Revolutionary CNG containment system completes milestone tests

Optimum containment system is constructed using close-packed, high strength pipes that run the entire length of the ship's cargo hold

DECEMBER 12, 2018 — Perth, Western Australia, based Global Energy Ventures (ASX:GEV) reports that it has completed a series of tests needed for it to obtain full ABS design approval for its Optimum Ship CNG carrier.

The Optimum ship design maximizes the amount of Compressed Natural Gas that can be stored within the hull of a ship. The Optimum containment system is constructed using close-packed, high strength pipes that run the entire length of the ship’s cargo hold. GEV says that the invention of a mechanism to clamp these gas storage pipes so tightly together that they become locked together as one, allows this design to meet all classification requirements.

GEV has received ABS Approval in Principle for its design for a 184.8 m x 31.3 m CNG Optimum ship with a capacity of 200 million standard cubic ft (4,700 t) of CNG.

In a stock exchange filing yesterday, GEV reported that the Optimum system has now completed prototype testing that included burst tests, fatigue tests and proof-of-concept tests.

“These tests plus the designs and studies in support of obtaining American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) full class design approval for the Optimum system are now complete,” said GEV.

“The final test in the program was a cooled burst test on a notched sample that had been fatigued through 3 times the design life (6,000 cycles),” said GEV. “The purpose of this test was to demonstrate the Optimum tanks’ burst capacity after, fatigue, crack formation, and cooling that could result from the Joule-Thompson cooling effect of gas escaping through a crack. This is an extremely rigorous test that was passed successfully.”

Chairman & CEO Maurice Brand said that the company’s focus is now on selection of a shipyard(s), associated ship financing options and the continued development of its suite of CNG projects to commercialize the CNG Optimum ship.