A special Lloyd's Register Horizons supplement

Horizons supplement February 2012
Future fuels and fuel management
Piet Mast, Lloyd’s Register’s
Marine Business Manager for
Western Europe
Methanol a potential
fuel requiring more
attention
One of the fuels Lloyd’s Register is looking
at is methanol. Methanol is sulphur free,
has a reduced impact on emissions,
is currently 3 to 4 times cheaper than
marine distillate fuel and has a beneficial
likely EEDI result. It is non cryogenic and
is readily produced for a wide range of
chemical uses including for combustion.
Production is currently nearly 50 million
tonnes per annum. It has a great potential
for high production and ease of using
existing distribution infrastructures.
Easily produced and safe to transport, it
has the benefit of being able to be made
from the widely available natural gas or
from biogas which in turn could be made
from second generation renewables.
The world’s first
new LNG-fuelled
tanker is classed
by Lloyd’s Register
The arrival of Argonon (see photo on page 2),
a 6,100 dwt dual-fuelled chemical tanker,
is a significant milestone for the Deen
Shipping subsidiary, Argonon Shipping, in
its pursuit of cleaner transport solutions for
Europe. Lloyd’s Register helped the owners
and regulators identify their risks, meet
regulatory requirements and overcome the
technical challenges for the precedentsetting
tanker.
“This has been a great project and is a
significant first,” said Piet Mast, Lloyd’s
Register’s Marine Business Manager for
Western Europe. “The nature of inland
waterways traffic, which passes through
or close to major population centres,
makes LNG an attractive way to reduce
harmful local emissions. We had to look
carefully at the risks and worked closely
with the owner and the regulators to
ensure that they understood, and were
comfortable with, the technical solutions
that were developed.”
The dual-fuel system is designed to burn
an 80/20 mixture of natural gas and
diesel, reducing SO x , NO x and particulatematter
emissions, as well as reducing the
greenhouse gas emissions from tank to
flue. The LNG is stored in a transport tank
located on deck, supplied by Cryonorm
Projects, based near Amsterdam.
“The inland shipping industry, as far as we
know, is the safest and cleanest mode of
transport. But, to keep this lead, we have
to take a big step forward in environmental
performance,” said shipowner Gerard
Deen. “I think that the dual-fuel principle
is a way to reduce the emissions in our
sector. Lloyd’s Register was very pragmatic
in their approach to finding solutions to
convert seagoing regulations into inland
shipping rules regarding dual fuel.”
Built by Rotterdam’s Shipyard Trico BV,
Argonon is 110 metres long and propelled
by two, dual-fuel Caterpillar DF3512
engines, each providing 1,115 kW. The
ship has the capacity to transit from
Rotterdam to Basel and back
without bunkering.
“We are currently providing technical
and regulatory guidance for 20 confirmed
or proposed inland waterway applications
that intend to use LNG as fuel,” said
Bas Joormann, Lloyd’s Register’s West
European Area Inland Waterway
Product Manager. “There is a lot of
interest, and for good reason. Inland
waterways, like ferries in emission-control
areas, are very suitable for LNG. But the
regulatory regime is different. We’re
helping owners and governmental bodies
to identify the risks and manage them
to at least the level of safety provided
by the existing fuel-management and
combustion requirements.”
Leading the
way in LNG
as fuel
understanding
Lloyd’s Register runs a busy programme
of seminars worldwide, many of which
pull in leading industry stakeholders
to provide a broad perspective
to attendees. Environmental and
operational efficiency seminars were
very popular in 2011. In particular, LNG
as fuel seminars in London, Busan,
Vancouver and Tokyo attracted large
audiences looking at the broad range
of LNG issues.
LNG bunker
tank location
The location of storage tanks is a key issue
for consideration, particularly on cruise
ships, containerships and ferries where
there is little or no alternative to LNG
bunker space within or below a vessel’s
accommodation area.
It’s an issue Lloyd’s Register is currently
studying and our Global Marine Risk
Adviser Vince Jenkins takes a refreshingly
optimistic view of how to handle it. He
says Lloyd’s Register “undoubtedly can”
find a way to approve LNG tanks. “The
cost of achieving it may be significant, but
the technology and design capability is
certainly about to achieve it,” he says.
“Class societies are a keystone of safety
in the marine industry. They also need to
be visionary from time to time. In Lloyd’s
Register’s case we are a charity and
everyone in society is our stakeholder.
Hence we need to provide a framework
that will allow innovation – while ensuring
the balance between environmental gain
and safety is duly considered,” says Vince.
Vince Jenkins, Lloyd’s Register’s
Global Marine Risk Adviser
“We cannot yet judge what the outcome
of such development work will be, but we
are certainly looking at it to enable such
technology to be embraced within the
industry,” adds Vince.
A full version of Vince Jenkin’s article
on LNG storage is in the January issue
of Horizons.
LNG as fuel bunkers
Lloyd’s Register has been
studying the issues
One of the largest obstacles to widespread
take-up of LNG as fuel is the lack of a
bunkering network. At present deep sea
ships have no access to LNG as a marine
fuel – even if they wanted it. Lloyd’s Register
has been researching the issues around a
bunker network and infrastructure for the
shipping industry.
Lloyd’s Register has been examining trade
patterns and existing bunker trends by
ship type and size; examining the fuel
consumption requirements; assessing the
potential availability of LNG worldwide; and
surveying the key stakeholder groups to
understand their needs.
Findings are expected to be available in March.
5
million tonnes
(Methanol produced per annum)
“In the past, Lloyd’s Register and other
class societies have achieved this by
developing prescriptive rules. There is
a move to a more goal-based approach
to drive rule development. And this is
exactly what we are doing on the
subject of LNG tank placement within
or under accommodation.
Horizons is Lloyd’s Register’s Marine industry magazine –
published three times a year and supplemented from time
to time, with focused editions such as this Technology and
Innovation special. To download a pdf of Horizons go to:
www.lr.org/horizons
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