Liquid Petroleum Gas Propulsion

[KSWind]

For What It's Worth - I just received a survey from MSC essentially asking my opinion on ships with Liquid Petroleum Gas propulsion. It seems they are looking at the possibility to transition away from the current method to power the ship. It was in German as I am registered to MSC in Germany.

 

Not knowing too much about it I remained neutral in my answers. By the way the questions were presented it seems LPG is more environmentally friendly.

[sidari]

KS ... LNG has been used on a small scale for many years, Scandinavian ferries have used it for quite some time, Costa have an LNG powered ship coming along soon as have a few other cruise lines. Smaller engine spaces are needed which allows for more cabins.

[Cuervosar]

I saw this on another thread I think, pointing to the future of LNG or LPG as the fuel source of the future. It brings two questions into my head; (Please correct me on the fuel source in question)

 

• Is there an efficiency boost, or is there just less pollution in the exhaust?
  
• Does the thought of sitting on top of a very large tank of pressurized LNG or LPG make anybody besides me nervous? How large of a fuel tank are we talking here?
  
• Will the fuel be burned in engines that then directly power the props, similar to how the big bunker fueled motors work now, or will they be generators providing electric power to electric motors turning props in a hybrid set up?
  

Ok, that's three questions, and I'm sure I can get my head around the safety questions, it's just that when something goes wrong with pressurized fuels, it goes bad in a hurry. But then again LPG is fairly common in a few different applications, and you just don't hear about it blowing up that often.

 

Refueling would be interesting, there would have to be some quite large storage tanks somewhere.

[sidari]

A few links on the subject.

 

http://www.marinelog.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=23443:cat-to-power-four-carnival-lng-fueled-cruise-ships&Itemid=231

 

http://www.aogr.com/web-exclusives/exclusive-story/lng-emerging-as-fuel-of-choice-for-vessels-ferries

[Cuervosar]

A few links on the subject.

 

http://www.marinelog.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=23443:cat-to-power-four-carnival-lng-fueled-cruise-ships&Itemid=231

 

http://www.aogr.com/web-exclusives/exclusive-story/lng-emerging-as-fuel-of-choice-for-vessels-ferries

 

Thanks for that. If I'm reading the second article correctly, and I'd like to think I am, it seems like the infrastructure is not quite there yet. Makes me wonder about the range of a cruise ship. I have no idea how often they fuel. Could you create a fueling station in Miami, and run week long Caribbean trips on one tank?

[sidari]

Cuervosar ... The MSC view of the future with LNG.

 

http://gcaptain.com/msc-cruises-reveals-plan-to-build-worlds-largest-lng-powered-cruise-ships-for-4-5-billion/

 

This should keep you going for an hour or so.

 

http://www.shell.com/inside-energy/cruising-into-a-cleaner-future.html

 

http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/transportation/afvs/lng.html

 

 

http://www.lngbunkering.org/sites/default/files/2013%20HEC%20lng%20effect%20on%20ship%20design.pdf

[Cuervosar]

Excellent, thanks.

[Cuervosar]

Based on a cursory review of information that is light years beyond my comprehension, I give permission for MSC to proceed in developing ships utilizing this technology pursuant to the following restrictions:

 

Ship must be named;

1. MSC Gassy Gas
   
2. MSC Chilly Keel
   
3. MSC No Smoking Within 300 Yards