Proving the versatility of the mobile pipeline concept, Hexagon Composites’ subsidiary Hexagon Lincoln will supply high-pressure CNG TITAN® tanks to the maritime industry. The company has been awarded supply for fuel storage onboard a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) gas supply vessel (GSV) being built for Babcock Schulte Energy.

The TITAN® cylinders will store compressed boil-off-gas from the LNG tanks and flash gas from cargo operations and supply the CNG as fuel to the ship’s dual-fuel propulsion engines.

“This order marks our expansion of our Mobile Pipeline® solutions into high-horsepower fuel systems and the maritime application, which we see as a great future market opportunity,” said Jack Schimenti, President of Hexagon Lincoln.

The boil-off-gas recovery system is designed by the UK based company, Babcock LGE Process, a market leader in specialized systems for handling, storage and distribution of liquefied gases in both the marine and onshore sectors. The TITAN® cylinders are an integral part of the ship’s patent pending FGSV0 system, developed by Babcock LGE Process, to enable the LNG bunker vessel to meet the emission limits of the IMO Emission Control Areas (ECA) regulations.

“By compressing the boil-off and flash gas and supplying it as fuel to the ship’s engines, our clients will save distillate fuel costs and at the same time reduce the vessel’s emissions of sulphur oxides (SOx) and particulate matter (PM),” said Andrew Scott, General Manager at Babcock LGE Process. “In addition, we eliminate fugitive emissions of LNG from the cargo systems, providing a true zero emissions solution.”

“We’re really pleased to have been chosen by Babcock LGE Process to work on this cutting-edge project. Babcock’s boil-off-gas recovery system is an innovative way of meeting stringent emission regulations. It is a cost-effective way for vessel operators to address environmental concerns, and our TITAN® tanks are a key enabler for achieving this,” said Miguel Raimao, Vice President Mobile Pipeline® Americas at Hexagon Lincoln. “TITAN® remains the industry leader for large scale Type 4 storage vessels; it’s the only marine scale solution that combines lightweight with high pressure performance.”

The maritime class acceptance for this project is performed by Lloyds Register.

Babcock Schulte Energy (BSE) is a joint venture formed by Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) and Babcock International early 2017, to support their first LNG bunker-supply ship project and support future ventures. They ordered their first LNG bunker-supply ship for charter to Blue LNG, the joint venture between the restructured Linde Group and Klaipedos Nafta. The vessel is scheduled for delivery later this year.

Source: Hexagon Composites ASA – an associate member of NGV Global, via NGVAmerica.

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