Far East Marketing Inc t: +82 2730 1234 e: chpark@unitel.co.kr e: chpark@unitel.co.kr

Japanese Representative: Shigeo Fujii Shinano Co., Ltd. t: +81 335 846 420 e: scp@bunkoh.com Chairman: John Labdon Managing Director: Steve Labdon Editorial Director: Steve Matthews Finance Director: Cathy Labdon Acting Head of Production: Marco Di Paola Executive Editor: Paul Gunton Group Sales Manager: Bill Cochrane Published by: Riviera Maritime Media Ltd Mitre House 66 Abbey Road Enfield EN1 2QN UK

Helios conference

96 EU project supports two-stroke LNG programme www.rivieramm.com ISSN 2051-056X

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©2014 Riviera Maritime Media Ltd

Ship type: OSVs Features: marine engineering in Japan; compressors; automation & control systems; dynamic positioning; steering gear & rudders; oil water separators; ballast water treatment; deck machinery

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April/May 2014 • The journal of ships’ engineering systems

ZF IS PROPULSION. ZF Marine Propulsion Systems supplies a complete line of commercial transmissions, thrusters, propellers and control systems. www.zf.com/marine

See our latest innovations at SMM Hamburg, Hall A3, booth A3.215 9 – 12 Sept. 2014

238 047 rzMP_AM_210x214_V2.indd 1

“There is a lot of talk about shippers demanding ‘green’ transport, but are they also willing to pay for it?”

Patrick Verhoeven, secretary general, of the European Community Shipowners Association

17.04.14 15:52

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comment

Paul Gunton

A

Which way is the wind blowing?

s this issue goes to press, IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) has just finished its 66th session, during which it addressed an impressive range of topics – from ship recycling to the impact of underwater noise on marine life. But most eyes – certainly among Marine Propulsion readers – were on two topics: ballast water treatment and emissions.

Ballast water management presented the bigger surprise of the two. After the IMO Assembly had agreed in November to a proposal from last May’s MEPC meeting of a revised timetable that flag states could adopt, it was thought that this would be enough to persuade more of them to ratify the Ballast Water Management Convention (BWMC). There was even talk before the meeting that a number of states – principally in Asia – were planning to ratify it simultaneously, thus bringing it up to the gross tonnage target without any single state being seen as the one that took it across the line.

In the event, no new signatories emerged and the total tonnage remains at 30.38 per cent of the global fleet – 4.62 per cent short. This is not good news for the environment, as alien species continue to be carried around the globe, largely unimpeded. Nor is it good news for BWTS manufacturers.

There can be few industry sectors that offer a choice of 70 systems and this cannot be viable, even when the convention is in force and shipowners rush to fit them. Many manufacturers had hung their hats on the expectation that the BWMC would come into force in the near future, so the indecision shown by MEPC 66 may begin a shake-out in the ballast water treatment sector.

While some were focused on what comes into the bottom of a ship, others were worried about what comes out of the top.

They, at least, had a little more to cheer about.

Many had expected that last year’s surprise proposal from Russia to delay introduction of the Tier III NOx levels to 2021 would be confirmed, but it seems that some serious behindthe-scenes lobbying had gone on in the interim. The outcome is a complicated compromise, which is explained in detail in this issue’s feature about SOx and NOx control.

The new timetable that was adopted as an amendment to Marpol Annex VI does include the 2021 construction deadline, but only for vessels of less than 500gt, of 24m or over in length, which have been specifically designed, and are only used, for recreational purposes: in other words, superyachts – a decision that will surely be welcomed in a number of dachas.

The compromise appears to have been worked out during

www.mpropulsion.com

MEPC itself and I share the concern of some representatives at the meeting that this was a bit hasty. It is often said that IMO moves too slowly but that does not mean that moving fast is always the better option. Besides, what is IMO, apart from the sum of its members? If they believe it moves too slowly, it is in their hands to speed things up by, for example, ratifying and bringing into force conventions that clearly benefit the global marine environment. The BWMC springs to mind.

One region that will be pleased that the 2021-based timetable has been downgraded is the EU. While not having a seat at IMO, EU members often coordinate their views in IMO debates and there was talk ahead of MEPC that a number of EU members would pull together to vote down the Russian proposal. In the event, I understand that some key states would not play ball; they did not have to.

But EU bureaucrats – like their counterparts in the USA – have a significant role in global shipping policy. One organisation that recognises this is the European Community Shipowners Associations (ECSA) which hosted a lunch in the European Parliament in early April, bringing together industry leaders such as Niels Smedegaard, CEO of DFDS, David Dingle, CEO of Carnival UK and Philippe Louis Dreyfus, president of Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, with European Commission officials, including its vice-president Siim Kallas.

T

he summary that ECSA has published does not suggest that either side made much progress. The shipowners put forward commercial arguments – implementing the European SECA is an “own goal” by regulators, said Mr Smedegaard, as its effects will force companies to close financially struggling shipping routes. Mr Kallas’s response was mostly environmental, saying that it would be to the benefit of the EU and shipowners alike to find a global solution for the reduction of CO2 emissions, although he did assure his hosts that “we want EU shipping to prosper so that it can serve a flexible and dynamic European economy.”

And that is the dilemma: the arguments for such things as ballast water treatment and emissions control are environmental. They are necessary, but solutions do not come cheap. The arguments against are commercial: they will cost the industry millions for no financial gain.

We should take a long-term perspective: it is inevitable that these measures will come into effect and that there will be a price to pay – not just by shipping companies, but by society as those costs are absorbed into the market. Let’s get on with it. MP

Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 5

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速

digest

Brittany Ferries goes for gas

in brief...

• IACS member Korean Register (KR) has created a mobile app containing all of IMO’s conventions. It is based on the class society’s KR-CON database program which contains the full up-todate texts of all IMO conventions, codes, resolutions and circulars.

Brittany Ferries’ LNG-fuelled ferry will be bunkered by a dedicated barge operation (credit: Brittany Ferries/STX France) The world’s largest gas-fuelled ropax fleet will emerge following a decision by France’s Brittany Ferries to commit to gas fuelling for the long term.

It currently has a newbuilding on order at STX France that will be one of the largest LNG-powered ropaxes yet, with a passenger capacity of 2,475 and space for 800 cars. The ferry operator is converting three other ships and the rest of its fleet will be fitted with scrubbers but will eventually be replaced by LNG-fuelled newbuildings.

The projects are being overseen by Bureau Veritas (BV). Jean Jacques Juenet, BV’s manager for passenger ships, underlined the importance of having assured bunkering arrangements in place. “With a clear picture of the economics and safety issues and certainty about the fuel supply, Brittany Ferries was able to take the crucial decision to adapt to new emissions rules by making a full switch to gas power,” he said.

A risk analysis carried out by BV together with its consultancy subsidiary Tecnitas supported Brittany Ferries’ decision to switch part of its fleet to gas fuel.

Bunkering arrangements played an important role in the newbuilding’s design.

BV explained that it will utilise Gaztransport

et Technigaz (GTT) membrane tank technology for the gas containment, providing greater capacity and thus an extended period between bunkering operations. It will be the first ferry anywhere to use a membrane gas fuel tank.

In an interview with BV’s VeriStar News newsletter, Frédéric Pouget, Britany Ferries’ group maritime, port and operations director, said that the ship will have a tank capacity of 1,350m3. “And we intend that bunkering of LNG will be no more frequent than it is now for HFO.” At the time of writing, the ferry company was working with suppliers to set up an LNG barge operation that would provide bunkers to the various ports it serves at the same or lower price than HFO. No confirmation was available as to which gas supplier will secure this contract but sources mentioned GDF Suez as a possible supplier. GDF Suez did not respond to a request to comment on these reports. It has, however, said that it sees LNG bunkering as a new market, prompted by the demand that will emerge from EU environmental directives, and it is developing a design for an LNG bunker tanker.

E-course tackles energy efficiency German shipping company E R Schiffahrt has rolled out the DNV GL e-learning course Energy Efficiency on Board across its entire fleet of 125 container ships, bulk carriers and offshore vessels. It is the first company to do so.

The course, which is designed to help operators to improve the energy efficiency of their onboard systems, was jointly developed

by DNV GL and E R Schiffahrt as part of a pilot project. The e-learning course will be www.mpropulsion.com

offered via the DNV GL Maritime Academy to the shipowner’s captains and chief engineers to help them improve energy use through targeted measures.

These include optimising trim and ballast, looking for savings offered by propellers and rudders, and improving route planning. The course identifies where each measure can be introduced and implemented and how great the potential energy savings can be.

Kathrin Stürzekarn, team leader at ›››

• Carnival Corp is likely to have scrubbers on at least 20 ships by the end of the year. Trials on Queen Victoria helped Carnival to obtain waivers from the US Environmental Protection Agency and from Transport Canada, to exempt it from the requirement to use low sulphur fuel in the North American emissions control area (ECA) from next year.

• DNV GL has increased its stake in StormGeo, a global provider of weather data. It is the second biggest shareholder after EQT Mid Market, which has bought majority ownership from private equity group Reiten & Co and Norwegian broadcaster TV2. EQT will enter into a partnership with DNV GL and StormGeo’s management and employee shareholders.

• Rolls-Royce has launched a new Series 1600 MTU-branded genset. It is based on a six-cylinder Series 1600 inline engine delivering up to 323kW output and is compliant with IMO Tier II and EPA Tier 3 regulations.

• Damen Song Cam, a new Vietnamese shipyard that is a joint venture between Damen Shipyards Group and local shipbuilder Song Cam, opened in March.

It is one of the largest in the Damen group and is Damen’s first formal joint venture yard in Vietnam.

• Class NK has classed its first USflagged ship, the oil/chemical tanker SLNC Pax, owned by Schuyler Line Navigation Co. • French group navigation satellite specialist Orolia – best known for its McMurdo brand electronic and safety equipment – and the Transas Group are to jointly develop e-maritime systems that integrate maritime domain awareness and search and rescue functionality.

Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 7

digest

›››

the DNV GL Maritime Academy in Germany, said that the course was designed specifically for E R Schiffahrt’s requirements.

“A team of developers explored the specific

elements of onboard operations, as well as the opportunities available by changing crew behaviour and optimising how equipment is used on board,” she said.

diary see us at...

Wärtsilä predicts new approach to maintenance Modern communications and sophisticated monitoring systems allow a different approach to onboard maintenance, believes Wärtsilä.

In a webinar in March, it outlined how more, and better, data could be analysed to provide better condition-based maintenance regimes and to improve the information that is available to ships’ engineers and to Wärtsilä’s maintenance staff.

It is working on a number of initiatives, including a ‘remote virtual engineer’ concept.

This would allow a shore-based engineer to

support a ship’s engineer to resolve a problem in real time with visual and audio support.

Speaking to Marine Propulsion, Guido Barbazza, director of field services at Wärtsilä, said that development of the virtual engineer is at the advanced testing phase. The first priority, however, is to connect machinery wirelessly on board to provide the engineer with real-time reliable data. He described this as a challenge in an engineroom environment.

• A full article about Wärtsilä’s concepts will be published in the June/July issue of Marine Propulsion.

ABB to maintain Van Oord’s turbochargers ABB has signed a three-year international maintenance contract with Dutch dredging contractor Van Oord to service 140 turbochargers. The expectation is that this will reduce failure rates and lead to fewer repairs, resulting in cost savings.

The agreement’s main focus is to ensure that Van Oord’s fleet is available as much as possible with minimal downtime and low CO2 emissions, ABB said in a statement. “The

agreement reflects the new Van Oord strategy, in which we want to be sustainable and an economical fleet manager,” said Jaap de Jong, the operator’s shipmanagement director.

Rolf Bosma, general manager of ABB Turbocharging for Benelux, said that a number of services had been combined into a package.

“We tailored the planning for each location and vessel, so that Van Oord will be able to budget very precisely,” he said. MP

Turbochargers in Van Oord’s dredgers will be serviced by ABB (credit: Van Oord)

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are

on the agenda

Passenger safety to dominate MSC 93 Looking beyond IMO’s recent Marine Environment Protection Committee meeting (MEPC 66) and the developments from it to be progressed further at the committee’s next session in October, the next big event on the IMO calendar will be te Maritime Safety Committee’s 93rd meeting, to be held on 14-23 May. The agenda item almost guaranteed to generate most interest will be the subject of passenger ship safety where the continuing saga of recommendations from the Costa Concordia tragedy will continue to play out.

On the subject of passenger ship safety, the insurance company Allianz Global Corporate and Speciality makes an ominous prediction in its Safety and Shipping Review 2014 publication.

In the opening executive summary, Allianz says: “More than two years after the Costa Concordia disaster, improving passenger

ship safety continues to be a priority with a particular focus on services in Asia, where quality standards can be an issue. 2014 is likely to see the 100th loss of a passenger vessel since 2002. It is a sobering reminder that so many vessels and so many lives have been lost in such a short period and although many of the vessels were on domestic services and not subject to Solas rules and regulations, the attention of the marine industry certainly seems to have been focused in the wrong area for most of the 21st Century.

Other agenda items that are sure to generate interest are lifeboat servicing, maintenance and training requirements, matters relating to dangerous goods and the bulk code and the further developments in the drafting and making mandatory the IMO Polar Code. This last item in particular will conceivably have ramifications for propulsion

Koji Sekimizu (IMO): “Are we doing any better in our mission to enhance the safety of passenger ships?” (credit: IMO)

Is another ocean governing body needed?

“Governance is critical – our seas are in trouble for want of governance. But good governance is difficult to forge – not least in the high seas, where there is little formal jurisdiction. The sustainable use of our seas is equally essential – and intimately linked, of course, to better governance”. So reads the introduction to The Economist magazine’s World Ocean Summit held, in San Francisco in February.

Provocative possibly but not apparently of great interest to ship operators and engineers except that Masamichi Morooka, chairman of the Internaional Chamber of Shipping (ICS) was among the panel for the opening debate and was compelled to remind delegates calling for a new governing body for the oceans to be established by the UN that, as far as shipping goes, one already exists in the shape of the IMO. www.mpropulsion.com

Morooka said that IMO’s Marpol Convention on pollution prevention has contributed significantly to the dramatic

The World Ocean Summit heard that “our seas are in trouble for want of governance” (credit: Blancpain)

requirements and the already mandatory EEDI. One person taking a special interest in the discussions at MSC 93 will be IMO secretarygeneral Koji Sekimizu who said as much when addressing the new Sub-Committee on Ship Design and Construction on 20 January this year. That meeting marked the centenary of the adoption of the very first Solas, which came about as a reaction to the Titanic disaster.

Commenting on the Titanic and Costa Concordia incidents, Mr Sekimizu asked: “We all know the discussions at the MSC and development over the last two years and still we have not finalised this very important issue. In comparison with our great great grandfathers’ generation, 100 years ago, are we doing any better in our mission to enhance the safety of passenger ships?”

Referring to the debate at the coming Maritime Safety Committee on the issue of safety of large passenger ships, he said: “If we, at the MSC, cannot take action, I can tell you with confidence that nobody on this planet can take action and therefore the stakes are high for the discussion at the MSC in May.” After MSC 93, there will be a session of the IMO Council in June followed later in the summer by the initial meetings of three more of the new sub-committees established in last year’s restructuring of the IMO. At the end of June it will be the inaugural meeting of the new Sub-Committee on Navigation, Communications and Search and Rescue (NCSR), followed in July by the Sub-Committee on Implementation of IMO Instruments (III) and in September the Sub-Committee on Carriage of Cargo and Containers (CCC) will meet for the first time. reduction in oil pollution from ships despite massive growth in maritime trade. “Marpol also addresses sulphur emissions and the reduction of CO2 from global shipping, the only global deal on CO2 emissions of its kind developed for a whole industrial sector. This will reduce CO2 from ships by 20 per cent by 2020 with further reductions going forward,” he told the conference.

The ICS chairman’s defence of the IMO was well considered but the organisation he leads was compelled to issue a statement saying, “If however – as has been suggested at the summit – a new body for ocean governance was eventually established, alongside the IMO, to deal with nonshipping issues, such as fishing and ocean acidification, ICS believes this would be best delivered without a radical overhaul ››› Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 11

on the agenda

›››

of UNCLOS with its carefully agreed balance between the rights of nations.” One observer commented to Marine Propulsion after the event that much of the UN’s current agenda “seems to be determined by environmentalist organisations, so there must be a concern that the supposedly non-shipping matters might include seabed mining and even deep sea oil and gas extraction.” If that were to occur, he argued, “that would impact upon the number and type of offshore ships that would be needed and might even lead to the IMO losing the authority to determine matters currently covered by Marpol.”

He expressed concern that, while “the present system at the IMO is not perfect, it is at least led in the main by the interests of the shipping industry. Were that situation to change, the impact on shipping in matters such as ballast water treatment and exhaust emissions might become much more onerous and expensive than it already is.”

MRV is alive and kicking A disagreement between the European Commission and the European Parliament over the scope and timing of monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) of CO2 emissions from shipping, could see more ships and NOx brought into the EU scheme and an earlier start date.

The original proposals from the European Commission last June proposed that a directive covering monitoring of CO2 emissions should be adopted in 2015 and in force from 2018. Under it, all vessels over 5,000gt would be obliged to report emissions based on bunker consumption verified by bunker delivery notes, but the European Parliament has sought to impose more stringent conditions including mandatory monitoring equipment installed on all ships.

In late January, members of the European Parliament’s Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) committee agreed on a compromise position that lays the foundation for a global measure to reduce CO2 emissions from international shipping. The compromise position adopted by the European Parliament essentially enlarges the scope of the initial commission proposal for an EU law on the matter. According to the European Parliament, the MRV system should not only monitor CO2 but also NOx and the threshold should be lowered from 5,000gt to 400gt. The parliament also wants the adoption date brought forward to this summer.

A statement by the European Community Shipowners' Associations (ECSA) issued after the parliament’s decision said that the EU might actually be undermining its own efforts to pave the way for an agreement on CO2 at the IMO. “We realise that the position taken by the European Parliament is a basis for 12 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

MOL Comfort report expected soon A final report on the loss of the MOL Comfort, the five-year old, 8,110 teu container ship that broke in half and sank last year, is expected to be made in August, according to a statement made in March by the ship’s class society, Japan’s ClassNK. It led the Committee on Large Container Ship Safety set up last August by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport & Tourism in response to the casualty and which produced an interim report that was released last December; with an English version released in March.

In addition to compiling the results of the Committee’s investigation, the Interim Report also proposed future tasks for investigation and analysis. In order to carry out these tasks, ClassNK established a new Investigative Panel on Large Container Ship Safety which is chaired by Professor Yoichi Sumi of Yokohama National University, and composed of leading experts from shipowners, shipbuilders, and

academic institutions.

The first session of the Panel was held on 21 February and the members agreed to carry out the following course of action: • Investigate the possibility of casualty occurrence; • Conduct onboard measurements of container ships in operation in order to verify actual hull structure responses and acting wave loads; • Consider and examine large container ship safety.

The panel plans to meet numerous times over the coming months to evaluate the investigative and analysis work and expects to release its findings by the end of August. The results will also be reported to the Committee on Large Container Ship Safety.

In a separate development, IACS has established a new project team to address large container ship safety, which also began working in February and is also chaired by ClassNK. • Read the interim report via www.tinyurl.com/MOLC-rep

negotiation with the Council of Ministers” said Patrick Verhoeven , ECSA secretary general.

“We are however concerned about several of the contents, namely the inclusion of other emissions and the lowered threshold to 400gt, which might prove to be an obstacle for a speedy agreement at IMO level.”

ECSA’s concerns over the inclusion of NOx stems from the fact that, unlike CO2, NOx cannot be calculated from fuel consumption alone and continuous monitoring would require a capital outlay on expensive equipment.

“EU member states have however given a clear political signal that any solution to curb global CO2 emissions must result from an international agreement at IMO level” added Mr Verhoeven, referring to a joint submission to the IMO Marine Environment Protection

Committee, made by the EU member states and the European Commission, which proposes the key elements for a system to collect data on CO2 emissions and energy efficiency of ships.

In March, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) organised a seminar In Ålesund, Norway for senior officials of maritime administrations where it explained that it supports a global system, provided that the mechanism is simple to administer, is primarily based on fuel consumption and that the system itself will not be used for the development of a full blown market-based measure.

ICS’ director of external relations, Simon Bennett, said: “ICS believes that the question of whether IMO should eventually develop a mandatory system of energy indexing for existing ships – to which ICS is currently opposed – should be left open until after a mandatory CO2 emissions reporting system has been established.”

Mr Bennett went on to say that the successful development of a global system will require the support of all IMO member states, including nations such as China. To make progress and discourage regional regulation he thought the MEPC should initially focus on how information about emissions should be collected before launching into detailed discussions about efficiency indexing of ships, on which there is little global consensus. “If they so wish, IMO member states can always return to the question of ship indexing once a CO2 monitoring system has been established,” he said.

Referring to the EU discussions, Mr Bennett remarked: “It is unfortunate that the debate has been complicated by the parallel proposal from the European Commission for a unilateral regional system of CO2 reporting. MP

Simon Bennett (ICS): “It is unfortunate that the debate has been complicated by the parallel proposal from the European Commission” (credit: ICS)

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briefing

Setting a new performance standard The ISO is developing a standard for hull and propeller performance.

Geir Axel Oftedahl, business development director for hull performance solutions at Jotun and project manager for the standard’s working group, explains why

What is the aim and scope of ISO 19030?

The aim of this standard is to recommend practical methods for measuring changes in ship specific hull and propeller performance, to the industry for use on a voluntary basis.

What is hull and propeller performance and why is it important?

Hull and propeller performance refers to the relationship between the condition of a ship’s underwater hull and propeller and the power required to move the ship through water.

Measurements of changes in hull and propeller performance over time make it possible to determine the impact of hull and propeller related maintenance, repair and retrofit activities on the fuel efficiency of the ship in question.

How did the project start?

In a submission to IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) in February 2012, (MEPC63-4-8), the Norway-based environmental organisation the Bellona Foundation – as a part of the Clean Shipping Coalition and in cooperation with Jotun – called for a transparent and reliable standard for measuring changes in hull and propeller performance.

In the submission it was estimated that the potential for fuel cost and greenhouse gas emission reductions related to improvements in hull and propeller performance was between 7 and 10 per cent across the world fleet. This translates into around 0.3 per cent of all man-made carbon emissions and US$30 billion in fuel costs.

When will the standard be available?

Work on the standard was initiated in June 2013 and the target date for submission of a Draft International Standard is December 2014. Once a Draft International Standard has www.mpropulsion.com

This propeller upgrade by MAN Diesel & Turbo’s PrimeServ division reduced fuel consumption for this dredger. The ISO standard will define how such changes can be measured (credit: MAN Diesel & Turbo) been finalised, continued efforts undertaken to secure involvement from the industry every step of the way should pay off, and the June 2016 deadline set by ISO for final approval of ISO 19030 could be met.

How will it affect me?

ISO 19030 will make it possible to accurately determine the impact of hull and propeller related maintenance, repair and retrofit activities on the fuel efficiency of the ship in question.

This can in turn be used to learn from actions taken in the past and to make better decisions for tomorrow. The standard will also make it possible for buyers and suppliers of technologies and solutions aimed at improving hull and propeller performance to enter into performance based contracts based on a contractually acceptable measurement methodology.

Who is involved?

Svend Søyland from the Bellona Foundation has been elected the convener of the working group and Geir Axel Oftedahl from Jotun has been appointed project manager.

There are currently more than 50 experts and observers, representing shipowners, shipping associations, newbuild yards, coatings manufacturers, performance monitoring companies, academic institutions, class societies and non-governmental organisations in the ISO working group tasked with reaching consensus on a draft standard. Additional industry

stakeholders have and will continue to be consulted as a part of this process. IMO’s MEPC is being updated on progress on a regular basis.

The work is being undertaken within ISO’s Technical Committee (TC) 8, which deals with ships and marine technology, whose SubCommittee (SC) 2 is concerned with marine environment protection. This project team forms SC 2’s Working Group 7. Two-thirds of the 14 participating member (P-member) bodies of ISO TC 8/SC 2 have to approve the draft before it is submitted as a final Draft International Standard for consideration by all ISO member bodies.

What about other drivers of ship efficiency?

The scope of ISO 19030 is limited to hull and propeller performance only and does not cover, for example, engine, fuel quality and navigation. However, the work that goes into standardising a method for accurately isolating hull and propeller from the other drivers of ship efficiency should make it easier to standardise similar measurability for those, as well.

How can I get involved in developing the standard?

Experts and observers are appointed by the 14 P-member bodies of ISO TC8/SC2. If you are an expert in a relevant field and want to contribute you can contact either the convener (svend@bellona. no) or project manager (geir.axel.oftedahl@jotun. no) for relevant contact details. MP Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 15

enginebuilder profile

LNGCs primed 50DF engine sales surge A dominant status in LNG carrier propulsion has been secured by Wärtsilä’s 500mm-bore medium speed dual-fuel engine, whose environmental merits are increasingly appreciated in other sectors

by Doug Woodyard

A

pioneer in applying dual-fuel technology to marine engines, Wärtsilä continually extends its references in diverse arenas with a programme embracing 20DF, 34DF and 50DF medium speed designs.

With respective bore sizes of 200mm, 340mm and 500mm, these engines cover an output range from 1,000kW to 17.5MW to target a wide range of shipping and offshore propulsion and genset market opportunities.

Over 1,000 Wärtsilä DF engines delivered

by October last year had accumulated more than 7 million operating hours, 50DF models forming the electric power stations of LNG carriers accounting for a significant number of these installations.

Other references include the new P-63 FPSO vessel entering service offshore Brazil, whose 50DF machinery is the first to exploit gas-fuelled engines in producing more than 100MWe; the plant can run on treated well gas or treated crude as well as on marine diesel oil.

Non-offshore shipping applications of 50DF machinery include Viking Grace, a 57,000gt/2,800passenger Baltic cruiseferry delivered last year

by STX Europe to Viking Line. The twin-screw propulsion plant of the world’s first LNG-fuelled passenger vessel is based on a quartet of eightcylinder L50DF engines.

A recent contract calls for Wärtsilä to supply eight 50DF engines for converting Totem Ocean’s two Orca-class roro cargo ships, Midnight Sun and North Star, to LNG-fuelled electric propulsion.

The vessels transport around one-third of all the goods required by the inhabitants of Alaska, including food, vehicles and construction material, between Tacoma and Anchorage.

Each vessel will be retrofitted with four V12cylinder 50DF-driven gensets capable of running on either natural gas, marine diesel or heavy fuel oil. Wärtsilä will additionally supply two 1,100m3 LNG fuel storage tanks and associated

www.mpropulsion.com

automation and fuel gas handling systems.

Wärtsilä’s DF technology was launched in the early 1990s for land-based power plant applications, the first marine 50DF installation following a decade later. LNG carriers were a special target, such tonnage exploiting the capability of the engine to burn cargo boil-off gas as well as marine diesel and heavy fuel oils, switching between the fuel modes without disrupting power generation.

Electric power stations based on 50DF engines became favoured for LNG carrier propulsion, breaking the steam turbine’s dominant grip when the first DF-electric tonnage was contracted in 2002. By the end of 2006 over 200 such engines were on order or in service with an aggregate rating of almost 2,000MW for 52 LNG carriers.

The first three of these LNGCs – Provalys, Gaz de France energY and Gaselys – were delivered to French owner Gaz de France by Chantiers de l’Atantique (now STX France) from end-2006 into 2007. Later in 2007 saw the handover of a fourth 50DF-driven LNGC, BP Shipping’s British Emerald, from Hyundai Heavy Industries.

Different quadruple-engine/single-screw configurations were selected for these ships, depending on their size and operational requirements. Gaz de France energY, a 75,000m3 MedMax class carrier, is powered by a plant comprising four L6-cylinder 50DF-driven main gensets with a total output of 22.8MW. The 155,000m3 Provalys, Gaselys and British Emerald all tap an aggregate power rating of

Provalys pioneered Wärtsilä 50DF-electric power in LNG carriers

39.9MW; the two French-built vessels, however, each feature packages based on one L6-cylinder and three V12-cylinder 50DF genset engines, while British Emerald deploys two V12- and two L9-cylinder models.

Similar or variations of these machinery layouts were specified for subsequent LNGC projects using 50DF-electric solutions. By midFebruary this year the LNGC reference list embraced 141 ships/567 engines.

Production of 50DF engines was initially assigned to Wärtsilä’s facility in Trieste, Italy, but demand stimulated investment in a dedicated new factory at Mokpo in South Korea, whose yards were building most of the new generation LNG carriers. The 50:50 joint venture WärtsiläHyundai Engine Company (WHEC) came on stream in 2008 with the planned annual capacity to produce 100-120 x 50DF engines.

WHEC remained the main source of 50DF engine production as LNGC building projects proliferated in Asia, with Trieste acting as a buffer supply.

Developed from Wärtsilä’s successful 460mm-bore W46 medium speed diesel engine, the 50DF has a bore of 500mm and a stroke of 580mm. Running on either natural gas, marine diesel oil or heavy fuel oil – with seamless switching facilitated between them – the design delivers an output of 950/975 kW per cylinder at 500/514 rpm for 50Hz and 60Hz electricity generation respectively; offered in six, eight, and nine in-line and V12, 16 and 18-cylinder

enginebuilder profile

variants, the series covers a power range from 5,500kW to 17.55MW. In gas mode, with fuel supplied at a low pressure (less than 5 bar at the engine inlet), the engine operates according to the lean-burn Otto process. The mixture of air and gas in the cylinder contains more air than is needed for complete combustion – typically a 2.2:1 ratio – which lowers peak temperatures and hence NOx emissions. A higher compression ratio is also facilitated, raising engine efficiency and further reducing emissions.

The fuel system is divided into three elements: for gas, back-up fuel oil and pilot fuel oil.

Gas is admitted into the air inlet channels of the individual cylinders during the intake stroke to create a lean, premixed air-gas mixture in the combustion chambers. Reliable ignition of the mixture is secured by injecting a small quantity of diesel oil directly into the combustion chamber as pilot fuel which ignites by compression ignition as in a conventional diesel engine.

Micro-pilot ignition injection is exploited, such that less than 1 per cent of the overall fuel energy is required as liquid fuel at nominal load. Pilot fuel oil is delivered via a common rail system based on an engine-mounted high pressure pump supplying the fuel to every injection valve at around 900 bar. The injection valves are of twin-needle design, with the pilot fuel needle electronically controlled by the engine control system.

Electronic control closely regulates the pilot injection system and air-gas ratio to keep each cylinder at its correct operating point between the ‘knock’ and misfiring limits; this, Wärtsilä explained, is the key factor in achieving reliable operation in gas mode: automatically tuning the engine to match varying conditions.

Securing the highest efficiency and lowest emissions, each cylinder is individually controlled to ensure operation at the correct airfuel ratio, with the correct amount and timing of pilot fuel injection. Both gas admission and pilot fuel injection are electronically controlled and engine functions are controlled by an advanced automation system allowing optimum running conditions to be set independently of the ambient conditions or fuel type.

The global air-fuel ratio is controlled by a wastegate valve which allows some of the exhaust gases to bypass the turbine of the turbocharger, ensuring that the ratio is correct regardless of changing ambient conditions, such as temperature.

Starting is normally executed in diesel mode, using both main diesel and pilot fuel. Gas admission is activated when combustion is stable in all cylinders.

When running in gas mode, the engine automatically switches over to diesel fuel operation if the gas feed is interrupted or component failure occurs. The switchover takes less than a second and has no effect on engine 18 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

Arrangement of the four V12-cylinder 50DF-driven gensets specified to convert Totem Ocean’s Orca-class roro ships to gas burning; Wärtsilä is also supplying the associated LNGPac fuel handling systems

A V18-cylinder version of the 50DF engine, used in electric power stations of LNG carriers speed and load during the process.

In diesel mode the engine works according to the normal diesel concept using a jerk pump fuel injection system. Diesel fuel is injected at high pressure into the combustion chamber just before top dead centre. Gas admission is deactivated but the pilot fuel remains activated to ensure reliable pilot fuel injection when the engine is transferred back to gas operation.

Transfer from diesel to gas running is a more gradual process than gas to diesel mode; the diesel fuel supply is slowly reduced while the amount of gas admitted is increased. The effect on engine speed and load fluctuation during transfer to gas is reportedly minimal.

Lean combustion enables a high compression ratio, which in turn increases engine efficiency

and reduces peak temperatures, thereby fostering lower NOx emissions. The environmental merits of LNG-fuelled engines are particularly valued for operations in NOx and SOx emissionssensitive regions.

In gas mode, the 50DF engine’s NOx emissions are said to be at least 85 per cent below those specified in IMO Tier II regulations, while carbon dioxide emissions are some 25 per cent less than those of a conventional marine engine running on diesel fuel. Furthermore, SOx and particulate matter emissions are negligible at almost zero per cent.

• Wärtsilä has now extended its choice of dualfuel medium speed engines with the introduction of a 46DF model, a gas-burning derivative of the successful 460mm-bore diesel design. MP www.mpropulsion.com

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two stroke engines

EcoCam cuts fuel consumption on MC engines A

20 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

• The low load operating capability of MAN B&W engines is also improved by slide fuel valves, which are standard on all new engines and retrofittable to MC engines in service. By mid-2013 some 20,000 valves had been retrofitted to enhance fuel economy and environmental performance.

A slide fuel valve eliminates the sac volume associated with conventional valves, lowering fuel consumption and eliminating dripping from the valve nozzle; NOx emission reduction potential is also cited. The reduced sac volume leads to an improved combustion process, resulting in fewer deposits throughout the gasways and a reduction in overall emissions, such as HC, NOx and particulate matter; additionally, visible smoke conditions are greatly reduced.

An advantage is also reported for slide fuel valves in engines running in slow steaming mode; an improved low load performance has benefits with respect to soot formation. The need to run at high rpm to clean exhaust channels is reduced or eliminated.

Replacing standard fuel valves with slide valves is straightforward, said MAN Diesel & Turbo, and can be carried out by ship staff after instruction or by MAN PrimeServ.

The benefits are summarised as: improved low load performance; better combustion; reduced fouling of gasways, exhaust gas boiler and piston top land; no sac volume/no drips; less visible smoke formation; and lower emissions of HC, NOx and PM. MP

EXHAUST VALVE OPENING DIAGRAMS FOR STANDARD CAM AND MAN ECOCAM

mm Lift

retrofit solution for mechanicallycontrolled MAN B&W MC low speed engines with single turbochargers is now offered by MAN Diesel & Turbo to optimise low load operation. Fuel savings of 2-5 g/kWh with short payback times are promised by MAN EcoCam as well as an increased Pmax cylinder pressure through adjustable exhaust valve timing.

“Slow steaming is now an established industry standard across all segments, including the tanker and bulker markets,” explains MAN Diesel & Turbo’s head of retrofit and upgrade, Christian Ludwig. “We continuously seek to further refine our technology and improve efficiency,” he said.

“The MAN EcoCam adjusts the exhaust valve timing between 10 and 60 per cent load, giving a 2-5 g/kWh fuel saving with minimalto-no interruption to a vessel’s schedule during installation," said Mr Ludwig.”

MAN EcoCam is based on a flexible cam profile, termed a virtual cam, which is controlled hydraulically by adjusting the amount of actuator oil in the hydraulic pushrod. Thoroughly tested, the system is initially rolling out on a number of 500mm-bore MAN B&W S50MC-C engines but will be progressively introduced to the mid- and large-bore programme.

Low-load tuning has an impact on torsional vibration and NOx emissions. When a low-load tuning method is installed on an engine, the torsional vibration impact and NOx level must be taken into account to ensure that the engine is not harmed and that NOx emissions comply with IMO requirements, the designer explained. MAN EcoCam customers are supported by a new torsional vibration calculation and NOx amendment.

Two independent testbed installations and a shipboard trial have reportedly verified the fuel consumption reduction effect.

Earlier closure of the exhaust valve yields a higher compression pressure, thereby delivering a higher combustion pressure and lower fuel consumption. Flexible exhaust valve timing has traditionally only been available on electronicallycontrolled engines.

A typical fuel saving in the 2-5 g/kWh range (depending on the engine load profile) from the EcoCam can underwrite a system payback period of as little as 18 months for smaller engines, such as a six-cylinder S50MC-C model with 6,000 annual running hours.

Standard Cam MAN EcoCam

50

75

100

125

150

175

200

225

250

275

300

Crank Angle

REDUCED FUEL CONSUMPTION AS A FUNCTION OF ENGINE LOAD Reduction in consumption (g/kWh)

MAN EcoCam Fuel Saving Example: 6S50MC-C8,1

7,00

6,00

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Delta

www.mpropulsion.com

Car carriers join the LNG-fuelled fleet

Gas-fuelled PCTCs will keep SOx at bay in the Baltic

A

low speed dual-fuel propulsion plant selected for two pure car/truck carriers will enable the tonnage to complete 14-day round voyages in the Baltic burning LNG only. The 3,800-car capacity vessels will be built for United European Car Carriers (UECC) by the NACKS yard in Nantong, China, a joint venture between Kawasaki Heavy Industries and the China Ocean Shipping Group, for delivery in second-half 2016.

Propulsive power will be provided by an eight-cylinder MAN B&W S50ME-C8.2-GI twostroke engine designed to handle LNG, heavy fuel oil or marine gas oil. Auxiliary power will also be supplied by a gas-burning installation based on three gensets driven by four-stroke dual-fuel engines. Other technologies and design elements will be exploited to reduce fuel consumption and emissions, contributing to an environment-friendly specification.

“The LNG installation is a pioneering design and will be one of the largest employed on a commercial vessel, and the largest yet of its kind on a PCTC,” reported UECC chief executive officer Glenn Edvardsen.

Operation in the regional Sulphur Emission

Control Area will be facilitated by the gasburning capability. “Opportunities to use heavy fuel oil are fairly limited as long as we trade vessels in this area,” Bjorn Svenningensen, UECC’s head of car transport sales and marketing, told Marine Propulsion. “We wanted a dual-fuel system in case the market should collapse and we need to trade these vessels in another area. It’s a fallback position.”

These largest PCTCs specifically designed for transiting the Baltic and other ice-prone areas – 181m in length and 30m wide – will have 1A Super Finnish/Swedish ice class enabling year-round operations in the Baltic area. Rolling capacity on the Lloyd’s Register-classed vessels will be arranged over 10 decks and optimised for current and predicted cargo mixes, including Mafi trailers and high and heavy freight.

• Growing references are being logged by MAN Diesel & Turbo’s low speed dual-fuel programme, which now offers GI (gas injection) versions of all MAN B&W electronicallycontrolled ME-type engines up to 980mm-bore.

Gas-fuelled ME-GI propulsion solutions are available for diverse mainstream newbuildings, while retrofits of existing ME diesel engines

can also be carried out.

Market debuts were earned at end-2012 with contracts for eight-cylinder 700mm-bore L70ME-C8.2-GI engines for US-based TOTE’s 3,100 teu container ship newbuildings; and for twin five-cylinder G70ME-GI engine packages for Teekay LNG Partners’ 173,400m3 LNG carrier commitments.

More recent orders called for engines for other LNG carrier and container ship projects.

The seven-cylinder 900mm-bore S90ME-GI models booked to power 3,600 teu ships for US operator Matson are said to be the largest dualfuel engines ever ordered in terms of power output (42.7MW); and twin seven-cylinder G70ME-GI installations for a pair of 176,300m3 LNGCs ordered by Knutsen OAS are expected to yield fuel savings of more than 30 tonnes of gas per day over an equivalent medium speed DF-electric plant at a normal ship speed of 15-17 knots.

Early 2014 saw eight-cylinder S70MEGI8.2 engines specified to propel two 26,500 dwt ConRo ships contracted by Florida-based Crowley Maritime Corporation from VT Halter Marine’s Pascagoula yard. MP

RT-flex50 power for chemtanker sextet Complete propulsion systems from Wärtsilä for six 38,000 dwt chemical tankers building at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in China for Stolt Tankers BV will be based on 500mm-bore RT-flex50 low speed engines.

Equipment deliveries are due to start this summer for the 44,000m3 tankers, the first of which is expected to be completed

www.mpropulsion.com

in December 2015. Options are held for another pair.

Wärtsilä’s shipsets will also include CP propellers, tunnel gearboxes and associated shaft generators as well as oily water separators. The group highlights the merits of packages sourced from one supplier, citing efficient integration of the various

elements. The combination of a two-stroke engine and a shaft generator, for example, calls for optimum co-ordination between engine controls and propulsion controls.

The risk of expensive construction delays caused by problems from multisupplier sources is also lowered by a single-source delivery.

Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 21

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four stroke engines

Bergen-based package powers 28MW offshore vessel An integrated design, engineering and equipment package from Rolls-Royce for an innovative offshore vessel project will include six diesel gensets based on the group’s Bergen B32:40 medium speed engine design. With a length of around 169m and a breadth of 28m, the Rolls-Royce UT 777 CD design vessel will be built in Japan by Kawasaki Heavy Industries for Norway’s Island Offshore, with delivery due in 2017.

Operating experience from Island Wellserver, designed by Rolls-Royce

in 2005, will be applied to create a vessel capable of undertaking diverse subsea tasks such as top hole drilling, construction and inspection as well as maintenance and repair work in deep waters; it will also be adaptable for light well intervention. Accommodation for 91 personnel will be provided in the ICE 1B-class vessel.

A 27.9MW diesel-electric power station will embrace four gensets driven by ninecylinder Bergen B32:40L9ACD engines, each developing 4,190kW at 720 rpm,

An artist’s impression of UT 777-design for Island Offshore subsea support

and two gensets driven by V12-cylinder B32:40V12ACD engines, each developing 5,587kW at 720 rpm.

Electrical power for propulsion and manoeuvring will be fed to three azimuth thrusters at the stern and a pair of retractable azimuth thrusters at the bow.

Rolls-Royce will also supply two Super Silent side thrusters for the vessel, which will have a DP3 dynamic positioning capability.

• Island Offshore recently took delivery of Island Dawn, the third offour RollsRoyce UT 717 CD platform supply vessels ordered from the Norwegian yard Vard Brevik. The 84.45m-long x 17m-wide PSV, with a deadweight of 3,800 tonnes and a deck capacity of 800m2, is also prepared for later duties as a standby/rescue vessel.

Twin-screw propulsion is provided by two nine-cylinder Rolls-Royce Bergen C25:33 L9 medium speed engines, each rated at 2,880kW and arranged to drive a 2.9m-diameter Rolls-Royce CP propeller via a Rolls-Royce 750 AGHC-KP50H reduction gearbox equipped with a 1,920kW power take-off. The Rolls-Royce outfit also includes Kamewa Ulstein tunnel thrusters, mounted in pairs at bow and stern.

Supporting the two 2,400 kVA shaft alternators in supplying electrical power are a pair of gensets, each driven by a 398kW Scania DI 12 high speed engine.

DF engines for another green German ferry Growing interest in gas-fuelled propulsion in Europe for coastal and shortsea tonnage is underlined by German ferry operator Reederei Cassen Eils’ selection of a Wärtsilä 20DF propulsion package for a newbuilding from domestic yard Fr Fassmer. The vessel is due for service during the first half of 2015.

The latest twin nine-cylinder dual-fuel medium speed engines, each rated at 1,665kW, will deliver a 5 per cent higher output than earlier versions of the 200mm-bore design as well as a 7 per cent reduction in fuel consumption in gas mode.

Primarily operating on LNG, the ferry will be deployed daily between Cuxhaven and the

island of Helgoland on a route passing close to the Lower Saxon Wadden Sea national park: an environmentally sensitive UNESCO World Heritage-listed area in the south eastern part of the North Sea. “As the vessel must fulfil the IMO regulations regarding SOx and NOx emissions in the North Sea’s Emissions Control Area, its operations need to be ecologically friendly with the lowest possible emissions,” said Dr Bernhard Brons, chairman of AG Ems, parent company of Reederei Cassen Eils.

Each W20DF engine in the twin-screw propulsion plant will drive a 2.6m-diameter

Wärtsilä CP propeller via a Wärtsilä gearbox equipped with a 700kW PTO/PTI facility.

Wärtsilä will also supply the new ferry with its shipboard LNGPac fuel bunkering and supply system, incorporating a 53m3 LNG storage tank, along with related safety and automation systems. The group’s patented Cold Recovery system, exploiting the latent heat of LNG in the ferry’s air conditioning systems, will reduce the amount of electricity consumed by the cooling compressors.

A conversion project booked in April 2013 saw Cassen Eils’ ferry Ostfriesland retrofitted by Wärtsilä to dual-fuel propulsion, facilitating service in similar environmentally sensitive waters.

MaKing power for tugs and tankers Two 7,076 dwt product tankers completed

by Damen Shipyards Bergum (DSB) in the Netherlands in June and December last year are sailing under the commercial management of the UK’s James Fisher Everard. King Fisher and Kestrel Fisher are the latest examples of the Damen Double Hull Oil Tanker 8000 design, which offers a cargo www.mpropulsion.com

capacity of 8,363m3.

Gasoline, diesel oil, lubrication oil and jet fuels will largely be transported in British, Continental, Scandinavian and Baltic waters by the 104.5m-long x 17m-wide tankers.

A trials speed of 12.3 knots was achieved on the summer draught of 6.3m at 90 per cent maximum continuous rating by a

propulsion plant based on an eight-cylinder MaK M25C engine (2,640kW at 750 rpm) driving a 3.85m-diameter CP propeller. The hulls were built by Damen Shipyards’ Galati facility in Romania and outfitted at the DSB yard in Harlingen.

• The most powerful tug in the Canadian registry entered service in December ››› Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 23

four stroke engines One of a pair of Damen-built product tankers with MaK M25C main engines

›››

with Quebec City-based Ocean Groupe from the group’s own Ocean Industries yard.

The 6,000kW ASD tug Ocean Tundra is the latest example of Vancouver naval architect Robert Allan’s TundRA 100 class icebreaking tug, which has a nominal bollard pull of 100 tonnes.

A range of duties can be handled by the 36m-long x 13m-wide vessel. These include tasks such as tanker escort, terminal support, general shipdocking and icebreaking/ice management in ports along the St Lawrence River. Coastal and rescue towage along with firefighting can also be undertaken.

A free-running speed of 15.13 knots, a bollard pull (ahead) of 110.3 tonnes, an escort steering force (predicted) of 122 tonnes at 10 knots and a range of 3,700 nautical miles at 12 knots are provided by an MaK-powered Z-drive azimuthing thruster propulsion plant.

Twin nine-cylinder M25C medium speed engines, each developing 3,000kW at 750 rpm, are installed to drive Rolls-Royce US 305 thrusters equipped with 3m-diameter CP propellers.

Electrical power is supplied by three gensets, each driven by a 250kW Caterpillar C9 high speed diesel engine. The main and auxiliary engines are resiliently mounted to maximise noise and vibration isolation.

Canada’s most powerful tug was launched with additional flotation from inflatable bags

Quadruple-Cummins outfits drive large FSVs Offshore tonnage continues to provide valuable business for Cummins propulsion and genset engines. A longstanding US-based customer, Seacor Marine, specialises in fast support vessels (FSVs) ranging in length from around 40m to 60m, with speeds between 25 knots and 35 knots.

Among the operator’s latest acquisitions is the first of two 54m-long FSVs from the Neuville Boat Works in Louisiana, offering a cargo capacity of 196 tonnes on 234m 2 of clear deck space and seating for up to 83 passengers. Tankage is arranged for potable water, drill/fresh water and fuel oil.

Propulsive power for the ABS-classed vessels is provided by four Cummins QSK50-M engines, each developing 1,325kW at 1,800 rpm and driving a Hamilton HT811 waterjet via a Twin Disc gearbox with a reduction ratio of 2.58:1.

Speeds of 30 knots (at 50 dwt), 25 knots (130 dwt) and 21 knots (180 dwt) are promised by the quadruple-jet installation.

Electrical power is supplied by a pair of 290kW Cummins QSM11-driven gensets.

Twin Cummins K38M engines, which are EPA Tier 2-compliant and have a combined rating of 1,470kW, achieve a speed of 13 knots for the 51m-long supply 24 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

vessel Mr Ernie, recently completed by another Louisiana yard, New Generation Marine Shipbuilding. Each engine drives a Bird Johnson four-bladed propeller through Twin Disc MGX-5321 gearing.

Electrical demands are met by two 300kW Cummins QSM11-driven gensets, while another QSM11 engine powers the Brunvoll bow thruster.

Deliveries from the New Generation yard on the Intracoastal Waterway near Houma last year included the 21.6m-long x 9m-wide pushboat Gunner. A pair of gridcooled Cummins KTA38-M engines (an industry standard for pushboats of this size) each yield 735kW at 1,800 rpm, driving Kahlenberge propellers via Twin Disc 5321 gearboxes with reduction ratios of 6.394:1.

Triple-screw propulsion plant was specified for ten 42m-long crewboats building at the Vietnam yard of Australiabased Strategic Marine for Brunei’s PTAS Marine. The series was headed by PTAS MV One and will be completed in June by PTAS MV Tide.

Designed by Incat Crowther in conjunction with Strategic Marine and based on an established 40m aluminium crewboat model, the larger vessels feature

a steel hull and aluminium superstructure.

Space is arranged for 12 crew, 30 rig workers and 100 survivors of an emergency; up to 10 tonnes of cargo can be carried on a clear deck area of the Lloyd’s Register-classed design.

A central Cummins KTA50-M2 engine delivering 1,325kW at 1,900 rpm is flanked port and starboard by KTA38-M2 engines, each rated at 990kW at 1,900 rpm. A total of 3,310kW is transmitted by the engines (all IMO Tier II-compliant) to three fixed pitch propellers via Twin Disc reduction gearsets, driving the vessel at 20 knots (at 85 per cent maximum continuous rating and 40 dwt).

Electrical power is generated by two 80kW Cummins 6BT5.9 diesel-driven sets; a 312kW Cummins QSJ11-D(M) engine serves each vessel’s twin bow thrusters.

A 1,400m 3 LPG carrier recently completed by Saigon Shipbuilding & Marine Industries One Member Co features twin 294kW Cummins 855 propulsion engines and a pair of 120kW gensets driven by Cummins 6C engines. Designed for coastal and river trading, the 60m-long x 11m-wide vessel carries cargo in two tanks. MP www.mpropulsion.com

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Trips and slips in the dash for gas LNG CARRIERS ON ORDER BY SHIPOWNER – APRIL 2014 6,000,000 5,000,000 4,000,000 3,000,000 2,000,000 1,000,000

No

L

NG continues to make progress on several fronts. The ordering boom advances, there is slow but steady progress in coastal development as a prelude to the introduction of LNG bunkering tankers and dual-fuel engine applications are keeping the orderbooks and rivalry at an intense level between Wärtsilä and MAN Diesel & Turbo.

Currently the newbuilding order backlog stands at a record level of 136 LNG vessels and the ordering spree is underlined by respective orderbook figures of 121 and 82 for one and two years ago. Long lead delivery times now stretch into 2018 but some now query the wisdom of so many vessels being ordered when demand may not match supply.

Generally teams of shipbuilders, owners and designers along with energy majors work closely to ensure they get the most appropriately designed vessels to suit their purpose and serve the new terminals under construction or being upgraded. However such is the pressure on berth space that many orders have to be provisionally agreed well in advance in the bidding process for long term contracts.

With a newbuilding recovery underway, berths for all vessel types have rapidly filled to their strongest position since the end of the boom in 2008. Options for LNG carriers are numerous but the first sign of nervousness is beginning to impact in the market with these optional slots the

www.mpropulsion.com

4 Evergas

4 China Shpg. Group

4 Petronas Tankers

4 Dynacom

4 Cardiff Marine

4 Chevron Shpping Co.

4 BW Gas

4 Hoegh, Lief

4 Sovcomflot

5 Teekay LNG Partners

6 Nigeria LNG Ltd

6 China Shpg. Group/MOL

7 Gaslog LNG Services

9 Golar LNG

10 Mistsui O.S.K.

17 Maran Gas Maritime Inc.

40 Others

0

Liquid Capacity

Orderbooks continue to grow, but the market is proving more difficult than expected

by Barry Luthwaite

first casualties. For the moment these options are only at the serious consideration stage but will occur it seems at some stage.

A few newbuildings delivered on time are having to work spot business at lower rates until liquefaction plants are finally commissioned or seriously consider idling in designated weatherfriendly environments. One thing owners will want to avoid is a rerun of the 1980s when many LNG carriers were forced into idleness due to recession and serious delays in commissioning of new plants.

The change in energy circumstances today however means history is unlikely to repeat itself.

Certainly the LNG orderbook is not finished yet but the market will be hoping for more caution in new contracting or market stability may be adversely affected.

In the past year significant events have occurred. Noticeable is the commissioning of, and potential orders for, floating storage and regasification (FSRU) units. Several projects are out to tender with Golar LNG and Shell at the

forefront in bids. With a newbuilding recovery underway, In the case of Golar LNG, the company recently completed a front end engineering and design feasibility study into converting one of its ageing LNG carriers into an FSRU role. A contract on employment for this FSRU is expected by the end of June after which any conversion would occupy 30 months with six months of trials thereafter before formal commissioning.

FSRUs are important for employment of LNG carriers where even two can give sustainable employment for ten of the commercially trading vessels. USA and West Africa are targets for development especially with the former developing shale gas export potential in the next decade.

Golar LNG – a division within the John Fredriksen empire – took delivery of the 170,000m3 FSRU Golar Igloo, which has a fiveyear charter to Kuwait National Petroleum Co on a seasonal basis. The slightly smaller FSRU Golar Eskimo is due to be delivered at the end of 2014 and has a ten-year charter commitment to Jordan. An option has been exercised to add regasification facilities to Golar Tundra which is due for delivery in November 2015.

All three vessels have the flexibility to switch to conventional LNG trading and are products from Samsung Heavy Industries.

FSRUs are seen as an escape route for heavily oversubscribed conventional LNG tonnage due Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 27

gas carriers

for delivery in the next two years. Eighteen such newbuilding contracts are currently without employment and may be forced into unsatisfactory spot business or risk cancellation.

By contrast, ten FSRUs are now on order with others in the pipeline awaiting the outcome of successful charter and project negotiations.

The popular size of around 160-170,000m3 capacity was shattered at the start of this year by the decision of Mitsui OSK to select DSME to construct the world’s largest FSRU offering 263,000m3 of capacity. Delivery is set for September 2016 and the ship will take up employment near Montevideo under operation for a GDF Suez/Marubeni joint venture.

Within such a bullish market owners have looked for niche capacity areas and it is noticeable how, over the last few months, China is building up its own LNG coastal fleet to serve industrial and domestic distribution demand. A year ago, China launched its coastal fleet plans with three 28,00030,000m 3 Chinese designs divided equally between Cosco Dalian, Jiangnan Shipyard, and Ningbo Xinle.

This trio of builders hitherto had little or no experience of LNG construction thus presenting a new challenge and learning curve which may eventually attract export business. All will use Type C tank containment systems and incorporate dualfuel diesel-electric propulsion. Options for more may be exercised.

The ordering trend was recently taken a stage further with a new order placed for one 14,000m3 LNG carrier to be built by Qidong Fengshun Ship Heavy Industry. Demand for this coastal size range will give a boost to Wärtsilä’s RT-flex50DF series where a five cylinder version has been specified for the new order. Low pressure, dual fuel technology was unveiled by Wärtsilä in November 2013 for two stroke engines and described in the business as a “game changer”.

Capital expenditure and operating expenditure offer significant advantages and the 50DF series is already compliant with Tier III emission legislation without resorting to any exhaust gas cleaning systems. With costs paramount for owners, studies reveal that the new engine may be applied to all vessel types and, in the case of the prototype order, will yield expenditure savings of

full fruition but so far a strict time schedule for the orders has been met.

The prototype was confirmed in January this year by Sovcomflot at an estimated US$316 million and DSME has had the other 15 berths reserved for some months. The remaining vessels will be taken by Teekay LNG (6), Mitsui OSK (4) and an additional five units by Sovcomflot. Charters with rolling options for up to 26 years of employment come with the orders but the vessels’ huge cost may require a longer period to clear financial subjects. On current projects the contract agreements were due to be finalised in April, as this issue went to press, and the charters in May. Rasheed was the last Q-max 267,335m 3 LNG carrier delivered into the Nakilat fleet in 2010 and has now been officially nominated as the first LNG carrier to be converted from twin 7S70ME-C propulsion units to twin electronically controlled gas injection ME-GI engines enabling burning of LNG as an alternative fuel choice. Collaboration between MAN Diesel & Turbo and the Nakilat-Keppel Offshore & Marine (N-KOM) is already underway in preparation for the conversion work. This will take place in April 2015 when special survey becomes due.

Others will be watching this pilot project especially in respect of operational savings but it is unlikely to start a trend; Nakilat has made it clear this is a one-off project for the time being. The key to future retrofitting lies with the charterer who will pay for fuel consumption but Nakilat will closely evaluate results soon after redelivery and has not ruled out similar treatment on other fleet members depending on charterer acceptance.

Understandably both engine builder and shipowner are keeping cards close to their chests but best estimates put the cost of conversion at between US$15-20 million. The 14-vessel Nakilat Q-Max fleet was ordered before the main financial crash and thus specified low speed diesel engines. Since then, a revolution in gas engines has occurred, dramatically cutting operating costs.

These savings must be weighed against the high cost of the conversion however. The whole Q-Ship fleet numbers 45 vessels so, if retrofitting is a success, lucrative business beckons for MAN Diesel & Turbo. MP

15-20 per cent over comparable vessels today. It also offers owners a new choice of propulsion that will enable operation on 100 per cent gas at all loads, dramatically reducing operational costs.

The proud owner is Zhejiang based Huaxing Shipping Co, which is already involved in safe transportation of LNG. Delivery is set for August 2015. The two-stroke development from the DF family will enhance the popularity of dual-fuel application for which over 1,000 four-stroke units have been sold

by Wärtsilä for land and marine applications.

More orders for two-stroke 50DF models are expected as owners are presented with a new choice of cost savings against key rival MAN Diesel & Turbo.

The coastal transport concept was taken a stage further by Indonesia with the signing in principle of a contract with Daehan, South Korea, for construction of ten 10,000m 3 LNG carriers. South Korea dominates LNG construction but this is the first time coastal tonnage has been tackled. Daehan is more closely associated with large bulk carrier construction and this order represents a debut in the gas sector.

The Indonesian coastal gas fleet has been on the drawing board as a project for some years with the ten-vessel order valued at US$502 million. Construction will be shared by a consortium also including KG Cranes and GSH which, together with Daehan, are members of a manufacturing co-operative known as Daebul Industrial Complex. The owner/operator is Bimantura and the project has been devised to replace expensive oil with gas for industrial and domestic use.

Wärtsilä will certainly have its eye on provision of the slow speed RT-flex50DF engine series. Although the pace is still slow; because of infrastructure restrictions the market is now beginning to see significant developments for the use of LNG in maritime transport.

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) signed a letter of intent with three owners for the 15 remaining 170,000m3 icebreaking LNG carriers designed for the Yamal LNG project. The planned start up is in 2017 using the Northern Sea Route (NSR) when navigable to Dalian and beyond.

Some question whether the project will reach

LNG CARRIERS ON ORDER BY COUNTRY OF SHIPBUILDER 2014 Expected delivery year

no

2015 m3

no

2016 m3

no

2017 m3

no

Total m3

no

m3

China

1

170,000

13

592,500

6

857,000

5

809,000

25

2,428,500

Japan

2

298,400

3

473,000

5

803,200

4

678,000

14

2,252,600

Korea (South)

35

5,647,560

28

4,608,000

23

3,996,200

11

1,849,400

97

16,101,160

Total

38

6,115,960

44

5,673,500

34

5,656,400

20

3,336,400

136

20,782,260

28 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

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gas carriers

Gas turbines renew challenge for power A strong environment-led case for dual-fuel gas turbine-based propulsion plant can now be made

by Doug Woodyard

D

iesel propulsion in LNG carriers was pioneered in 1972 by the 29,000m3 Venator with an installation based on a dual-fuel burning Sulzer 7RNMD 90 low speed two-stroke engine. Steam turbines shrugged off this short-lived challenge to their traditional dominance of the sector, however, and retained total supremacy in the LNGC propulsion market for another 30 years.

The introduction of significantly larger carriers than before – with cargo capacities up to double the classic 125,000m3 size – stimulated interest in other propulsion systems and eventually stifled steam’s hegemony. Dualfuel medium speed engines arranged in electric power stations and low speed heavy fuel oilburning diesel engines largely ousted the turbine from the newbuilding lists. A more recent challenge was presented by dual-fuel low speed engines designed to burn the cargo boil-off gas.

A new generation of larger LNG carriers

in the past decade also attracted the interest of the major gas turbine suppliers GE Marine and Rolls-Royce, whose power-dense aeroderived designs promised significant benefits, particularly in conjunction with electric drives.

Compactness and machinery layout flexibility could be exploited to enhance cargo carrying capacity within given ship dimensions.

Excellent emissions characteristics were also cited, along with low weight and volume; high reliability; reduced installation costs; freelylocated plant; and low noise and vibration.

Rolls-Royce vigorously marketed its proposals over several years after joint studies with Shell Shipping Technology on various propulsion options for LNGCs. A dual-fuel gas turbineelectric system for larger ships, particularly those over 200,000m3 capacity, featured two gas turbine gensets in a father-and-son configuration.

The larger genset was based on the (then) new Rolls-Royce MT30 turbine, flat rated at 36MW, and the smaller set on the group’s 501 turbine, rated at 5,000kW. The MT30 set would provide all power for seagoing service, while the 501 supplied power for cargo pumping and port duties; in addition, the smaller set provided a get-home facility in the event of non-availability of the main genset. A diesel-driven harbour genset was rated at around 1,500kW.

Compact LNGC propulsion configurations proposed by Rolls-Royce were based on its MT30 aero-derived gas turbine

The gas turbine gensets would be supplied as packaged units and located in a housing at main deck level aft of the accommodation; the housing would be similar in dimensions to the boiler room casing of contemporary steampowered LNGCs. Such an arrangement eased access for removing gas turbines for maintenance and facilitated short and efficient intake and exhaust trunkings. It also contributed to a short engineroom which, together with the low weight of the gas turbine plant, allowed the aft hull form to be optimised and the cargo volume maximised within given hull dimensions.

A reduced engineroom length was one of the merits of an electric rather than a direct-drive system. A short machinery room was further fostered by installing the electrical gear and controls for the main propulsion motors in the top of the engineroom, with the geared motors arranged at the bottom.

Primary fuel for the turbines would be cargo boil-off gas supplemented by vaporised LNG as required. Liquid fuel of marine gas oil quality would be carried as a secondary emergency fuel and for transits to and from drydock when gas was not available.

Tapping years of experience with Rolls-Royce dual-fuelled gas turbines in the oil and gas

industry, the dual-fuel MT30 would apply fuel system hardware derived from the industrial Trent engine. Some 24 dual-passage injectors (one for diesel oil, the other for gas) would supply both fuels to the combustion chamber.

Using a dual-passage injector allows both fuels to be burned simultaneously in the chamber, enabling the turbine to maintain power output while changing fuels or burning a mixture of gas and liquid fuels. The engine’s electronic controller governs the fuel admitted via metering valves, underwriting safe operation in all fuelling modes.

A number of MT30 gas turbine-based propulsion systems were proposed for LNGCs of between 145,000m3 and 250,000m3 capacity.

The power density offered the potential to reduce engineroom length by approximately 19m compared with a steam turbine plant of equivalent output. The machinery space saving on a typical LNGC thus enabled the cargocarrying capacity to be increased by up to 12 per cent, Rolls-Royce reported.

An electric drive further helped to optimise both the cargo area layout and the machinery system design. Additionally, the very lightweight power generating plant could be located aft on the quarterdeck behind the superstructure, leaving only electrical distribution equipment and propulsion motors enclosed in the hull below.

Proposals included a combined gas turbine and steam turbine electric (COGES) propulsion system featuring a dual-fuel MT30 set arranged primarily to burn cargo boil-off gas delivered at a pressure of around 40 bar. A waste heat recovery steam generator incorporated in the exhaust stack of the gas turbine supplies a steam turboalternator set which supplements the electrical output of the main genset. System efficiencies in excess of 50 per cent were claimed.

Both COGES and simple-cycle gas turbine electric propulsion concepts were highly flexible in terms of machinery layout, ease of access for maintenance and simplified installation, RollsRoyce asserted. Furthermore, the low noise and vibration characteristics of the gas turbine allowed the machinery to be located next to the superstructure and accommodation.

US rival GE Marine also promoted the merits of a number of dual-fuel gas turbine-based systems in either electric or mechanical drive arrangements for LNGC propulsion, including combined-cycle configurations with waste heat recovery steam turbines. Long experience with aero-derived gas turbines serving warships as well as cruise vessels and fast ferries supported GE Marine’s confidence in solutions based on its successful LM2500 and LM2500+ series.

Similar benefits in plant layout flexibility and enhanced cargo capacity to the Rolls-Royce solutions were advanced by GE Marine. Further operational benefits – higher manoeuvrability and propulsion efficiency – were also promised www.mpropulsion.com

GE Marine’s LM2500 series gas turbines have a long pedigree in naval and commercial ship propulsion

by adopting an electric podded propulsor instead of a conventional propeller system and optimising the aftbody of the hull.

Despite extensive and sustained promotional campaigns, however, neither GE Marine nor Rolls-Royce succeeded in breaking into the market. The US group last year revived its challenge with an LNGC design jointly developed with Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co and Lloyd’s Register.

“We are excited to team up with one of China’s largest shipyards and a leading maritime classification agency on this conceptual design,” said GE Marine’s vice president of marine operations Brien Bolsinger. “By employing GE gas turbines, this LNGC design will address increasingly stringent worldwide environmental regulations, while providing operators with reduced life-cycle costs.”

The initial design envisages a COGES system incorporating a 25MW gas turbine, a steam turbine-generator set and two dual-fuel diesel gensets for low power operations and back-up.

Flexibility in prime mover configurations is facilitated, however, allowing a total installed power of 50MW if required.

The gas turbines can be equipped with a GE Dry Low Emissions (DLE) or single annular combustion system, both of which can meet IMO Tier III and US EPA Tier 4 NOx requirements with no exhaust treatment and no methane slip.

Lloyd’s Register last year completed a preliminary hazard identification study – the first in a planned series – on the COGESpowered LNG carrier. The study examined the carrier’s hazardous areas, structural integrity, safe separation, pipe routeing and ventilation.

“The studies will help mature the design and minimise risk for the carrier system,” explained Lloyd’s Register’s director of business development and innovation, Nicholas Brown.

The classification society will contribute a series of risk assessment studies during design development, leading to a safety case document that it said will meet or exceed the most onerous bidding qualification requirements of oil majors for new technologies for shipping for LNG projects.

Among the benefits of its gas turbine-based propulsion system for LNGCs, GE Marine cites: • NOx emissions are inherently low compared with traditional diesel engines; by last December, GE had manufactured 835 of its DLE systems for its aero-derived gas turbines with an aggregate operating time of almost 18 million hours; • Fuel flexibility is increasingly appreciated by operators valuing dual-fuel capabilities for service in emission control areas; GE gas turbines can operate on a range of fuels, including marine gas oil, biodiesel, bio-synthetic paraffinic kerosene blends and natural gas; • Lower maintenance costs: even with turbines operating at full power all the time, combustor and hot section repair intervals can stretch to 25,000 hours when burning natural gas; • High availability is fostered by easy maintenance and scheduled inspections. When engine overhaul is required, the gas turbine can be changed-out in 24 hours and replaced with a spare unit; • Maximum reliability and component life in the marine gas turbines are promoted by incorporating the latest aircraft engine design technologies, quality requirements and corrosion-resistant materials. MP Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 31

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HHI builds its LNG reputation South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries – the world’s largest shipbuilder – has a strong focus on LNG work

H

yundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has continued to demonstrate its ability to increase its market share, now claiming 15 per cent of the global market for its Shipbuilding Division. That is an impressive figure for a yard that this year marks the 40th anniversary of its first deliveries and which was set up by a construction company with no experience of shipbuilding.

Output passed the 10 million dwt in 1984 and this figure was doubled just four years later. By 1997, deliveries reached 50 million dwt, again doubling by 2005. To date, in excess of 1,800 ships have been supplied to over 260 owners and operators worldwide.

HHI now operates in three main locations at Ulsan, Gunsam and Samho. The Ulsan shipyard at Mipo Bay, covers an area of approximately 1,800 acres stretching along 4km of coastline. Of this area, nearly 400 acres are occupied by workshops. The Ulsan yard is equipped to build a wide range of ships and has nine dry docks served by six high capacity cranes.

HHI has an extensive track record of building LNG carriers, including vessels of up to 177,300m 3 capacity, building a customer portfolio that includes major operators such as Mitsui and BP. It is also the only South Korean builder that can supply Moss type LNG carriers, having built 15 vessels of this design since 1994. HHI has recently taken an order for a further four 150,000m3 carriers for Petronas, Malaysia’s national oil company, with the first scheduled for delivery in 2016.

These vessels will have four tanks and a double hull construction.

At its Ulsan yard, LNG carrier construction takes place in Docks 1 and 8, the former being 390m long, 80m wide and having the services of two high capacity Goliath cranes. Dock 3 is the largest in the shipyard and capable of being used to build vessels of up to 1million dwt. At 672m by 92m, it can cater for a range of ship types, as too can other docks at the yard, including VLCCs, naval ships and special purpose vessels.

HHI’s Gunsan Shipyard, built in 2008, has an equally impressive range of facilities including a 1.3 million dwt drydock serviced www.mpropulsion.com

HHI has delivered the first newbuilding FSRU, Independence, to Höegh LNG for operation in Lithuania (credit: Höegh LNG) by a 1,650 tonne crane. It was designed to accommodate VVLCs and the facility was fully booked for production capacity in its first year of operation. But Gunsan, like other HHI yards, is also used for other vessels, including LNG carriers.

HHI can also build LNG carriers at its Samho shipyard, in the south-west of the Korea, which became part of the HHI group in 1999. Here, its facilities include both dry docks and an on-land building berth, which was used for an LNG newbuilding for the first time last year. In fact, it was the first time this technique had been used anywhere in the world for such a ship.

The construction principle used is to assemble the basic hull, LNG tanks and propulsion system on land before loading it onto a floating dock by a system of hydraulic skidding. Hyundai Samho has used this system previously for around 50 other vessels but LNG carriers weigh approximately 30 per cent more than other equivalent size vessels, which made this application of the technique noteworthy.

HHI stated that this method of construction is more efficient and cost-effective than conventional methods.

The vessel, for Golar of Norway, was ordered in 2012 and will be delivered in July this year. With a capacity of 162,000m3 , it measures 289m in length, 45m in width and 26m in depth. Following this first success, HHI plans to build between 10 and 12 further

vessels in this way, orders for which have already been secured.

HHI scored another world first in February when it named a newbuilding LNG floating storage regasification unit (LNG FSRU). It is the first of four, ordered at HHI’s Ulsan yard

by Höegh LNG, with two more following this year and the fourth in March 2015.

LNG FSRU are designed to receive LNG from LNG carriers and have a regasification system to deliver it to shore as gas. FSRUs cost half as much as an onshore LNG terminal and take a year less to complete, HHI said. They have dual-fuel propulsion systems so are also mobile and can be located wherever needed.

This first unit has been chartered for 10 years to Klaipedos Nafta and will be located in Lithuania’s Port of Klaipeda.

The 294m vessel has a volume of 170,000m3 with storage capacity for 70,000 tonnes of chilled natural gas. Lithuania’s president Dalia Grybauskaité named the ship Independence, chosen “to reflect our government’s strong will toward energy independence,” she said.

Lee Jai-seong, chairman & CEO of HHI, looked beyond this delivery to wider LNG opportunities. “We are pleased that the LNG FSRU will play a critical role in supplying LNG in Lithuania,” he said, “and we hope to keep up the close cooperation with Lithuania for the construction of energy infrastructure.” MP Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 33

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repair & maintenance

First gas-fuelled engine conversion to go ahead T wo low speed diesel engines in an LNG carrier are to become the first to be converted for gas fuelling in a project that could lead to further conversions.

Qatari LNG carrier Nakilat and the country’s LNG producers Qatargas and RasGas have agreed with engine manufacturer MAN Diesel & Turbo to convert the original ME-type engines on one of Nakilat’s Q-Max vessels into ME-GI (M-type electronically controlled, gas injection) versions.

These can use LNG as an alternative to heavy fuel oil (HFO). The ship and its sisters are unusual among LNG carriers in that they do not use boiloff gas for propulsion. Instead they reliquefy it, to maintain the cargo’s volume and value.

Nakilat’s announcement followed several years of planning, first revealed publicly at the Gastech 2012 conference. At the conference, Alaa Abu Jbara, Qatargas chief operating officer responsible for commercial and shipping, spoke of the company’s intention to use LNG as fuel, citing emissions benefits.

In its statement in January Nakilat echoed those remarks, saying that the project reinforces Qatar’s commitment toward the environment, as it will reduce the ship’s exhaust gas emissions.

It also said that the engines would burn more cleanly in their new configuration, which had the potential to increase mean time between maintenance periods.

The statement also referred to flexibility of fuel supply, which Nakilat said would help it react to market changes and reduce bunkering activities, which would in turn reduce operational risks. But it did not mention cost benefits. These must be a factor, given the rise in bunker prices since the original decision to install diesel engines in 2004. At that time, MAN Diesel & Turbo hailed the choice as offering significant cost benefits compared with a traditional steam turbine propulsion plant.

The engine manufacturer based its forecast on a comparison of operating costs for a steam turbine installation and a low speed diesel arrangement. This showed that the diesel installation had higher operating costs. However, once the value of the LNG cargo that would have been lost through boil-off was taken into account, the economic benefit was clearly in favour of the diesel option. But the calculation was based on a fuel cost of US$150 per tonne and an LNG selling price of US$4 per Mbtu.

With HFO now costing at least four times as

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Nakilat’s N-Kom yard, where the engine conversion will take place (credit: N-Kom) much, the economic argument is not so clear, even though LNG values have risen equally steeply in the intervening decade.

The conversion will be carried out by NakilatKeppel Offshore & Marine (N-Kom) at its Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma Shipyard facilities in Qatar’s Port of Ras Laffan. A key part of the project has been subcontracted by MAN Diesel & Turbo to the German company TGE Marine Gas Engineering, which provides engineering services for the design and supply of gas carriers and offshore units, mostly to shipyards that build gas carriers.

For the Q-Max conversion, it will design and supply the LNG fuel gas package for the converted engines. This includes a modular pre-fabricated fuel gas skid, which is scheduled for delivery in the first quarter of 2015. In developing its contribution to the work, TGE Marine investigated the design of the high pressure fuel gas supply system with its partner ACD, a US company that specialises in cryogenic pumps. The two companies made a complete dynamic simulation of the system that considered all load scenarios, TGE Marine said.

In a statement, TGE Marine’s chief executive, Manfred Küver, described the project as a positive indicator. “This project is a signal for the market that the MAN two-stroke ME-GI solution is one of the most economic approaches

for a modern LNG carrier design.”

There are 14 ships in Nakilat’s Q-Max fleet of 266,000m3 vessels. At the time of writing in late February the one that will be converted had not been identified. If the conversion yields its expected benefits, further ships may also be converted. There is no indication of when or how that assessment will be made, but Nakilat has said that it has a high level of confidence in the safety and reliability of the propulsion system, adding that the modification will meet all currently known and planned global emissions regulations.

Those additional ships could include the rest of the Q-Max vessels but may extend to at least some of the 31 smaller Q-Flex ships of 216,000m3 capacity. Nakilat owns 11 of these and shares control of the other 20.

According to Marine Propulsion’s sister publication LNG World Shipping, the work is expected to take MAN Diesel & Turbo engineers 40 days to complete at a cost of US$15-20 million.

Assessing the payback time will not be easy, the journal suggested in an editorial comment, due in part to the high prices Qatar is obtaining for its gas and to the awaited performance data from the conversion. But gas engine technology has made great strides in recent years, it added, which will have contributed to the decision now to press ahead with this pilot engine conversion. MP Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 35

repair & maintenance

Oman to boost LNG repair skills

licence that ODC has recently obtained from Gaztransport et Technigaz (GTT) of France, which specialises in LNG cargo containment systems.

This focus on LNG is also expected to benefit from expertise provided by South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), which has been a partner in the yard since its inception and which established an Oman subsidiary in 2008, and its engineering and procurement arm, DSEC. DSME has long experience of building LNG and LPG carriers.

“Our partnership with DSME gives us tremendous experience and technical expertise as it provides 30 highly experienced senior managers, including our chief executive Yong Duk Park, to help run the shipyard,” Mr Woo said.

Damen Shiprepair Brest is building a growing reference list for LNG carrier repairs, which now total eight following a pair of bookings from Algeria’s Hyproc Shipping Co. At the time of writing, in early March, the yard was working on the 126,130m3 Mourad Didouche, which was built in 1980. Its visit overlapped with that of another vessel from Hyproc SC’s eight-strong LNG fleet, Bachir Chihani. Both are membrane tankers. The former has a capacity of 126,130m3 and a deadweight of 83,228. The latter is listed as holding 129,700 with a deadweight of 70,328.

Details of the work undertaken on the ships have not been revealed but when Bachir Chihani arrived, the yard described the work scope as extensive, adding that it would require almost 30,000 man-hours of work over a period of about a month. Jos Goris, managing director of Damen Shiprepair Brest, said that the vessel ensured the continuation of its LNG activities with Hyproc SC, with which it has conducted previous business.

The yard’s gas shiprepair work is set to continue. “We hope to have some more LNG carriers in the yard over the next couple of months,” Mr Goris told Marine Propulsion in March, despite what he views as a fiercely competitive environment for this type of work.

At the time of Bachir Chihani’s arrival, he had praised the yard’s workforce for its LNG skills and experience, saying that these, together with efficiency improvements and its award in November of an ISO 9001:2008 quality and safety management certificate, had helped to win the business.

Those skilled staff joined the Damen group of yards when it acquired the former Sobrena shiprepair business in March 2012 to create Damen Shiprepair Brest.

Speaking at the time, René Berkvens, chief executive of Damen Shipyards, welcomed the experience that Sobrena’s workforce brought to the group, especially when it came to LNG tankers. MP

tube repairs, main engine and turbocharger overhauls and servicing and calibration for all electronic equipment. Steelwork on the hull and superstructure was treated and the water ballast tanks were blasted and painted, while many other items received routine maintenance.

ASRY News, the yard’s newsletter, predicted continued success for the yard in its issue for the first quarter of 2014. “With more expansions planned in the five-year strategy, another 4,000 ship repairs at ASRY seem more than likely,” it said.

Mourad Didouche and Bachir Chihani extended Damen Shiprepair Brest’s LNG carrier work (credit: Damen Shiprepair Brest)

Oman Drydock Co plans to increase its LNG repair capabilities (credit: ODC) LNG carrier repairs will be a focus for Oman Drydock Co (ODC), according to its marketing director Johnny Woo. “We see real potential for growth, particularly in becoming a centre of excellence for the repair of LNG carriers,” Mr Woo said.

Reviewing the yard’s workload in 2013, during which it had docked or repaired a record 75 ships, he said that LNG and LPG ships had been among that number. Now it plans to invest in new facilities, including developments in its cryogenic shop, so that it can handle up to four LNG carriers at once.

As a result of the investment, the yard hopes to become a specialist in LNG repair technology, including such aspects as cargo containment systems and cryogenic safety valves.

These capabilities are supported by a

Damen Shiprepair Brest extends its LNG carrier bookings

LPGC is ASRY’s 4,000th ship Cargo pumps were among the items overhauled when the 49,880 dwt LPG carrier Gas Al-Gurain visited the Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard (ASRY) in Bahrain towards the end of last year.

It was the 4,000th ship to visit the yard, which has been in operation since 1977 – longer than any yard in the Arabian Gulf, ASRY said. The ship is owned by Kuwait Oil Tanker Co (KOTC), one of ASRY’s longest standing customers.

A yard spokesman told Marine Propulsion that the ship benefited from attention to a wide range of systems and steelwork, including stern 36 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

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environment

MHI hails LNG carrier’s environmental concept Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has conferred one of its Best Innovation 2013 awards on the organisation’s Sayaendo LNG carrier project, which it has described as “a leading force in the movement to develop energy-saving eco ships offering enhanced environmental performance.”

The design uses MHI’s ultra steam turbine (UST) plant, which achieves higher thermal efficiency through the effective use of thermal energy by reheating steam. Other design features are said to reduce fuel consumption by 20 per cent compared with existing designs. These include a peapodshaped continuous cover for the four Moss spherical tanks, which will improve the vessel’s aerodynamics.

An article in the MHI publication Technical Review described another of the design’s environmental benefits, the new low-load gas mode (NLLGM). This is said to minimise fuel gas consumption at low load. It is an improvement on the established low-load

gas mode (LLGM), which allows gas-only combustion while manoeuvring by managing the transition between gas-only and dual-fuel operation. That however, “constantly uses more gas fuel than necessary to support the load required by the turbine plant,” the article reported. The NLLGM achieves the same swift transition but does not use more boil-off cargo gas than necessary for combustion.

Seven of the ships have been ordered so far and the first is due for delivery during

MHI’s Sayaendo concept is shaped to reduce air resistance over its Moss-type LNG tanks (credit: MHI)

Cameron LNG project awaits environment report The Cameron LNG project in Louisiana, USA, has been given a conditional go-ahead to export gas to more countries than are covered by its existing approvals. The conditions include meeting the requirements of an environmental impact assessment that is being carried out by the independent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

In mid February the US Department of Energy gave its conditional non-Free Trade Agreement (FTA) approval which, once the conditions are met, will give the project’s partners authority to export to countries that do not have FTAs with the USA. Currently, 20 countries have FTAs and the project has had approval to deal with these since January 2012.

One of the partners, GDF Suez, said in a statement that completion of the

environmental impact assessment by FERC was expected within weeks, but did not give details of the requirements that the assessment might impose.

In January, however, FERC had issued a draft impact statement which said that the project would have some harmful effects on the environment, but that the impact would not be significant if Cameron adopted the recommended mitigation measures.

“We conclude that construction and operation of the Cameron Liquefaction Project would result in mostly temporary and short-term environmental impacts,” FERC said. “However, the project would result in permanent impacts on wetlands, forests, pine plantations, agricultural lands, migratory birds, and essential fish habitat,

The Cameron LNG project has reached a key stage but needs to comply with an environmental impact assessment (credit: GDF Suez) www.mpropulsion.com

the 2014-15 fiscal year, which ends on 31 March 2015. This is one of two jointly ordered by Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and Osaka Gas Co. The 288m ships will each carry 153,000m3 of LNG and have a deadweight of 75,000 tonnes. MHI expects there to be continuing demand for the ships, thanks to the suspension of operation of Japan’s nuclear power plants and expanded shale gas production in the USA.

and long-term environmental impacts on some species.”

According to the Law360 online news service, FERC recommended that Cameron institute a range of mitigation measures that it had already proposed to address those permanent changes. The commission also said that an environmental inspection programme would be implemented, to ensure compliance with all mitigation measures, conditions, and other stipulations included in permits from other federal, state and local agencies.

GDF Suez entered into a joint venture agreement with Sempra Energy, Japan LNG Investment (a joint venture entity formed by subsidiaries of Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha and Mitsubishi Corp) and Mitsui & Co to develop the Cameron LNG project. GDF Suez holds a stake of 16.6 per cent.

The facility will have a liquefaction capacity of 12 million tonnes per annum.

In total, Cameron will be able to export 1.7 billion standard cubic feet (35,700 tonnes) of gas per day for 20 years from its proposed US$6 billion Cameron Parish terminal in Louisiana, which is due to become operational in 2018.

For GDF Suez, this gas will be an important addition to its LNG supply portfolio. This currently stands at 16 million tonnes per annum, which the company said is the third largest in the world. It controls a large fleet of 14 LNG carriers under mid and long term charter agreements and is Europe’s main LNG importer. MP Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 39

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steam turbines

Steam turbines retain market for LNG carrier propulsion Despite the growth in popularity of dual-fuel engines, the option of high efficiency boiler and steam turbine plan is still attractive to operators

M

alaysian state-owned oil and gas company Petronas has recently placed an order with Hyundai Heavy Industries Company (HHI) of South Korea to build four new 150,000m3 Moss-type liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers (see also page 33). The contract, which was signed in Seoul in October 2013, includes an option for a further four carriers of the same class and the first deliveries of these new generation Moss type spherical tank carriers are scheduled for late in 2016.

A month later, in November 2013, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Marine Machinery & Engine Co (MHI-MME) received an order from HHI for four of its Ultra Steam Turbine (UST) plants to power these vessels, with HHI also including the option for a further four units. For MHI, this order is a landmark, being the first sale of USTs outside the Japanese domestic market. The company now plans to promote its marine steam turbine products more actively and increase its stake in the global marketplace.

MHI introduced UST designs with the aim of improving fuel consumption of marine steam turbine plant by introducing a reheat cycle. In this configuration the exhaust from the high pressure steam turbine is routed back through the boiler reheater section, raising temperatures to the same levels as the boiler superheater outlet, before entering the intermediate pressure turbine stage. This additional stage provides increased shaft power and the reheat cycle also increases overall plant efficiency.

In designing the reheat boiler, MHI retained the basic needs of high reliability, compact design and minimum weight construction but also took into consideration specific marine operating conditions. Compared with land-based steam turbine plant, marine propulsion systems must be able to cope effectively with low steam flows and frequent load changes during manoeuvring and other varying load conditions.

For reliability in service, the reheater tubes must therefore be resistant to failure from the risk of high metal temperatures. From the design options available, MHI selected a dual furnace

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An MHI UST steam turbine plant. Four are on order for Petronas LNGCs at HHI (credit: MHI)

Boilers for MHI’s UST steam turbines (credit: MHI) approach to maximise reheater reliability. With this arrangement the reheater and reheat furnace are located in the main boiler combustion gas outlet, providing lower gas inlet flow temperatures.

For the boiler design, MHI adopted the construction principles of its MB type conventional boiler, adding a downstream reheat furnace in the gas flow path. The main and reheat furnaces are fully water-cooled and of welded wall construction to ensure no leakage can occur from the gas path. To achieve further efficiency increase, the UST design also

includes an increase in the surface area of the superheater through the introduction of a secondary exchanger operating in parallel.

Steam temperatures in this secondary superheater are higher than in the primary but metal temperatures are controlled as it is shielded from direct heat radiation from the furnace. Combustion gas temperatures are also reduced through heat absorbed in the primary superheater. Overall metal temperatures are therefore held to similar levels as seen in conventional boilers, despite higher steam Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 41

steam turbines

temperatures being achieved.

One major benefit in the use of steam turbine plant in LNG carriers continues to be the levels of exhaust gas emissions during normal operation using boil-off gas. Carbon dioxide emissions are reduced due to the nature of the fuel and the UST plant has a further positive impact on these through its increased efficiency. As an additional benefit, NOx and SOx emissions are also low for steam turbine plants, which can a particular advantage during times spent in port and while loading and unloading the LNG cargo.

The MHI UST plant turbine design has also been revised, primarily to include an intermediate pressure stage. This is integrated with the high

pressure stage, operating back to back on the same shaft, with a central inlet casing for both stages. Designs are rated for higher steam inlet temperatures of up to 560°C and new technology has been introduced to both blade and nozzle designs. Pressure at the superheater outlet is now increased to 10 barG with a boiler design rating of 12 barG. UST plants are available with outputs ranging from 23MW up to 37MW and nominal turbine shaft speed is 76 rpm for a 25MW rated installation. As a result of these improvements, MHI claims that UST plant performance is improved by 15-20 per cent compared with its earlier, conventional steam turbine (CST) designs.

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LNG carriers, MHI will provide four complete UST plants, with each vessel being equipped with two boilers and a single steam turbine propulsion package. The first plant delivery to HHI is planned for 2015 with Petronas receiving its first new vessel in 2016.

Each double-hulled carrier will be fitted with four independent self-supporting spherical tanks which provide good performance during loading and unloading operations, having lower tendencies to exhibit sloshing forces compared with membrane tank system. This makes the design preferable for operation in rough seas conditions. The total value of the order is reported by HHI as being worth $850 million.

HHI claims that it is the only Korean shipbuilder able to currently build Moss-type LNG carriers and has delivered 15 vessels from its Ulsan shipyard since 1994. Following the signing of the contract with Petronas, Ka Sam-Hyun, executive vice president of HHI’s shipbuilding division, was optimistic about future orders and the significance of pressure on emissions. “We see this order as the first of many for LNG carriers as regulations for carbon dioxide emission tighten and demand for LNG increases as an alternative energy source,” he said. With further potential orders in sight, these new vessels are also a clear indication that PETRONAS is moving further into direct involvement in the LNG marketplace.

Kawasaki offers steam turbine and diesel options Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) has become a major player in building LNG carriers, delivering its first steam turbine driven vessel, the Golar Spirit in 1976. Three decades later, in 2006, KHI announced the completion of its 100th marine steam turbine for installation in a 145,000m3 capacity vessel, 24 of which had been delivered during the previous financial year ending March 2006.

They have all been fitted with its own steam turbines, which have a history going back to 1907 when it manufactured its first marine turbines under a technical alliance with the USA’s Curtis Company. When the agreement lapsed in 1925, it began developing its own designs.

Despite being a leader in steam turbine technology, however, KHI has also seized opportunities to provide LNG carriers with alternative propulsion systems. In October last year, for example, it delivered the 2,500m3 domestic LNG carrier Kakuyumaru, which is powered by www.mpropulsion.com

a diesel engine and hence does not require the boil-off gas treatment equipment as is required for more conventional large-scale LNG carriers.

The following month KHI delivered the LPG carrier Crystal Sunrise to Kumiai Navigation. This 82,200m3 vessel is the first LPG carrier to have the Sea-Arrow bow design developed by Kawasaki to minimise bow wave resistance. Propulsive power is provided by an ultra-long-stroke two-stroke diesel engine with efficiency further increased by the adoption of KHI’s innovative rudder bulb and duct system which enhances propeller efficiency.

But steam turbine powered carriers still remain a key product for KHI and application of the company’s advanced reheat turbine plant has increased vessel efficiencies. One of the most recent deliveries has been that of the LNG carrier Grace Dahlia to NYK. With a storage capacity of 177,427m3, this is the largest Moss-type LNG carrier currently in operation and the second of its type to be delivered by KHI. This increase was achieved by expanding the size of the four spherical LNG tanks.

Propulsive power is provided by KHI’s Advanced Reheat Turbine Plant, designated as the URA plant, which was developed specially for application in LNG carriers. The plant incorporates a reheat cycle with steam taken from the high pressure turbine exhaust being returned to the boiler for further heating before being sent on to a medium pressure turbine stage.

This cycle, which uses a high pressure and temperature boiler, achieves a dramatic increase in thermal efficiency. As a result, fuel consumption is reduced, with KHI claiming an improvement in the order of 15 per cent compared to more conventional steam turbine plants.

The first vessel of this type produced by KHI was the Energy Horizon, which has a length of 300m, breadth of 52m and a gross register of 143,000gt. The vessel was built at the Sakaide Shipyard of the Kawasaki Shipbuilding Corp and went into operation in 2011 for NYK Line and Tokyo LNG Tanker Co (TLT).The Panamax vessel was the 10th LNG tanker in the TLT fleet and initially targeted at LNG transport for developments such as the Pluto project in western Australia. Energy Horizon is managed by NYK and chartered to TLT for a 20-year period.

KHI conventional marine steam turbine plants are available in 10 basic frame sizes, starting with the UA-120 with outputs from 5,800kW to 8,800kW. At the high end of the range, the UA-500 delivers a maximum output of 36,800kW from a package weighing a total of 360 tonnes. Propeller shaft speeds range between 80 and 125 rpm, corresponding to the normal requirements of LNG carriers. The URA reheat turbine plants are available in four frame sizes, with the lowest output at 20,600kW and the highest at 36,800kW. Shaft speeds are configured at between 80 and 90 rpm. MP www.mpropulsion.com

Energy Horizon, to be fitted with KHI’s Advanced Reheat Turbine Plant (credit: KHI)

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gas turbines

Compact power for warship gensets and propulsion Gas turbine solutions are favoured for diverse naval applications but growing interest in LNG-fuelled installations could stimulate commercial shipping business

by Doug Woodyard

A

contract to power the US Navy’s future fleet of hovercraft, the Ship-to-Shore Connector (SSC), specifies Rolls-Royce MT7 marine gas turbines derived from the group’s successful AE1107 engine. Only minor variations from the aero parent, which powers the US Marine Corp’s Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, are required for the SSC application, resulting in more than 90 per cent component commonality.

Among the refinements are a new engine controller, bleed system and power take-off shaft to suit the requirements of the hovercraft.

Rolls-Royce – whose hovercraft propulsion pedigree includes the world’s largest, the SRN 4, during the 1960s and 1970s – will work with Textron Marine & Land Systems to design and manufacture the intake and exhaust architecture as well as the mounting system.

US-based Textron is developing the SSC and will build the initial craft in a programme that could extend to 73 units. The fleet will replace the US Navy’s current Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) hovercraft over the next 20 years for rapidly deploying personnel and vehicles between surface ships and the shore.

Four MT7 gas turbines in each SSC will be connected to an advanced gearbox system to provide both propulsion and lift.

“Our gas turbine technology will increase the power of the hovercraft by 25 per cent compared with the previous generation, enabling each to transport up to 74 tonnes of cargo at speeds over 35 knots,” reported Andrew Marsh, Rolls-Royce president-naval. “At the same time, our engines will improve fuel efficiency by 11 per cent.”

“The AE1107 is the ideal choice for several reasons,” noted SSC programme manager Paul Jones. “The marinisation of an aero gas turbine would normally require some special blade coatings so the engine can withstand the maritime environment. But the Osprey is designed to fly from ships and has accumulated www.mpropulsion.com

over 170,000 operating hours, so development risk is minimised. The MT7 will undergo endurance testing to become type-certified to ABS’ Naval Vessel Rules.”

The MT7’s twin-shaft axial design incorporates a 14-stage compressor followed by an effusion-cooled annular combustor, a two-stage gas generator turbine and a twostage power turbine. The cold end-drive engine features six stages of variable compressor vanes, a dual channel full authority digital electronic control system, modular construction and an ‘on-condition’ maintenance capability.

Fuel and oil systems that are fully

integrated on the engine assembly contribute to compactness and lightness. Significant in-service benefits in terms of spares holdings and maintenance training are anticipated from the V-22 Osprey aircraft deployed by the US Navy ships that will carry the SSC hovercraft.

A fully developed suite of component repairs, special tools and publications are available from the aircraft engine to support the MT7.

AE family upgrades – which have been previously carried out on the engine across a range of aircraft – could increase the available power of the MT7 by up to 20 per cent or extend its life. The power growth capability would

Rolls-Royce MT7 turbines – four per shipset – will power the US Navy’s SSC hovercraft fleet

gas turbines

enable larger payloads to be handled or life-cycle cost savings to be realised.

Engines for the SSC development programme are due for delivery to Textron in 2015, with the first test craft beginning trials in 2017 and becoming operational in 2020.

Rolls-Royce believes the MT7 gas turbine to be well suited to other naval applications; diverse system configurations for either mechanical or electrical drives promise higher flexibility in propulsion system layout.

US Navy demand for Rolls-Royce gas turbine-powered gensets is primed to continue with Department of Defence commitments to additional DDG51-class destroyers, which have already logged the longest production run for any US Navy surface combatant. The 200th AG9140 genset was installed last year on USS John Finn, the 63rd ship in the Arleigh Burke (DDG51) series.

Each vessel features three 3,000kW sets to supply all electrical power for hotel services and combat equipment. The sets are driven by 501K34 gas turbines, derived from the T56 engine that powers C130 Hercules transport aircraft.

AG9140 gensets are also in service with the Republic of Korea Navy’s latest KDX-III destroyers. The first of these sets were built and tested at the Rolls-Royce Indianapolis facility in the USA, the others supplied as kits for assembly and testing by Samsung Techwin in South Korea. Similar gensets are serving with the navies of Spain and Greece and with Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Agency.

Development of the AG9140 resulted in an RF variant. The R indicates a redundant independent mechanical start system, enabling a dark-ship start from batteries only (a built-in mechanical starter uses a small Rolls-Royce model 250-KS4 engine); the F indicates full authority digital controls for the engine/genset systems.

More powerful RR4500 gas turbinegenerator sets rated at 4,000kW are specified for the US Navy’s new DDG 1000 Zumwaltclass destroyers, for each of which Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce MT30 turbines are specified for major Royal Navy and US Navy warships will supply two such auxiliary gensets and two 36MW main generators powered by its MT30 gas turbines.

A versatile range of power options will be offered by this integrated all-electric machinery for propulsion and onboard systems: the MT30-based sets providing the bulk of the power and the RR4500 sets securing economy during light load conditions and peaking power when needed.

The DDG 1000 design, harnessing approximately ten times the electrical power of a DDG 51 destroyer, marks the first application by the US Navy of a large gas turbine for driving a generator set.

MT30 engines – the world’s most powerful marine gas turbines – are also powering US Navy Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) and will drive the UK Royal Navy’s two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. The Royal Navy’s projected Type26 global combat ships will also feature an MT30

turbine as part of a CODELOG configuration.

GE Marine’s continuing commitments include LM2500 gas turbines for the US Navy’s Austal-built LCS programme, headed into service in 2010 by the 127m-long aluminiumhulled trimaran USS Independence. Twin 22MW sets are incorporated in a CODAG propulsion configuration partnered by MTU Series 8000 high speed diesel engines.

A marine sector debut for GE’s LM2500+G4 turbine was earned from the Italian and French Navies’ FREMM frigate programme, a series due for launching one per year from 2013 through to 2022. Benefiting from refinements from the latest generation of commercial and military aircraft engines, the +G4 derivative yields 17 per cent more power and a 6 per cent higher air flow than the LM2500+ generation.

Adding to its US Navy references – over 700 sets have been delivered for surface combatants – the LM2500 is booked to power

GE’s LM500 to power Korean patrol boats GE’s smallest marine gas turbine, the aero-derived LM500, continues to earn references from naval patrol boats, the latest projects including the Republic of Korea Navy’s PKX-B programme. The gas turbines for the projected 34-ship series will be manufactured in Korea by Samsung Techwin at its Changwon facility, the first production phase covering 16 shipsets.

PKX-B patrol boats will feature LM500 turbines with ratings of around 4,425kW in a CODAG plant.

46 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

Capabilities have been established

by GE in Korea to support the LM2500 and LM500 gas turbine requirements of the ROK Navy. The US group expects, through Samsung Techwin, to supply more than 100 LM500 engines for the earlier PKX-A and the new PKX-B programmes.

Samsung Techwin locally manufactures selected parts and assembles and tests the completed engines.

GE provides support to its Korean partner for the gas turbine, control and

reduction gear systems as well as to the shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction and the ROK Navy throughout installation, sea trials and commissioning.

Derived from GE’s TF34/CF34 turbofan aircraft engines, the LM500 has 90 per cent commonality with the CF34 which powers the popular CRJ100/200 regional jet. The simplecycle two-shaft LM500 design with cold enddrive capabilities is based on a gas generator and free power turbine; a 14-stage axial flow compressor yields a pressure ratio of 14.5:1.

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the DDG 117 and DDG 118 destroyers USS Paul Ignatius and USS Daniel Inouye. The gas turbines (four per shipset) will be delivered this year to the respective builders, General Dynamics/Bath Iron Works and Huntingdon Ingalls Industries.

These LM2500 units will feature improvements made through GE’s common engine programme, including upgrades of the compressor rotor, turbine mid-frame, compressor rear frame and power turbine.

The programme fosters cost control, enhanced manufacturing and durability, and reduced spares lead times. Common engine changes are contained within the gas turbine to avoid impact on ship interfaces and onboard maintenance activities.

Overseas navies also continue to provide business for GE Marine. Three Hobart-class air warfare destroyers completing at the domestic ASC yard for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) each incorporate twin LM2500 sets within a CODOG configuration. The ships are based on a design developed and applied by Navantia of Spain for the Spanish Navy’s F100 frigate programme.

The RAN already operates 16 x LM2500 units in its Adelaide- and ANZAC-class frigates; further sets will be deployed in a pair of Canberra-class LHD vessels, each featuring

one gas turbine as part of a CODLAG system.

A combined diesel-electric and gas turbine propulsion plant incorporating a single LM2500 will also drive the German Navy’s new F125-class frigates; the first of four such ships was christened in December at ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems in Hamburg, part of a German construction consortium.

GE is supplying the LM2500 turbines from its Evendale, Ohio, facility to MTU Friedrichshafen in Germany for assembly into propulsion modules.

Four LM2500 gas turbines together delivering 80MW will power the Indian Navy’s first domestic-built aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, which will be handed over after extensive trials in late 2016/early 2017.

The propulsion modules were assembled, inspected and tested in India by Hindustan Aeronautics using GE-supplied kits; the licensee’s modules also power three Indian Navy stealth frigates.

LM2500 sets in service are benefiting from digital fuel control (DFC) system retrofits to improve gas turbine reliability and deliver lower maintenance and reduced long-term costs. The DFC kits from GE incorporate the most advanced controls now standard for new LM2500, LM2500+ and LM2500+G4 turbines in contrast to the hydro-mechanical control

systems of earlier generation sets.

DFC technology secures more accurate fuel and air scheduling within the turbine installation through electrical feedback and closed-loop control; and fuel characteristics and variable stator vane (VSV) positions can be recalibrated via the control software inputs.

Furthermore, gas turbine control sensor redundancy is available for compressor discharge pressure, compressor inlet temperature and pressure, gas generator speed, VSV position and fuel metering valve position. Improved operator signals, alarms and troubleshooting are provided by additional electrical sensors and actuator feedback.

DFC kits also offer improved capabilities for data capture and condition monitoring as well as enhanced engine resistance to possible fuel contamination through oil actuation of the VSV fuel metering valve.

GE Marine has teamed up with China’s Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co and Lloyd’s Register to develop a gas turbine-powered LNG carrier design, reviving an earlier unsuccessful challenge in that market also mounted by Rolls-Royce. The growing popularity of gasfuelled propulsion solutions and an expanding LNG bunkering network should stimulate interest in gas turbine power for appropriate commercial tonnage. MP

Vericor targets fast naval and passenger projects Georgia, USA-based Vericor Power Systems’ is targeting fast patrol boat, attack craft, corvettes and hovercraft propulsion markets, while the compactness and light weight of its TF Series system have also earned installations in fast ferries and megayachts.

The company’s pedigree extends over more than 30 years, although the company dates only from 1999. Its parentage started with AVCO Lycoming, which originated the TF Series marine gas turbines, and culminating with MTU Aero Engines.

Vericor TF Series turbines have operated successfully on a 50/50 mix of algae-based fuel and marine diesel oil

48 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

Lycoming Turbine Engine was acquired in 1995 by AlliedSignal (now Honeywell) from Textron, along with its TF marine gas turbine. In 1999 AlliedSignal set up a joint venture with MTU Aero of Munich for marine and industrial business under the name Vericor Power Systems. Vericor became (and remains) a wholly-owned subsidiary of MTU Aero Engines in 2002.

Vericor’s aero-derived TF Series gas turbines – TF40, ETF40B and TF50A models – cover continuous power ratings from just under 3,000kW to 3,803kW (with boost power ratings from 3,430kW to 4,176kW). Propulsion and electrical power generation applications in naval and commercial vessels are addressed.

The cold end-drive turbine can be integrated into a package by cantilever mounting directly to the reduction gearing or mounting to a horizontal support frame and connecting to the gearing via a shaft and coupling. More powerful packages can be created by integrating two or three turbines in either side-by-side, over/under or Tripak configurations, depending on the space constraints of the hull.

Typical of Vericor’s fast naval installations are US Navy Landing CraftAir Cushion (LCAC) vessels, which feature four Vericor ETF40B engines for driving the lift and propulsion fans.

Last year the US Navy ordered another eight ETF40B engines, taking the total to 16 for LCAC Service Life Extension Programme (SLEP) requirements in fiscal 2013. The engine delivers around 20 per cent more power than the model it replaces on LCACs, fostering improved performance in hot weather and a higher payload, as well as reducing life-cycle costs. The SLEP version of the LCAC extends service life from 20 to 30 years.

TF Series gas turbines are designed to burn marine diesel oil, kerosene or jet fuel. Successful running on a 50/50 mix of algae-based fuel and conventional marine diesel has been demonstrated by an LCAC installation, however, with no operational problems or degradation of performance reported. A subsequent inspection found the engines to be cleaner than when operating on straight marine diesel.

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cryogenic engineering

Finalising the LNG bunkering rulebook The growing interest in LNGpowered vessels has put pressure on shipowners and regulators to finalise a new mandatory regime governing the use of gas as marine fuel

by Mike Corkhill

R

egulatory authorities are being requested to review an ever-increasing number of LNG-fuelled vessel concept designs. More and more owners and operators are considering the use of natural gas to power their ships in compliance with the tightening international regime governing emissions of atmospheric pollution from ships.

Despite several disadvantages attendant on the technology, gas-burning engines comply with all existing and anticipated restrictions on emissions of sulphur oxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) laid down in Annex VI to IMO’s Marine Pollution (Marpol) Convention. These include the requirements that the sulphur content of the fuel used by ships sailing in emission control areas (ECAs) be reduced from 1 to 0.1 per cent from 1 January 2015 onwards and from 3.5 to 0.5 per cent in ships sailing worldwide by either 2020 or 2025. The choice of implementation date for the latter restriction will depend on the results of an IMO review later in the decade.

These concept design review requests pose challenges for regulators because of their diverse nature. The applications for LNG-fuelled ship design projects span a full range of vessel types, from passenger vessels and ferries, tankers and bulk carriers to container ships, car carriers, offshore support vessels, tugs and icebreakers.

The different types of gas-burning engines also need to be considered, as do varying options for gas treatment equipment and bunker tank design and location. On top of that, the logistics of the bunkering operation is very often unique to a particular vessel.

The availability of an agreed international regulatory regime will greatly facilitate the task of flag administrations in approving LNG-propelled vessel designs and the work of port and coastal states charged with verifying compliance. While the maritime industry is working hard on the development of such an

50 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

The location of LNG bunker tanks on ships, not least passenger vessels, has been a key discussion topic during the development of the IGF Code instrument – in the form of IMO’s International Code for Ships using Gas or other Low FlashPoint Fuels (IGF Code) – the use of LNG to power ships that are not LNG carriers is a relatively recent phenomenon and the code is still in draft form.

Work on the IGF Code is nearing completion but a handful of contentious issues await resolution and IMO machinery is such that the provisions requiring clarification need input from several of the organisation’s subcommittees. Development of the code in its final phase is being progressed via a correspondence group. Although the group is currently also addressing the use of methanol and low flash point diesel fuels, the primary focus remains on LNG. Recent IMO sub-committee work on the code has included a review of the location of LNG bunker tanks by the Ship Design & Construction Sub-Committee and the development of STCW training requirements by the Human Element, Training & Watchkeeping Sub-Committee.

Although IMO is prioritising finalisation of the IGF Code, and targeting a spring 2015

adoption date, under this timetable the new regime would still not become mandatory until sometime in the first half 2017. Once the work on the use of LNG, methanol and low flash point diesel fuels is complete, other fuels such as LPG will be addressed.

Fortunately for IMO member states seeking adherence to uniform provisions governing the use of LNG as fuel, there is an interim, voluntary regime in place that is the precursor of the IGF Code. That is IMO Resolution MSC.285(86), Interim Guidelines on Safety for Natural Gas-Fuelled Engine Installations in Ships, which was published by the organisation in June 2009.

This guidance owes much to the pioneering provisions governing LNG-fuelled ships developed by the class society Det Norske Veritas (DNV, now DNV GL). DNV developed its rules to underpin the use in Norway of LNG as a fuel to propel vessels, beginning with the cross-fjord passenger ferry Glutra in 2000. Glutra is the global LNG-powered fleet’s pioneering vessel and amongst the 40 ships running on gas that are not LNG carriers now in service worldwide, the vast majority are operating in Norwegian waters. www.mpropulsion.com

On Glutra, LNG is vaporised by the engine coolant and supplied to four 675kW ultra lean burn natural gas engines placed above deck in four separate and well ventilated engine rooms.

Each engine is coupled to a 720 kVA generator supplying electric power through frequency converters to asynchronous 1,000kW motors coupled to twin steerable propellers at each end of the ferry. The Glutra solution has proved to be just one of a wide range of gas-powered propulsion system arrangements now being used by shipowners.

In addition to the IMO Resolution MSC.285(86) interim guidelines and the DNV rules, most of the other major class societies have also published rules or guidelines for gas-fuelled engine installations. These standards align closely with the IMO interim guidelines and in some cases provide more comprehensive requirements.

In working with this regime to assess the viability of vessel designs that incorporate gasfuelled propulsion systems, flag administrations are developing their own levels of expertise with the technologies involved. They, in turn, utilise the guidance as a baseline standard in developing their own set of design criteria for gas-fuelled vessels. Adherence to such criteria, with any additional requirements they may contain, is intended to provide a level of safety in line with that inherent in compliance with the original MSC.285(86) provisions. In these early days for gas-fuelled ships the only viable approach for flag administrations is to consider applications for a design review on a case-bycase basis.

Under this permitting process, the prospective owner of an LNG-powered ship provides the regulatory authority with documentation such as the vessel’s general arrangement, a layout of the gas-fuelled system components and a list of standards proposed for the system’s design. Details also need to be supplied of how each provision of the MSC.285(86) interim guidelines is to be met and how any deviations are to be addressed.

This approach enables significant issues to be identified early in the design phase and facilitates the plan approval and vessel certification processes. During construction, the administration’s marine inspectors are on hand to ensure that the ship is built in line with the approved plans.

Two of the contentious ship design issues that have occupied those charged with drafting the IGF Code relate to the design concepts for ensuring machinery space safety and the placement of LNG bunker tanks.

The IMO interim guidelines provide two basic design concepts for running a natural gas-based fuel feed system in an engineroom. These are that they should be inherently gas-safe or there should be emergency shutdown (ESD) arrangements.

The machinery spaces of ships designed to www.mpropulsion.com

the inherently gas-safe concept are considered to be gas-safe under all conditions. Natural gas fuel piping within engineroom boundaries on such ships is fitted in a gas-tight enclosure by means of either double-walled pipe or singlewalled piping within a gas-tight duct. The space between the inner and outer pipe/duct must be either pressurised with inert gas or ventilated.

The machinery space is considered a nonhazardous area and there are no restrictions on electrical equipment installations.

On ships constructed to the ESD design concept machinery spaces are considered gassafe under normal conditions but have the potential to become gas-dangerous spaces under certain abnormal conditions. This concept allows single-walled piping inside the engineroom without an external gas-tight enclosure. Extraction ventilation, at the rate of 30 air changes per hour, is used to prevent the accumulation of flammable vapours within the space. Should gas be detected at low levels, all electrical equipment not certified safe for hazardous locations is automatically shut down.

The ESD concept was developed when engine manufacturers had not yet engineered a proper solution for fitting double-walled piping to the fuel manifolds on internal combustion engines.

Technology improvements in more recent years have ensured that this is no longer an issue for the majority of engine sizes.

One of the challenges of the ESD concept is that the approach relies heavily on active safety measures such as gas detection sensors and automation systems that translate sensor signals into alarms and shutdowns. All these components require monitoring, maintenance and testing to ensure continuous efficacy.

To date, the availability of a double level of protection for gas transmission systems in machinery spaces has carried the day. All the systems that have been accepted so far as providing a level of safety equivalent to that given by the existing regulations are of the inherently gas-safe type.

The LNG bunker tank location debate revolves around whether or not the placement of such tanks below accommodation spaces, service spaces and control stations should be permitted. The issue is at its most divisive when passenger vessels are under consideration.

IMO’s interim guidelines acknowledge the fact that design constraints for certain types of ship may not allow a well-defined area between transverse watertight bulkheads to be set aside for the exclusive use of LNG bunker tanks and gas transfer equipment. MSC.285(86) does this by providing several layers of protection to further reduce the risk of fuel system failure and to mitigate the hazards caused by a leak or rupture in the fuel system. These include gas

detection with associated alarms and shutdowns, continuous negative-pressure ventilation of the tank room at 30 air changes per hour and liquid level and temperature monitoring systems in the tank room bilge.

In addition, by prohibiting the installation of non-certified electrical equipment, the tank room’s designation as a zone 1 hazardous space is ensured. The use of cold-resistant material for the tank room boundaries provides further protection as does the thermal insulation separating the room from the hull structure.

A number of class societies have considered additional requirements for tanks under accommodation areas on passenger vessels.

These include providing a cofferdam between the tank compartment and adjacent machinery or accommodation space and placing the fuel tanks at a distance of B/5 from the hull, where B is the vessel’s beam.

Bunker tank placement relative to other areas on gas-fuelled ships will be an issue requiring close scrutiny for future designs of such vessels.

Owners and regulators will need to not only weigh up the various risks to the tank and their consequences but also give consideration to the measures taken to prevent or mitigate these consequences. Another aspect that needs to be considered in this respect is the design of the vessel’s LNG bunker tank or tanks.

Amongst the other issues being addressed

by IMO delegates, including flag administration representatives, during the finalising of the IGF Code’s provisions are hazardous area classifications, gas detection system certifications and fire protection arrangements. The task of developing a mandatory regulatory regime for LNG-powered ships will be accompanied by the equally rigorous work of ensuring its proper implementation. Both shipowners and regulators will derive benefit from beginning their cooperation on a proposed design concept at the earliest possible time. MP

Natural gas-based fuel feed systems in LNGpowered vessels use the gas-safe concept Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 51

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cryogenic engineering

US fast-tracks LNGpowered ships Orders have been placed for the construction or conversion of 16 US-flag ships to run on LNG while final decisions for twice that number are imminent

by Mike Corkhill

T

he shale gas phenomenon in the US has been a game changer for not only the global gas industry but also operators of US-flag vessels. A growing number of the country’s shipping companies are preparing to use the growing supplies of competitively priced, clean-burning gas now becoming available to fuel their ships and achieve unprecedented reductions in vessel operating costs.

Natural gas is provided for use as a ship fuel in the form of LNG and, despite the additional costs associated with LNG-powered vessels, including the newbuilding premium and the specialist liquefaction plants and bunkering arrangements required, the use of this new fossil fuel is set to pay dividends.

As a result of the growing shale output from deposits across the country, the US has regained its title as the world’s largest producer of gas in recent years. Nationwide gas production reached 2.2 trillion ft3 in August 2013, the highest monthly total since 1973. According to the US Energy Department, output in 2014 is expected to average 71 billion ft3/day, or 1.1 per cent above the 2013 figure.

US consumers are now paying approximately

Wärtsilä 34DF dual-fuel engines for installation on one of the six LNG-powered offshore support vessels building for Harvey Gulf US$4.25 per million Btu for their gas, about one-third of the price pertaining in Europe and under a quarter of that for gas delivered to Asia as LNG. On a Btu basis natural gas in the USA, after conversion to LNG, also costs less than both heavy fuel oil and distillate oils such as diesel.

The other factor driving US interest in LNG bunkering is the status of North America as an IMO emission control area (ECA). Gasburning engines comply with all existing and anticipated restrictions on emissions of harmful atmospheric pollutants under both the ECA and global sulphur cap regimes.

The dash for gas in the USA is helping solve the classic chicken-and-egg dilemma that has slowed acceptance of LNG as marine fuel in various parts

The two TOTE newbuildings will be world’s first purpose-built, LNG-propelled box ships www.mpropulsion.com

of the world. US shipowners are specifying the LNG fuel option both for newbuildings and for conversions of existing vessels, confident that the necessary gas bunkering infrastructure will be in place at the appointed time.

For their part, LNG suppliers are prepared to invest in the necessary fuelling arrangements to be part of an emerging shipping segment in which owners are determined to make significant savings in vessel running costs. Their cause is being supported by a range of cryogenic engineering companies that are currently advancing the efficiencies and availability of their small-scale liquefaction plant technology.

In addition it will be possible to load LNG for bunkering purposes at some of the LNG export terminals planned for the USA. Several such facilities are existing import terminals which are being provided with gas liquefaction trains to enable the supply of LNG to both overseas and local customers.

A recent survey by Zeus Development Corp identified 42 LNG-powered vessels currently under development or evaluation for service in North America. The specified projects encompass 17 ferries, 12 tankers and bulk carriers, six offshore service vessels, six container ships and an articulated tug barge. The project portfolio comprises 30 newbuilding vessels and 12 involving converting the power plant on existing vessels.

Several ship newbuilding and conversion projects are already underway. The most advanced project features a series of six 5,250 Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 53

text cryogenic engineering

dwt offshore support vessel (OSV) newbuildings under construction at the TY Offshore yard in Gulfport, Mississippi, for Harvey Gulf International Marine and operation in the Gulf of Mexico. The first three will go on charter to Shell and the entry into service of the lead ship, Harvey Energy, was imminent as this issue went to press. The vessel will be the first LNG-fuelled vessel that is not an LNG carrier to be delivered by a US shipbuilder and the first such vessel to go into operation in the USA. Harvey Gulf states that the US$55 million newbuild cost for each of the STX Marine-designed LNG-powered OSVs is about US$10 million more than that of a similar-sized OSV running on diesel fuel. However, the shipowner expects to recoup the additional capital expenditure within a relatively short period due to the savings in fuel costs it will be able to achieve.

Each OSV is powered by a three 34DF Wärtsilä engines and provided with a Wärtsilä LNGPac fuelling system, the centrepiece of which is a 290m3 LNG bunker tank. While Chart supplied the tanks for the first three ships in the Harvey Gulf series from its Minnesota factory, Lockheed Martin – the manufacturer of the external liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel tanks for the Space Shuttle – has built the LNG fuel tanks for the final three OSVs at its Michoud assembly plant

in Louisiana. The logistics involved in delivering tanks from this facility to TY Offshore are much less challenging than floating the units down the length of the Mississippi River.

Lockheed Martin is also building the six 350m3 pressure vessel LNG storage tanks for the bunkering facility that Harvey Gulf is building at its Port Fourchon OSV vessel base in Louisiana. This facility, which is due for completion later this year, will be the first LNG bunkering station in the USA. LNG-powered container ships are also set to become part of the US shipping scene, thanks to initiatives by Totem Ocean Trailer Express (TOTE), Crowley Maritime, Matson Navigation and Horizon Lines. In addition to a pair of LNG-powered, 3,100 teu container ships ordered at the National Steel and Shipbuilding Co (NASSCO) yard in California, TOTE has also decided to convert two of its existing ships, the Orca class roro cargo ships Midnight Sun and North Star, to run on gas.

Due for delivery in 2015 and 2016, the TOTE newbuildings will be world’s first purpose-built, LNG-propelled container ships. The vessels will be provided with MAN Diesel & Turbo’s new low-speed, electronically controlled, gas-injection (ME-GI) dual-fuel engines, another box ship first. The engines will be fed by means of a fuel gas supply system (FGSS) developed by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME)

and its Shinhan Machinery affiliate. The Daewoo FGSSs will feature ACD’s model MSP-SL highpressure pumps with gearbox assemblies and electric 150kW inverter duty motors.

The ABS-classed container ships will run between Jacksonville, Florida and San Juan, Puerto Rico. TOTE has chosen Pivotal LNG, a joint venture company launched by AGL Resources and WesPac Midstream, to provide the LNG bunker fuel that will be used to power the vessels.

The container ships will bunker at their home port of Jacksonville, Florida and Pivotal LNG will provide the LNG from a new, small-scale liquefaction plant it plans to build in the port.

TOTE has contracted Wärtsilä to supply main engines, generators and its LNGPac integrated LNG storage and fuel gas handling systems for Midnight Sun and North Star in what will be the largest project yet mounted involving the conversion of existing ships to run on LNG. The two 255m-long vessels run between Tacoma in Washington and Anchorage, Alaska. TOTE plans to have the converted ships in service by 2015, although the yard that will carry out the retrofit work had yet to be chosen at the time of writing in early April.

Each of the vessels will be equipped with four 12-cylinder Wärtsilä 50DF dual-fuel engines and generator sets. These engines are able to run on either natural gas, low-sulphur diesel oil or

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heavy fuel oil. Each ship will also be provided with two 1,100m3 LNG fuel bunker tanks and the associated automation and fuel gas handling systems as part of its Wärtsilä LNGPac package.

Crowley Maritime has entered the gas propulsion system arena with an order for two LNG-powered roro container ships (con-ros) at VT Halter Marine. The vessels, each of which will be able to carry approximately 2,400 TEU and nearly 400 vehicles at speeds of up to 22 knots, will be deployed on routes connecting the US mainland to Puerto Rico on delivery in the second and fourth quarters of 2017. The pair are the first LNG-fuelled vessels of the con-ro type to be ordered.

Crowley reports that the ships, to be part of its new Commitment Class and named El Coqui and Taino, will replace the towed triple-deck barge fleet it has used to link the US mainland and Puerto Rico since the 1970s. The new vessels will be propelled by dual-fuel engines of the ME-GI, low-speed type supplied by MAN Diesel & Turbo.

Jacksonville is also Crowley’s home port and the vessels will be bunkered at this location.

Crowley was assisted in the vessel design phase

by Jensen Maritime, its Seattle-based marine engineering subsidiary, and Wärtsilä Ship Design.

In early 2013 the Florida-based shipowner acquired Carib Energy and established Crowley LNG as a new subsidiary. Last year Crowley also ordered four ‘LNG-ready’ product tankers, designed to be able to run on LNG at some future date.

Matson Navigation, a US West Coast operator, has ordered two 3,600 teu container ships, each of which will be powered by an MAN B&W 7S90ME-GI dual-fuel gas-injection engine. The deal includes an option for three further vessels of this type. Each low-speed engine will develop 42.7MW, making them the largest dual-fuel engines ever ordered in terms of power output.

The new Matson container ships will be constructed by Aker Philadelphia Shipyard at an aggregate cost of US$418 million and are scheduled for delivery in the third and fourth quarters of 2018. Matson reports that the 260m-long vessels will be the largest Jones Act container ships ever constructed and are designed to operate at speeds in excess of 23 knots. The first of this Aloha Class pair will be named after the late US senator Daniel K Inouye, who championed the US maritime industry and its role in supporting Hawaii’s economy. Both the Crowley Maritime and Matson Navigation newbuildings will be classed with DNV GL. Horizon Lines has received permission from the US Coast Guard to send a further four of its older, steam turbine-driven, Jones Act container ships to a foreign shipyard for the conversion of their propulsion systems to enable running on LNG. The shipowner had earlier been given a similar clearance to have two of its 1987built ships, Horizon Spirit and Horizon Reliance, modified at an overseas yard. Horizon is yet www.mpropulsion.com

to choose where the work will be done and is evaluating tenders from both domestic and overseas yards.

The intention is to provide each ship with medium speed, dual-fuel engines and two 1,000m3 LNG fuel tanks. Repowering of the first vessel will commence in January 2015 and the conversion work on both ships will be completed by late 2015 or early 2016. The shipowner has engaged MAN to conduct preliminary engineering, consulting and design work related to the proposed conversion project. Horizon operates a fleet of 13 US-built, Jones Act vessels linking the US mainland with Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico.

The 16 ships described above represent the

US-flag LNG-powered vessel newbuilding and conversion projects that are currently underway.

As the Zeus Development study highlighted, shipowners are close to final investment decisions on another 26 such vessels and in the few weeks since the report was published, further LNGfuelled ship proposals have been tabled.

The USA has made a relatively late commitment to LNG as marine fuel, and trails Northern Europe in terms of both bunkering infrastructure and the number of LNG-fuelled ships. However, the US sector is developing quickly and the country’s LNG bunker fuel consumption is likely to be rivalling Europe’s later in the decade. MP

Adding value through innovation At Indar we apply the concept i+c to every project we undertake – innovation to find the best solution and commitment to provide the best service.

Indar brand manufactures all types of motors, alternating as well as direct current motors, required for the drives installed on board of the vessels, especially those used for electric propulsion.

Synchronous or asynchronous motors Direct Current Motors Submersible motors

The formula of the new energy

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Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 55

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Did you know? www.mpropulsion.com hosts a fully searchable archive of every article ever published in Marine Propulsion & Auxiliary Machinery

56 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

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history

V for Victaulic A World War I pipe joining system still solves problems today

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ack in 1917 when the World War I was at its height, Winston Churchill – who was then the British Minister of Munitions – had a problem. As British troops moved across mainland Europe they needed fuel and water. But with no friendly suppliers to call on, he needed to be able to deliver these vital elements by pipeline.

Churchill’s specification was demanding: it had to be possible to lay these pipelines quickly and, if the tanks and troops had to retreat, they had to be dismantled and taken away.

He gave the problem to the Royal Engineers, a corps of the British Army, which devised a way of connecting pipes with bolted mechanical couplings that could be joined and dismantled using just a few readily-available tools.

It took them until 1919 – after the war was over – to meet Churchill’s specification. That year one of those engineers, Ernest Tribe, founded the Victory Pipe Joint Co, which joined with the War Department and coined the name Victory Hydraulics, or Victaulic, for its collaborative effort to create mechanical joining techniques.

The couplings later played a vital role in World War II following the 1944 D-Day landings.

A fuel supply line was laid under the English Channel – dubbed the pipeline under the ocean, or Pluto – constructed using Victaulic couplings.

Speaking to Marine Propulsion during the Kormarine exhibition, the company’s vice president Didier Vassal cited the Korean War in the early 1950s as another military example, when all the piping to help the US Army and

Victaulic couplings were used under London’s streets after World War I (photo: Victaulic) its allies was installed using Victaulic couplings.

Their civilian use spread across the British Commonwealth, to countries including Palestine, Egypt and India. Some early Victaulic couplings are still in service: examples dating back to 1921 can be found in London, where the pipes they connect once carried water but now protect cables as part of the city’s modern infrastructure.

Those original couplings featured a grooved ring that was mounted on the outside of the pipe.

It was in 1925 that the familiar grooved pipe concept was developed and a US licence was sold to Frederick Bedford, who could see its potential for laying water pipes to oil wells. He established the Victaulic Company of America and did a lot of

Quick system launched for small pipes Victaulic’s technology may have a long history (see above) but it has recently developed a new joining system for small pipes, Vic-Press.

Unlike the company’s established system, which uses grooved pipes, this uses off-theshelf stainless steel pipes that engineers can readily source.

To make the joint, pipes are cut to length and de-burred and then inserted into a Vic-Press coupling or fitting, which contains a pre-lubricated gasket. A hand-

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held tool presses this onto the pipe to form a permanent leak-tight joint. Victaulic has also developed technology to identify any joints that have not been pressed as the system is filled and tested.

The system is suitable for air, fuel and water supply lines and can be used in combination with the standard Victaulic grooved joining system. It has been type-approved by a number of class societies, including Lloyd’s Register, Germanischer Lloyd, DNV and ABS.

work for John D Rockefeller’s Standard Oil. Victaulic couplings were also installed on the US-built Liberty Ships during World War II. One surviving vessel, John W Brown, still sails regularly.

Mr Vassal was on board last autumn and saw its original Victaulic ballast pipe couplings that had been fitted in 1942. “They never leaked,” he said.

In the UK, major yards including Harland and Wolff, Cammell Laird and Swan Hunter used Victaulic connectors from the late 1920s. Mr Vassal, who takes a keen interest in researching the product’s history, recently had a chance meeting with a retired Swan Hunter engineer who has been able to provide details of many of that yard’s ships that had been fitted with Victaulic couplings.

More recently, high-profile land-based projects have generated business, including London’s Shard – which is the tallest building in the EU – and the world’s tallest building, Dubai’s 830m Burj Khalifa.

Four years ago, however, the company relaunched its maritime business. Many engine manufacturers and other equipment makers have adopted Victaulic’s products, and they are also proving popular for ballast water treatment systems.

Victaulic’s technology has not changed much since its development nearly a century ago, but it still finds new applications to address current technical developments. “I had no idea there would be such a fantastic synergy,” Mr Vassal said. “It is quite fun.” MP Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 57

CIMAC at Marintec

Driving system integration is key to efficiency Integration as a crucial feature on improving the efficiency of marine propulsion systems was the key theme of a seminar organised by CIMAC at the Marintec event in Shanghai in early December.

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hairing the International Council on Combustion Engines (CIMAC) seminar in Shanghai, Stefan Müller, director of the marine application centre at MTU Friedrichshafen, clarified the event’s title: ‘Integrated marine systems for the future’.

It referred to propulsion systems but, in his introduction, he made it clear that its impact was wider than that. “Global trade will continue to grow significantly with a need for competitive and efficient transport solutions that increase energy efficiency and reduce harmful emissions,” he said. “For engine manufacturers, this means reducing emissions and increasing efficiency of engines. In-engine solutions include addressing combustion systems, injection systems, electronics, exhaust gas recirculation and so on.

Taking a broader approach involves addressing fuels, after treatment, heat recovery, combined and hybrid systems.”

He said that managing technology also includes reliability and availability. Holistic approaches must also consider that system scope and complexity will increase to fulfil efficiency and environmental requirements. The industry will need qualified personnel, and automation will gain relevance.

Giving a class society perspective Zhongmin Yang, director of China Classification Society’s Shanghai Rules and Research Institute, said that suppliers have to respond to IMO emissions regulations on SOx, NOx and CO2. “This has an impact on the technical development of marine diesel engines, including development of EGR, SCR and alternative fuels, as well as increased efficiency.”

Prof Yang commented that the role of class is responding to this challenge by developing rules and technical standards, energy efficiency management systems incorporating technical research, application of results and the integration of information. “This should lead to optimised design, verification of product performance and assist shipowners,” he said.

58 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

Considering future challenges in more technical detail, Karl Wojik, vice-president at engine supplier AVL List in Austria asserted: “System efficiency is the next big challenge for propulsion system technology.” He described current challenges as meeting low NOx and low sulphur requirements, for which solutions are being developed. “Tomorrow’s challenge is high energy efficiency for which there is a need to look beyond the engine. Key elements of integration include waste heat recovery (WHR), optimum plant layout, fuel and lube cooling systems, and the development of different configurations of hybrid systems.” WHR involves combined steam and power turbine driven generators adapted for utilisation of exhaust gas.

Mr Wojik said that there is a need for the right tools to optimise systems, including model-based development using simulators for engines, transmissions, batteries, electric motors, inverters and control strategies. He cited his company’s Cruise-M – a control system development for the main engine – and EPOS – a condition monitoring model-based development.

“This leads to optimum route planning, reduced fuel consumption, lower emissions, and lower operating costs. System optimisation is a great opportunity for the future.” Mr Wojik later expanded on his remarks exclusively for Marine Propulsion; see Powertalk, in the last issue.

Willie Wagen, director of ship power at Wärtsilä Propulsion in Norway, talked about innovation. “Shipping will have a range of more sustainable fuels in the future – wind, fuel cells, solar, carbon capture, and others.

Flexibility is needed.”

He said: “Total efficiency is the key.

Optimised vessel design, operations efficiency, hybrid machinery and distribution and energy storage will be increasingly important. There is a need to design ships [that are] optimised for their intended operation. The tool box to achieve this includes flexibility in fuels, energy saving, propulsion train design and smarter equipment and ships. Older ships will become obsolete or inefficient. It is a matter of adapting technology for marine applications, not re-inventing the wheel.”

Maximising a vessel’s total efficiency will reduce its consumption of fuel and other resources, as well as emissions. Its design and operation should be aimed at minimising the energy required to accomplish its desired

Stefan Müller of MTU Friedrichshafen chaired the CIMAC seminar in Shanghai mission and the energy on board the vessel should be generated in an efficient manner and optimised for the prevailing conditions and the vessel’s task. Energy losses will be effectively avoided or recovered, using optimised vessel design, operation support, hybrid machinery and distribution, and energy storage.

Mr Wagen said: “By applying available technologies to shipping, the industry’s environmental impact can be considerably lowered. In the vessels of the future all emission streams will be minimised. This clearly reduces the environmental impact of shipping even when shipping volumes become considerably higher than they are today.”

He commented that such fleet optimisation rewards the total value chain. “Fleet optimisation guides the vessel design and the effective use of the operator’s fleet. This ensures competitiveness, efficient operations and excellent environmental performance, with an optimal combination of fleet size, vessel size and speed.”

The main opportunities from this trend include more advanced newbuildings and huge retrofit opportunities. Against this are the challenges posed by the availability of fuels, available infrastructure and development of the necessary technology.

JuSeong Han, of Hyundai Engine and www.mpropulsion.com

Machinery Division in South Korea, backed LNG fuel as the best common solution for addressing all the environmental and efficiency challenges.

He highlighted the two main options for LNG propulsion systems – low pressure using a pump and vaporiser, or a high pressure system. There are also several LNG tank options available, with development work continuing on LNG tank design and location onboard. “Owners need to look at the whole system design including the vessel’s operating profile,” he said.

Christoph Rofka, senior general manager at ABB Turbo Systems, outlined the benefits of enhancing the performance of engines using two technologies. “Although two-stage turbocharging is not new technology, it is new for marine applications,” he said.

Developing this for marine engines involves model development, with a doubling of pressure ratios up to 12 compared with single-stage turbocharging. This results in higher efficiency by more than 75 per cent and more compact two-stage systems can be developed. He also highlighted the use of advanced variable valve trains, featuring individual valve control for closing, opening and lift height. Valves feature steep closing flanks, but with no increase in mechanical load. Variation from cycle to cycle replaces conventional control elements.

“These technologies can be used in combination to enhance performance of medium speed diesels by up to 5-7 per cent with higher pressure ratios. For gas engines the potential is up to 10 per cent efficiency gain,” Mr Rofka indicated.

Further potential performance gains involved engine integration, standardisation and servicefriendly designs such as integrated two-stage turbochargers, gas engines with diesel-like flexibility, improved diesel mode for dual-fuel engines and use of different operating modes.

Yasuhiro Itoh, managing director Niigata Power Systems in Japan, focused on hybrid propulsion systems, using an actual example of two tugs being operated in Japan by Tokyo Kisen in Yokohama. He pointed out that tugs require high powered engines but for 75 per cent of the time they operate at less than 20 per cent load resulting in energy being wasted.

“Our idea is for main engine shutdown at low loads, using lithium ion batteries instead that can be re-charged while alongside the pier.

Another option is a hybrid solution without batteries, using auxiliaries instead of the main engine when operating at low loads.”

He described the first hybrid tug in Japan that went into service in March 2013, the Tsubasa, with a plug-in hybrid propulsion system using a battery. This system saves 32 per cent in fuel consumption. In October 2013 another tug, the Ginga, went into service using a hybrid system without batteries. “The challenge www.mpropulsion.com

The CIMAC panel in Shanghai debated integration of propulsion systems is balancing the higher initial cost of these systems, especially the battery, with the savings in operation,” Mr Itoh said. The hybrid system currently costs about 40 per cent more than a conventional propulsion system, he said.

In answer to a question as to who should be the driver for such developments, engine makers or shipowners, Mr Itoh said that for these tugs Niigata supplied the engines and propeller using an integrated system it developed. “But there is also an important driver from co-operation with owners. It does not have to be the enginebuilder who is the driver.”

In tests, Niigata simulated the system and achieved a 20 per cent saving, but he said that actual savings in operation are 30 per cent. “The tug captain wanted to use the battery for as long as possible and used it for more than expected and more than it was used in the simulation, so the operator involvement is also significant in optimising performance.”

He said that on hybrid propulsion systems, benefits from energy saving and emission reduction have been verified. But maximising the impact of hybrid propulsion with fuel and emission reduction depends on the actual operating engine load pattern. For example, Mr Itoh suggested, hybrid propulsion could

Karl Wojik (AVL List): System efficiency is the next big challenge

be applied to ships operating for long periods under low load or idle speed and ships for which rapid loads are required – such as tugs, offshore support vessels and some ferries operating short distance shuttle services.

For compliance with IMO Tier III, batteries can be used in emissions control areas, with gas engines driving generators. In the future, the batteries could be recharged using renewable energy, such as wind, solar and tidal power.

Summarising the presentations Mr Müller said that they demonstrated there is still more potential for internal engine optimisation. “New solutions include gas engines and hybrid systems and operational aspects are also important.”

He raised the issue of rules for exhaust gas after-treatment systems and the need to monitor actual performance. “Class societies are still developing rules for after-treatment. Where rules have been developed they are mainly focused on safety aspects due to the chemicals involved, rather than performance.”

Mr Wojik referred to WHR systems, commenting that there is a trade-off between the system cost and the fuel savings for each vessel, which would depend on its operating profile. Mr Rofke stressed: “We do not see that it is possible to meet upcoming emission regulations by internal engine modifications alone. We are seeking to optimise performance and reduce emissions, but this will also need external measures such as exhaust gas treatment systems.

He expressed concern that, with new systems, exhaust gas temperatures are getting lower and the requirement for exhaust gas to produce steam to heat the fuel will not be met and hence a requirement for an additional steam boiler. “So there is a need for all the consequences of such developments to be considered, he said.”

Mr Wagen suggested that battery prices will reduce in the future and their capacity will increase. “We will see increased use of batteries and energy storage, even on conventional vessels.” MP Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 59

generators and switchgear

Drive towards better shaft generators Permanent magnet generator technology offers benefits for marine applications

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Frequency control equipment comes as an integrated part of the permanent magnet generator package (credit: The Switch)

ith increasing pressure on costs, recent trends have been towards more integrated power generation systems using shaft generators in place of more traditional auxiliary generating sets, typically driven by constant-speed, four-stroke engines.

These gensets require space for installation and generally run on marine diesel fuel rather than lower cost heavy fuel oil. As a result, shaft generator systems have become more common, taking power from the main propulsion train to generate electricity to supply ship electrical loads.

Shaft generator systems are typically based on synchronous generators with electrical excitation, mechanically driven from the main propeller shaft and feeding power into the ship electrical system either directly or through a frequency converter.

In many cases a gearbox will be required in the drive system, introducing its own losses. Alternatively, a direct connection can

Lloyd’s Register approves medium voltage switchgear for marine use Lloyd’s Register has completed a General Design Appraisal for the Dutch company Eaton Industies’ Power Xpert UX range of switchgear, confirming that the range meets all requirements for application in ships and other offshore facilities. The company began processing orders for marine applications within weeks of approval being granted.

“The marine and offshore sectors are very important to us, and we’re delighted we now have approvals that will allow our customers in these sectors to enjoy the benefits offered by one of our most popular ranges of MV switchgear,” said Mostapha Azzahimi, product manager for medium voltage systems at Eaton.

All Power Xpert UX switchgear is now type-tested to the latest IEC 62271-200

60 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

standards, with marine build versions having undergone additional testing including for resistance to damp heat, dry heat and cold.

Inclination and vibration tests have also been successfully carried out. Products are also constructed with earthed metal partitions that fully segregate all major compartments.

Type UX switchgear is equipped with Eaton’s latest range of IEC vacuum circuit breakers type W-VACi, which have also been typetested to the same standards.

The innovative design of Eaton’s UX switchgear originated from the earlier Unitole products which have been in service for over 40 years. The withdrawable vacuumoperated breakers are air insulated and available at ratings of up to 4,000A. Eaton has adopted a policy of using environmentally-

friendly technology and materials and the UX therefore avoids the use of potentially harmful SF6 gas insulation. Its construction is modular, allowing flexibility in panel combinations, and multiple panels can be used in installations.

At the heart of switchgear cabinet are the busbar and circuit breaker compartments.

Busbars are totally enclosed in an earthed metal compartment which vents upwards into the arc chamber at the top of the cabinet. This chamber can be extended if required and connections can also be provided for venting gases outside the switchgear room. The busbars themselves are fully insulated along their entire length and tested for ratings up to 4,000A and 50,000A for 3 seconds.

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be made but the generator itself must be designed to run at low speeds, necessitating it being larger in size.

Although direct connection systems avoid gearbox losses, low-speed electrically-excited synchronous shaft generators are likely to operate at lower efficiencies than their high speed equivalents. Considering further losses in power electronics, the overall efficiency, comparing shaft power with electrical power, can drop to below 90 per cent. Having undergone considerable development in recent years, permanent magnet (PM) generators now present a practical alternative, with higher power ratings now being possible. The technology is also capable of efficient low speed operation, allowing application to low speed drivetrains without the necessity of an up-speeding gearbox.

The absence of field windings and associated losses provides PM generators with advantages of efficiency, low weight and simplified construction. Finnish company The Switch points out that a typical electrically excited shaft generator has rotor field winding losses of up to 3 per cent of its input power and these do not exist in a PM generator. Stator losses are also lower, as the generator operates at a higher power factor, with resultant lower stator current and hence lower resistive losses.

The Switch, which specialises in PM machinery, estimates that a typical electrically-excited shaft generator connected to a low speed two-stroke diesel engine will deliver a conversion efficiency of 93 to 94 per cent whereas a PM generator running in equivalent conditions will deliver efficiencies The vacuum circuit breaker compartment is fully segregated from other areas and has its own pressure relief channel leading into the arc chamber. The breaker can be operated manually, if required, by push buttons mounted on the front of the cabinet with the doors remaining fully closed. Mechanical interlocks prevent the compartment door being opened until the circuit breaker is switched off and placed into the test position. As a further safety feature, individually operated automatic earthed metal shutters for line busbar and outgoing cable connections can be padlocked in their closed positions. If the breaker is moved to either the test or disconnect position, these shutters close automatically to prevent accidental operator contact with live sections.

Eaton’s vacuum circuit breakers are constructed with fixed and moveable contacts housed in a ceramic cylinder with

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Permanent magnet generators provide a flexible and more efficient alternative to conventional generators (credit: The Switch) up to 96 or even 97 per cent. A consequential advantage of this higher efficiency is the reduction in cooling capacity required, reducing loads on cooling water circuits or air flow requirements.

A further benefit of the PM generator concept is its simpler mechanical construction. As it requires no separate excitation, there is no exciter assembly – a small generator in itself – in the machine construction. By comparison, synchronous generators often require an external power source although installations required to start without external power can be fitted with a small, permanent magnet generator, which adds to the complexity of the machine.

Without the need for these components, and associated control electronics and diode packs, the PM generator is far simpler and less reliant on auxiliary systems, which can actuation by bellows. Contacts are shielded against contamination from metal deposition caused by vapours produced when the breaker operates. The design also results in a large number of parallel arcs being created when contacts operate, resulting in low arc voltages, short arc ties and resultant low energy dissipation. This limits contact wear and reduces maintenance, with Eaton certifying the equipment for up to 30,000 operating cycles.

The cabinet includes an earth switch that is operated from the front of the switchgear and mechanical indicators are provided to show the switch position, along with a window being incorporated to allow a direct view of the mechanism. Mechanical interlocks with the circuit breaker are incorporated such that the switch can only be closed when the breaker is in the test or disconnect position and the circuit earth switch can be mechanically interlocked

also be prone to failure and will require periodic maintenance.

Rotor construction of PM generators is also more simple than their traditional counterparts. In the case of The Switch products, the rotor is a simple hollow steel cylinder with magnets fixed to its surface.

The yoke thickness is typically 30 to 50mm, with magnet thickness in the range of 15 to 20mm. The resultant rotor inertia is therefore low, due to the compact nature and low weight of the rotating element.

In offering a comparison, The Switch indicates that, for a 1.5MW rated generator, the shaft weight of a PM design could be as low at 2 tonnes, compared with 6 tonnes for an electrically-excited generator.

In addition, rotor inertia, of the order of 600 kgm 2, is also almost an order of magnitude less than that of a conventional rotor. This provides further benefits as, for rotating equipment, the dynamics and vibration characteristics of shafts are often critical to operation. Hence, low mass and inertia are desirable characteristics.

With PM generators already well established in high-power industrial applications, The Switch sees the technology becoming more significant to marine propulsion applications but notes that the machines have yet to make a breakthrough in ship power generation, where traditional electrically-excited synchronous generators are still the most popular option. The company anticipates this will change, however, and already offers a range of low, medium and high speed PM generators with power outputs up to 6.3MW. MP with the cable compartment door, providing further safety protection.

The lower sections of the cabinet house current and voltage transformers, cable terminations and the earth bar whilst the low voltage panel is mounted at a convenient height for operators, on the front of the cabinet, above the main breaker panel.

Eaton Industries Power Xpert UX MV switchgear has passed its General Design Appraisal by Lloyd’s Register (credit: Eaton Industries)

Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 61

generators and switchgear

Short circuit constraint and reactions are key requirements Schneider Electric has developed the loop power distribution topology for high voltage ship systems. The French company’s vice president for business development in the marine sector Edouard Coste said it has supplied these systems to automation and power distribution suppliers for specific vessel newbuilding projects.

“The loop distribution system includes higher redundancy, and improves the energy efficiency on ships. If there is a failure in the system, then the power supply is not disrupted as it is a ring network. It is more efficient because there are less cabling and lower power losses,” he explained.

Schneider Electric’s loop distribution systems have been installed on Norwegian Cruise Line and Aida Cruise ships.

The loop network consists of several substation/ring main units (RM6), voltage switch-disconnectors that ensure the closing and opening of the loop and circuit breakers and fuse-switch combinations that protect transformers and other electronics.

The RM6 switchgear cubicles provide rapid cable connections, enabling the connection, supply and protection of transformers to an open ring network.

Schneider Electric’s marine segment manager Jack Hawkins said the main benefit of the system is about speed of recovery after a short circuit. “The faster you can intervene, the best it is to save the equipment and have reliable and safe operations. The higher the short circuit level is, the more difficult it is to cut it.”

Another innovation from Schneider Electric is the ultra-fast breakers for low voltage systems. These enable vessels to sustain higher short-circuit current constraints, which means their power systems do not have to be increased to medium voltage levels. Mr Coste said this means shipowners do not have to employ dedicated crew on board these vessels to maintain the power distribution system.

“We have added ultra-fast breakers that start to operate in less than 0.5ms and clear faults in less than 8ms. The peak fault current is limited by 40 per cent.

We have sold this to offshore support vessel operators who have saved on their operating expenditures because of using the low voltage systems.”

ABB ship-to-shore electrical power system connects in minutes ABB is supplying a complete ship to shore (S2S) power system to the ropax ferry, SuperSpeed1.

Operated by Color Line and built by Aker Finnyards, the vessel has already seen more than five years of operation between Kristiansand and Hitshals and will the third Color Line vessel to be equipped with the S2S system, following on from Color Magic and Color Fantasy.

Engine emissions in port have come into greater focus in recent years and interest in cold ironing – taking power from an onshore supply – has increased considerably. With vessels requiring different powers and supply voltages, there are difficulties to be overcome but ABB has developed a range of solutions that can be applied to different vessel types. The S2S system enables equipment to be installed onboard to automatically control synchronisation of the shore power supply with ship power and allow a smooth changeover without loss of power to any of the onboard facilities. Transfer of power from ship generators to the onshore supply can be achieved in minutes, ABB reported.

The scope of equipment includes the connection switchboard, an onboard transformer and low voltage receiving switchboard. In the SuperSpeed1, connection systems will be included to enable the high voltage onshore 11kV switchboard in Kristiansand, Norway to feed into the ferry’s low voltage 690 V system during its stay in port. The ABB system complies fully with IEC, ISO and IEEE standards.

Using an onshore electrical power supply means that local ship emissions of CO2, NOx and SOx are virtually eliminated. The practice also results in vessel fuel consumption being reduced significantly, providing cost savings to operators. This is particularly so in cases where ships generators would otherwise be working ››› 62 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

Complete onboard system including HV shore connection panel and cable drum

Sub-station (incl. 50/60 Hz converter) Shoreside transformer kiosk Power outlet 6,6 kv/1kv HV underground cable (distance 1–5km)

ABB provides full ship-to-shore connection systems, which are integrated with the vessel's electrical power requirements (credit: ABB)

SuperSpeed1 will be the third Color Line vessel equipped with the ABB S2S system, following Color Magic and Color Fantasy (credit: ABB) www.mpropulsion.com

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generators and switchgear

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at low powers, and hence reduced efficiencies, as a result of low port power requirements. “We are providing energy-efficient solutions to a ferry line that connects key locations,” said Heikki Soljama, head of ABB’s marine and cranes business unit.

ABB offers a range of transformers, switchgear and frequency converters for S2S power applications in addition to standard ship power generation and distribution system equipment. This includes UniGear ZS1 medium voltage switchgear which is a marine version of ABB’s air-insulated switchgear and installed in ships and other offshore facilities worldwide.

The range is said to comply with the most rigorous international standards, including IEC 62271-200, and equipment is also certified by the major class societies. Ratings are

available up to 12kV and 4,000A. ABB’s range of dry type transformers is also available for shipboard applications at low and medium voltages. Suitable for S2S power, they are popular for use in propulsion systems. A recent example of this is an order taken in 2013 for 24 of these transformers for propulsion duty, rated at 2,300 kVA and 480V. These are to be installed in 12 diesel-electric powered offshore platform supply vessels being built by Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding in China.

Further products adding to the flexibility of ABB’s S2S system include the PCS100 static frequency converter range. These enable the connection of 60Hz equipment to a 50Hz power supply or vice versa. With voltages also converted to match load requirements, the S2S system therefore offers the flexibility of onshore

power supply connection to service ship loads in almost any global location with dockside power connection facilities.

For more traditional ship power requirements, the ABB portfolio also includes certified marine switchgear and a range of high voltage generators, these being custom designed as diesel generating sets or for operation as shaft power take-off generators.

Power outputs are up to 50 MVA at either 50Hz or 60Hz frequencies and at voltages of up to 15kV. At present, over 1,700 ABB high voltage synchronous generators are operating on a wide range of vessel types. The generators use the ABB shunt boost excitation system, taking power from the line voltage through a transformer with a permanent magnet exciter to ensure secure voltage build up.

Aggreko gains RINA certification Aggreko is well established as a major supplier of temporary site power for land-based and industrial applications, ranging from grid support to emergency power. It has over 50 years’ experience in rental power and has been prominent in the development of temporary power solutions for shipyards and for sea going vessels.

To support its marine market operations, Aggreko has recently gained certification from RINA Services for the application of its generators for temporary marine use. This confirms that temporary installations from Aggreko will meet necessary Solas rules for onboard use and make it easier to demonstrate compliance with safety requirements.

“The RINA approval certificate on an Aggreko generator ensures compliance with onboard safety requirements, said Pino Spadafora,

Aggreko has received certification for its generators to be used for temporary marine use area manager for RINA Services. Speaking for Aggreko, Maarten Martens, its business development manager for continental Europe,

said: “This process will ensure faster and simpler delivery of containerised diesel power generators for planned or emergency projects.”

First marine contract for permanent magnet specialist Permanent magnet electrical generator technology is not a new concept but, in recent years, significant steps have been made in its development. Applications can be seen in a range of industries, including the expanding wind power sector.

In January 2014, however, The Switch, based in Vantaa, Finland, signed a contract with WE Tech Solutions of Vaasa, to supply four direct-drive 1.5MW permanent magnet (PM) marine shaft generators, marking The Switch’s first move into the marine sector.

The generators will be coupled with WE Tech Solutions’ WE Drive system which is based on variable speed drive technology, removing the constraint of constant shaft speeds required for conventional generator technology.

The Switch already supplies a range of PM generators, motors and frequency management systems to industrial users and the technology is said to operate reliably in 64 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

harsh environments. The machines have high power densities, which is attractive for shipboard applications where installation space is limited. Combined with the WE Drive system, this new technology is expected to provide increased flexibility for marine operators combined with lower operating costs for ship electrical networks.

Deliveries of this latest order will commence towards the end of 2014 with WE Tech supplying the generators and drive systems to Tianjin Xingang Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Co in China. They will be installed in four post-Panamax car carriers ordered by Wallenius Lines, with deliveries scheduled for 2015 and 2016.

“Over the past three decades, the shaft generator has been successfully employed on board ships worldwide. The main advantage is to allow main engines to use cheaper heavy fuel oil (HFO) for electrical power

production, thereby significantly reducing the running hours of auxiliary generators,” explained Mårten Storbacka, managing director of WE Tech Solutions. By combining the variable frequency WE Drive with the PM shaft generator, the ship’s electrical power is generated with the same high efficiency throughout the full speed range of the main engine, he said, which is especially important in electrical part loads. In addition, the WE Drive also provides 1MW of boost power directly to the propeller shaft to support the main engine when required, which he said enables a low-load optimised main engine.

“These orders show the real need for new solutions to help seagoing vessels significantly lower the costs of operations, reduce maintenance needs and meet the increasingly stringent emission regulations,” said Mika Koli, business development manager at The Switch. MP www.mpropulsion.com

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thrusters

Thrusting towards a half century of service Azimuth thrusters have established a wide role during nearly half a century at sea

by Malcolm Latarche

I

n three years’ time, the azimuthing thruster will celebrate its golden jubilee in oceangoing service, celebrating the installation in 1967 of two 342kW Schottel Rudderpropellers in the tug Janus, bringing the device out of the inland waterways by giving it a higher powered role.

But they date from 1950, since their invention by Josef Becker, the founder of German propulsion specialist Schottel. The first versions were not installed in the hull in any conventional way but were fitted on inland vessels as an oversize outboard motor similar to the company’s modern Navigator units.

A demonstration of the manoeuvrability conferred by thrusters will be on show in

Hamburg in June this year at the ITS 2014 Tug, Salvage & OSV Convention and Exhibition when a number of tugs fitted with Schottel thrusters will perform a ‘ballet’ in Hamburg harbour as a finale to the convention.

Schottel will also be showcasing the latest version of the Schottel Rudderpropeller at the exhibition.

Today the basic concept and technology has been adapted and improved by Schottel and several other system makers and can be found on an increasing number of ships of all types.

Over the years since the initial thruster was built by Schottel, tugs and small ferries have been joined by offshore ships and rigs as vessels where the azimuthing thruster propulsion system is preferred over the more conventional propeller and rudder of other ship types.

Soon it could even be claimed that the largest vessel in the world relies on thrusters as the 488m FLNG Prelude now under construction at Samsung’s yard in Geoje, South Korea, will be fitted with three of them

Schottel’s hybrid debut With hybrid power systems being very much a matter of debate for many ship types, it seems somehow appropriate that for Schottel, a pioneer of thruster development, the first application for the new thruster it will be showcasing at the ITS 2014 Tug, Salvage & OSV Convention and Exhibition in Hamburg later this year will be in a hybrid tug.

The new thrusters are a variant of the company’s Rudderpropeller series SRP 3000 and 4000 and feature power-take-in (PTI). The tug is the first in the ‘Efficient Double-ended DYnamic’ (EDDY) tug and workboat series and is being built by Holland Shipyards to a concept design developed by Baldo Dielen Associates.

More specifically, the tug is a 30-65 type with the numbers signifying a length of 30m and a bollard pull of 65 tonnes.

Main power for the tug’s propulsion comes from a pair of Mitsubishi S16R diesel main engines coupled directly to a pair of Schottel SRP 3000 propulsion units. With the SRP PTI series the PTI is a permanent electric magnet motor providing 460kW at 1,100 rpm for manoeuvring and transit operation up to 10 knots without the main engines running. Power

66 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

for the PTI motors is provided by two Scania DI 16 diesel generators.

Because tugs are required to perform a wide variety of tasks across their entire power spectrum, they rarely need to operate for long at or near the high power levels required for

Schottel’s SRP 3000 PTI thruster is one of its newest designs (credit: Schottel)

as its sole means of self-propulsion. But its thrusters are not intended to move it around the ocean. Having no main engine of its own, Prelude will be towed between employments and its trio of thrusters are there for precise and accurate manoeuvring into position before the risers are connected.

Modern thrusters come in many forms; the original rudderpropeller type with its Z-drive operation is still around in large numbers but the simple L-drive is more frequently used and the permanently-outside thruster has been joined by retractable and swing-up types that are taken inside the hull when not in use so as to reduce drag. Some thrusters are fixed, some push and others pull. Podded propulsion systems are thrusters where even the motor is moved outside of the hull.

But it is the tunnel thruster that is the most common and found on every type of ship. Some manufacturers have developed products that can perform as both a tunnel thruster and an azimuthing thruster. In these optimum engine performance. The PTI solution adapts to the task at hand. It eliminates the part load operation from the main diesel engines and takes over for transit and idling.

The system allows for an easy switch between engine and PTI during tug operation so that the power of the PTI can be added to the diesel engine in the boost mode for maximum bollard pull or high torque requirements at partial loads. An additional benefit is that the main engines can be considerably smaller in size thus reducing capital and running costs.

The PTI option also permits a high level of redundancy as there is an electric motor in addition to the main diesel engine.

The EDDY tug will not be the first hybrid tug that Schottel has had a hand in. What is claimed as Europe’s first true hybrid tug, the 2010-built Rotor tug RT Adriaan, re-entered service with the KOTUG fleet in the port of Rotterdam two years ago having undergone conversion from conventional diesel drive to a diesel/battery hybrid with its Caterpillar engines supplemented by a lithium-ion battery pack. A 500kW TECO-Westinghouse motor/generator is installed in each shaftline close to the flexible coupling of the tug’s trio of Schottel SRP 1215 FP azimuth thrusters.

www.mpropulsion.com

versions, a retractable azimuthing thruster can work in any orientation when extended but when retracted into its tunnel housing performs as a normal tunnel thruster.

Norwegian manufacturer Brunvoll claims to have installed the first tunnel thruster in 1965 although there may be competing claims from elsewhere in the world. Tunnel thrusters have proved their worth over time in increasing manoeuvrability and – arguably their main purpose – reducing tug usage and associated expense.

Despite Asian dominance in shipbuilding, thruster manufacture and development remains mostly a European specialisation but with some US involvement. Asian manufacturing is not altogether missing as Kawasaki with its Rexpeller thrusters has been around for some time and, after installing its first in-house produced tunnel thruster in 2005, Hyundai Heavy Industries has branched out into azimuthing thrusters. In China also, companies such as NGC Marine and Wuxi Ruifeng Marine Propulsion are producing both tunnel and propulsion thrusters.

Asian experience with thrusters has produced one claimed ‘first’: in early 2012, South Korean shipbuilder DSME claimed to have carried out the world`s first on-shore installation of an azimuth thruster. The ship involved was Heerema’s 50,568dwt pipe lay construction vessel Aegir. According to DSME, this new shore based installation method accelerated the construction schedule by almost six months when compared to the traditional underwater installation process.

After 50 years of use for both propulsion and manoeuvring, thrusters are now quite a mature technology but improvements and innovations are still being made for all types.

Most recently this has involved rim drive and permanent magnet technology, propeller blade form and modifications in duct shape aimed at achieving greater efficiency. Other recent developments in thruster technology have been the development of versions for use in ice and contra-rotating propellers, both of which come together in the Steerprop system for a ro-pax ferry being built in Italy

by Fincantieri for Société des traversiers du Québec (STQ).

The number of thrusters in service is testament to their reliability and robustness but, as with all machinery, problems and faults will occur. Condition monitoring and condition-based maintenance are growing in importance in the marine industry and thrusters have not been ignored with products being developed specifically for use with thrusters and for the occasions when things do go wrong, there are also new developments in underwater repair. MP www.mpropulsion.com

Hydrex engineers guide a thruster's hub onto a workboat (credit: Hydrex)

Special service speeds up repairs As more vessels are fitted with thrusters, the likelihood of a breakdown or damage needing urgent attention will inevitably increase. Underwater repairs of all types are quite commonplace today and one of the world’s leading specialists, Antwerp-based Hydrex, has recently launched a service aimed at operators of ships fitted with thrusters of any kind.

Hydrex is well known for using its mobdocks to facilitate repairs to hulls and the experience gained is behind the new service. The company claims it was the first to show that it was possible to remove and then replace thrusters fast by creating a dry environment underwater. Using mobdocks to seal off the thruster tunnel, with an access shaft protruding above the water, work teams accessed the thruster tunnel and removed or repaired the thruster within the tunnel in complete safety. Hydrex has developed this technology further using lightweight flexible mobdocks designed to be easily transported around the world.

In its new permanent thruster repair and replacement system for offshore related vessels and units, each vessel will carry its own custom-designed mobdock supplied by Hydrex as part of the service. The mobdock can be included in the planning for a newbuild, installed on a unit going to drydock or constructed and brought onboard at any other suitable time. With such a system on standby any repair work to the thruster that may arise can be dealt with much faster and more easily.

Some of the thruster related repairs recently carried out by Hydrex include an 86m research vessel in Congo that needed the stainless steel belt in one of its thruster tunnels replaced. The belt is installed around the perimeter of the thruster tunnel at the location of the thruster blades where the impact of the cavitation caused by the movement of the blades is the most severe and is designed to give extra protection against cavitation damage.

When this suffered cracks, the underlying steel was exposed to cavitation and the belt needed to be replaced to prevent the thruster tunnel from getting damaged too severely.

To facilitate the repair underwater, Hydrex designed an open-top cofferdam that was constructed in a local workshop in PointeNoire under the supervision of the company’s diver/technicians. At the same time a regular shaped second cofferdam was also built.

Using the cofferdams and having drained the tunnel, the old damaged belt was removed and replaced with a new stainless steel belt over a period of five days.

More recent repairs involved bow thruster blade replacements in situ on three container ships in Rotterdam and removal and later replacement of the complete bow thruster units on two other vessels in Rotterdam and Tacoma. In the case of the thruster removals these were done by first removing the blades and then the thruster itself. With the vessels sailing on normal operations between removal and replacement it was also necessary to seal off the tunnel from inside the vessel.

Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 67

thrusters

Wärtsilä overhauls thruster ranges Driven by what Wärtsilä describes as changing market demands, the Finnish power and propulsion specialist has responded by developing new ranges of both azimuthing and tunnel thrusters. According to Wärtsilä, its next generation of thrusters has been developed by using the latest calculation tools from thousands of hours of model testing to ensure the products are at the cutting edge of hydrodynamics.

On the propulsion front, the new Wärtsilä Steerable Thruster (WST) series is being introduced to replace the company's Modular Thruster and Compact Thruster ranges. The first models to become available are the WST45U and the WST-14.

The new WST-45U represents the latest technological evolution of higher powered units exceeding 3MW. An underwater de-mountable thruster, it has been specifically designed for the drilling and offshore construction sectors but is equally suited to

The WST-45U is one of the first models in the new Wärtsilä Steerable Thruster series (credit: Wärtsilä)

Wärtsilä’s new WTT-11 tunnel thrusters (creit: Wärtsilä)

68 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

other vessel types that require mounting or exchange of thrusters afloat.

Compared with earlier models, the new design provides the same amount of thrust from a lower power requirement, thereby reducing fuel cost. However, Wärtsilä also says that mechanical improvements such as optimising the hydrodynamic design of the lower gearbox and incorporating an 8 degree tilt results in a better performing, more reliable unit that does not just reduce fuel but overall operating costs.

Based on the ABS Guide for Dynamic Positioning Systems, a correction factor of approximately 14 per cent on the performance will be applied in case the DP-requirement is based on conventional DP-capability calculations. Already 116 units have been sold with the maker claiming this places it at the forefront of 8 degree tilt technology.

The second of the new models, the WST-14, represents the latest evolution of Wärtsilä’s series of steerable thrusters of less than 3MW and is intended for tugs up to 45 tonne bollard pull, inland waterway vessels and river/sea going cargo ships. This thruster is compatible with both medium speed and high speed (1,800 rpm) diesel engines.

By focusing on a more integrated design, Wärtsilä says the WST-14 is more compact than its predecessor, making it easier to install. By improving the design performance, extending engine compatibility to include high speed diesel engines, providing light class compliance and reducing the manufacturing costs of this unit, the WST-14 series now represents a much more competitive proposition to the market.

In the new tunnel thruster range the first product to be introduced to the market is the WTT-11, which is a 1,100kW tunnel thruster designed mainly for merchant cargo vessels and used predominantly to manoeuvre the vessel when mooring. Thanks to the smaller size of the auxiliary equipment, Wärtsilä says it is able to offer a cost effective solution which also has a reduced footprint.

With its new range, Wärtsila believes is can integrate both thrusters and propulsion through one control platform, streamlining bridge activities and optimising equipment use. Multiple control stations can be installed to ensure maximum flexibility. The control system can be incorporated with Wärtsilä 3C, which combines navigation, communication, propulsion control and automation into one platform with a common user interface giving the bridge team easy access to all relevant systems with a more simplified user interface.

Pushing through the ice Towards the end of this year, the new 12,000gt flagship of Canadian ferry operator Société des Traversiers du Québec (STQ) will be completed by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri’s Castellammare di Stabia yard.

The new ro-pax ferry will be larger and faster than its predecessor in the STQ fleet but, despite its larger size, the vessel will also be more efficient and environmentally friendly thanks in part to the pair of Steerprop SP 120 ECO CRP propulsors that will drive the vessel.

Each of the Z-drive thrusters with their contra-rotating propellers has a power rating of 7,000kW. Because year-round operation involves the vessel often working in severe ice conditions during winter, the thrusters will be type approved to Finnish-Swedish 1 A Super ice-class standards.

Van Voorden Castings from the Netherlands was entrusted with producing the four stainless steel propellers. These have diameters of 2.9m and 3.5m and a combined weight of over 25 tonnes. Stainless steel rather than the more normal bronze was used for the propellers because it resulted in thinner blades and thus an increase in performance in ice and allowed for lower fuel consumption. Furthermore ››› ››› the stainless steel has a higher resistance to cavitation damage than bronze. .Van Voorden claims to be one of the very few foundries in the world which is able to cast stainless steel in the dimensions and quality needed for the propellers which were surveyed and approved

by Lloyd’s Register.

The ECO CRP thrusters are not the only products intended for use in ice infested waters to be supplied by Steerprop. The company was also contracted to deliver main propulsion systems for three icebreakers of the Russian Federal Agency of Marine and River Transportation from United Shipbuilding Corp. Two of these icebreakers will be built in the Vyborg shipyard in Russia and one in the Arctech shipyard in Helsinki, Finland.

Steerprop is delivering two SP 110 ARC PULL units for each of the icebreakers. The units will have a power rating of 9,000kW each and each will be classified according to the Icebreaker 7 rating of the Russian Maritime ›››

A pair of Steerprop SP 120 ECO CRP will power STQ’s new ferry (credit: Steerprop) www.mpropulsion.com

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thrusters

›››

Register of Shipping. Steeprop claims that they will be the most powerful mechanical azimuth propulsors in the world at their time of delivery. The first shipset was planned to be delivered to the shipyard in Vyborg as this issue went to press the following two shipsets three months and six months later.

CMT’s thruster monitor checks a number of parameters to detect vibration and other faults (credit: CMT)

Sensing problems saves cash Like all rotating or reciprocating machinery, thrusters are subject to wear and require regular maintenance. Being outside of the hull in most instances they are also exposed to other risks of damage, making them exactly the type of machinery that will benefit from continuous monitoring and this has been recognised by some makers and third party specialists.

Wärtsilä is an example of a manufacturer that has applied condition monitoring across the full range of its products from engines to propellers and has been providing a service for its thrusters for around five years now. The company’s Propulsion Condition Monitoring Service (PCMS) began as a retrofit option but is now standard on most of its thruster supply contracts. PCMS is not limited to thrusters alone and can also be used on podded systems – which some consider to be different from thrusters – and to conventional controllable pitch propellers.

Within the system, accelerometers are used to monitor the condition of mechanical parts, such as gears and bearings and can also detect, for example, blade damage.

A single PCMS system is devoted to each thruster or other propulsion component and can process up to 16 accelerometers simultaneously. Lubrication and hydraulic oils are monitored by measuring temperature, the oil-water saturation and any oil contamination.

On a ship with many thrusters and perhaps a conventional propeller/rudder also in operation, the system gathers and shows information from all the PCMS cabinets on the vessel. It can give real-time and trend values and advise the operator in case of irregularities. It has been developed to detect the operational states by realtime comparisons of parameters from multiple sources. For example, the vibration measurements are linked to the operational condition of the vessel. If an operational state causes severe vibration, the PCMS will advise how to rectify the situation.

Each day a data package of the day’s monitoring is sent to Wärtsilä’s Condition Based Maintenance centre. There the data is automatically processed and, in the event of irregularities, the propulsion specialist will 70 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

take action. Once a month, the customer receives a PCMS report describing the condition of his equipment. Most data analysis is automated.

Although the system can identify major problems and alert operators to take instant action to prevent damage, its main benefit is identifying problems that build gradually and allow appropriate action to be planned and implemented before a catastrophic failure takes place.

Having the system on a vessel can also allow for extended time between overhauls and in some instances allow five-yearly visual inspections required by class to be waived.

A similar service is offered by the German third party specialist Condition Monitoring Technologies (CMT). Being independent, CMT’s service is not confined to one manufacturer’s products but can cover all brands and types of thruster providing a useful option for ships that have equipment from different makers installed on board.

The CMT service operates in the same way as Wärtsilä’s PCMS, monitoring oil

temperature and condition and using sensors to detect vibration caused by wear or other system fault or damage. The fully automated system is said to be ideal for both newbuildings and retrofits as it can be easily combined with any existing thruster and ship management systems to create a single master system. CMT’s system is also approved by leading class societies as meeting their condition-based maintenance (CBM) requirements and can therefore contribute to operating costs by removing the need for scheduled overhauls.

Services and systems providing condition monitoring of thrusters are not confined to the two companies mentioned, as most leading thruster makers offer some degree of condition monitoring. Major manufacturers, especially those that have products other than thrusters that also benefit from CBM regimes, will provide the type of shore-based expert analysis service described above. For smaller organisations, it may be left for ships crews and the manufacturer’s service engineers to interpret data retained on board.

ZF Marine lifts Krimpen’s profile ZF Marine Krimpen has been designated as the Global Competence Centre for commercial azimuth thruster technology within ZF’s Marine Business Unit. The Dutch company produces a wide range of steerable and transverse thrusters, covering a range between 100kW and 2,000kW, with electric, diesel or hydraulic drive systems.

Among its latest deliveries is Anna-B, which it describes as a versatile multipurpose workboat with dynamic positioning capabilities. It is powered by four ZF thrusters, with no conventional

shaft installations or tunnel thrusters.

At the bow are two shallow draught thrusters, type ZF SDT 4010 FP, each rated at 250kW, which are driven by electric motors and a drive system specially built by ZF Marine Krimpen. At the stern are two well-mounted azimuth thrusters, type ZF AT 6311 WM-FP, of 1,140kW each and driven by Caterpillar engines.

The vessel has dynamic positioning capabilities, which will be described in more detail in a dynamic positioning feature in the next issue of Marine Propulsion. MP www.mpropulsion.com

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Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 71

text waterjets Wärtsilä LJX1720SR axial waterjets drive the ferry Francisco at speeds up to 58 knots

Jets tailor thrust for niche markets W

aterjets are based on a pump, which can be grouped from pure axial designs (delivering a high flow at a low pressure) to pure radial designs (generating a low flow at a high pressure). For a high thrust output, a waterjet needs to generate both a high flow through the jet system and a high pressure, dictating a pump with mixedflow properties.

A unique feature claimed for the Wärtsilä axial flow waterjet is that it delivers the mixed flow properties required but in a pure axial geometry. A significant advantage results as the water follows the optimum flow path straight through the pump instead of partly travelling in a radial direction before exiting at the nozzle.

Axial waterjets primarily target applications with vessel maximum speeds up to 50-55 knots, Wärtsilä explained; above that level axial jets should not be used and a more radial-shaped mixed-flow pump adopted to give better results. For such extremely high speed applications, the group offers its E-series waterjets based on a non-axial pump, which address 72 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

Across the board developments maintain the attraction of waterjets for applications ranging from wind farm support vessels to warships

by Doug Woodyard

applications calling for very high power densities and vessel design speeds up to 70 knots.

Among the merits cited for axial jets are compactness, high efficiency, low weight, wider cavitation margin, higher shaft speed reducing torque, and low forces transferred to the vessel structure. The shaft speed depends on the jet size and the power applied; a small jet at high power can run at 2,000 rpm, a large jet at 200 rpm.

Wärtsilä’s axial pump design is available as a pre-assembled unit for smaller jets up to around 4,500kW; the inlet duct is included in the kit and the unit is delivered on a skid with all auxiliary systems pre-mounted.

Larger jets extend to units rated up to 26MW. The US Navy’s Joint High Speed Vessel and

Littoral Combat Ship programmes are among notable Wärtsilä projects.

Last year saw Wärtsilä’s axial waterjet references extended by a prestigious installation driving the world’s fastest high speed ferry. The 99m-long catamaran Francisco, built by Incat Tasmania for the South American operator Buquebus with capacity for 1,000 passengers and 150 cars, is deployed between Uruguay and Argentina.

A lightship speed of 58.1 knots was achieved on trials by the twin GE LM2500 gas turbine-driven Wärtsilä LJX1720SR axial waterjets, although a service speed of 50 knots is adopted for the River Plate crossing.

The 22MW turbines are arranged to burn marine diesel or LNG. An impressive power input can be absorbed by the relatively small waterjets, whose compact dimensions allowed installation within the ferry’s transom, saving valuable space.

Effective and reliable control of the waterjets in manoeuvring the vessel is assigned to Wärtsilä’s Lipstronic 7000 propulsion control system. The system both controls and indicates the steering angle, bucket position and impeller speed, and can www.mpropulsion.com

be operated via either joystick control or autopilot. A built-in redundancy underwrites robustness and safety.

A significant business boost for Australiabased Doen Waterjets is anticipated from a recent agreement between Doen Pacific and Thrustmaster of Texas enabling the US thruster specialist to expand its production programme with waterjets. Thrustmaster will exploit part of a manufacturing facility in Houston, which benefited from an investment of US$ 40 million in 2009, to produce Doen jets for sale in North/ South America and Europe.

Field support will come from a Thrustmaster global sales and service network that includes Houston, Houma, Rotterdam, Singapore, Dubai, Brazil and India.

Evolved over almost 50 years, Doen Waterjets’ portfolio has hitherto embraced 13 models covering an input power range from 100kW to 4,000kW for leisure, commercial and military vessel propulsion. Speeds of up to 45 knots are reportedly combined with ‘exceptional’ low speed thrust and loadcarrying capability. Three axial flow design programmes – the DJ100, 200 and 300 series – have been offered, with different options and installation methods to suit diverse hull forms and structures.

Targeting larger commercial applications, however, Thrustmaster plans to introduce two new models – the 400 and 450 series – extending the power input range to 6,400kW. The Thrustmaster Doen line-up will then cover: • 100 Series waterjets available in seven model sizes with input ratings from 100kW to 900kW for vessels from 6m to 20m in

length, supported by simple mechanical and electronic control system options; • 200 Series waterjets available in four stainless steel model sizes from 400kW to 2,500kW for vessels from 15m to 45m in length, supported by a full range of electronic controls with joystick docking; • 300 Series waterjets available in two stainless steel model sizes from 1,300kW to 4,000kW for vessels from 30m to 60m in length, supported by a full range of electronic controls with joystick docking; • 400 Series waterjets available in two model sizes from 100kW to 6,400kW for large vessels, supported by a range of electronic controls with joystick docking.

Finnish contender Alamarin-Jet’s new 245 waterjet design features a reportedly unique Combi-Frame construction that allows installation either outside or inside the hull.

Vessel designers are thus able to optimise weight distribution and engine location; an over-sized inspection hatch can also be arranged outside or inside the vessel to ease maintenance. In addition, the CombiFrame is said to simplify installation when repowering from another waterjet type or from a sterndrive system. Long and short tail applications are facilitated.

Other design features highlighted by Alamarin-Jet – all simplifying installation and operation – are an integrated hydraulic steering cylinder compatible with common helm pumps, an integrated hydraulic cylinder for reverse deflector control, an integrated hydraulic oil cooler and a replaceable conical stainless steel impeller wear ring. A special

Quadruple Wärtsilä jet sets serve US Navy Freedom-class trimaran Littoral Combat Ships stator and steering nozzle design contribute to an ‘exceptionally good’ steering response.

With an axial flow single-stage pump, the aluminium/stainless steel jet is suitable for drives from engines with outputs up to 235kW and maximum speeds of 4,600 rpm for the impeller shaft; the impeller has a maximum diameter of 245mm. A forward bollard pull up to 8kN can be generated, fostering high cavitation limits, while the reverse pulling force is considered high at some 60 per cent of the forward thrust. MP

Castoldi expands its Turbodrive range Italian specialist Castoldi is developing what will be the largest model in its Turbodrive programme, which currently includes the 238, 240HC, 282, 340HC, 400HC and 490HC models. (The nomenclature indicates the impeller inlet diameter in millimetres and HC denotes the incorporation of a hydraulic clutch). The continuous duty power ratings for fast vessel propulsion covered by the series range from 184kW to 1,103kW, while intermittent duty ratings extend from 250kW to 1,324kW. The new 600HC model will be based on the company’s established technology but exploiting what the company’s founder, Giacomo Castoldi, described as “a new and revolutionary design” that cannot yet be unveiled.

Some details can be reported, however: the pump will be a three-bladed, single-stage axial flow type and the impeller diameter will be 600mm at the inlet. An integrated gearbox

www.mpropulsion.com

will be offered with a choice of 25 reduction gear ratios. A dry unit weight of 1,580kg will include the gearbox, hydraulic clutch, anodes, levers, water intake, grid and duct.

Maximum power inputs will be 1,985kW (intermittent duty) and 1,655kW (continuous duty); single-, twin-, triple- and quadruplejet installations will respectively serve fast vessels with maximum displacements of 28-34 tonnes, 70-84 tonnes, 120-143 tonnes and 207 tonnes.

An integrated electrically-operated multidisc hydraulic clutch will enable disconnecting and connecting of the waterjet impeller while the engine is idling. A special light and compact hydraulically-actuated Castoldi Twin Duct reversing bucket system will deliver 75 per cent of the forward static thrust. Steering will be hydraulically actuated via a special nozzle integrated in a protective bowl.

Optimisation of the full range continues

to be pursued and Mr Castoldi cited a new tail design, now installed on all models, for reducing turbulence and improving steering efficiency, along with new control panels of a more functional design and integration of the position-keeping function in the company’s ACES electronic control system.

Among current commitments, Castoldi is supplying eighty Turbodrive 400HC waterjets for an Indian Navy fast intervention craft programme, the 15m-long vessels having a speed of 47 knots. The contract is the largest secured by the company in recent years.

Castoldi also stresses its role as a boatbuilder, manufacturing a 17-model range of Jet Tenders from 4.2m to 10m in length and including two Solas rescue boats. The business provides a valuable opportunity to test waterjets and provide feedback on their performance and reliability in service.

Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 73

waterjets

Rolls-Royce’s Kamewa serves a broad market An expanded Kamewa range finds references from naval to passenger vessels

A

wide spectrum of market opportunities can be targeted by Rolls-Royce with a Kamewa waterjet programme ranging from the FF-series of small models through aluminium A3 to stainless steel S3 designs.

The portfolio has extended to the new Axial Mk 1 waterjet with an input power rating of 22MW which will be fitted to future Freedom variants of Littoral Combat Ships from Lockheed Martin for the US Navy. The first four examples will drive USS Milwaukee (LCS5), launched at the Marinette Marine yard in December, at speeds exceeding 40 knots. Extended fullscale sea trials of the jets are planned to benefit subsequent deliveries.

Developed in co-operation with the US Office of Naval Research since 2007, the advanced axial flow jet has a throughput almost 500,000 gallons of water per minute to yield more thrust per unit than current commercial designs. More cavitation-free performance is also promised for its size and power than any other waterjet. Production is based at Rolls-Royce facilities in the USA. The A3 series waterjet range was strengthened by new 25A3, 28A3 and 63A3 models, whose features include a mixed-flow fully stainless steel pump, an integrated aluminium inlet duct and inboard hydraulics and thrust bearing.

Larger vessels can now exploit a modular configuration for easier installation of the jets;

Kilimanjaro IV has a maximum speed of 38 knots from four Kamewa 50A3 waterjets (credit: Incat Crowther) 74 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

the largest model – the 63A3 – has an input power rating of over 2,500kW. A higher efficiency translates into lower fuel consumption for a given workload; a reduction in size, weight and life-cycle costs is also claimed over rival designs in the same power band. A compact bucket system yields a reversing thrust of 65 per cent of the maximum ahead thrust to enhance manoeuvrability, while superior station keeping at zero speed makes the jets suitable for dynamic positioning operations.

New modular interceptor trim tabs can be specified for the largest A3 series models, bolted directly on the unit with their associated hydraulics and control panels for electronics. Easily retrofitted by bolts, the trim system improves acceleration and low speed characteristics as well as facilitating trim angle adjustment.

Fast ferries are candidates for Kamewa A3 series aluminium jets, the reference list recently extended by the 44.7m-long Kilimanjaro IV, the seventh of the type designed by Australia’s Incat Crowther for Coastal Fast Ferries of Tanzania. Built in Tasmania by Richardson Devine Marine, the 606-passenger catamaran has a loaded service speed of 35 knots and a maximum speed of 38 knots from four 50A3 waterjets.

Wind farm support tonnage represents another valuable business source, typified by orders from the UK’s Seacat Services for three 24m-long aluminium catamarans from South Boats IOW in southern England. Speeds up to 30 knots are yielded by twin 56A3 jets, each driven by a V12-cylinder MTU Series 2000 M72 engine. Similar outfits will serve 26m-long vessels for the same operator.

Kamewa 40A3 jets were selected for the 15.2m-long commuter yacht Rhode Island, built by New England Boatworks in the USA with a pair of 1,150kW diesel-driven jets delivering a speed close to 60 knots.

Crew transfer boats for offshore installations are well served by waterjet propulsion in terms of speed and manoeuvrability, RollsRoyce citing the 18m-long Leicon CTV9 as an example. With a crew of two and capacity for 32 passengers, the aluminium catamaran supports oil and gas activities off the coast of Western Australia. Twin 650kW diesel engines driving 36A3 jets delivered a speed of

32.1 knots when loaded with fuel and water and 16 passengers; the contract speed of 26 knots was achieved at 65 per cent maximum continuous rating.

Retrofit installations are also facilitated, a recent project calling for the removal of propellers, shafts and rudders from the fast catamaran ferry Trondheimsfjord 1 and replacement with a pair of 50A3 waterjets and associated Rolls-Royce Compact Control system.

The last of a series of six Kamewa-driven Baynunah-class corvettes for the UAE Navy was completed in February by Abu Dhabi Ship Building. A derivative of CMN’s BR70 design – the French yard built the first-ofclass – the 71.3m-long deep-V hard-chine steel hull with a relatively shallow draught has an aluminium superstructure.

An unusual CODAD propulsion system embraces four V16-cylinder MTU Series 595 TE90 diesel engines (each delivering 4,200kW at 1,800 rpm) arranged to drive three Kamewa waterjets through Renk transmissions. Each outer engine is linked to a 112SII jet via an AUSL gearbox while the central engine pair drives a 125B11 jet via a twin-input/singleoutput ASL 2 x 115 gearbox.

Such a configuration enables the centre jet to be driven at continuous maximum power by two engines or at partial load by just one engine; control of the centre gear unit with one or two engines engaged is fully automatic. A maximum speed of 32 knots-plus is reported with all four engines deployed, and a range of 2,400 nautical miles delivered at the cruising speed of 15 knots.

A new high-efficiency waterjet under development by Rolls-Royce is intended for propelling a US Navy unmanned surface craft. The smallest from the designer to date, with a diameter of 100mm, the jet is required to drive the craft quietly on remotelycontrolled missions, undertaking intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance roles.

The X-class Modular Unmanned Surface Craft Littoral (MUSCL) aims to reduce risk to manned forces as well as taking on tedious and repetitive tasks. Providing thrust to drive the craft at speeds over 25 knots and sustain cruising at 15 knots, the waterjets will form part of an innovative small propulsion system development project funded by the US government and led by Candent Technologies Inc. MP www.mpropulsion.com

In my job, I want to know I’ve got the better boat When you command a vessel in the Navy, Coast Guard or border police, you know that superior speed and power are crucial. Up on the bridge, you want ease of operation and instant response, because seconds and inches can make the difference between success and failure.

Our waterjet systems have repeatedly proven their utility in the toughest military encounters. Every MJP component is developed to optimize performance in the full range of governmental applications – from small craft to ships.

So when push comes to shove, you know you’ve got the best there is.

Meet us at Seawork International.

marinejetpower.com

waterjets

Crewboats extend waterjet references E

xperience gained in designing and producing waterjets since 1954 is applied

by New Zealand-based HamiltonJet in refining a portfolio which currently includes designs for power inputs from 150kW to 3,000kW for vessels up to 60m long.

The HJ series of smaller jets, embracing eight models with impeller diameters from 200mm to 400mm, are typically suitable for vessels of 6-20m in length; larger applications are served by the HM series, whose seven models with impeller diameters from 420mm to 810mm generally address 18-60m craft with two or more engines.

Fast offshore crewboats have traditionally provided business for HamiltonJet, its references extended last year by the delivery of the 58m-long catamarans Seacor Lynx and Seacor Leopard from the Gulf Craft yard, the third and fourth of Seacor Marine’s CrewZer class. A service speed of 40 knots on a deadweight of over 120 tonnes and a maximum speed of 42 knots is secured by a propulsion plant based on four V16-cylinder MTU Series 4000 M73L engines, each driving an HT-810 waterjet.

Due for delivery in May is the first of two 54m-long fast support vessels for Seacor Marine from the Neuville Boat Works in Louisiana; seating for up to 83 passengers is provided along with cargo tankage and a deck freight capacity of 196 tonnes.

Four Cummins QSK50-M engines, each developing 1,325kW at 1,800 rpm, will drive Hamilton HT811 waterjets via Twin Disc gearboxes with a reduction ratio of 2.58:1.

Speeds up to 30 knots are promised from the quadruple-jet installation.

Now building at Incat Tasmania is the world’s largest waterjet-propelled high speed crewboat, heading a 70m-long class for operations in the Caspian Sea. Space is arranged for 150 passengers and 14 crew, along with 200 tonnes of deck cargo.

The semi-SWATH vessel – also HamiltonJet’s largest reference to date – will be powered by four 2,880kW MTU engines driving 900mm-diameter HT900 jets. A maximum speed of 36 knots and an efficient service speed of 30 knots at full load and 90 per cent mcr will reportedly make the craft more cost-effective to deploy than helicopter transfer of crew and cargo.

Four control stations will each exploit HamiltonJet’s Modular Electronic Control System, integrated with DNV Dynpos-AUTR dynamic positioning. The waterjets are said to work particularly well in DP-capable craft, where the powerful 360-degree thrust forces generated by the jet’s split duct reverse deflector at any vessel speed effectively act as an azimuth thruster.

The effect of the waterjet’s manoeuvring thrust is further enhanced by the wide spacing of the jet units in a catamaran configuration – two jets per hull – which yields even better control of the stern and can even assist with sideways movement of the bow. This low speed manoeuvrability boost has helped its waterjets secure dominance in the fast crewboat arena, HamiltonJet asserts.

Hitherto the largest vessel to be specified with HamiltonJet units, the 68.5m-long Gulf Craft-built monohull crewboat Ms Netty, also designed by Incat Crowther, features quadruple HT900 jets for a maximum speed of 32 knots.

HamiltonJet’s largest waterjet model, the

Final assembly of a HamiltonJet HT900 waterjet 76 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

HT1000, has yet to be specified for a crewboat but has reportedly proven its worth in patrol boat propulsion. The company is confident of sustaining business as crewboat designs develop further in size.

Fast offshore supply vessel propulsion is also targeted by Swedish specialist Marine Jet Power, whose recent projects included quadruple-MJP 650 CSU waterjet outfits for a pair of 53m-long FSVs ordered by Rodi Marine Services from Swiftships Shipbuilders. The 31-knot vessels are scheduled for service with the Louisiana-based operator in first-half 2014.

Marine Jet Power offers a full line of stainless steel and aluminium jets with mixed or axial flow pump technologies, absorbing engine power inputs from 112kW to 15MW with intake diameters from 250mm to 1,550mm. Single-, twin-, triple- and quadruple-sets cover a wide range of vessel demands.

Among current commitments are twin-MJP DRB 400 jet systems for a series of 19m-long aluminium-hulled patrol boats commissioned by a south east Asia government from Lung Teh Shipbuilding in Taiwan. The first is due for handover early next year. Driven by 1,215kW MAN high speed engines, the jets are expected to achieve a vessel speed of around 50 knots. Waterjet propulsion – valued for shallow draught operations – will also facilitate a beaching capability.

Medium-size DRB series jets are described as of heavy duty design, fostering low maintenance and high reliability, while their high efficiency mixed flow pumps deliver a high maximum speed and low fuel consumption.

Lung Teh’s order backlog includes a 60m missile catamaran for the Taiwan Navy which will be equipped with quadruple MJP CSU 850 waterjets. CSU jets are larger, mixed flow, allstainless steel units backed by a five-year warranty.

Last October Marine Jet Power was selected as the preferred waterjet supplier for the South Korean Navy’s multi-vessel gas turbine-powered PKX-B patrol boat project; it earlier partnered a Korean company in securing contracts to supply other Navy and Coastguard programmes. The latest project will enable MJP to enhance its local manufacturing and service capabilities in South Korea.

Marine Jet Power’s thrust in the smaller waterjet arena was strengthened in 2012 by acquiring the relevant interests of the UK/USAbased Ultra Dynamics, adding the popular Ultrajet aluminium axial flow series to its programme. MP www.mpropulsion.com

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Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 77

Annual Marine Propulsion Conference and Awards text

Industry’s ‘Mr Diesel’ recognised at gala dinner A

t Riviera’s Annual Marine Propulsion Conference and Awards, MAN Diesel & Turbo’s Ole Grøne was recognised with a lifetime achievement award.

At a glittering ceremony in London Mr Grøne collected his award from Riviera chairman, John Labdon, in front of more than 200 industry friends and colleagues.

In a glowing tribute featuring messages from colleagues all over the world, Mr Grøne was commended for both his technical knowledge and understanding of the marine market. His talent for explaining complex concepts in a clear and engaging manner was also recognised as was the pioneering work he has done in driving advances in the marine engineering field as well as the contribution he has made to the general body of marine engineering industry knowledge. It is perhaps no surprise Mr Grøne is

affectionately known as ‘Mr Diesel’ throughout the maritime industry.

Collecting the award, (the second of the night for MAN Diesel & Turbo, having also been recognised in the evening’s Fuel Efficiency category) a typically modest Mr Grøne paid tribute to the teams he had worked with and said it had been his privilege to communicate their successes. He also joked that anyone who thought the award meant he was retiring was very much mistaken!

Other winners on the night were DFDS and Wärtsilä. DFDS won the Environmental Performance Award. DFDS’ director of sustainability and environmental affairs, Poul Woodall, collected the award on behalf of the Danish operator. The accolade was given in recognition of DFDS’ many initiatives over the past year as well as its

sizeable financial commitments to improving the environmental performance of the fleet it operates.

The director of Wärtsilä’s technology development programme, Mikael Troberg, collected the Marine Propulsion & Auxiliary Machinery Marine Engineering Award. This explicitly recognised Wärtsilä for its RT-flex50DF engine technology.

The fuel efficiency, environmental performance and marine engineering award were determined by online industry vote. The lifetime achievement award was selected by Riviera’s editorial staff alone.

The awards are an annual fixture of the marine propulsion conference and information on the 2015 awards will be available via www.marinepropulsionconference.com and through the pages of this journal.

Serge Dal Farra (Total Lubmarine) opened the awards and presented the winners’ trophies

NOx and SOx control

Facing up to reality As shipowners prepare for emissions reductions in the near future, SOx and NOx control are high on the agenda

4 west

62 North

by Malcolm Latarche North Sea ECA

A

80 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

North American ECA

5 west

t some point in the future, shipowners may find that they have to face up to new regulations other than EEDI or even levies on output of CO2 but thankfully for them there appear to be many obstacles for the IMO and other regulatory bodies to clear before that situation arises. In the meantime, operators have more pressing matters to deal with as regards other exhaust gases.

Of these, the one that is occupying minds most is the advent next January of the final sulphur limit reduction in ECAs to 0.1 per cent.

Then, as things stand, there will be only one more reduction in sulphur levels to face and that is the far more difficult cut to 0.5 per cent from the current 3.5 per cent limit in the open oceans.

Another is the issue of NOx which, after the surprise decision of MEPC 65 to push the Tier III implementation date back by five years, was high on the agenda of MEPC 66, taking place as this issue went to press.

That has pushed NOx towards the back burner, making future sulphur limits the bigger issue of the two. The concerns are over both the available technology and the future availability of suitable fuels.

As far as the transition to the 0.1 per cent limit in the Baltic and North Sea SECA is concerned, there has been a degree of a managed change brought about by an EU directive that applies a similar level on vessels in port. That said, most ships would have been running only auxiliaries during port stays and they tend to be mostly burning MDO or MGO in any case, but when the IMO ECA limit comes into force it will apply to ships transiting the areas as well.

In the two ECAs in American waters, the transition will be sudden and clear-cut in most ports and could well come as a shock to operators of ships that have not yet experienced the financial and operational ramifications of the reduction from 1.0 per cent to 0.1 per cent.

Ships that trade between the EU and the US would already be aware of the matter although the additional cost of compliance at both ends of the voyage will inevitably have an impact.

As things stand there are just two ways to reduce SOx levels – burning fuel with

Operators should be aware of the differing attitudes in the North American and European SECAs (credit: Oceanox) a low or no sulphur content or installing a scrubber. The first option has many potential solutions with LNG and dual-fuel engines being one, although even the most enthusiastic proponents of LNG will admit that it is unsuited to most existing vessels and, even for newbuildings, would require a massive investment in infrastructure.

While it would certainly solve the sulphur issue, the use of LNG is supposed to have other benefits and its use is being promoted for a variety of reasons that not all within the industry fully agree with. Time will tell if LNG does become a fuel of choice or whether it enjoys a brief spike and then fades into obscurity.

The low sulphur fuel oil or distillate choices are the other fuel alternatives to LNG for existing vessels and newbuilds alike but, while they present an easy temporary fix on a practical level, the cost is very likely going to be an issue that will force many to look long and hard at installing a scrubber. More importantly there are doubts as to whether sufficient quantities will be available to meet deadlines. The International Chamber of Shipping is posing this question MARPOL ANNEX VI SOX LIMITS Outside an ECA established to limit SOx and particulate matter emissions

Inside an ECA established to limit SOx and particulate matter emissions

4.50 per cent m/m prior to 1 January 2012

1.50 per cent m/m prior to 1 July 2010

3.50 per cent m/m on and after 1 January 2012

1.00 per cent m/m on and after 1 July 2010

0.50 per cent m/m on and after 1 January 2020*

0.10 per cent m/m on and after 1 January 2015

*alternative date is 2025, to be decided by a review in 2018

once again at MEPC 66 and asking for the review into the availability of appropriate fuels in time for future deadlines to begin immediately and without further delay.

Putting a price on meeting the sulphur emission standards is a complex task and one fraught with uncertainties. As reported in the last issue of Marine Propulsion, an attempt to do this was made in January at the opening of the new Alfa Laval Test and Training Centre in Aalborg where scrubber technology was at the core of the day’s events.

A presentation by Tamio Kawashima, managing director of Monohakobi Technology Institute (MTI), a subsidiary company of NYK Line, about the likely cost of the 0.5 per cent global cap on sulphur gave a great deal of food for thought. According to Kawashima, the cost for a world fleet of just 40,000 ships with a consumption of 50 tonnes per day for 200 days per year each and a price differential of US$300 between present fuel oil and low sulphur or distillate fuels would equate to an extra US$120 billion on the fuel bill each year.

That is a staggering sum and yet it is difficult to argue with Kawashima’s figures for they are easily recognised as being perhaps a little on the conservative side.

Mr Kawashima also addressed the criticism of wash water from scrubbers being discharged at sea. He pointed out that the sea already has a natural sulphur content and, although the annual amount of sulphur that might be discharged if every ship was fitted with a scrubber and continued burning standard fuel oil would be as high as 9 million tonnes per year, that would be only 0.00000072 per cent of the naturally occurring sulphur in sea water. At that rate it www.mpropulsion.com

would take almost 1.4 million years to raise the natural sulphur level by a single percentage point.

Those facts may not help deflect criticism by environmentalists over the discharge of wash water direct into the oceans but Kawashima is not alone in raising the issue and asking for some slack to be given by regulators. In early March, Patrick Verhoeven, secretary general of the European Community Shipowners' Associations (ECSA) opened the Clean Shipping Conference during Baltic Transport Week in Gdansk, Poland.

In his opening address, Mr Verhoeven covered the issues facing shipowners and highlighted the fact that installing a scrubber involved a large financial commitment and, in these uncertain times, commercial financing cannot be easily obtained in present market conditions.

He added that at least 15 studies have been produced on the economic implications of which a substantial majority predict significant negative consequences for shipowners, ports and regional industries.

Mr Verhoeven said the business case for certain shipping routes in the European SECA area is already marginal and the slightest cost increase could mean the end of profitability.

Many shipping companies will therefore not be able to absorb these extra costs and will have to charge them to the user, the shipper. He questioned whether shippers will

Patrick Verhoeven (ECSA): will shippers pay for green shipping? (credit: ECSA) be prepared to pay the extra costs or shift to other, cheaper, transport alternatives. “There is a lot of talk about shippers demanding ‘green’ transport, but are they also willing to pay for it?” he asked.

He went on to say that continued monitoring of economic impact and modal backshift is important and even a legal obligation under the EU Sulphur Directive and revealed that at the European Sustainable Shipping Forum in late February it was agreed to establish a European monitoring tool, which could become operational this summer. As well as monitoring,

Mr Verhoeven listed three priority elements to settle: financial support options, legal certainty and a fair level playing field.

He stressed the need to obtain concrete support for retrofit projects and newbuilds. While national funding is in theory possible under the EU environmental state aid guidelines, the experience from Finland – the only country in the EU that has applied the guidelines so far in the SECA context – shows that there is a time constraint involved, which will make it difficult for other member states to follow suit at this late stage.

Finally, with the implementation date approaching fast, he made a plea for a fair and level playing field asking that the early adopters, those operators that completed all the investments and are ready to meet the sulphur norms on 1 January 2015, are not penalised against those that think it is cheaper to do nothing.

And he believes that some leniency should be shown to those that can demonstrate that they have made the necessary commitments to meet the standards, but may not be entirely ready by the time the deadline arrives, for technical or other good reasons. For example, a compliance path with a limited and conditional timeframe might be offered, he suggested.

There is a precedent, Mr Verhoeven said.

“The USA seems to allow this flexibility within the North American ECA, and we should have the same flexibility in Europe.”

Repeat orders roll in for scrubbers So far, the scrubber market has been dominated

by European manufacturers with Alfa Laval and Wärtsilä leading the charge backed up by smaller newcomers such as Clean Marine and Green Tech Marine from Norway and Saacke and Couple Systems in Germany. The volume of orders is nowhere near enough to demonstrate that the concept has been accepted by more than a few pioneering owners, but the level of repeat orders does suggest that the technology is living up to expectations.

Sigurd Jenssen, director of exhaust gas cleaning, environmental solutions, at Wärtsilä Ship Power told Marine Propulsion that, while the company would not provide a detailed breakdown of the orders received, they include virtually every ship type: cruise, container, ferries, roro, tankers and trawlers.

Mr Jenssen agreed that the level of repeat custom is significant. Recently, Italian operator Messina Line ordered four more shipsets at STX following its initial order for four vessels at DSME and Norway’s Solvang has ordered three more shipsets (both newbuilds and retrofit), after having taken delivery of two shipsets at Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea. Another www.mpropulsion.com

The bulk carrier Balder was the first into the US ECA using a scrubber (credit: Clean Marine) recent repeat order saw Wilhelmsen ordering more ships sets following the retrofit of Tarago April last year.

Alfa Laval has notched up repeat orders for its PureSox system from Danish ferry operator DFDS and from Dutch operator Spliethoff.

The November 2013 order from Spliethoff comprises systems for five con-ro vessels to be retrofitted between June and December this year. The order is significant because it follows practical experience gained over more than 6,000 hours using a PureSox system on its con-ro Plyca. Alfa Laval delivered the system in 2012 and it has been in continuous use

aboard the vessel ever since within the North European ECA. Not to be outdone by their peers, Norway’s two system makers have also notched up significant orders. Green Tech Marine announced in February that its biggest customer, Norwegian Cruise Line, is installing 28 scrubbers on six ships in the line’s fleet. The contract covers Norwegian Breakaway, Norwegian Dawn, Norwegian Jewel, Norwegian Gem, Norwegian Pearl and Norwegian Sun and will be completed over a two-year period. Green Tech Marine also supplied the scrubbers on NCL’s Pride of America last year and will deliver 10 scrubbers Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 81

NOx and SOx control

to the company’s two new builds, Norwegian Escape and Norwegian Bliss under construction at Meyer Werft in Germany.

Clean Marine, based in Lysaker, is to supply scrubbers for two 38,000 dwt chemical tankers being built for Stolt Tankers and NYK Stolt Tankers by Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in China. The two vessels are part of a series of six sister ships and the remaining four vessels will be designed with the flexibility to add a

scrubber at a later stage.

Clean Marine’s system is based on Advanced Vortex Chamber technology and its integrated fan and gas recirculation technology allows the single exhaust gas cleaning system to simultaneously serve several combustion units. In total, it will manage seven exhaust sources and will be designed to clean 140 tonnes of exhaust per hour.

• In August 2013, Clean Marine’s scrubber became the first to be allowed to operate in the

US emission control area. The Torvald Klaveness self-discharging bulk carrier Balder arrived at Baltimore where its master sought approval from the coast guard to enter and exit the ECA Zone using high sulphur fuel oil using an EGCS. Officials from the USCG conducted a Port State Control examination and confirmed that the Clean Marine EGCS was in full compliance with Marpol Annex VI as an equivalent to using low-sulphur fuel.

Meeting Tier III: Can it be that hard?

Russia’s argument at MEPC that technology to meet Tier III is not available, is not one that many engine makers would agree with.

Leaving aside engines that run on LNG or other gaseous fuels all the time, over the past three years new engines in both the medium and low speed sectors meeting Tier III levels have become available from every major

An MAN Diesel & Turbo SCR, installed downstream of an MAN 6L48/60B main engine (credit: MAN Diesel & Turbo)

engine maker. For current engines models that do not yet measure up, selective catalytic reduction (SCR) is an option that would ensure compliance if it is needed.

Not every vessel will be obliged to meet Tier III because it only applies to ships built after 1 January 2016 when operating in an ECA. If a ship will be operating outside of ECAs then only Tier II emission limits need be complied with.

Of course, the big problem is that shipowners contemplating a new order now or in the very near future cannot know with any certainty what new ECAs might be established over time.

So to ensure the continued guaranteed ability to trade everywhere in the world, every vessel built after 1 January 2016 will need a Tier III-compliant engine to be fitted or provision made for it to be brought up to standard in the future. Proving compliance will of course result in more costs as some form of monitoring will be necessary to satisfy port state control authorities that the engine is running in the appropriate mode.

So far, the engines that meet Tier III have been able to do so using SCR or exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). The latter is a developing technology that is improving but probably has

some way to go before issues such as increased CO2 output and reductions in efficiency are resolved. Unlike the EGR systems that are in-house modifications by engine makers, SCR is usually a third party supply, although system makers may co-operate with engine producers.

SCR is more effective – up to 99 per cent in some cases and under certain conditions – and is proven technology with more than 500 systems installed and in operation. It does however involve capital outlay, unavoidable running costs and comes with a space and weight penalty.

Compact SCR systems are beginning to debut with MAN Diesel & Turbo and ABB among those producing smaller systems. In these, the catalyst is some 80 per cent smaller than early systems but is still a large piece of equipment that must be placed between the turbochargers and any boiler or waste heat recovery system. The catalyst will need replacing at intervals of around four to five years but, because the catalysts are arranged in a layered system that allows for only damaged catalysts to be identified and exchanged, it is not necessary to replace the entire catalyst at the same time. MP

Japan joins scrubber club A new joint venture between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Mitsubishi Kakoki Kaisha (MKK) to develop a hybrid system means that Japan has now joined the very short list of countries where scrubbers are likely to be manufactured.

The announcement by the two partners in February this year said the system is the first in Japan able to comply with the 2015 ECA emission standards, which suggests that others within the country are also working on scrubber development.

In common with most systems now in production, the Japanese version has two scrubbing systems: one that uses circulating freshwater and the other using one-pass flow with seawater. The

82 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

freshwater system can scrub exhaust gas from combustions of heavy fuel oil with 3.5 per cent sulphur content to the equivalent of low-sulphur fuel oil with 0.1 per cent sulphur content, achieving compliance with SOx emission regulations of IMO scheduled to go into effect in ECAs in 2015.

The seawater system can scrub exhaust to match that of 0.5 per cent sulphur content fuel oil to comply with regulations that are expected to be applied in global marine areas in the future. Washing seawater is discharged outside after treatment, complying with requirements for discharged wash water.

The system includes a SOx scrubber,

a container unit housing a wash water processing system and other components and ISO standard tank containers to store sludge and a caustic soda solution (NaOH) to neutralise circulating fresh water. Modular construction is said to enable flexible arrangement of components, reducing installation time and cost requirements, and making it easier to retrofit the system to ships already in service.

MHI and MKK plan to install one of the new high-performance systems on a car carrier in a joint study with ClassNK, K-Line and Japan Marine United Corporation as part of ClassNK’s Joint R&D for Industry programme.

www.mpropulsion.com

NOx and SOx control

IMO compromises on NOx D

iscussion and argument over Tier III NOx levels was high on the agenda at the MEPC 66 meeting in late March in London as delegates took positions on the merit of the attempt by Russia at last May’s MEPC 65 to delay the 2016 coming into force date. In the event, a series of compromises were adopted that would appear to have satisfied most of those present.

Russia’s objections to the 2016 date for Tier III to become effective were supported by a number of delegates on the grounds that technologies enabling new vessels to meet Superyachts of up to 500gt and over 24m long will not have to comply with the Tier III the standards were not available. This was levels until 2021. Princess Iolanthe is 498gt and 45m long (credit: Mondo Marine) the only valid ground for a delay allowed under the Marpol Annex VI regulations and, although it is generally accepted that such countries including Germany, Sweden and with the Tier III levels until 2021 in order to technologies do exist, some are of the opinion Denmark were against stalling any IMO-backed allow the industry time to develop optimised that their application is uneconomic.

NOx Emission Control Area in the Baltic Sea. selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems.

Tier III applies only to new vessels operating However, at MEPC 66, Denmark, one of Other NOx-related decisions taken at MEPC in ECAs that specifically allow control of the countries supporting the compromise affecting shipping were adoption of amendments NOx emissions beyond the Tier II levels that motion, believes that the door is now open for to the NOx Technical Code concerning the use apply to ships operating anywhere else. As some progress. After the decision, Denmark’s of dual-fuel engines. The MEPC also approved the two European ECAs are limited to SOx minister for the environment, Kirsten draft amendments to Marpol Annex VI regarding emissions, the only ECAs affected are the Brosbøll, was reported to have said that the engines solely fuelled by gaseous fuels, to clarify US/Canada and US Caribbean ECAs. The US outcome could lead to a Baltic NECA being that such engines should also be covered by the in particular was annoyed and hostile to the established soon.

Annex VI NOx regulations, with a view to adoption Russian inspired move at MEPC 65 and sought Under IMO rules such an ECA would at MEPC 67. An invitation for proposals for further to overturn it or retain grandfather rights to require application to be made to MEPC in draft amendments to the NOx Technical Code for control NOx emissions. A joint proposal by accordance with the procedures and criteria inclusion of provisions on engines solely fuelled by the Marshall Islands and Norway to allow the in Appendix III of Annex VI. Where two gaseous fuels, was issued.

North American ECAs to operate as planned or more parties have a common interest in The MEPC has set up correspondence from 2016, but for any future ECA to be a particular area, the regulations envisage groups to consider the methodology for the delayed until 2021, was one of the documents that they should formulate a coordinated fuel oil availability model under which the under discussion. proposal, but whether Russia and other Baltic review of the availability of low sulphur fuels In the event, it was a re-worked wording states would play ball remains to be seen. for global operations will be carried out. Under that was finally accepted, although not without Even though the 2016 date for US waters existing IMO rules on sulphur emissions, a opposition from some countries which felt it was was confirmed, one type of vessel has been review must either be completed by 2018 or a hasty compromise with potential outcomes not allowed the five-year deferment: yachts up deferred until 1 January 2025. The sulphur being properly considered. As a consequence, to 500gt in size are not required to comply content of fuel oil used on board ships is the 1 January 2016 date for the required to be a maximum of 3.50 North American and US Caribbean per cent falling to 0.50 per cent Sea ECAs are confirmed but for from 1 January 2020. future NECAs, ships would have to MEPC provided details about comply with NOx Tier III standards recent developments in the EU, only if they are constructed on or which decided that ships operating after the date of adoption of the in EU waters from 1 January 2020 NECA, or a later date as may be would be required to use fuel oil specified when designating a new on board that met the 0.50 per NECA, whichever is later. cent sulphur content standard, Earlier in March, an attempt regardless of the outcome of the by the EU to push for the Russian IMO’s fuel oil availability review. resolution to be derailed by member The committee suggested that states acting in unison against it MEPC could consider the pros was abandoned after support for and cons of conducting an earlier MEPC confirmed Tier III limits in the North American ECA the action was not forthcoming. review and begin discussing its from 1 January 2016 (credit: triplepundit.com) At that time it was said that some scope. MP 84 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

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heat exchangers

GEA backs German green initiative GEA heat exchanger plays a role in German environmental engineering scheme

H

eat exchangers play an important role, not just in heating and cooling but also in emissions control. One example of such an application is the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) cooler developed

by GEA Heat Exchangers, which reduces a ship’s emissions.

The company is a member of Germany’s Blue Competence scheme, which is a campaign for more efficient and climatefriendly technologies run by the country’s engineering federation, the VDMA. A spokesman for GEA Heat Exchangers told Marine Propulsion that being part of that initiative is important for the company.

The VDMA’s initiative is a good example of how industry can work together to deliver sustainable solutions, he explained.

“Its efforts protect the environment with innovative technologies and safeguard the quality of life on our planet.”

As a contribution to this goal, GEA Heat Exchangers’ EGR cooler is designed to reduce NOx and SOx emissions from both two- and four-stroke marine diesel engines, although it has no impact on their efficiency.

The high pressures and temperatures found in large diesel engines represent a

GEA Heat Exchangers’ exhaust gas recirculation cooler challenge for the structural design of exhaust emission control, the company said. Adding an inert gas – for example, by recirculating some of the engine’s already-burnt exhaust – reduces the production of NO x as the rapid oxidation of fuel molecules is inhibited by exhaust gas molecules.

This effect can be improved by cooling the recirculated gas, but the cooler must withstand harsh conditions: a temperature gradient of more than 600°C, systemrelated pressure fluctuations, vibrations transmitted from the engine to the

cooler, and corrosion from the effects of condensation in the exhaust gas. In addition, the cooler must operate at a high level of efficiency.

But the effort is worthwhile. The lower the temperature of combustion, the smaller the proportion of NOx in the engine’s emissions, GEA Heat Exchangers pointed out. Its EGR cooler can reduce exhaust gas temperatures from as high as 700°C down to 50°C before the exhaust gases are fed back into the combustion air supply.

Space can also be a constraint so the unit is compact, made from temperatureand corrosion-resistant stainless steel. Its finned-tube system, embedded in the water passage structure, features newly-developed fin geometry. The fins reduce the collection of dirt and debris and create turbulence in the gas flow, which results in heat transfer over the entire surface, the company said.

In its latest generation, GEA Heat Exchangers has added a scrubber before the cooler to desulphurise the exhaust gas.

This injection of water also significantly lowers the exhaust gas temperature to below 150°C before it enters the cooler enclosure.

During the cooling process, however, only part of the scrubbing water evaporates, with the rest hitting the finned-tube block at great speed. “The newly developed compact stainless steel finned-tube system is also sufficiently resistant to this impact,” the manufacturer reported. MP

Icebreaker gets new heat exchangers The Finnish icebreaker Sisu was redelivered in October after a four-month overhaul to its sea water systems that included replacing 36 heat exchangers.

The work was carried out by the Estonian shiprepairer SRC at its Tallinn yard.

It also exchanged 1,400m of corroded copper-nickel pipes for glass-reinforced epoxy alternatives and replaced lubrication oil filters, pumps and valves.

The heat exchangers were supplied

by GEA Heat Exchangers and were fitted to the ship’s engines and generators, replacing cooling systems that the company had supplied more than 35

www.mpropulsion.com

years before.

The new units are GEA F-tube coolers, which are described as having great thermal performance in a small space.

Their compact design is the result of the use of elliptical tubes with cross-sections that promote effective flow with low pressure drop. Rectangular fins are slid over these tubes, which are metallically connected to the core tube by dip galvanising. The slight air-side pressure drop results in low operating costs for the fans, the manufacturer reported.

Sisu is part of the Finnish icebreaking and ice management company Arctia

The icebreaker Sisu has benefited from 36 new heat exchangers (credit: Andy Siitonen/Wikimedia) Shipping’s fleet. A year earlier another Arctia vessel, Urho, had its heat exchangers replaced as part of a similar upgrading, which also included updating its electronics and automation systems.

Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 87

heat exchangers

Corrosion forces heat exchanger exchange A fleet of US oil spill response vessels (OSRVs) is benefiting from new Platecoil heat exchangers supplied by Tranter Heat Exchangers (Australia), replacing the existing coated mild steel pipe coils in the tank heaters which had been corroded by sea water.

The ships are operated by the Marine Spill Response Corp (MSRC), which describes itself as the largest dedicated oil spill response organisation in the USA. MSRC’s Responder class OSRVs receive recovered material in their holds, where it is heated to accelerate the gravity separation of oil and water. Following separation, the OSRV crew shuts down the heating unless the weathered oil is very viscous. If it is, the heating is continued until the ship reaches port, in order to maintain a pumpable viscosity.

In a report, Tranter Heat Exchangers (Australia) explained that high heat transfer rates are a critical factor in the design and operation of tank and cargo hold heating applications. The company added that the high heat transfer rate of Platecoil prime surface heat exchanger banks increases efficiencies and reduces operational cost when compared to conventional heating coil design.

Each ship has four banks of

17-23 plates to heat the 4,000 bbl (about 635m3) capacity holds. Tranter engineered and prefabricated the replacement banks from Platecoil Style 40D panels in Type 304 stainless steel. Installation – which was carried out during a routine drydocking – was complicated by restricted access to the heaters’ locations, so the panels were prefabricated with inlet-outlet flanges and transported as separate pieces.

Once they had been moved into the hold, the panels were connected to flanged headers and secured within notched support frames using tie rods.

This reduced shipyard labour from a major welding installation to a bolt-in installation, while also decreasing the overall capital cost of the project.

The company explained that in many hold heating installations, where standard vessel manways are present, the panels can be factory-prefabricated into a rigid, integral unit comprising manifold connections and support structures with integral feet. These complete assembled units can pass through standard manways to the cargo hold, where they are easily lowered into position and connected to the heating media distribution and return piping.

Hot gossip on Tranter’s forum Tranter is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of plate heat exchangers and has launched an online Heat Transfer Forum to offer advice on the company’s products and on wider questions about heat transfer. It was introduced last September and aims to answer questions within one business day.

“The heat transfer market is a very complex field and we believe that people have a lot of questions,” said Torbjörn Lantz, vice president of

Tranter Europe. “After 80 years within the heat transfer business, we have gathered a broad expertise. We want to take this opportunity to share our competence and knowledge worldwide.”

Tranter’s Heat Transfer Forum is monitored and secure, and registration is free. It can be reached from the company’s website at www. tranter.com or via https://forum.tranter.com.

The forum can also be accessed through smart phones on Tranter’s mobile website, m.tranter.com.

Heat exchanger vital for scrubber innovation Germany’s Saacke Marine Systems is a recent entrant to the scrubber market (Marine Propulsion, December 2013/January 2014) with its novel LMB-EGS scrubber.

This features dry separation of soot prior to SOx removal with water. It uses a ventilator-separator unit, which Saacke has dubbed VentSep, to reduce particulate matter by 97 per cent in the early stage of exhaust gas purification and to reduce contamination for all the other components in the system.

One of those components is the heat exchanger, which is positioned on the top of the scrubber and receives soot-free gases that still contain sulphur. It is cross-designed, Saacke explained, so that exhaust gases that enter the heat exchanger are cooled by the cold exhaust from the scrubber. At the same time the exhaust is heated up before passing to the funnel, which eliminates the vapour plume, said Saacke.

To remove the SOx, the gases are guided via a channel that connects the heat exchanger at the top to the scrubber at the bottom. This channel is designed with wash water nozzles, which are used to lower the temperature of the gases and to act as the first scrubbing stage.

Saacke Marine Systems received its first order for the scrubber last year. Carl Büttner Shipmanagement had the system fitted to its four year old 15,300 dwt tanker Levana. The installation was carried out in November and is expected to pay for itself after two years.

Tranter’s online forum

BWTS can gain from heat exchangers Ballast water treatment systems (BWTSs) are large consumers of power. Those that are able to use waste heat as part of the process, however, appear to eliminate the need to run additional power generators.

These kinds of BWTS employ heat exchangers to make use of otherwise waste heat. Only one type-approved system, however, uses heat as its treatment method. This is the SeaSafe-3 from Australia’s Hi Tech Marine, which claims to have had type approval since 1997, when it demonstrated its system aboard 88 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

the Australian bulk carrier Sandra Marie.

Using heat as a biocide has advantages over other systems, the company believes. It causes no mutations, there is no toxic residue to dispose of and there are no dangerous chemicals to be handled. As ballast is loaded, it passes through a heat exchanger that is connected to the main engine’s jacket water cooling heat exchanger via a holding tank.

It can operate either in a flushing mode, in which water is drawn in, passed through the heat exchanger to the ballast tank and

discharged, or in a closed loop, in which the ballast water is circulated between tank and heat exchanger.

Hi Tech Marine may not have this particular market to itself for much longer, however. Danish company Bawat offers a BWTS that uses a combination of pasteurisation and deoxygenation to disinfect the ballast water. It points out in its literature that this is an in-tank method that makes it possible for ship operators to treat ballast water in transit rather than upon uptake. It ››› www.mpropulsion.com

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heat exchangers

››› believes this is more convenient since it does not restrict normal ship operations in port or require system upgrades.

Ballast water is drawn from the tank and pasteurised using waste machinery heat, via a heat exchanger. Here it is mixed with nitrogen for deoxygenation. The ballast water is then injected into the bottom of the tank through rotary jet heads and fixed nozzles, to ensure thorough mixing. By recirculating the ballast water, the full tank volume is treated, the company says. One benefit of the system, it notes, is that it reduces corrosion in the tank.

A scale model of the system has been built but no full scale installations have been made and the system is not yet type-approved.

Although heat has only a small share of the ballast water treatment market, researchers have explored its potential and reported encouraging potential if it is combined with filtration. A paper by two Malaysian academics presented at the International Conference on Marine Technology in 2012 reported that a system harnessing shipboard waste heat would provide an economic solution for ballast water treatment but, based on an analysis of waste heat available on a crude oil tanker, a complementing treatment method would be necessary to treat high volumes.

They proposed a heat-filtration combination system, in which sea water would circulate as a secondary coolant to collect the heat but

would also be filtered in what they termed a filtration-cum-heat exchanger, fitted in line with the ballast system. Like the Hi Tech Marine arrangement, this proposed system would recirculate the ballast water during a voyage, passing it through the filter and the heat exchanger.

The authors estimated the operating costs but said that the pumping costs would be negligible as no changes in pumping arrangements would be needed. Capital costs would include the heat exchanger, filtration units and extra piping. They quoted figures of US$0.06-0.19 per tonne of treated water for the filtration and US$0.056-0.17 per tonne for the heat treatment system.

Wärtsilä develops evaporator for LNG fuel LNG propulsion depends on heat exchangers.

Between the bunker tanks, where the fuel is typically stored at -160°C, and the engine it has to be warmed by a heat exchanger and regasified.

Such technology is not new – the same is needed before LNG cargo can be distributed along onshore pipelines – but systems for use on board a vessel to deliver gas for use in a dual-fuel diesel engine have different requirements.

One company that is focusing on this is Wärtsilä. Its interest is clearly driven by the need to offer fuel delivery systems for its range of dualfuel engines, which now include low speed units launched last November.

Sören Karlsson, who is general manager of supply management for Wärtsilä’s fuel gas systems, explained to Marine Propulsion how these heat exchangers, termed evaporators, are built and operated.

They are typically made of stainless steel, he said, since carbon steel loses its strength at cryogenic temperatures. Their construction also has to allow for shrinkage and expansion due to the large temperature differences, which would otherwise create high thermal loads.

For small duty LNG evaporators, water bath

Wärtsilä’s dual-fuel system includes a shell and tube heat exchanger to regasify the LNG fuel (credit: Wärtsilä) evaporators are typically used, which consist of a stainless steel coil immersed into a hot water bath.

That heat could come from steam, electricity or a waste heat source, Mr Karlsson explained.

However, a water bath evaporator can be quite large, which makes them unsuitable as evaporators for engines the size of Wärtsilä’s.

Instead, the manufacturer typically uses shell and tube heat exchangers, because of their

compactness. It has also, with its sub supplier, developed a design to ensure a low pressure drop and large contact surface on the LNG side in order to achieve efficient superheating of the gas.

To avoid the risk of freezing, ethylene glycol is typically used as an intermediate heating medium. This extracts waste heat from the engine-cooling water systems.

Understanding cargo heating is an ‘urgent task’ Understanding the heat exchange between a tanker’s cargo heater and the oil around it can have a big impact on capital and operating costs for the heating system, according to a paper published in December by the International Journal of Current Engineering and Technology. As a result, the paper’s introduction notes, “the study of the influence of capacity fluctuations on the heat transfer around a horizontal tubular heater is one of the most urgent tasks for transportation of highviscosity liquids by sea.”

The paper was written by Dr Abbas Alwi Sakhir Abed, who is assistant professor in the Engineering College at Iraq’s Al-Qadisiya University. His work indicates that heat 90 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

transfer under dynamic conditions can range from 1.5 to 4 times higher than when the oil is static, when free convection prevails.

The paper develops equations that can be used to predict the increase in heat transfer when influenced by fluid movement caused by the rolling characteristics of vessels. This will enable optimisation of sizing of exchangers.

Initial tests were carried out in a laboratory tank to verify heat transfer rates using a cylindrical heater immersed in medical Vaseline oil. With no rolling effect, and hence free convection, the results achieved were in close correlation to those derived from numerical analyses. Further tests were then conducted with varying amplitudes of oil

oscillation being introduced.

The results indicated three aspects of heat transfer where magnitudes vary with the degree of fluid movement. The first of these is the influence of free convection under low fluid oscillations. The second is when more mixed convection is introduced as oscillations increase and the third where more strongly forced fluid movement has a dominant effect on heat transfer.

The paper proposes equations that can be more reliably used to predict heat transfer rates which, in turn, can be used to evaluate heat exchanger capacity requirements. MP Read the paper via www.tinyurl.com/tank-heat www.mpropulsion.com

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condition & performance monitoring

Sensor networks can enhance ship performance Industrial internet technology and key performance indicators can help shipowners optimise onboard maintenance programmes and improve fuel efficiency

Additional Compliance and Voyage Management Systems Data

by Martyn Wingrove Main Propulsion OEM Monitoring

M

ore of the worldwide fleet has been fitted with machinery sensors to allow owners to use onboard data to improve operational efficiency and enhance maintenance procedures. The growing amount of data generated by these networks of sensors means shipowners need to employ more advanced analysis tools to process the data into intelligent information. The adoption of this information analytics is leading the maritime industry into the industrial internet age.

Engineering Software Reliability Group (ESRG) estimates that if the global fleet adopted industrial internet technology, it could create up to US$20 billion of opportunities for owners, operators and managers in reduced costs, fuel efficiency, and increased asset uptime and reliability. This is according to the report Bringing the industrial internet to the marine industry and ships into the cloud, written

by ESRG’s president Ken Krooner and its general manager Rob Bradenham.

With more newbuildings being equipped with

Auxiliary and attached Systems OEM Monitoring

Condition based maintenance systems, such as those provided by ESRG, can cut operating costs through better communications (credit: ESRG) smarter machines and more robust technology, that value-creation potential is projected to grow at 15-20 per cent per year for the next five years.

“The benefits to marine stakeholders are significant.

Substantial fuel savings, reductions in maintenance and repair costs, and greater assurance of environmental compliance are the largest drivers,” said Mr Krooner and Mr Bradenham in the report.

US$20 BILLION INDUSTRIAL INTERNET VALUE CREATION IN MARITIME INDUSTRY

avoided maintenance & repair costs

92 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

Cruise, Ferry & RoRo

increased productivity & revenue

2.2B

1.8B

0.8B 0.5B 0.2B

Offshore Supply Vessels Feeder & Small Fishing & Mega-yachts

2.7B

Bulk (Handy+)

2.7B

Tugs

2.8B

Container (Handy+)

Tankers (Handy+)

7.5B

FPSOs & Drillships

Estimated annual value creation for 2013 global fleet, in US$ billion

decreased fuel & energy cost

“Many marine organisations need to bolster their technology and data analysis capabilities in order to take advantage of these opportunities. Some companies are already investing in data collection.

But often this means they are overwhelmed with data, so the data can sometimes be ignored. Realtime automated analytics on a vessel and on shore are necessary to transform the raw data into actionable information that can be used to make better operational and maintenance decisions.”

To realise these opportunities, shipowners should employ more comprehensive monitoring and control systems, better broadband communications, and software for analysing huge volumes of data.

However, there are significant technical challenges, especially the huge volume of data generated, that will affect the adoption of industrial internet technology. The huge volume of sensor data is one of them. New vessels have more than 1,000 data points, creating 2.5 billion pieces of data over a month. Therefore, a fleet of 100 of these vessels would produce 3 trillion data points per year.

If analysed properly, this data could be used to operate and maintain equipment at higher performance levels and lower costs, by adopting condition-based maintenance (CBM) strategies. Analytic software can integrate a variety of data sources in multiple formats and use automated algorithms to turn data into actionable information. The information then needs to be available through multiple channels, including www.mpropulsion.com

web-based interfaces, mobile devices, intelligent reports and enterprise applications.

Operators adopting CBM strategies can improve vessel uptime, reduce unplanned repairs, manage drydockings more effectively and reduce maintenance costs, said the ESRG report authors.

For example, container ship operators could improve their equipment and scheduling reliability, and reduce fuel costs. They could use the onboard data to operate ships more efficiently, such as optimising the configuration of generators or engines. They could optimise the vessel’s power systems based on the actual electrical load and the performance of specific systems on the ships.

This is particularly relevant if ships are carrying large numbers of reefer containers that have high power requirements for refrigerating cargoes.

Operators could also use the data to reduce vessel speed to meet scheduling requirements and minimise total fuel consumption, including fuel needed to run the generators and propulsion. This would reduce bunker costs, which at current fuel prices could be considerable over several months of operation, said ESRG.

It is relatively easy to install industrial internet technology on a fleet of newbuildings, but far more difficult on older vessels. Owners would need to do a major retrofit of these vessels with sensors and integrated networks and updated communications equipment. Of a global fleet of around 100,000 vessels, approximately 20,000 already have some of the technology infrastructure on board and could be upgraded fairly easily to having industrial internet on board, said ESRG. This is expected to rise by 3,000 vessels per year as most newbuildings incorporate this technology infrastructure.

Some owners have adopted industrial internet and CBM. For example, Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement retrofitted container ship Gabriel Schulte with sensors and a data network. The vessel has integrated main diesel engines, four generators, torque meter, fuel flow meters, ballast and fuel management and lube oil systems, oily water system, GPS and ecdis.

The data from all these systems is available on shore for analysis and users can turn the data into actionable information. This enables the master, chief engineer, technical superintendent

and owner to have information on the health and performance of the ship, including fuel consumption, power generation, equipment condition and environmental compliance.

Bernhard Schulte chief engineer Guenter Sell said the technology improves ship performance and reduces operating costs. “Not only am I able to assess the equipment performance over time with qualified data, I am also able to have more constructive discussions with the land-based technical superintendents. For example, after creating the visibility I was able to work through a long term sensor problem with the technical superintendent to get it resolved.”

HGO InfraSea Solutions has installed sensors on various systems on its latest windfarm construction vessel Innovation. This vessel was launched with a technology backbone that integrates four asynchronous thruster motors, four azimuth propellers, three motors and bow thrusters, six diesel engines, electrical jack-up system, bridge control system, DP, radar systems and ecdis all linked through the ship’s local area network. MP

Data can boost ship performance With good quality onboard data, operators can identify or calculate key performance indicators (KPIs), which they can then use to improve their operational efficiencies and competitiveness. In competitive shipping markets it is important for shipowners to highlight their energy efficient operations and safety records, through KPIs. The next generation of ship deliveries are designed to be as much as 20 per cent more efficient, but without the KPIs this will be difficult to demonstrate.

Individual companies can use the information to benchmark vessels in their own fleets, but the information is unlikely to be available from competitors.

The newly restructured KPI Association (KPIA) aims to rectify this. The association has been set up to collate and correlate industry-specific data on behalf of the whole maritime sector. It manages the industry-wide KPI project, which was originally created by InterManager.

During this year, KPIA is being restructured to promote safety at sea and best practice. It aims to appoint a global network of regional certified consultants to be the first point of contact for shipping companies and maritime organisations. The consultants will advise shipowners why they should introduce KPIs, said the association’s executive director Helle Gleie. “Having a global network of consultants will enable KPIA

www.mpropulsion.com

Helle Gleie (KPI Association): “Having a global network of consultants will enable us to advise the shipping industry in the use of performance indicators and statistics” to advise the shipping industry in the use of performance indicators and statistics, as well as giving us a vital point of contact to receive feedback and inspiration from the maritime sector.”

There will be an expert group within KPIA incorporating representatives from key maritime organisations and companies. This group will develop and adapt KPIs to meet emerging industry requirements and expectations. The group will work with industry academics

to identify relevant trends and correlations in the data as well as to analyse the feedback from shipowners and maritime organisations. The association expects this will lead to an improvement in performance efficiency, maritime safety and environmental standards.

Ms Gleie expects that the restructured organisation will attract more shipowners to join the KPI project. “Many companies have struggled when deciding if, when or how to implement shipping KPIs, or have not known how to collect and share this information. Our new structure will enable us to assist with this challenge and spread understanding of how to gather this information to secure meaningful, future focused and commercially beneficial results.”

At the start of 2014, a total of 2,267 vessels worldwide were supplying KPI data to the project’s online database. “We are confident that the new structure will make a difference to its users and the industry as a whole. Only by working together during times of fast change and by sharing knowledge, can the shipping industry develop responsibly and financially with the desired speed,” said Ms Gleie.

• The KPI project can be accessed by clients through a web-based system developed and maintained by Cyprusbased IT specialist SoftImpact: www.shipping-kpi.org

Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 93

condition & performance monitoring

Case study: vibration monitoring via satellite Two ships operated by United European Car Carriers (UECC) have been fitted with equipment to monitor the vibration behaviour of their engine gearboxes.

The systems have been installed in their enginerooms by Schaeffler (UK) which is also providing exceptionbased remote monitoring services via a VSAT link. Schaeffler told Marine Propulsion that this provides UECC with an early warning system for potential gearbox failures. It also generates useful diagnostics and trend information that the operator can give to class society inspectors during ship audit inspections.

These reports, Schaeffler said, eliminate the need for time consuming, one-off gearbox inspections, which cost significant sums and cause costly delays.

Each of the ships – Autostar and Autosun – is fitted with Schaeffler’s eight-channel FAG DTECT X1s vibration monitoring system, set up to monitor four vibration points on each of the two main engine gearboxes. A panel PC displays the vibration data from each gearbox and the systems are connected to the ship’s VSAT communications system.

UK-based company Hargreaves Marine, Schaeffler (UK)’s partner for the marine industry, was responsible for specifying and installing the equipment, along with providing the remote

The control box receives information from eight vibration sensors (credit: Schaeffler (UK)) monitoring service. The systems have been in operation for a year, during which vibration data has been sent ashore every 12 hours via satellite link and cloud server.

If an alarm is generated, shore staff can see which bearing on which gearbox was responsible, and decide whether action is required by the ship’s engineers.

Chief engineers at UECC receive a monthly report showing the gearbox vibration data and measuring points. This information can be collated into annual reports or five-yearly class audits.

Jim Belsham, technical

Infrared fuel sensor checks fuel quality Fuel savings of up to 5 per cent are claimed if a fuel quality sensor is fitted as part of a fuel management strategy, claims the device’s manufacturer, CMR Group.

It described its Near Infrared Intelligent Sensor (NIRIS) as the world’s first

The NIRIS unit can be retrofitted anywhere between the low pressure and high pressure fuel pumps (credit: CMR) 94 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

commercial high horsepower diesel fuel quality sensor and explained that it detects fuel parameters by applying advanced hydrocarbon profiling that measures the molecular structure of fuel. “This allows real-time optimisation of injection, combustion and post-treatment for all types of fuel, including bio-fuels,” it said in a statement.

When used in conjunction with an engine control unit “NIRIS can help to significantly reduce fuel consumption and engine emission levels,” it said. Further benefits claimed for the unit include lower fuel analysis costs, correct engine performance and the overall alleviation of damage to components due to inferior or low-grade fuels.

NIRIS is based around an infrared spectrometer that performs continuous analysis of a range of parameters including the cetane index, density and percentage of biodiesel. It provides information that engineers can use for assessing fuel quality.

superintendent at UECC, is responsible for the remote condition monitoring installations. “When a ship’s gearbox reaches 60,000 to 70,000 hours in service the last thing we want to do is to replace all the bearings inside the gearbox that are potentially still in good condition,” he said. “Around two years ago we therefore looked for an alternative solution.

“So far, we have not found any unusual problems, but the system constantly reassures us that the gearboxes are not going to suddenly fail and cause costly downtime.”

Data upgrade improves ship performance An upgrade to part of the automation system on Royal Caribbean International’s Allure of the Seas has given the ship 6,500 more data points and increased its data storage to seven years (up from one year).

Kongsberg has installed its Information Management System (K-IMS) to replace the history station within the existing Kongsberg Maritime K-Chief automation system, which now has 76 remote control units controlling over 40,000 data points. The upgrade, Kongsberg said, provides Royal Caribbean with extensive data and statistics with which to improve vessel operational performance.

K-IMS has a suite of applications within a web portal that is available both on board and on the Royal Caribbean office network in Florida, USA. K-IMS data can be accessed on board using tablets and is displayed on a large screen in the engine control room.

It also provides a report each day showing what is consuming the most power, to help decide which machinery can be shut off to save fuel. MP www.mpropulsion.com

Co-operation to enhance performance monitoring Chinese and Finnish companies extend their collaboration to include vessel performance monitoring

S

hanghai ship design house Shanghai Ship Research and Design Institute (SDARI), part of the China State Shipbuilding Cooperation, and Finnish maritime software developer NAPA are extending their co-operation in a new project involving ship performance monitoring and applying optimised design techniques to real ships in service. The agreement was signed during the Marintec event in Shanghai in December.

The agreement extends an existing co-operation arrangement that includes the application of NAPA software to SDARI’s ship design processes and NAPA’s Loading Computer, which is said to enhance safe operation and maximise a vessel’s cargo capacity.

The new agreement is in response to industry demands for improved vessel performance and the associated need for tools to provide real time performance monitoring to optimise operational efficiency during the lifecycle of vessels.

NAPA president Juha Heikinheimo told Marine Propulsion that the two companies have been co-operating since 2000, with the first joint project involving loading computers.

The basis for the latest product is a 3D ship model. NAPA uses the design model created by SDARI to perform optimisation work and the in-service data can then be linked to the design to show how it was

actually performing, with analysis of specific parameters such as fuel economy.

“The main driver is that ship operators want to reduce fuel consumption and maximise revenues by optimising routeing and operations with real time monitoring.

There are currently thousands of ships trading without any proper monitoring of their performance,” Mr Heikinheimo said.

He added that using this tool increases safety and can raise vessels’ secondhand values and charter rates if the ship’s performance and fuel consumption is known and independently verified. “Charterers might pay a premium to reflect the benefit of proven low fuel consumption.”

Mr Heikinheimo said: “Broadening the scope of our partnership enables us to serve the shipowners and operators even better by helping them to monitor and analyse actual ship performance. [They] have a significant savings potential of up to 30 per cent, which can be achieved with better designs and more efficient, well planned, monitored, analysed and optimised operations. NAPA solutions offer comprehensive tools for efficient operations and, in addition, a possibility to prove the superiority of the modern ecodesigns and provide valuable feedback to the design process.”

SDARI president Hu Jintao commented to Marine Propulsion: “NAPA’s performance monitoring tool can assist at the design stage and it is also important to get feedback about how the ship is actually performing in different sea states.

This will inform future designs.”

It is essential that designers get

SDARI updates ‘Dolphin’ concept Also at Marintec SDARI and DNV GL outlined their latest Green Dolphin 575 handymax bulk carrier design. This is a development of their previous Green Dolphin 38 version, incorporating greater fuel efficiency.

The Green Dolphin 575 is designed to comply with expected future emission regulations, featuring a number of propulsion options. These include exhaust gas cleaning systems or dualfuel operation with LNG. The core design

www.mpropulsion.com

has an efficient Tier II long-stroke, lowspeed main engine and a large-diameter slow-rotating propeller. As a result, main engine fuel consumption is about 22.8 t/ day with a 15 per cent sea margin.

SDARI chairman Hu Jintao confirmed that the SDARI Green Dolphin 38 bulker design has achieved 44 firm orders plus 36 options spread among 10 shipyards. “I expect most options to be exercised as ship prices are now rising and I expect total orders to reach 100 ships.”

Hu Jintao (SDARI) and Juha Heikinheimo (NAPA) shake hands on their agreement feedback from actual ships in operation and particularly in a loaded condition, he added.

"Sea trials are done in ballast conditions and relatively calm sea states.”

He said that results from the system could result in recommendations for retrofitting.

“Currently we get data feedback from only a very small proportion of ships built to our designs. The tool can be used to verify claims by other suppliers, such as coatings and other equipment for fuel savings and efficiency improvements on an objective basis and this will also help suppliers to verify their claims. It is also useful for educating crews in efficient operations.”

He spoke of the two companies’ longstanding co-operation, which means “we can offer speedy delivery to clients for new projects. We have been using NAPA tools for many years, which improve calculation efficiency for different ship types and in daily work. From 2001 we decided we would do that for loading computers which saves time in getting data validated. The NAPA loading computer is similar and can transfer data with output no different.”

He has a high regard for SDARI’s vessels. “[They] are already designed to industryleading standards, but in order to increase competitiveness in an industry increasingly focused on cutting operating costs, we hope to introduce NAPA’s performance monitoring solutions to demonstrate the superior operating efficiency of our designs,” he said. MP Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 95

Helios project

EU project supports LNG two-stroke programme A three-year EU-funded project to develop an LNG-fuelled two-stroke engine has concluded. Now the focus turns to other forms of gas

by Rebecca Moore

T

he Helios project was established to develop a research platform for an electronically controlled, two-stroke, low-speed, marine diesel engine that operates via a direct injection of LNG in the form of compressed natural gas (CNG). It was led by MAN Diesel & Turbo, which has developed a dual diesel/gas fuelled engine, the ME-GI (M-type, electronically controlled, gas injection) engine.

MAN Diesel & Turbo presented the results of the project at a conference in Copenhagen at the end of November 2013, at which Lars Ryberg Juliussen, senior manager at MAN Diesel & Turbo’s Diesel Research Centre, told Marine Propulsion: “The project worked better than expected. The project handling was very smooth, we are very satisfied with the result that we obtained and we have been successful in getting orders.”

Eight other partners participated in the initiative: TGE Marine Gas Engineering, materials technology company Sandvik Powdermet, Germanischer Lloyd and a range

Lars Ryberg Juliussen (MAN Diesel & Turbo): “We originally targeted the conversion of LNG tankers, but the first order was for container ships” 96 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

Helios helped develop the ME-GI dual-fuel (LNG and diesel) engine and TOTE has ordered them for two newbuilds (credit: General Dynamics/NASSCO) of universities based in Denmark, Sweden and Germany, including Lund University and the University of Erlangen.

The aim behind the project was clear: “We wanted to make available an engine for using gas that is of the same type that large commercial vessels are using today: two-stroke engines with a large propeller and direct propulsion without reduction gear,” Mr Juliussen told Marine Propulsion. Indeed, while gas-propelled four-stroke engines have been available in the marketplace for a few years, Helios’ result was the first gas-powered two-stroke ship engine to be launched.

The project saw MAN Diesel & Turbo retrofit an electronically-controlled two-stroke, 4T50ME-X marine diesel research engine to gas operation. This engine has four cylinders, with a bore of 0.5m and a stroke of 2.2m. It delivers approximately 7MW at 123 rpm.

Electronic control was decided upon because this allows the engine to be optimised more efficiently than by using mechanical control, Mr Juliussen said. “Using an electronicallycontrolled engine allows more flexibility in how you time the gas injection,” he explained.

“This means that the engine can be optimised efficiently over the whole load range. If the engine is mechanically controlled, you have to make some compromises, as it only optimises at one load point.”

The gas-powered research engine was benchmarked against the same engine running on diesel oil, and the aim was to ensure that the engine reacted exactly the same when running on gas as it did when diesel was deployed. “This

is important for ship operators, as it means that they have the same benefits running on gas as they do on diesel and can use the engine in exactly the same way, no matter which form of fuel they choose,” Mr Juliussen said.

Highlighting the major challenges and issues that the project uncovered, Mr Juliussen said: “The challenge was to create a safe control system for the injection of gas and to analyse the combustion process required for this, to ensure and verify that it takes place as it is anticipated.”

This was possible by the use of new technology for visualising the combustion process. Cameras were placed in the combustion chamber, enabling researchers to look into the engine and watch the combustion process. “This was important as by watching it, we could make the combustion process as efficient as possible and ensure it happened as it was supposed to,” Mr Juliussen said.

Explaining why it was decided to use LNG in its compressed form, CNG, rather than as a liquid, he explained that for liquid LNG, a temperature of -165 degrees was needed.

“This is not an easy temperature to keep,” Mr Juliussen commented. “It is much simpler to use LNG in the gas form.”

A major consideration for deploying CNG was the requirement for technology that could hold the gas at the pressure that was needed by the engine. A fuel gas supply system was provided by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering that was based on a high pressure cryogenic pump system. It consists of a cryogenic storage tank, a feed pump, suction drum, high www.mpropulsion.com

pressure cryogenic pump, pulsation damper, vaporiser and a gas flow/pressure/temperature control system.

The cryogenic centrifugal pump supplies the LNG from the cryogenic storage tank to a suction drum at the inlet of the cryogenic high pressure pump. This pressurises the LNG to the required pressure. The vaporiser is connected to the pump outlet and the LNG is heated to 45°C, vaporising it to form CNG. The ME-GI control system supplies a gas pressure set point to the gas supply system depending on engine load.

Highlighting the importance of the research project when it came to the gas supply system, Mr Juliussen said it was important for MAN Diesel & Turbo to be able to take control of it for safety reasons, “as it meant that safety was in our hands at all times. We could control this, so there was no chance of any kind of failure. There was no random development of the system, as we could test it and verify it to be assured that it was working as it must do.”

Another important safety element was the fact that the fuel lines were double walled, in order to prevent gas leakage in the engineroom.

The space between the two walls was ventilated so that a sensor placed in that area could detect any gas leaks.

Elsewhere, the inclusion of a gas composition sensor allowed the engine to be optimised to the actual condition of the gas. “The engine can run on any quality of natural gas, as long as the sensor tells the engine the calorific value of the gas at any time,” Mr Juliussen explained. He pointed out the quality of the gas could change quite significantly throughout the voyage of an

LNG tanker so the sensor tells the engine control unit the calorific value of the gas and, based on this, it calculates how much gas to inject in order to have the optimum performance.

Once the conversion of the gas engine was completed, it was benchmarked against operation on diesel oil. The conclusions were extremely positive: NOx emission levels of the ME-GI gas engine are about 25 per cent lower than on diesel oil operation given comparable engine operating conditions, while CO2 emissions have been slashed by 23 per cent.

Direct injection of gas also results in low methane slip. Mr Juliussen commented: “While the sulphur content is the most obvious benefit, a low methane slip is a main contributor to low emission values.”

Since December 2012, 20 ME-GI gas engines have been ordered for gas tankers and container ships, including for the US container lines Matson Navigation and TOTE and the LNG operator Teekay LNG Partners.

Mr Juliussen revealed that 50 more orders would be coming through in the near future.

He told conference delegates: “We originally targeted the conversion of LNG tankers, but the first order was for container ships, which was a little bit of a surprise for us. But because of the market conditions, gas is an attractive fuel of the future.” He added: “US operators like TOTE have to operate in Emission Control Areas (ECA) and gas is available in the US at a relatively low cost, so this is the cheapest way to use a fuel with low sulphur.”

TOTE ordered the dual-fuel 8L70ME-GI engine for two 3,100 teu container ships that

The Helios project involved converting an electronically-controlled 4T50ME-X two-stroke, low speed research engine to gas operation www.mpropulsion.com

San Diego shipyard NASSCO is building. It also has an option for possibly three more vessels.

The first ship is expected to be delivered by the fourth quarter of 2015, with the second ship expected by the first quarter of 2016.

Matson has placed an order for two MAN Diesel & Turbo 7S90ME-GI dual-fuel engines, with options for a further three vessels. The engines will be manufactured by MAN Diesel & Turbo's licensee Hyundai Heavy Industries and will be able to use heavy fuel oil, marine diesel oil or LNG as fuel. MAN Diesel & Turbo said that they are the largest dual-fuel engines ever ordered in terms of power output, with each engine capable of 42,700kW. The vessels are being constructed by Aker Philadelphia Shipyard and are slated for delivery in the third and fourth quarters of 2018.

Meanwhile, Teekay LNG Partners has placed an order for two LNG carriers, each powered by a pair of 5G70ME-GI engines, with an option for three further ships. The ships will be constructed by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and are due to be delivered in the first half of 2016.

The ME-GI engine can also be retrofitted; since the conference, the first such order has been announced, to convert the engine on a Qatari LNG carrier (see page 100). While retrofitting the engine could in many cases be more complex and costly than fitting it on a newbuild, this will not always the case. “If you retrofit an LNG carrier, you have the gas tanks already available on-board, which is an advantage as then you only need to convert the engines to gas,” Mr Juliussen said.

While the Helios project has been completed, developments are still being continued. MAN Diesel & Turbo is already working on a design that can be used with Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG), which is not currently used as a fuel for ships. Mr Juliussen said that the benefits of using it included that the gas has a low sulphur content and could be cheaper to use than low sulphur oil.

Here, the engine’s design is being adapted slightly to suit the different type of gas. While the control system is the same, Mr Juliussen said that because LPG was being used in liquid format (heated to 20°C) rather than the gas format of CNG, a pressure booster system is used to inject it, rather than the common rail system currently used. Mr Juliussen estimated that it is possible that the LPG-operated engine could be in use by the end of 2015. While CNG would be the preferred solution for large vessels, LPG could be a solution for smaller vessels, as well as for tankers that carry LPG. MP •More details of the Helios project, including presentations from the November conference, are available at http://helios-fp7.eu/ Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 97

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fuels & lubes

Maersk plans future with biofuels

Maersk Line is primed to test and purchase biofuel in 2015 when tougher controls on sulphur content increase the cost of fuel oil, reported the Danish shipping group’s climate and environmental manager Jacob Sterling.

“We use 10 million tonnes of bunker fuel a year for our ships. Instead of buying expensive low-sulphur oil in 2015 we

LR assesses alternatives to oil Reliable sources show that known oil and gas reserves have steadily risen by approximately 60 per cent since 1992, according to a recent assessment by Lloyd’s Register Marine’s lead project engineer for machinery, John Bradshaw.

Demand is also growing, but there is no reason to panic about oil and gas, he believes; it is generally not understood that elemental carbon and hydrogen can be reformed into almost any synthesised hydrocarbon fuel using existing technology.

Oil remains the dominant marine fuel and, through clean emissions technology, will continue to compete against the newer fuels entering shipping, he predicted.

Interest in alternative fuels is stimulating interest in alternative energy conversion technologies, including gas turbines, batteries and fuel cells, Mr Bradshaw noted.

There is some uncertainty over future fuel trends, however; market fragmentation – with operators selecting solutions fitting their own needs – is likely, perhaps resulting in multiple fuel policies within an operator’s fleet.

There is no ‘one size fits all’ best solution, he concluded. LR expects to see continued strong growth in the LNG fuel sector, with oil retaining a large overall bunker market share. Alternatives, such as methanol, biodiesel and hydrocarbon gases including www.mpropulsion.com

would equally like to buy some kind of low quality second generation biofuels, where we also get a carbon dioxide advantage.”

Maersk Line is preparing to try out different types of biofuel and has an agreement with an Antwerp-based company that produces biofuels from lignin, a residue of producing bioethanol from straw. The group is also involved in LPG, will gain traction while more radical alternatives, such as hydrogen and nuclear, should not be discounted.

His assessment included a review of some of the leading alternatives to oil and gas and their likely future development.

• Biofuel use is rising; fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) bio-diesel is widely available but increasing resistance by society will make next-generation algae-derived bio-oils much more attractive.

• Methanol is generally sourced from natural gas feedstocks but, with renewable feedstock being available, has great potential as a clean fuel. Although it is toxic and flammable, fuel handling and risk management for methanol is simpler than for LNG as it is not a cryogenic liquid.

• Nuclear energy is mature, clean and reliable but its acceptance faces significant political, regulatory and societal challenges.

• Renewable energy, such as wind and solar, will augment traditional gas or oil fuels but are unlikely to replace them.

• Hydrogen has traditionally been energyintensive to produce in large quantities and risk management is challenging but it is potentially both clean and abundant.

If efforts to reduce the cost of generating hydrogen are successful, then it could become the holy grail of energy: a cheap, clean and abundant fuel.

In the longer term, added LR’s global technology leader Ed Fort, hydrogen offers

No option but biofuels for the leading container ship operator (photo: Port of Felixstowe)

a large Danish research project, in which companies such as Topsoe, Novozymes and MAN Diesel & Turbo aim to develop a sulphur-free alternative to marine diesel oil from lignin.

“We believe that biofuels will be the successor to marine diesel in the long term, and do not really see any other options,” asserts Mr Sterling. the prospect of true zero-emission power generation. While the operation of internal combustion engines on hydrogen is possible, and has been demonstrated, it is unlikely that the evolution of IC engine technology would extend to operation on hydrogen.

Instead, should hydrogen become a viable marine fuel in terms of cost and availability, it may be expected that fuel cell technology would be the choice for power generators of the future. Fuel cells are not constrained by the efficiency limits of the otto and diesel thermodynamic cycles and offer significantly higher efficiencies from solid state, silent and vibration-free systems.

LR, which can claim extensive experience with marine fuel cell technology, is currently engaged in a number of development projects, including an evaluation of both onboard hydrogen generation and low temperature hydrogen fuel cell technology.

GLEAMS pursues the potential of glycerol A byproduct of the expanding biofuel industry, glycerol (commonly glycerine) is proposed as a safe, sustainable, low emissions and low carbon fuel for marine diesel engines.

The attractions are summarised by the UK Technology Strategy Board’s GLEAMS (Glycerine Fuel for Engines and Marine Sustainability) project as: • burns with a higher efficiency than diesel fuel • very low NOx emissions, no sulphur ››› Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 99

fuels & lubes

››› emissions and virtually no particulate matter emissions • non-toxic, water soluble and almost impossible to ignite accidentally.

Glycerol-burning engine technology is reportedly proven in combined heat and power plant, and retrofits for existing diesel engines are said to be readily executed, with modifications only required to the external engine aspiration system.

A relatively low energy density compared with fossil fuels is partially offset by the fuel’s increased efficiency; and while a greater volume of glycerol needs to be carried for a given range its low hazard nature would allow additional storage in the hull spaces of many vessels.

Glycerol is applicable for use in diesel engines of any size but until a comprehensive distribution network is established GLEAMS will concentrate on markets where limited volumes of fuel are required and bunkering typically occurs at a single location. The potential early candidates are identified as offshore support vessels, ferries, survey and pilot boats, fishing craft, dredgers, marine police and small commercial and leisure vessels.

The benign characteristics of glycerol are considered particularly attractive for operators in environmentally sensitive areas.

Participating in the GLEAMS project are Aquafuel Research, Gardline Marine Sciences, Lloyd’s Register EMEA, Marine South East and Redwing Environmental. Potential end-users and other interested parties can engage with the project through an online forum by joining the GLEAMS Interest Group.

Gas fuel option for Q-Max LNG carrier A project commissioned by Qatari shipping company Nakilat and the LNG producers Qatargas and RasGas calls for the conversion of a low speed diesel engine to burn natural gas as an alternative to heavy fuel oil. One of the company’s large Q-Max LNG carriers will benefit from the retrofit, reportedly the first of an MAN B&W two-stroke engine in service to ME-GI (Gas Injection) specification.

The modification – assigned to the NakilatKeppel Offshore & Marine yard in Qatar’s port of Ras Laffan – will enable the engine to handle cargo boil-off gas and meet global emission regulations. The cleaner fuel is also expected to allow longer times-betweenoverhaul for the engine as well as providing fuel supply flexibility in reaction to market changes. Using boil-off gas as a bunker fuel source in LNG shipping has hitherto been confined to tonnage powered by steam turbine/boiler plant or medium speed dual/trifuel diesel-electric machinery.

The 266,000m3 Q-Max LNGCs are powered by twin MAN B&W 6-cylinder S70ME-C diesel engines which can be converted to gas-burning GI status.

• LNG carrier newbuildings are now being

specified with MAN Diesel & Turbo’s MAN B&W ME-GI low speed engines allowing cargo boil-off gas to be burned as fuel.

Among the references, twin five-cylinder G70ME-GI packages will drive 173,400m3 carriers ordered by Teekay LNG Partners, while twin seven-cylinder G70ME-GI engines will power a pair of 176,300m3 carriers booked by Knutsen OAS. The latter plants are expected to yield fuel savings of more than 30 tonnes of gas per day over an equivalent medium speed dualfuel diesel-electric installation at a normal ship speed of 15-17 knots.

• Burckhardt Compression reports growing business for its fully balanced Laby-GI compressor to serve LNG carriers specified with MAN B&W dual-fuel two-stroke engines.

The Swiss designer’s compressors will inject cargo boil-off gas into the ME-GI engine for use as a fuel; an onboard facility also enables boil-off gas to be reliquefied and returned to the cargo tanks.

Laby-GI compressors can handle LNG boiloff gas at suction temperatures down to -1700C without pre-heating the gas or pre-cooling the compressor. A gas-tight housing eliminates gas emissions and losses to the environment.

Dutch tug trials Shell GTL fuel Royal Boskalis’s Rotterdam-based Smit Elbe recently became the first tug in the Netherlands to be fuelled with Shell GTL (gas-to-liquids). The vessel will use GTL for six months to determine whether the fuel can effect a sizeable reduction in emissions without engine modifications.

Emission measurements will be taken at regular intervals, the pilot project providing data for a wider emissions reduction policy for the port of Rotterdam.

GTL, a liquid fuel produced from natural gas and converted into synthetic diesel by chemical transformation, is claimed to produce much lower emissions of NOx, SOx, particulates and black smoke than regular diesel. The hydrocarbon fuel contains no sulphur, aromatics or toxic constituents. Blending 20 per cent of GTL diesel with conventional diesel reportedly results in a fuel that exceeds almost all international environmental standards for 2015.

Built in 2007, Smit Elbe is powered by twin Caterpillar 3516B TA high speed engines, each delivering 1,839kW and arranged to drive an azimuthing propulsion thruster with a fixed pitch propeller.

100 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

Preparing to go for gas: one of Nakilat’s Q-Max LNGC fleet

More mass flow metering in Singapore Another two ExxonMobil-chartered bunker tankers in Singapore are now available with the group's own mass flow metering system, taking its Maritime and Port Authority (MPA)-approved fleet to three vessels. Ship operators can reportedly save up to three hours and US$7,000 per delivery, with increased transparency during bunkering.

ExxonMobil’s system was developed in collaboration with the MPA and Singapore’s Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board to provide improved accuracy and efficiency, significant cost and time savings, enhanced system

integrity and higher traceability and transparency.

Efficiency is raised throughout the bunkering process by measuring fuel mass directly and reducing the uncertainties associated with density, temperature and other variables such as tank geometry. The supplier estimated cost savings can be achieved by measuring these variables in real time, which also avoids human calculation errors associated with traditional tank dipping.

Measurement data is also logged throughout, offering a transparent and accurate record of fuel transferred to the tanks. MP www.mpropulsion.com

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bunker bulletin

World bunker prices EUROPE Rotterdam MTD Antwerp MTD Gibraltar MTD Falmouth MTW Gothenburg MTD Las Palmas MTW Malta MTD Piraeus MTD St. Petersburg MTD*

380cst 1% 655 655 675 676-679 665 693 715 (N/A) 690 490

180cst 3.5% 608 608 629 662-663 622 630 605 622-627 440

MDO N/A N/A N/A N/A 965 930 N/A N/A N/A

MGO 865 865 945 933-943 935 940 902 911-916 840

MID.EAST/S.AFRICA Fujairah MTD Durban MTW* Dammam MTD (PP) Jeddah MTD (PP) Richards Bay MTW* Suez MTD

380cst 3.5% 605 N/A 605 690 N/A 685-686

380cst 1% N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

180 3.5% 635 609 615 725 619 720-721

MGO 975 / 1020 (LS) 1037 980 1070 1047 1069-1070

AMERICAS New York MTW New Orleans MTW Houston MTW Vancouver MTW Panama MTW Santos MTD

380cst 3.5% 604.50 625 582 597.50 620 618

380cst 1% 681 737 689.50 852.50 797.50 626

180cst 3.5% 659.50 658 652 649.50 681 639.50

MGO 1022.50 971.50 976 1093 1053 980

380cst 1% 680 971 702-712 734-736 793-798

180cst 3.5% 608-615 667-669 660-663 614-616 666-670

MDO N/A 943-948 N/A N/A N/A

MGO 895-915 N/A 946-951 910-917 1062-1068

FAR EAST Singapore MTD Tokyo MTD* Busan MTD Hong Kong MTD Shanghai MTW

380cst 3.5% 578 578 595 612-614 587 608 586 593-598 410

380cst 3.5% 590-600 657-659 629-632 602-608 625-627

Latest prices Close Current Change

WTI $98.90 (-$1.47) $99.42 +$0.52

Prices are latest (mid-range) listed in US$ as at 21 March 2014 MTD = delivered EXW = ex-wharf PP = posted price

BRENT $106.45 (+$0.60) $106.98 +$0.53

GAS OIL $888.75 (+$1.75) $897.00 +$8.25

Information supplied by Stuart Murray – Bunker Broker Wilhelmsen Premier Marine Fuels Ltd t: +44 1322 282 940 e: wp.london@wilhelmsen.com Yahoo: stuartm_wpmf

HFO to sustain market dominance Research by Lloyd’s Register and University College London’s Energy Institute has explored the drivers for the energy mix in shipping in 2030. Their report indicates that, in all scenarios, heavy fuel oil will remain the main fuel for deepsea shipping; LNG will develop a deepsea bunker market share of 11 per cent; and low sulphur heavy fuel oil and hydrogen will emerge as alternatives in certain scenarios.

Global Marine Fuel Trends 2030, released in March by LR, offers insight into the future fuel demands of the container ship, bulk carrier/general cargo and tanker sectors, which represent around 70 per cent of the global shipping industry’s bunker requirements.

Shipping decision makers will benefit from a clearer understanding of the three potential scenarios for marine fuel demand, defined as: Status Quo; Global Commons; and Competing Nations.

“I think the report underlines that any transition from a dependency on HFO will be an evolutionary process,” said project leader Dimitris Argyros, the class society’s lead environmental consultant. www.mpropulsion.com

“LNG is forecast to grow from a very low base to a significant market share by 2030 even if there is no major retrofit revolution; most of the LNG take-up will be in newbuildings. But it is important to note that an 11 per cent share in 2030 is the equivalent in volume of about 20 per cent of the bunker market today,” he remarked.

This growth, however, does not depend only on the shipping industry, he suggested.

“What we can say is that the uptake of engine and alternative propulsion technology and the emergence of non-fossil fuels can only be driven by a society’s ability to create a world with lower greenhouse gas emissions – the technology is not the barrier.”

The key drivers “will be policy and markets,” he said. “Shipping can control its own destiny to some extent but shipowners can only focus on compliance and profitability. If society wants lower GHG emissions and cleaner fuel, change in shipping has to be driven by practical regulation and market forces so that cleaner, more efficient ships are more profitable than less efficient ships with higher GHG emissions.”

• Read the full report at www.lr.org/gmft2030.

IBIA urges compliance with ISO standards as engines develop In a bid to improve bunker quality across the marine fuel supply chain, the International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) has called on suppliers to adopt the ISO 2010 specifications for bunkers. It is estimated that only a quarter of bunker suppliers are currently delivering in accordance with those specifications.

“ECO vessels are now entering the market equipped with engines which are more sensitive than ever before,” IBIA chairman Jens Maul Jorgensen commented recently.

“The ISO specs were agreed four years ago because there was a real need for them. Yet only 25 per cent of suppliers are supplying in accordance with these specs. Indeed, tested samples found to be off-spec reached an all-time high in 2013, with one-quarter not reaching the required standards. Something is wrong.”

IBIA is addressing the problem and has submitted a paper to IMO calling for clarity and transparency in the marine fuel supply chain. It has recommended: • a process of data collection from bunker suppliers; • a process for authorities and inspectors to report non-compliance with Annex VI; • regulations to minimise the risk of non-compliant fuels arising from fuel blending activity; • enforcement procedures to ensure that ship operators can have a greater degree of confidence in their suppliers; • the collection of data from fuel suppliers, fuel testing companies and shipping companies to identify the root cause of fuel quality problems.

IBIA chief executive Peter Hall added that his organisation will be engaging with shipowners directly at a series of forums around the world in conjunction with other shipping bodies. Practical advice on fuel quality standards and problem avoidance will be disseminated. MP

Jens Maul Jorgensen (IBIA): New engines are more sensitive (credit: IBIA) Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014 I 103

powertalk

Dual-fuel has no long-term future Dual-fuel technology is establishing a role in current propulsion concepts but a lesson from the past offers a warning for the future, says David Bricknell*

104 I Marine Propulsion I April/May 2014

gas – spark ignition

increasing efficiency

M

ore than a century and a half ago, the steam ship Great Britain was a pioneering dual-fuelled ship, with both wind and coal driving it forward. When it was launched in 1843 it was the largest ship afloat and, for the first time, combined an iron hull and a screw propeller to become the first iron steamer to cross the Atlantic.

But it was competing against ships that were either sail or steam, yet it was neither the best sailing vessel nor the best steam ship. In 1852 and under new ownership it was given a new engine and a more efficient propeller to operate to Australia, but it relied more on sail than steam to save money. Finally, in 1882, the engine was removed to make it competitive and it became a pure sailing cargo ship – ironically, to carry coal.

That was an early demonstration that fuel flexibility comes at a price. While many today have expressed the view that dual-fuel is the only answer in today’s world, there are both benefits and drawbacks. On the plus side, if your ship can carry both liquid fuel and gas fuel then you have no concerns about fuel availability if there is poor gas supply infrastructure.

Where a ship’s area of operation is variable and uncertain, operators may experience the marine equivalent of the ‘range anxiety’ experienced by drivers of electric cars and worry about whether they will be able to refuel en-route; in these instances, the ability to revert to liquid fuel is comforting.

However, compared to a single fuel engine, there will be an efficiency penalty for the low pressure dual-fuel engine while running on gas and a considerable efficiency penalty when running on liquid, since dual-fuel engines run with a BMEP of 19-21 bar and conventional diesels run at 25-28 bar. Add to this the space and weight penalty from including two sets of fuel tanks with the consequent loss of earning capacity, plus the significantly higher initial cost of the engine and its gas fuel system, and it is difficult to see how the ship can be competitive over its lifespan.

Meanwhile, the LNG supply chain is developing, although some areas are rather better covered than

COMPARATIVE EFFICIENCY FOR COMPETING GAS TECHNOLOGIES

HP DF on gas or liquid

LP DF on gas LP DF on liquid

20 per cent

load

100 per cent

This general comparison illustrates how dual fuel options, whether high pressure or low pressure, cannot match pure gas-fuelled systems at most load levels (credit: Brycheins) others; availability and demand will tend to develop alongside one another. Where routes are fixed – ferry services, for instance – or where the area of operations is constrained, such as for coastguards and coastal trades, then an infrastructure for security of fuel supply can be implemented and pure-gas fuelled ships are then highly attractive.

From a technical point of view, by the end of 2013 the marine industry had largely removed, or developed solutions for, any obstacles that stood in the way of gas becoming the dominant marine fuel within a generation. Gas-engines, both two- and four-stroke, are being developed and released at an increasing pace by all the major manufacturers.

Gas-fuelled ship designs and their accompanying safety rules are also being developed and built in increasing numbers.

However, although liquid fuel engines are now available to meet the stringent emission targets of IMO Tier III and EPA Tier 4 without off-engine after-treatment, they cannot take advantage of lower fuel costs of gas. Gas fuelled engines are available in Otto-cycle (spark-ignited single-gas and low-pressure dual-fuel) and diesel-cycle (high-pressure dual fuel) and both cycles apply to both two- and four-stroke engines. Which engine technology is right for your ships depends upon their duty and area of operations.

During the 2000s, increasingly tight emissions regulations for NOx, and for particulates challenged engine designers to improve liquid combustion technology. Initially, combustion chamber shape,

improved turbochargers and higher-pressure injectors (to reduce particulates and improve combustion) were adopted and then the MillerCycle was introduced (to reduce combustion temperature thus NOx). Most recently, two-stage turbocharging has become available to improve Miller-Cycle engine power and efficiency.

Marine Propulsion has regularly covered such developments as exhaust gas recirculation, which some enginebuilders are using to meet NOx limits from liquid fuel without off-engine aftertreatment. But others seem reluctant to follow, instead focusing their efforts on gas-fuelled engines that will meet the limits while, most importantly, taking advantage of very low gas fuel prices in most parts of the world.

So the growing expectation in the marine industry and within the major engine manufacturers is that gas LNG will increasingly and rapidly become a significant fuel throughout the world and for many ship types. The battle is now beginning as to which technology will win: Otto- or diesel-cycle.

Dual-fuel engines do not have a long-term role in this scenario. Like Great Britain, ships that fit them will be overtaken by their rivals as gas becomes the new steam. MP *David Bricknell is the owner and principal of Brycheins, an independent design and engineering consultancy. He has over 40 years’ experience and was formerly vice president for systems, product strategy and business development for Rolls-Royce www.mpropulsion.com

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