'Next Bridge Solution' for Zero Emission Ships Ammonia Ready LNG Fueled Ship Moves to Actual Design
"Next Bridge Solution" for Zero Emission Ships Ammonia Ready LNG Fueled Ship Moves to Actual Design.
Completing a viable, functional and safe concept design
Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (“NYK Line”), MTI Co., Ltd. (“MTI”) of the NYK Group, and Elomatic Oy (“Elomatic”), a Finnish ship technology consultancy, This project aims to construct a liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled ship (hereinafter referred to as an "ammonia-ready LNG-fueled ship") that can be efficiently converted into an ammonia-fueled ship. VLCC) and completed the concept design phase. The three companies have positioned the ammonia-ready LNG-fueled ship as a "next bridge solution" to the realization of zero-emission ships in the future, and will proceed with the actual design together with shipyards and marine equipment manufacturers.
A concept design is a design that serves as the basis for building a ship. We take into account specifications such as the overall length and width of the ship, cargo capacity, cruising distance, and ship speed to create the optimum design.
NYK has set a long-term target for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the NYK Group's ocean shipping business as "achieving net zero emissions by 2050." We aim to launch zero-emission ships that use low-cost marine fuel. First of all, LNG fuel, which is a low-carbon fuel, is positioned as one of the bridge solutions until zero-emission ships are realized, and we are promoting the development of a fleet of LNG-fueled ships.
In September 2021, NYK Line, MTI, and Elomatic started a project to build an ammonia-ready LNG-fueled ship as a "next bridge solution." In the past, it was common for shipbuilders to do the concept design, but in this project, NYK Line, MTI, and ship technology consultancy Elomatic jointly designed with the aim of developing a zero-emission ship in the future. increase. In March of this year, as Phase 1 of the project, we completed the concept design of a car carrier and a post-Panamax bulker.
This time, the three companies have completed the concept design of a Capesize bulker and a very large crude oil tanker (VLCC) as Phase 1.5.
The following are the major issues in the design and development of an ammonia-ready LNG-fueled ship.
- 1.Ammonia has a larger volume of fuel per calorific value than LNG, so building a ship with the same cruising range requires larger or additional fuel tanks.
- 2.1 reduces the cargo loading space and reduces the weight that can be loaded.
- 3.Increasing the size of tanks and installing additional tanks will affect the resilience and strength of the hull, which indicates whether the ship will capsize.
- Four.Since ammonia is highly toxic, ammonia fuel tanks must be designed to exhaust in accordance with international conventions and domestic laws. In addition, it is necessary to make a design that does not leak when replenishing ammonia fuel.
- Five.Converting from LNG fuel to ammonia fuel requires additional construction time and costs.
In this concept design, we explored ways to solve these problems, and researched and examined specifications such as the layout of the fuel tank. As a result, we have completed a concept design with viable, functional and safe features.