Kobe Steel has received an order for two screw compressors to use with marine dual-fuel engines in an LNG carrier.
The compressors will be installed in an LNG carrier to be owned by a 50/50 joint venture between Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and Itochu Corporation for Uniper Global C[ds_preview]ommodities, a subsidiary of Uniper. Uniper Global Commodities will charter the new carrier for 20 years.
Plans call for Kobe Steel to deliver the compressors in August 2017 to South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, which is constructing the vessel.
According to Kobe Steel the market size of nonstandard compressors for marine dual-fuel engines is forecast to total over 20 bn. yen for the coming five years. The company aims to gain over 50 % of the market by 2020.
Dual-fuel engines expected for the future
Nonstandard compressors for marine dual fuel engines are generally used to compress vaporized LNG, namely boil-off gas (BOG), which is then sent to the engines. To date, marine dual fuel engines have been of the middle speed, four-stroke type and driven predominantly by low gas pressure. The compressors for these engines have only been centrifugal compressors, which excel at low-pressure compression. However, dual-fuel, low speed, two stroke engines that offer high efficiency with a 10 % improvement in fuel consumption have entered the market. In the future, this type of engine will become the mainstream as its adoption is being considered for nearly all new vessels Kobe Steel is expecting.
Kobe Steel has received an additional order for one reciprocating compressor for BOG reliquefaction, which will be installed in the same vessel.
