Bringing the power

Johan Lillieskold, Gas Solutions Specialist, Schulte Group, Germany, examines how LNG bunker vessels can reduce last-mile costs for ship operators.

he number of LNG-fuelled vessels entering into operation in the next few years is exponential as operators turn to LNG to reduce the environmentally and climate-harmful emissions. Typically cheaper than fuel-oil, LNG prices are high right now, but when the LNG-vs-fuel-oil market returns to normal, demand for LNG to fuel merchant vessels will follow.

The final price for LNG as fuel delivered on board has a surcharge that originates from the ‘last-mile’ delivery cost, meaning the cost from using LNG tanker trucks or LNG bunker vessels (LBVs).

Whilst LNG truck-to-ship activities will still be available going forward, LNG sea-based deliveries will eventually dominate the supply for merchant LNG-fuelled vessels.

And as demand for LNG grows, the required infrastructure will follow.

Schulte Group has used its experience as an LNG bunker vessel owner and operator to design the next generation LBV which will fulfil present and future demand and reduce last-mile costs.

The LNG industry has an enviable and robust safety record, and the pioneers of LNG bunkering created the technical designs for the LNG fuelling and service vessels currently in service. These vessels continue to be successful, and will be in operation for the foreseeable future.

When Schulte Group examined the market’s current requirements, however, the company recognised the need for a straightforward LNG fuelling ‘work horse’ that reduces the cost of last-mile delivery for vessel operators. Schulte Group has gone back to the drawing board and defined the operational requirements and corresponding specifications of what the ideal LBV should offer, doing away with any additional or unnecessary gear and cumbersome operations.

Schulte Group has therefore developed an inherently safe design for an LBV, with an intuitive human/machine interface that is easy to handle and operate and straightforward to understand.

Key features include an outrigger system that works with any vessel type, gas freeing and aeration equipment to prepare LNG-fuelled vessels for drydock, and flexible design options so that the LBV can be tailored to requirements. The vessel can also be operated by a smaller crew whilst still enabling high safety levels.

All of these components are geared towards reducing the CAPEX and OPEX costs for owners and operators,

and, ultimately, will achieve low last-mile costs for the LNG-fuel industry, including the LNG-fuelled client vessels.

Compatibility

One example of how this design can favourably affect the OPEX of a client vessel’s (or LNG-fuelled vessel’s) operations is the innovative outrigger system that can accommodate any vessel type.

Usually, the rigging of fenders on board a seagoing LBV takes 1 – 2 hrs with the engagement of a substantial deck crew. Schulte Group’s LBV does away with the use of a spacer pontoon, and avoids manually shifting, deploying, and mooring the typically heavy inflatable fenders alongside the LBV. With the outrigger system, it takes approximately 5 mins. with the single push of a button. Furthermore, due to the increased distance between the vessels, the more favourable, less steep angles achieved with the mooring ropes to a client vessel with high freeboard results in safer and easier moorings.

Schulte Group’s LBV work horse has been designed to maximise compatibility with existing and known future LNG-fuelled tonnage, including: � Vessels with protruding structures from the hull, such as those typically found on cruise liners with protruding lifeboats, deck structure, and balconies (see Figure 2). One solution is the outrigger and fendering system, which is safe and fast to deploy.

Figure 1. The LBV’s patented outrigger fendering system deployed.

Figure 2. The LBV alongside a cruise ship, looking towards the hull, with lifeboat protruding. The deployed outrigger system keeps the LBV a safe distance from the ship without the need for pontoons. The dashed U-shaped line to the right represents the safety boundaries around the valves/gas mast, with port side mast in use. � Vessels with short, usable parallel bodies, for example, large, high-speed, slender container vessels with bunker ports located forward or aft. For this type of vessel, the

LBV’s forward manifold will provide reach into or up to bunker stations.

� Vessels with high freeboard, for example, very large crude carriers (VLCCs), large bulkers, large container vessels, large heavy lift vessels as semi-submersible crane vessels.

The LBV’s long-reaching telescopic crane extends over 40 m over the water. It is compatible with all known and soon-to-come LNG-fuelled vessels.

� Vessels with bunker stations located low down, for example, some cruise liners, Ro-Pax, and some container vessels. Such vessels can have bunker ports situated as low as 3 m above water line. This causes challenges if the LBV has a large, fixed-reaching crane. A large crane can still be compatible but usually slows operations when safely transferring the LNG transfer system to a client vessel. The telescopic crane on the company’s LBV can be adjusted to any required reach. Consequently, the manoeuvring of the LNG transfer system (hoses, release couplings, quick connectors, and release system) can be undertaken faster, smoother, and in a more accurate and safe manner.

� Vessels with bunker manifolds located extremely forward or aft of the ship’s length. The LBV’s forward manifold will ensure compatibility with this type of vessel and still maintain a safe mooring pattern. � Large scale LNG terminals with loading arms typically located 14 – 16 m above water. The LBV can be equipped with a high manifold, making the vessel compatible with large scale loading arms. This can be advantageous in areas where an operator is a ‘first mover’, where no other means of loading an LBV is available. Regardless, if the LBV was not initially fitted with a high manifold, the vessel is similarly prepared, with scantling, stability, routing of piping, penetrations, for example, all incorporated into the design. A high manifold can be fitted later with limited modification and incurred off-hire time.

Scaleable design

Schulte Group has designed the LBV with a series of selectable options, so that it can be tailored to requirements. Operators can choose from the following: � Outrigger vs normal Yokohama type fendering system. � Sub-cooler vs no sub-cooler.

� High manifold vs no high manifold. � Forward manifold vs no forward manifold.

� Cargo tanks 304L (ammonia ready) vs 9% nickel steel (LNG only). Reduced OPEX

Schulte Group’s new LBV has been designed and built with the crew, work space, and the human/machine interface in mind. This, for example, applies to the trunk deck covering cargo lines, cabling, and instruments. Not only does this reduce OPEX through reduced maintenance, but, equally importantly, it serves as the LNG transfer system preparation and maintenance workshop deck. Further, the company has introduced mooring stations with a clean design that is safe to work and easy to maintain.

When this design is applied, the crew required to operate and maintain the vessel can be reduced, and consequently so is the OPEX and the last-mile surcharge for the LNG fuel.

Drydock background and challenges

Many more LNG-fuelled vessels are scheduled to enter the market in the next few years, and this in turn will increase the number of LNG-fuelled vessels requiring repair and routine drydocking.

Depending on the type of the LNG-fuelled vessel’s fuel gas tanks and/or required repairs, in most cases, the fuel gas tanks are required to be liquid freed and, at least inerted, if not aerated (gas free), prior to entering a repair site or dockyard.

There will further be occasions where LNG-fuelled vessels are required to undergo unplanned repairs, often on a commercially urgent basis to avoid off-hire. Typical examples are after a hard steel frame indent from a tugboat, or a berthing incident requiring small to semi-major hot work.

At present, LNG-fuelled vessels and LBVs are dependent on external service providers to support all operations to condition a cold and gassed up LNG tank to become a warm aerated gas-freed tank that can safely enter a repair site or drydock.

Further, it is unacceptable, and will become increasingly less acceptable, to vent methane (CH4) to the atmosphere, other than in emergency situations, and LNG-fuelled vessels are almost never equipped with onboard gear to handle CH4 and burn the same during a gas freeing operation. Nor are they equipped with large capacity inert gas plants to handle inerting of own fuel tanks or aeration fans for aeration (final gas freeing).

As such, gas-freeing operations today are quite cumbersome and time consuming. The LNG-fuelled vessel or LBV needs to find a berth or terminal where such an operation is allowed and possible. After which, if the operation uses gear supplied solely from the shoreside, a large amount of different gears will be required, as well as portable hot flare/gas combustion unit (GCU), propane tanks, liquid nitrogen tank(s) and/or trucks, vaporisers, heaters, and cryogenic hoses. Not forgetting the considerable time required for co-ordination, authority permits, and planning.

It is against this background that Schulte Group set about developing an LNG tank conditioning system and including it within the company’s LBV work horse design.

BKV-software-halfpage-ad.pdf 1 9/26/22 7:38 AM

Advanced Asset Condition Monitoring and Analytics in the LNG Industry Using a Historian-Based Solution

After more than 20 years in the LNG industry, Brüel & Kjær Vibro has built a solid foundation in condition monitoring, diagnostics technology and services, and we want to share that with you.

The data management portion of our solution is vital to this industry, and we strive to deliver transparent, non-proprietary data to other systems and historians such as OSIsoft® PI System. ® All relevant users can now have unhindered, cyber-safe access to raw data, historical data, and PI-based analytics. This dramatically improves the reliability and speed of making operation and maintenance decisions. Contact us to find out how our comprehensive, non-proprietary monitoring solution can benefit you.

Drydocking solutions

The solution to the above challenges and the key characteristics of the company’s conditioning system are: � High warming-up capacity through the circulation of hot CH4 from LBV to the LNG-fuelled vessel, i.e. the cold vapour return from the LNG-fuelled vessel will be re-heated and sent back to the vessel’s tanks. As and when the tanks warm up and gas expands, it is combusted in the LBV’s high-capacity GCU. � When tanks are warmed-up, the LBV produces and sends dry nitrogen (N2) inert gas to the LNG-fuelled vessels tanks and returns increasingly N2-rich vapour. This vapour return is efficiently and sustainably combusted in the

LBV’s GCU, regardless of its N2 content. � When the tanks are fully inerted, aeration of the same is undertaken by the LBV by supplying clean dry air to the tanks.

All capacities and operation flows are designed to reach above-ambient temperatures in order to allow technical best practice and safe entrance to the tanks on aeration completion.

The best calculations for a 6700 m3 tank demonstrate that Schulte Group’s new LBV can carry out this full operation – from cold tanks with CH4 to gas-freed, ready-to-enter tanks, or obtain gas a free certificate to enter a repair site, within 5 – 8 days.

The warm-up operation of the same tank would normally take 20 days without the support from the company’s LBV’s conditioning system. Add to that inerting and aeration, the full operation would take an estimated 25 – 30 days, without accounting for deviation to a suitable berth to undertake a similar operation supported from ashore.

Schulte Group’s conditioning system reduces LNG-fuelled vessels’ off-hire periods and avoids the time and cost of finding a suitable LNG terminal or berth where the above outlined operation can be environmentally and safely undertaken.

LBV mooring operations

LBV vessels are expected to undertake numerous mooring operations each day. Therefore, Schulte Group has invested

The Schulte Group LBV

Key features: � Outrigger system that enables bunker operation with any type of LNG-fuelled vessel, including cruise ships. The unique patented design does away with spacer pontoons and inflatable fenders. The outrigger system can be launched in approximately 5 mins. by the push of a button. � Flexible design options so that they can be tailored to requirements to ensure minimal CAPEX. � Smaller crew complement whilst still maintaining high safety levels made possible through an intuitive human/machine interface and rationalised deck based on best practice operations for safe and easy mooring operations. � Gas freeing and aeration equipment to prepare any

LNG-fuelled client vessels for drydock. particularly in designing effective and safe mooring stations, and incorporated experience and know-how from over 100 Optimoor studies into the mooring station design of the company’s new vessels.

The LBV workh horse is therefore equipped with a sufficient number of mooring stations and mooring drums, all of which are clear of other deck gear and equipment that could interfere with safe and efficient operations.

The forward mooring station is semi enclosed – with windlasses located on a different deck – hence nicely protected from weather, clean, and roomy.

Further, logical features such as free sight of mooring ropes during operations has been designed into the mooring decks and stations. This makes operations safe and at the same time reduces manning to the minimum without being unsafe.

These accumulated factors enable the LBV to be compatible with any LNG-fuelled vessel, to facilitate fast, safe, and efficient mooring operations, meaning more bunkers can be delivered overall per day.

Eco-sustainability

Schulte Group’s LBV has been developed in accordance with the International Code for Safety for Ships Using Gases or other Low-Flashpoint Fuels (IGC) Code and other International Maritime Organization (IMO) regulations. It is also required to comply with new and future decarbonising incentivising rules and regulations, among those IMO’s Carbon Intensity Index (CII) and the EU’s Fit-for-55 programmes.

The better prepared the vessel is to tackle any decarbonisation requirements, the more likely its residual value will be maintained.

Measures built into the design and available for future upgrade: � The battery hybrid solution saves energy and reduces carbon emissions, delivering an initial good

Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) and CII rating. � The battery hybrid solution allows normal LNG-fuelling operations (bunkering) to be undertaken using battery power only with zero carbon emissions. Moreover, it reduces noise-pollution – important where noise can impact bunker permit applications. � The hull has been designed to increase tonnage mile efficiency. Even if an LBV is normally not required for extensive sea voyages, the vessel has been built with a slender and efficient hull for good EEDI and CII ratings. � The vessel has capabilities to be connected to shore power.

In combination with the battery hybrid solution and ‘green’ shore power, depending on the operation profile, the vessel could operate largely carbon-emissions free. � The basic design has even taken into consideration future retrofit for hydrogen power. Operation range will be limited if all operations are undertaken using hydrogen (H2), but 2 – 3 days of operation is feasible between

H2 bunkering.

Overall, Schulte Group’s next generation LBV work horse brings safety, compatibility, eco-sustainability, easy inerting, and warm up for repair and maintenance, low CAPEX and OPEX, and a scaleable and future-proofed vessel design that will meet the needs of the burgeoning LNG-fuelled vessel fleet.