Aimed at LNG Power, Huangpu Wenchong Builds Dual-Fuel Container Ship

Kuang Zhanting

The global first of 1400TEU dual fuel containerships “Nord” built by CSSC Huangpu Wenchong for German Nordic Hamburg was officially delivered in Guangzhou on December 12, 2018.

The ship has a total length of 169.95 meters, a molded breath of 26.9 meters and a molded depth of 14.85 meters. The speed under designed draft is 19.15 knots. It can use liquefied natural gas (LNG) and fuel oil as fuel, with an endurance of 3200 nautical miles in gas mode and 6500 nautical miles in fuel mode, meeting the navigation needs of the global unlimited navigation area. This is the first time that the dual-fuel engine technology independently developed by China has been applied to the real ship.With the use of new-type fuel, the ship has the advantages of low emissions and low energy consumption, so it is a truly environment-friendly ship. The series ships will operate mainly in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. Aside from the application of dual combustion power, it also has the ICE CLASS 1A ice symbol, able to sail normally for a long time in the cold climate of 20℃ below zero in the Baltic Sea.

Which “first time” did Huangpu Wenchong encounter in building the world's first ice zone reinforced LNG powered container ship? And how did it make a "breakthrough"? To this end, the reporter interviewed the company's deputy chief engineer Lin Hongshan. According to him, from the design to the construction of the ship,Huangpu Wenchong encountered a lot of unprecedented challenges, which were successfully met with wisdom and effort.

Take responsibility for the construction of a new type environmentally friendly, safe and economical container ship

“ “Nord” uses fuel / natural gas dual fuel power, and the engine can be switched directly and smoothly in fuel and gas modes. In the gas mode, the SOX and PM emissions are almost zero, the nitrogen and oxygen compounds are 85%-90% less than those of fuel oil low-speed engine in the same operating mode, and the carbon dioxide is reduced by 15%-20%. No post-treatment measures are required to meet the emission control area requirements. The main engine of the ship supports power management system (PMS)in multiple modes, can adjust the output according to different scenarios to maximize the realization of energy saving and emission reduction. A low pressure gas supply system of no more than 16 bars is adopted, making it safer and more reliable.

There are many challenges in building the “most environmentally friendly cargo ship”.

The first thing to bear the brunt is safety. Lin Hongshan said that natural gas belongs to flammable and explosive gas,which is cryogenic to minus 163 degrees Celsius under normal pressure, and turns from gaseous to liquid state -- liquefied natural gas. During its storage and use,attention should be paid to preventing leakage and preventing the harm of low temperature. Compared with conventional power container ships and even dualfuel chemical vessels and oil tankers which have been designed and built on the market at present, the safety design of dual-fuel container ships is more difficult. The chemical ship or the tanker itself is basically a dangerous area, and the arrangement of the LNG equipment does not need to consider the explosion protection problem, and the dangerous area of the ship form needs to be rearranged. The layout of explosion-proof area, dangerous area, emergency exit and so on need to be designed according to even higher requirements.

For this reason, the bow,superstructure stern and filling areas of the “Nord” are designed to increase the three dangerous areas for the functions of air change, filling and safety valve, and the number and scope of the dangerous areas are substantially increased. At the same time, more than 300 sensors,remote control valves and emergency stop devices (ESD) are installed in the air supply system of the ship to realize the omnidirectional security monitoring and automatic control of the system. All the gas supply pipes in the engine room area are designed with double-wall pipes to ensure the optimal safety of the system.

Under the premise of ensuring safety, ship economy is the most concerned issue for the shipowner as a merchant ship. At present, the design of LNG power ship fuel storage tank is mostly used on deck surface, but for a container ship, the function of deck is to load containers and a few several hundred cubic meters of storage tanks will undoubtedly considerably affect the cargo capacity and reduce the economic efficiency.

The “Nord” is designed for tank storage in the cabin, where three 230 cubic meters of watertight natural gas tanks are equipped, which do not occupy deck space. In order to place the three tanks with the design limit of temperature up to -165℃, Huangpu Wenchong finetuned the ship's linearity and carried out a special design of thermal insulation.Innovative design guarantees the cargo capacity of the ship, which, according to the report, can not only carry the internationally used 20, 23, 30, 40 and 45 feet container, but also allow the inside guide to be compatible with 40 and 45 feet container, while the conventional guide can only hold containers of one size. Good practicability won high appraisal of the shipowner.

With full push,supply-side reform helps high quality development

The “Nord” successfully completed its LNG fuel sea trial mission at 8 p.m. on December 2, 2018 .

The implementation of this node is hard won.

As a "world first type" ship, the design and construction of the “Nord”and its series is not only the first time for Huangpu Wenchong, but also a new topic for the shipowner, design company and equipment supplier. Since the signing of the construction contract, Huangpu Wenchong has been actively involved in the design of the ship, working with all parties involved in the construction to brainstorm and solve problems such as safety standards and design specifications,especially in coordinating the design of the hull and power parts, solving interface problems and laying a good foundation for subsequent construction.

During the construction of the“Nord”, Huangpu Wenchong paid close attention to the implementation of hazard and operability analysis (HAZOP).From the design stage, the hazard source analysis trouble-shooting was strictly conducted for every link, targeted response measures are made according to the danger source and the risk point,safety measures are strictly implemented to reduce the risk to the minimum.

According to the introduction,there are a large number of gas supply stainless steel pipes, with welding connection in between to ensure sealing. This requires a welding molding, the design quality and welding quality control requirements and as well as the requirements of the construction environment are very strict, especially after the filling of LNG, there can be no further modification. To this end, materials,equipment and talent team started to prepare early according to production needs.

Because of the use characteristics of LNG, once filling is conducted, the dangerous area can hardly be fired again,which requires the ship to reach a more ideal state before the LNG sea trial. Since April, the project team has entered a state of "assaulting the fortified ."

Daily evening meeting is to check the operation plan of adjustment day:Never put off till tomorrow what can be done today, make a concentrated effort in integrity, and check design material problems. The strict execution of the plan makes the engine room condition develop from bad to good and from good to excellent, which fully ensures the normal commissioning and application for inspection of the subsequent engine room equipment, and the smooth operation of the equipment during the sea trial.

"Afternoon meeting" was added before the sea trial node: for the LNG system, close communication with equipment and fuel manufacturers,collaboration with each other. In only 4 days, 357 LNG interlocking points were applied for inspection. By the time of sea trial, the “Nord” equipment has been running smoothly, and the paint of the whole ship has reached the state of delivery, which ensures that the LNG sea trial is carried out on schedule.

The “Nord” is the first ship in the series, and Huangpu Wenchong is holding orders for five ships of the same type. Lin Hongshan said, for container ships, to achieve the ship's energy efficiency design index (EEDI)requirements through intelligent, energysaving design, new energy power and other ways is the general trend.

With more and more response and support from the international community to the “Belt and Road” initiative, the demand for feeder container ships is increased because of the super-large trunk container ship. The development of the Yangtze River economic belt and Zhujiang-Xijiang economic belt, and the development of river and sea multimodal transport also bring good benefits to the feeder container ship market. Huangpu Wenchong will vigorously promote supply-side structural reform, carry out innovative research and development,promote brand ship upgrading, and introduce more environment-friendly,economical, custom-made and smart products, consolidate China's leading position in the global shipping industry and boost the shipbuilding industry's highquality development.