The Ship Power Supplier

More gas for LNG carriers

Fig. 1 New LNG carrier design.

Wärtsilä’s recent successful application different propulsion options. The purpose economical speed of operation at routes of
of dual-fuel internal combustion engines is to seek even more profitable and efficient variable lengths.
to LNG carriers promises significant transportation solutions for LNG carriers
benefits for these vessels including and thereby increase the competitiveness of Study of main dimensions
higher operating speeds and lower Wärtsilä’s customers. A parametric investigation of the effect of
transportation costs. Wärtsilä has now the main dimensions on the resistance of
completed a study to determine the Scope of study LNG carriers has been made. The
optimum size and speed of these The study covers two sizes of LNG calculations show that the typical
vessels, to maximize the benefits of carrier. One is a vessel with a cargo capacity dimensions of current ships (length,
DF technology. of 150,000 m3 representing the current bp = 270 m, beam = 43 m) are not optimal
state-of-the-art in the business. The other from a resistance point of view, already at a
Until today steam turbines have been the has a capacity of 230,000 m3, representing quite modest speed of 20 knots (Fig. 2).
dominant form of propulsion in LNG larger vessels expected to enter the scene in The ships should have a lower prismatic
carriers. The performance of these vessels the future. This article focuses mainly on coefficient. This can be achieved by
has been fairly similar and a service speed of the 150,000 m3 vessel, mentioning the increasing either the length or the beam.
19.0-19.5 knots has become an industry larger vessel only briefly. However, more The advantage of the waterline length
standard. extensive material on the larger LNG carrier increases at higher speeds. The length
However, we are at the dawn of a new era will be available in the near future. should therefore be increased for LNG
in LNG shipping with the introduction of Both single- and twin-skeg propulsion carriers to reduce the resistance. However,
DF dual-fuel internal combustion engines in have been investigated for both vessel sizes. there are of course other aspects that affect
LNG carriers. The DF-electric concept has In addition, a hybrid propulsion
the choice of main dimensions that should
been shown to offer significantly better configuration with wing pods has been
be considered as well.
economy than the conventional steam applied to the larger vessel. All options have
solution, owing to the higher efficiency of been optimized for five different service
Propulsion configurations
the DF engines. The fuel consumption is speeds ranging from 17 to 25 knots.
reduced, which results in a clear shift in the The study starts with a look at how the Power demand calculations
ratio of capital to operating costs, which main dimensions affect the vessel’s The power demand at the propeller has
raises the question of what the optimum resistance. The power demand for the been calculated at five speeds and the
speed for LNG carriers is. different cases is then calculated and propeller parameters are optimized for each
Wärtsilä has undertaken an extensive machinery options are configured for each speed separately. Both single- and twin-skeg
study to determine the most economic speed. The study concludes with a total propulsion and two different lengths (270
speed for LNG carriers and to investigate economy calculation to determine the most or 290 m) have been used for the vessel.

6 - Wärtsilä 3-2004
 1.94
by Oskar Levander and Susanna Hannula
Marine Technology 1.92
B=43 m
Wärtsilä Corporation 1.9 B=48 m
B=53 m
1.88

1.86

R-hull (MN)
1.84

1.82

1.8

1.78

1.76

1.74
260 270 280 290 300 310 320
Length (m)

3.8

3.6 B=43 m
B=48 m
3.4
B=53 m
3.2

3
R-hull (MN)

2.8

2.6

The power demands are shown in Figure 4. 2.4

The power demand is lower for the 2.2
longer vessel at all speeds. The single-screw
option is also more favourable at speeds 2
below 25 knots. The longer hull with a 260 270 280 290 300 310 320
single screw will therefore be used for the
Length (m)
further work in this study. However, if a
shorter hull is required, similar trends to
those in this comparison will also be Figs. 2 and 3 Ship resistance at 20 (above) and 24 knots (below) for different main
applicable to it. dimensions at equal displacement.

Machinery alternatives 100,000

A machinery has been configured for each
speed. All cases are based on the DF electric 90,000
270 m single screw
power plant principle and the propulsion is 80,000
arranged with a single-screw driven by twin 270 m twin screw
electric motors. The machinery alternatives 70,000
290 m single screw
are presented in Table 1. 60,000
Pd (kW)

The engines are selected to give an engine 290 m twin screw

load of close to 85% while running at service 50,000
speed. The power demand is calculated with 40,000
a sea margin of 21% and the propulsion
transmission losses are about 10%. The hotel 30,000
load demand is based on an existing 20,000
reference vessel and experience from other
high-power diesel-electric installations. 10,000

0
Economic comparison
17 knots 19 knots 21 knots 23 knots 25 knots
The optimum speed is determined by
calculating the required freight rate (RFR) Fig. 4 Delivered power demand (Pd) at the propeller for LNG carriers optimized for
for each of the vessels operating at different each speed.
speeds. The RFR tells us how much it costs

3-2004 Marine News - 7

 The Ship Power Supplier
3
Table 1 Machinery alternatives for 150,000 m LNG vessel. to transport one tonne of LNG. This gives
the most reliable and realistic figure for
17 knots 19 knots 21 knots 23 knots 25 knots
comparison. A simple revenue and cost
calculation will not yield as trustworthy
Machinery 2 x 12V50DF 2 x 16V50DF 4 x 16V50DF 6 x 16V50DF
4 x 6L50DF
+ 2 x 6L50DF + 2 x 9L50DF + 2 x 6L50DF + 2 x 6L50DF
results because these calculations tend to
favour the ship transporting more cargo, or
Installed engine in this case the ship with higher speed,
power 22.8 MW 34.2 MW 47.5 MW 72.2 MW 102.6 MW assuming that the trade is profitable.
The total capital and operating costs
Power demand at 19.5 MW 27.9 MW 39.8 MW 59.4 MW 89.5 MW have been defined in order to determine the
flywheel in service
cond. (85%MCR) (82%MCR) (84%MCR) (82%MCR) (87%MCR) cost structure for the RFR. The calculations
have been made for each speed and each of
Delivered power the three operating routes, altogether 15
demand at the 16.6 MW 24.2 MW 34.8 MW 52.4 MW 79.5 MW different cases.
propeller
Routes
Installed propulsion
motor power 18.0 MW 26.0 MW 37.0 MW 55.0 MW 82.0 MW Three routes of different length have been
defined for the comparison. This way the
Hotel load 1.3 MW 1.5 MW 1.7 MW 2.2 MW 2.8 MW influence of the itinerary and operation
profile can be taken into consideration. The
routes are shown in Figure 5 and represent
potential LNG operation areas.

Ship investment costs

The cost of the machinery increases as the
speed goes up, while the cost of the rest of
the ship is assumed to be equal for each
case. The estimated total ship cost can be
seen in Figure 6. The ship prices have been
turned into annual capital costs based on a
10-year loan period and a 7% interest rate
for the RFR comparison.

Operating costs
The operating costs can be divided into day
and voyage costs. The day costs consist of
crew, provision, insurance, shore and
maintenance costs. The voyage costs consist
of port, fairway and consumption costs.
Fig.5 Operation routes used in the comparison. The fuel consumption is calculated for
each operation mode defined in the
operating profiles. The vessels are assumed
200,000 to be operating mainly on gas all the time.
Machinery cost Diesel is only used as pilot and back-up
180,000 fuel. Forced boil-off gas is used when the
Ship cost (excl. machinery)
160,000 energy demand exceeds the available natural
boil-off. The price of gas is assumed to
140,000 represent a typical FOB price of
Investment cost (k€)

120,000
247 $/mm BTU. Wärtsilä DF engines
could also allow for the use of HFO as fuel.
100,000 However, this possibility is not applied in
80,000
this study.

60,000 Required Freight Rate

40,000
The RFR for transporting one tonne of
LNG has been calculated to determine the
20,000 cheapest speed for transporting LNG. The
relative RFR values compared to the
0
17 knots 19 knots 21 knots 23 knots 25 knots 19 knot alternative are given in Figure 7,
which shows that the most economical
3
Fig. 6 Investment cost of the 150,000 m vessels designed for different speeds. speed is 21 knots for two of the example
routes. However, the difference between
19 and 21 knots is quite small.

8 - Wärtsilä 3-2004
 130%
Effect of speed
The economic comparison showed that a
slightly higher speed can offer lower 120% 1-Short route
transportation costs, even though the
2-Medium route
difference is small. On the other hand, a

Freight rate (%)

faster vessel can transport more cargo per 3-Long route
110%
year, which means that it will produce more
profit. A higher speed can also offer
improved flexibility as well as other benefits. 100%
As the speed of the vessel goes up, so
does the transportation capacity. An
increase of only a few knots can already 90%
have quite a substantial impact on the
amount of delivered LNG.
An example of how the transportation 80%
capacity varies with different speeds and 17 knots 19 knots 21 knots 23 knots 25 knots
number of vessels for a certain route is
shown in Figure 8. By selecting the desired Fig. 7 Relative RFR compared to the 19 knots vessel.
annual transportation capacity we can see LNG price = 247 $/mmBTU.
how many vessels are needed for each
speed. There is a step when increased speed
results in one ship less. This can have a 9
significant impact on the required
8
investment cost for a transportation chain. Nigerian LNG T4 - 4.0 mtpa 5
An example of how the investment cost
Annual LNG capacity (mtpa)

7 5
varies with the speed is shown in Figure 9. 5
The number of ships for a trade can be 6 5 4
reduced if a higher speed is used. Besides 5 4
5 4
reducing the investment costs, a higher 4
speed can also allow for a shorter time to 4 4
3
3
market as the building time of the fleet is 3
3 3
reduced. This can be essential for an 3
operator as the available newbuilding slots 2 2
2 2
2
at shipyards are getting scarce. 2
1 1
1 1 1 1
New LNG carrier design
0
As the leading Ship Power Supplier,
17 knots 19 knots 21 knots 23 knots 25 knots
Wärtsilä is continuously seeking new and
better propulsion and machinery solutions.
A Ship Power Solution is more than the Fig. 8 Dependence of annual transportation capacity on the number of
sum of its different components - it is an vessels with different speeds for route 2.
integrated part of the entire ship concept.
As part of our development work, Wärtsilä 700
has made a new conceptual design for an
LNG carrier with a service speed of 600
21.5 knots.
Ship investment cost (€ mill.)

General arrangement 500

The arrangement has been made with the

higher speed in mind. The trim of LNG 400
carriers can be critical, since the
longitudinal centre of gravity has a 300
tendency to be quite far aft. This trend is
emphasized for faster vessels, where the 200
machinery becomes heavier and the aft hull
lines should be made finer. 100
The fact that a DF-electric LNG carrier
does not have any heavy HFO tanks in the 0
bow does not help. Since additional ballast 17 knots 19 knots 21 knots 23 knots 25 knots
is not desired, the trim should be corrected
by moving existing weight forward. In this Fig. 9 Investment costs when purchasing ships of different speeds,
case the entire deckhouse has been moved example LNG trade (route 2).
to the bow.

3-2004 Marine News - 9

 The Ship Power Supplier

Table 2 Ship particulars

Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304.5 m Gross tonnage . . . . . . . . . . 100,000 gt

Length, between p. . . . . . . . . . . 290.0 m Deadweight, scant . . . . . . . . 82,000 t
Breadth, moulded . . . . . . . . . . . . 43.0 m Deadweight, design . . . . . . . 73,500 t
3
Draught, design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.0 m Cargo tank capacity . . . . . . 150,000 m
3
Depth, main deck. . . . . . . . . . . . . 27.0 m MDO tank capacity . . . . . . . . . 5000 m

Fig. 10 Conceptual design of an LNG carrier designed for 21.5 knots.

Deck 5
Deck 4

Deck 3

Deck 2

Deck 1
Deck 2

Fig. 11 Machinery arrangement

The machinery is still in the stern of The vessel features a long and slender Machinery arrangement
the vessel. Tanks are of the membrane hull form to minimize the resistance. The The machinery is of the dual-fuel electric
type with a capacity of 150,000 m3. LNG single Lips FP-propeller is optimized for the (DF-E) type and consists of two Wärtsilä
vaporizers, pumps and all cargo machinery intended use and a Lips Efficiency Rudder 16V50DF and two 9L50DF generating sets,
are located in front of the funnel above the has been fitted to reduce fuel consumption, giving a total installed power of 47.5 MW.
aft cargo tank. A route to the machinery noise and vibration levels, and the risk of The engines use liquefied natural gas (LNG)
spaces from the deckhouse is arranged cavitation on the propeller blades. The as primary fuel and marine diesel oil (MDO)
with a covered gangway above the cargo manoeuvring characteristics are further as pilot and back-up fuel.
tanks. improved with a bow thruster. The engine room, as well as the whole

10 - Wärtsilä 3-2004
 Wärtsilä 16V50DF 15,200 kW

6.6 kV
Wärtsilä 9L50DF 8550 kW

Efficiency Rudder

Wärtsilä 9L50DF 8550 kW

Lips FPP Lips thruster

1 x 2000 kW
8200 mm
37,000 kW
440 V

Wärtsilä 16V50DF 15,200 kW

Fig. 12 Machinery configuration.

propulsion motor power is 37 MW

enabling a service speed of 21.5 kn (85%
MCR, 20% sea margin). If one of the
engine rooms is out of operation the vessel
can still attain a speed of 17.5 kn.

Conclusion
The result of the study shows that a slightly
higher operating speed of LNG carrier with
DF-electric machinery can result in lower
transportation costs. The study also shows
that the size and speed of the vessels should
be optimized carefully if they are applied on
a certain trade route with a fixed transport
demand. In this case the benefit of a
Fig. 13 LNG carrier machinery.
correctly optimized speed can be even more
significant. An increased speed also offers
other benefits such as added flexibility and
electrical system, is divided into two since the generating sets cover the vessel’s shorter time to market if the newbuilding
compartments to add redundancy. Fuel total electrical need. The funnel structure slots are full.
handling and fuel pipes are fitted in the includes fresh air intakes, exhaust pipes The DF-electric machinery offers clear
front part of the engine room while all the with silencers and an oxidizer, where the advantages for LNG carriers since they are
electrical equipment is in the aft part of the surplus boil-off gas is burned. easy to configure for different power
engine spaces. This arrangement results in The propulsion train is placed below the demands and propulsion solutions.
short cabling and piping routes and further generating sets on deck 1, which is an Wärtsilä Corporation can assist in selecting
increases the safety aspects in the design. efficient way to take advantage of the the right machinery option for each
No extra auxiliary engines are needed tapered deck space down aft. The electrical operator’s individual needs. n

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