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Deltamarin and GTT introduces membrane LNG bunker tanks

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Membrane tanks ensure most intra-Asian, intra-European or intra-American loops can be sailed in one bunkering operation.
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Technology firm Deltamarin and engineering company Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT), who is involved in liquefied natural gas (LNG) membrane containment systems, have teamed up to study the use of the systems as fuel tanks on cargo and passenger vessels.

C-type tanks are currently commonly used as LNG bunker tanks on vessels involved in short sea shipping routes. However, other tank technologies may become more viable for LNG fuel storage when the desired range, autonomy or ship size increases, says Deltamarin.

On average, calculations show that an optimised bi-lobe C-type tank solution is only being able to supply 60% of the LNG capacity when compared to membrane technology in the same space.

“For large fuel capacities, therefore, the membrane solution is clearly the most feasible LNG fuel tank solution,” notes the company.

As such, Deltamarin has created a portfolio of cargo and passenger vessels to save valuable cargo space compared to classic cylindrical-type LNG tank solutions and to enable the use of LNG for long ocean voyages:
 

The portfolio includes a container vessel, a pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) and a cruise ship. During the development project, each of the vessels was equipped with a modularised GTT membrane tank type solution, which can be adjusted in size from 1,000 to 5,000 m³, depending on the case vessel. Either one or multiple tanks can be integrated into the vessel. The final fuel capacity is a trade-off between desired cargo capacity and bunkering intervals.

As an example, a container ship case vessel with a 2,500 m³ tank offers an autonomy time of 22 days or can reach 10,000 nautical miles. These figures ensure that most intra-Asian, intra-European or intra-American trade loops can be sailed in just one bunkering operation. Naturally, other sizes offering the same volume efficiency but less cargo space sacrificed are available, for example 1,000 m³, 1,500 m³ or 2,000 m³. Similar scalable solutions exist for the PCTC and the cruise ship.

Photo credit: Deltamarin
Publication date: 10 January, 2018
 

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