Page 36: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 2013)

36 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News ? APRIL 2013 OFFSHOREPotential also for VOC recovery and in shale gas operationsVOC, or Volatile Organic Compounds, re- covered in the process of crude oil handling provides another potential use of the GasRe-former. In crude oil pumping and handling, the crude oil is heated to improve its viscos-ity. When heating, the lighter hydrocarbon fractions of the crude evaporate. These vol- atile organic compounds (VOCs) are tradi- tionally vented into the atmosphere. ?Now, VOCs can also be utilized by combining a VOC Recovery System with Wärtsilä Gas- Reformer and dual-fuel engines,? Jansson said. Through Hamworthy, Wärtsilä also provides VOC Recovery Systems. Jansson presented some calculations to Maritime Reporter where a Floating Storage Unit could receive all of the fuel needed for powering the cargo pumps from VOC gas, by installing a system onboard com-bining these two technologies. ?There are many potential application for the GasReformer also in land-based appli-cations. So far we have concentrated on the offshore oil industry,? Jansson said. ?A wider use of Lique Þ ed Petroleum Gas, which is propane or butane, as fuel is now also possible. Another potential sec- tor could be in shale gas recovery, where a power plant is easily set up using the Gas-Reformer.? The GasReformer is not suitable to be used for bio-gases nor gases with high amounts of sulfur, above 40ppm. Nor does it suit for processing gases with high amount of inert gases, nitrogen or carbon dioxide nor for gases including so called oleÞ ns. Wärtsilä?s GasReformer is a completely new product, now ready for the market. The size of a GasReformer for an engine shaft power of 8MW is designed to be 5.3m long, 3m wide and 3.3m high. The weight of the unit is ap- proximately 17 tons. Fig. 2: Consumables of an 8MW GasReformer UnitMR #4 (34-41).indd 36MR #4 (34-41).indd 364/5/2013 9:29:08 AM4/5/2013 9:29:08 AM