Endress+Hauser factory tour series: MFMs ready to support energy transition to LNG bunkering

Manifold Times gained exclusive access into Reinach-based MFM manufacturer Endress+Hauser Flow factory in Switzerland during February. This will be the fourth in a series of five articles produced for behind-the-scenes glimpses of the intricate process on what goes into perfecting mass flowmeters (MFMs).

The following are key takeaways from the tour to understand the role of MFMs in supporting shipping’s energy transition:

As the shipping industry seeks other forms of alternative energy sources to meet IMO 2030 and IMO 2050 emission limits, new types of fuels will be needed.

“At first there was the transition from traditional bunker fuels such as HFO to fuels with lower sulphur content. Now, we are witnessing the transition towards carbon neutral fuels,” said Stephan Natter, Principal Business Development Manager of Endress+Hauser Flow.

“What we see is that environmentally friendly fuels will play a major role in the marine industry; we are talking about liquefied natural gas (LNG), methanol, biofuels, maybe ammonia and hydrogen, to a certain extent over the next years.

“We want to support our customers with expert advice on their journey to reduce their carbon footprint, when it comes to flow measurement equipment and process consultation.”

According to Natter, some LNG bunker tankers are still using level gauges determining the delivered quantity. Often the installed equipment is lagging on traceability and custody transfer certification for LNG, resulting in short deliveries and disputes, similar to the situation with the former oil bunker tankers.

MFMs, which measurement performance can be traced back to the International System of Units, can be used over a very wide range of different process conditions.

“You can use our Coriolis mass flow meters for many kinds of liquids and with the same model and with some minor modifications the application range can be extended towards high pressure and very low temperatures such as LNG which operates at minus 165 degrees Celsius,” he explained.

“The biggest difference between traditional fuels and LNG is the cryogenic temperature of LNG. Today, all information needed to describe the mechanical model of a MFM, including the nonlinearity of metals at very low temperature, is known.

“Endress+Hauser proved on numerous test measurements that the water calibration factor can be transferred to cryogenic liquids without compromising on precision.

“Safety is often of major concern in LNG applications. Due to the nature of LNG, which expands 600 times from liquid to gas, we developed a specific zero-point verification procedure together with NMi Certin B.V. which allows to perform zero-point verification under gaseous conditions to remove the risk for the operator”.

Natter added: “LNG is traded in energy. That means, a bunkering metering system needs to have more than just the quantity measurement.”

Endress+Hauser launched a new LNG bunkering solution which offers its customers high precision at optimized CAPEX and OPEX. The purpose-built LNG bunkering solution offers real-time quantity measurement with MFM and LNG analysis with Raman spectroscopy without the need for sampling and vaporisation. The solution offers quantity measurement for LNG, BOG and fuels gas, composition measurement of LNG, energy and methane number calculation with complete traceability to national standards and certification for custody transfer.

“With the Raman analyser which offers composition measurement, we are extending the measuring system from quantity to quality; combined the two it gives us the energy amount going beyond a traditional MFM system,” he stated.

Endress+Hauser’s LNG bunkering solution is currently being used by a LNG bunker tanker operating at the Port of Singapore.

Related: Endress+Hauser factory tour series: Oil calibration of Singapore’s bunkering master meter
Related: Endress+Hauser factory tour series: Transforming designs into reality
Related: Endress+Hauser factory tour series: Finer points of MFM design, explained by R&D

Photo credit: Endress+Hauser
Published: 17 September 2024