DSME claims to be leading the market
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering has stated that its CEO, Sang-Tae Nam, was solely responsible for developing the HP-FGS (high-pressure fuelled gas supply) system for MAN Diesel & Turbo’s ME-GI engine.
The company says that though there are small and medium sized LNG-fuelled vessels already, this is the first dual fuel two-stroke engine for large commercial vessels which form the majority of the shipping industry. The HP-FGS system effectively supplies highly-pressurised (about 300 bar) natural gas fuel to an engine. Existing FGS systems compress gas to a high pressure. This process requires enormous amounts of electricity and large deck area to accommodate the size of this equipment. However, the DSME HP-FGS system compresses LNG and vaporises it into gas form. With this method, this system can supply gas at about 300 bar using low electric power, typically about 100kW for the same amount gas supply, compared to existing similar products. It also is compact enough to be mounted on the ship.
DSME points out that the ME-GI engine was originally developed in 1994 for power plants. It was not considered suitable for marine use because of the lack of high efficiency, high pressure gas supply system. DSME says that its HP-FGS system should opened a new era for LNG fueled ship propulsion.
DSME expects its first contract for an LNG fueled vessel soon. Additionally, it has been predicted that LNG-fueled propulsion systems will be also be adapted for use in other commercial vessels such as containerships, crude oil carriers, and so on.
The company says that due to the framework created by the convention on climate change, many industries will start to move from traditional fossil fuels to clean energy. In shipping, large LNG-fueled vessels will bring about a revolutionary change. LNG is the next-generation fuel that is both economically feasible and eco-friendly. This high pressurised gas powered engine emits significantly fewer pollutants than those using petrol or diesel, decreasing CO₂ emissions by over 23%, and SOx emissions by over 95%. It is also economical. The price per thermal unit ($/million BTU) for LNG has been historically cheaper than that of Bunker-C oil or marine gas oil(MGO). Experts generally expect this trend to continue into the near future. Thus compared with a conventional diesel propulsion system, it is expected that LNG propulsion systems will open a new era in ship propulsion market.
While others are currently attempting to develop a similar device, DSME claims to be leading the market now with this technology, which it says is based on proprietary technologies that are under many domestic and international patents. DSME has, since 2007, registered 25 patents in the US, South Korea, Europe and has been granted eight patents including those for a high HP pump and HP vaporiser.
Source: Motorship
