Japan’s shipping giant MOL and South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering have tested a new cryo-powered regasification system for FSRUs.
MOL said the partners had carried out the demonstration test of the system named “cryo-powered regas” at DSME’s Okpo shipyard.
FSRUs regasify LNG through heat exchange. In the past, FSRUs did not utilize LNG’s cold energy, according to a MOL statement.
“By installing the “cryo-powered regas” system, such cold energy will be transferred to another heating medium, and the generated steam will be sent to a turbine to generate electricity, which results in reducing FSRU’s fuel consumption and CO2 emissions,” the statement said.
Reducing emissions by up to 50%
Furthermore, MOL said the duo built a small-scale version of the system at DSME’s R&D premises. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Marine Machinery & Equipment designed and constructed the turbine generator for the system.
Through this test, MOL and DSME verified that the system could “successfully generate electricity up to its rated capacity.”
“The result of this demonstration test confirms that through the utilization of the cryo-powered regas system, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of new generation FSRUs can be reduced by 50% at maximum rated regas flow rate compared to conventional existing FSRUs,” it said.
According to MOL, the system is ready for implementation in actual FSRU projects.
In addition, MOL said it was already in talks with “multiple potential users” regarding the new technology.