Cutting FSRU CO2 emissions

Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) and Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) have successfully carried out a demonstration test of a ‘Cryo-Powered Regas’ (CPR) system for FSRUs at DSME’s Okpo shipyard. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Marine Machinery & Equipment Co., Ltd. (MHIMME) designed and constructed a turbine generator specifically for the CPR System.

A small-scale version of the CPR system was built in DSME’s R&D premises. Through this test, MOL and DSME verified that the system could successfully generate electricity up to its rated capacity.

“The result of this demonstration test confirms that through the utilization of the “Cryo-Powered Regas” System, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of new generation FSRUs can be reduced by 50% at maximum rated regas flow rate compared to conventional existing FSRUs,” said MOL.

The role of an FSRU is to regasify -160°C LNG through heat exchange. In the past, LNG’s cold energy had not been utilized in FSRUs and was released, explained MOL. By installing the “Cryo-Powered Regas” System, such cold energy will be transferred to another heating medium, and the generated steam will be sent to a turbine to generate electricity, which results in reducing FSRU’s fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

The CPR system is ready for implementation in actual FSRU projects. MOL said it is already in discussions with multiple potential users.