Page 32: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 2023)

LPG RETROFITS tial for being a solution to handle the volatile organic com-

PERFORMANCE pound (VOC) issue in shuttle tankers and other crude oil car-

The investment cost for the retro? ts was around $8–9 mil- riers. This is because the engine features innovative options lion per ship, and 2022 was the ? rst year all 15 VLGCs were for burning the liquid VOC. The engine can burn any mixture sailing. LPG has proven to be 10-12% more ef? cient com- of propane and butane, and furthermore, the mixture can con- pared to diesel or heavy fuel oil on BW LPG’s ships. Even if tain signi? cant amounts of ethane. All heavier hydrocarbons the company hadn’t been prompted by the IMO 2020 sulfur normally contained in the liquid VOC can be used as well.” cap, converting to LPG would still have made ? nancial sense.

Prodyut Banerjee, Vice President and Head of Operations

SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS at BW LPG, says: “We have been systematically scaling up

LPG doesn’t take more space than LNG, and it’s simpler to our intake of LPG as fuel to maximize emissions reduction, handle because it doesn’t require cryogenic storage. As LPG and maximize earnings by reducing the cost of fuel.” He adds, propulsion on large two-stroke diesel engines was a pioneer- “Our engineers are also honing their expertise in dual-fuel en- ing technology, safety was understandably a priority concern. gine management.”

LPG had not previously been allowed in the engine room pri-

In 2022, the 15 LPG-powered vessels bunkered approxi- or to the trial of LPG propulsion technology. This was largely mately 46,000 metric tons of LPG, saving about US$7.4 mil- due to the nature of LPG – being heavier than air, it ? ows lion in fuel costs. BW LPG also reduced carbon emissions by downward and remains near the bottom and in spaces where approximately 27,000 MT by using LPG as fuel. This trans- it can be a safety issue. lated to an approximate 15% reduction in CO2 emissions.

To manage this concern, extra detectors and double-walled Added to that was a 99% reduction in SOx emissions and a fuel pipes were installed. If hydrocarbons are detected, the 10% reduction in NOx emissions.

supply ? ow is automatically shut down and immediately “It has now been over a year since all 15 of our retro? tted switched to compliant fuel, which is always available as a vessels are on water. We also welcomed a dual-fuel newbuild- standby. With these robust safety measures, BW LPG success- ing to our pool ? eet recently. We continue to keep our focus on fully secured regulatory changes from class and ? ag to accept ? awless operations and to maximize the environmental, eco- and approve the use of LPG in the engine room.

nomic and operational bene? ts of LPG propulsion,” said Ba- 2022 was the ? rst year all 15

VLGCs of BW LPG’s dual-fuel LPG retro? tted ships were sailing.

BW LPG 32 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • August 2023

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