HHI develops LNG carrier fuel gas management system

FEBRUARY 24, 2015 — Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (HHI), the world’s largest shipbuilder, has developed its own gas management system for reliquefying boil off gas (BOG) from a membrane LNG containment tank for use as fuel for LNG carriers. 

The newly developed HHI gas treatment system consists of an ME-GI engine, a BOG high-pressure compressor, a BOG reliquefaction system, an LNG fuel gas supply system (FGSS) and Hyundai integrated gas supply system (Hi-GAS).

While conventional systems can only reliquefy BOG partially, the HHI system can reliquefy 100 percent of the BOG and re-store it in the LNG tank for later use as the ship’s fuel.

HHI says that an LNG carrier equipped with this system can save up to 50 percent of the fuel cost in comparison with the standard vessel using heavy fuel oil (HFO) or marine gas oil (MGO), and produce 92, 80 and 23 percent less emissions of SOx, NOx and CO2, respectively.

Two 176,000 cu.m LNG carriers that HHI is building for Knutsen of Norway for delivery next year will be equipped with the new system.