ME-GI Engines for LNG Application

System Control and Safety

Content
Page Introduction ......................................................................................................... 3 Propulsion Power Requirements for LNG Carriers ................................... 3 Boiloff Gas from LNG Cargo . ........................................................................ 4 Design of the Dual Fuel MEGI Engine . ....................................................... 5
General Description ............................................................................................ System Description ........................................................................................... Engine Systems .................................................................................................. Exhaust receiver................................................................................................... Fuel injection valves ............................................................................................. Hydraulic Cylinder Unit (HCU) ............................................................................. Valve block........................................................................................................... Gas pipes ............................................................................................................ Fuel oil booster system ....................................................................................... Miscellaneous....................................................................................................... Safety Aspects . ................................................................................................... Safety devices external systems. ........................................................................ Safety devices internal systems. ......................................................................... Defective gas injection valves .............................................................................. Ignition failure of injected gas................................................................................ External systems ................................................................................................. Sealing oil system ............................................................................................... Ventilation system................................................................................................. The Gas Compressor System ......................................................................... Gas supply system capacity management......................................................... Safety aspects...................................................................................................... Maintenance ....................................................................................................... External systems. .................................................................................................. Safety devices internal systems. ......................................................................... Inert gas system................................................................................................... Dual Fuel Control System ................................................................................ General................................................................................................................. Plant control......................................................................................................... Fuel control........................................................................................................... Safety control. ....................................................................................................... Architecture of the dual fuel control system........................................................... Control unit hardware. ........................................................................................... Gas main operating panel (GMOP)........................................................................ GECU, Plants control............................................................................................ GACU, Auxiliary control . ..................................................................................... GCCU, ELGI control. ............................................................................................. The GSSU, fuel gas system monitoring and control.............................................. GCSU, PMI online............................................................................................... Safety remarks. ..................................................................................................... Summary .............................................................................................................. References . ......................................................................................................... Abbreviations ...................................................................................................... 5 7 7 7 7 8 8 9 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 11 11 11 12 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 15 15 15 16 16 16 16 17 17 17 17 17 17 18

ME-GI Engines for LNG Application

System Control and Safety
Introduction
Until the end of 2004 there was still one market for oceangoing cargo ships to which the twostroke engine had not yet been introduced: i.e. the LNG market. This market has so far been dominated by steam turbines, but the first orders for twostroke diesel engines were given at the end of 2004. Today, 16 ME engines to LNG carriers have been ordered for eight LNG carriers, which are to be built in Korea, Ref. [1]. For these plants, the boiloff gas is retur ned to the LNG tanks in liquefied form via a reliquefaction plant installed on board. Some operators are considering an alter native twostroke solution, which is the MEGI (Gas Injection) engine operating at a 250300 bar gas pressure. Which solution is optimal for a given project depends primarily on the price of HFO and the value of natural gas. Calculations carried out by MBD show that additional USD 3 million can be secured as profit per year when using twostroke diesel engines, irrespective of whether the HFO or the dual fuel engine type is chosen. When it comes to first cost, the HFO diesel engine combined with a reliquefaction plant has the same cost level as the steam turbine solution, whereas the dual fuel MEGI engine with a compressor is a cheaper solution. This paper will describe the application of MEGI engines inclusive the gas supply system on a LNG carriers, and the layout and control system for both the engine and gas supply system. First, a short description is given of the propulsion power requirement of LNG carriers, and why the twostroke diesel engine is winning in this market.

Propulsion power requi rements for LNG carriers

Traditionally, LNG carriers have been sized to carry 130,000 140,000 m3 liquefied natural gas, i.e. with a carrying capacity of some 7080,000 tons, which resembles that of a panamax bulk carrier. The speed has been around 20 knots, whereas that of the panamax bulk carriers is around 15. Now, even larger LNG

carriers are in project up to a capacity of some 250,000 m3 LNG. Such ships will be comparable in size to a capesize bulk carrier and an aframax tanker but, again, with a speed higher than these. In an analysis of the resulting power requirements, a calculation programme normally used by MBD has been used, Ref. [2]. The result appears in Fig. 1, which shows that a power requirement of 30 to 50 MW is needed.

Engine Power (kW)

50.000 40.000 30.000 20.000 125.000

21.0 knots 20.0 knots 19.0 knots

150.000

175.000

200.000

225.000

250.000 (m3)

Fig. 1: Typical propulsion power requirements for LNG carriers

Thermal efficiencies % 55 Low speed diesel engine 50 45 40 35 30 25 Steam turbine 20 1 5 10 50 Capacity (MW) Gas turbine Medium speed diesel engine Combined cycle gas turbine
LNG carrier

Fig. 2: Typical thermal efficiencies of prime movers

As mentioned, diesels are now being seen as an alternative to steam, first of all because of the significant difference in thermal efficiency reflected also in the system efficiency, as illustrated in Fig. 2. With a power requirement of the mentio ned magnitude, the illustrated efficiency difference of up to 20 percentage points amounts to significant savings both in terms of energy costs and in terms of emissions. The desired power for propulsion can be generated by a single, double, or multiple fuel or gas driven diesel engine installation with either direct geared or dieselelectric drive of one or two propellers. The choice depends on economical and operational factors. Over time, the evaluation of these factors for the options of propulsion technology, for ordinary larger cargo vessels (viz. container vessels, bulk carriers and tankers), has led to the selection of a single, heavyfuelburning, low speed diesel engine in more than 90% of contemporary vessels. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that low speed propulsion is fully feasible for LNG carriers.

Boiloff Gas from LNG Cargo

The reason for having a continuous evaporated rate of boiloff gas is that it is generated by heat transferred from the ambient temperature through the LNG tanks and into to cold LNG. The boiloff gas is the consequence if the LNG cargo should be staying liquid at atmospheric pressure and at a tempera ture of some minus 160 degrees Celsius. To keep the evaporated rate of boiloff at a minimised level, the cargo is kept in proper insulated tanks. The LNG is a mixture of methane, ethane and nitrogen. Other natural gases like butane and propane are extracted during the liquefying and are only present in very small quantities. In a traditional steam turbine vessel, the boiloff gas is conveniently sent to twin boilers to produce steam for the propulsion turbine.

Due to the proper insulation, the boiloff is usually not enough to provide the energy needed for propulsion, so the evaporated gas is supplemented by either forced boil off of gas or heavy fuel oil to produce the required steam amount. In a diesel engine driven LNG carrier, the energy requirement is less thanks to the higher thermal efficiency, so the supplementary energy by forced boil off or heavy fuel oil can be reduced significantly, as shown in Fig. 3

Fuel 100% Fuel oil only mode

Fuel 100%

Minimum fuel mode

Gas Fuel

100% NBO Gas 60% 50% FBO Gas or Fuel Steam

100% load

8%

Fuel 100% load

Fuel 100%

Specified gas mode

NBO Gas or Fuel

8% Fuel

Gas

Fuel Diesel

100% load
Fig. 4: Fuel Type Modes MAN B&W twostroke dual fuel low speed diesel

Fig. 3: Propulsion alternative energy need for propulsion

Design of the Dual Fuel MEGI Engine

In terms of engine performance (i.e.: output, speed, thermal efficiency, exhaust gas amount and temperature, etc.) the MEGI engine series is generally identical to the wellestablished and type approved ME engine series. This means that the application potential for the MEengine series applies to the MEGI engine series as well provided that gas is available as a main fuel. All ME engines can be offered as MEGI engines. Consequently, the following description of the MEGI engine design only deals with new or modified engine components with the different fuel mode types, as illustrated in Fig. 4. The control system will allow any ratio between fuel and gas, with a preset minimum fuel amount to be used.

Air outlet Outside engine room Engine side Inert gas (N2) inlet Sealing oil outlet

Pilot oil outlet Pilot oil inlet

Sealing oil inlet

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

High pressure pipe from gas compressor 6. Inert gas valve in main gas pipe Main gas valve 7. Suction fan Main venting valve 8. Flow control Main gas pipe (double pipe) 9. HC sensors in double wall pipes Main venting pipe (double pipe) 10. HC sensors in engine room (optional)

Fig.6: General arrangement of doublewall piping system for gas

Exhaust receiver

Cylinder cover with gas valves Large Volume accumulator

General Description
Fig. 5 shows the crosssection of a S70MEGI, with the new modified parts of the MEGI engine pointed out, comprising gas supply piping, largevolume accumulator on the (slightly modified) cylinder cover with gas injection valves, and HCU with ELGI valve for control of the injected gas amount. Further to this, there are small modifications to the exhaust gas receiver, and the control and manoeuvring system. Apart from these systems on the engine, the engine auxiliaries will comprise some new units, the most important ones being:

Gas supply piping

HCU with ELGI valve

Fig. 5: New modified parts on the MEGI engine

 Highpressure gas compressor sup-

ply system, including a cooler, to raise the pressure to 250300 bar, which is the pressure required at the engine inlet. densate separator.

Low pressure fuel supply Fuel return Injection

Measuring and limiting device . pressure booster (800 900 bar)

Pulsation/buffer tank including a con Compressor control system. Safety systems, which ex. includes
a hydrocarbon analyser for checking the hydrocarbon content of the air in the compressor room and in the doublewall gas pipes.

Position sensor FIVA valve

800 Bar abs 600 400 Control oil pressure 200 0 Pilot oil pressure

200 bar hydraulic oil. Common with exhaust valve actuator The system provides: Pressure, timing, rate shaping, main, pre & post injection

ELGI valve

10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 Deg. CA

Ventilation system, which ventilates

the outer pipe of the doublewall piping completely.

Fig. 7: MEGI fuel injection system

Sealing oil system, delivering sealing

oil to the gas valves separating the control oil and the gas.

branch pipes caused by the inevitable differences in thermal expansion of the gas pipe system and the engine structure. The largevolume accumulator, containing about 20 times the injection amount per stroke at MCR, also performs two important tasks:

valve by a pressure gauge and an on/off valve incorporated in the ELGI valve. By the control system, the engine can be operated in the various relevant modes: normal dualfuel mode with minimum pilot oil amount, specified gas mode with injection of a fixed gas amount, and the fueloilonly mode. The MEGI control and safety system is built as an addon system to the ME control and safety system. It hardly requires any changes to the ME system, and it is consequently very simple to implement. The principle of the gas mode control system is that it is controlled by the error between the wanted discharge pressure and the actual measured discharge pressure from the compressor system. Depending on the size of this error the amount of fuelgas (or of pilot oil) is either increased or decreased. If there is any variation over time in the calorific value of the fuelgas it can be measured on the rpm of the crankshaft. Depending on the value measured, the amount of fuelgas is either increased or decreased.

Inert gas system, which enables

purging of the gas system on the engine with inert gas. Fig. 6, in schematic form, shows the system layout of the engine. The highpressure gas from the compressorunit flows through the main pipe via narrow and flexible branch pipes to each cylinders gas valve block and largevolume accumulator. The narrow and flexible branch pipes perform two important tasks:

It supplies the gas amount for injection

at only a slight, but predetermined, pressure drop. ty system (as described later).

It forms an important part of the safeSince the gas supply system is a common rail system, the gas injection valve must be controlled by another system, i.e. the control oil system. This, in principle, consists of the ME hydraulic control (servo) oil system and an ELGI valve, supplying highpressure control oil to the gas injection valve, thereby controlling the timing and opening of the gas valve. As can also be seen in Fig. 7, the normal fuel oil pressure booster, which supplies pilot oil in the dual fuel operation mode, is connected to the ELGI

They separate each cylinder unit

from the rest in terms of gas dynamics, utilising the wellproven design philosophy of the ME engines fuel oil system. tween the stiff main pipe system and the engine structure, safeguarding against extrastresses in the main and

They act as flexible connections be-

The change in the calorific value over time is slow in relation to the rpm of the engine. Therefore the required change of gas amount between injections is relatively small. To make the engine easy to integrate with different suppliers of external gas delivering systems, the fuel gas control system is made almost stand alone. The exchanged signals are limited to Stop, Go, ESD, and pressure setpoint signals.

Start up on HFO/DO

100% BOG

Gas led to oxidiser

Compressor starts up

N2 flushed in gas pipes

BOG evaporated Engine on more than 30% load

100% BOG

Compressor up to 250 bar

Gas burned in ME GI

Emergency stop engine

100% BOG

Gas led to oxidiser when too much BOG is available

Compressor internal bypass of remaining gas

System description
Compared with a standard engine for heavy fuel operation, the adaptation to highpressure gas injection requires that the design of the engine and the pertaining external systems will comprise a number of special external components and changes on the engine. Fig. 9 shows the principal layout of the gas system on the engine and some of the external systems needed for dualfuel operation.

Not enough BOG for full Dual fuel operation

Available BOG

Compressor up to 250 bar

Gas burning + supplementary fuel oil between 5-100%

Too high BOG amount evaporated

100% BOG

Excess BOG burned in oxidiser

Compressor up to 250 bar

95%gas + 5% HFO/DO

Momentary shut off of gas supply system

100% BOG

Gas burned in oxidiser

Recirculation of gas to buffertank

Engine momentarily change to HFO when gas pressure is reduced to less than 200 bar (Gas pipes and valves are flushed with N2)

Compressor

Compressor HP compressor

LNG tankers

LP compressor

Oxidiser

Engine

In general, all systems and components described in the following are to be made fail safe, meaning that components and systems will react to the safe side if anything goes wrong.

Fig. 8: Engine control system diagram

Engine systems
In the following, the changes of the systems/ components on the engine, as pointed out in Fig. 5, will be described. Exhaust receiver The exhaust gas receiver is designed to withstand the pressure in the event of ignition failure of one cylinder followed by ignition of the unburned gas in the receiver (around 15 bars). The receiver is furthermore designed with special transverse stays to withstand such gas explosions. Fuel injection valves Dual fuel operation requires valves for both the injection of pilot fuel and gas fuel.

The valves are of separate types, and two are fitted for gas injection and two for pilot fuel. The media required for both fuel and gas operation is shown below:

as well as expe rience gained with our normal fuel valves. Gas is admitted to the gas injection valve through bores in the cylinder cover. To prevent gas leakage between cylinder cover/gas injection valve and valve housing/spindle guide, sealing rings made of temperature and gas resistant material are installed. Any gas leakage through the gas sealing rings will be led through bores in the gas injection valve and the cylinder cover to the doublewall gas piping system, where any such leakages will be detected by HC sensors. The gas acts continuously on the valve spindle at a pressure of about 250300 bar. In order to prevent the gas from entering the control oil activating system via the clearance around the spindle, the spindle is sealed by means of sealing oil led to the spindle clearance at a 7

Highpressure gas supply Fuel oil supply (pilot oil) Control oil supply for activation
of gas injection valves

Sealing oil supply.

The gas injection valve design is shown in Fig. 10. This valve complies with our traditional design principles of compact design and the use of mainly rotational symmetrical parts. The design is based on the principle used for an early version of a combined fuel oil/gas injection valve

Fig. 9: Internal and external systems for dual fuel operation

pressure higher than the gas pressure (2550 bar higher). The pilot valve is a standard fuel valve without any changes. Both designs of gas injection valves will allow operation solely on fuel oil up to MCR. lf the customers demand is for the gas engine to run at any time at 100 % load on fuel oil, without stopping the engine for changing the injection equipment, the fuel valve nozzle holes will be as the standard type for normal fuel oil operation. In this case, it may be necessary to use a somewhat larger amount of pilot fuel in order to assure a good injection quality and safe ignition of the gas. 8

Cylinder cover In order to protect the gas injection nozzle and the pilot oil nozzle against tip burning, the cylinder cover is designed with a weldedon protective guard in front of the nozzles. The side of the cylinder cover facing the HCU (Hydraulic Cylinder Unit) block has a face for the mounting of a special valve block, see later description. In addition, the cylinder cover is provided with two sets of bores, one set for supplying gas from the valve block to each gas injection valve, and one set for leading any leakage of gas to the

subatmo spheric pressure, ventilated part of the doublewall piping system. Hydraulic Cylinder Unit (HCU) To reduce the number of additional hydraulic pipes and connections, the ELGI valve as well as the control oil pipe connections to the gas valves will be incorporated in the design of the HCU. Valve block The valve block consists of a square steel block, bolted to the HCU side of the cylinder cover. The valve block incorporates a large volume accumulator, and is provided

with a shutdown valve and two purge valves on the top of the block. All highpressure gas sealings lead into spaces that are connected to the doublewall pipe system, for leakage detection. The gas is supplied to the accumulator via a nonreturn valve placed in the accumulator inlet cover. To ensure that the rate of gas flow does not drop too much during the injection period, the relative pressure drop in the accumulator is measured. The pressure drop should not exceed about 2030 bar. Any larger pressure drop would indicate a severe leakage in the gas injection valve seats or a fractured gas pipe. The safety system will detect this and shut down the gas injection. From the accumulator, the gas passes through a bore in the valve block to the shut down valve, which in the gas mode, is kept open by compressed air. From the shutdown valve (V4 in Fig. 9), the gas is led to the gas injection valve via bores in the valve block and in the cylinder cover. A blowoff valve (V3 in Fig. 9), placed on top of the valve block, is designed to empty the gas bores when needed. A purge valve (V5 shown in Fig. 9), which is also placed on top of the valve block, is designed to empty the accumulator
Control oil inlet Sealing oil inlet

when the engine is no longer to operate in the gas mode. Gas pipes A common rail (constant pressure) system is to be fitted for highpressure gas distribution to each valve block. Gas pipes are designed with double walls, with the outer shielding pipe designed so as to prevent gas outflow to the machinery spaces in the event of rupture of the inner gas pipe. The intervening space, including also the space around valves, flanges, etc., is equipped with separate mechanical ventilation with a capacity of approx. 10 30 air changes per hour. The pressure in the intervening space is to be below that of the engine room and, as mentioned earlier, (extractor) fan motors are to be placed outside the ventilation ducts, and the fan material must be manufactured from sparkfree material. The ventilation inlet air must be taken from a gas safe area. Gas pipes are arranged in such a way, see Fig. 6, that air is sucked into the doublewall piping system from around the pipe inlet, from there into the branch pipes to the individual cylinder blocks, via the branch supply pipes to the main supply pipe, and via the suction blower to the atmosphere. Ventilation air is to be exhausted to a safe place. The doublewall piping system is desig ned so that every part is ventilated. how ever, minute volumes around the gas injection valves in the cylinder cover are not ventilated by flowing air for practical reasons. Small gas amounts, which in case of leakages may accumulate in these small clearances, blind ends, etc. cannot be avoided, but the amount of gas will be negligible. Any other leakage gas will be led to the ventilated part of the doublewall piping system and be detected by the HC sensors. The gas pipes on the engine are designed

for 50 % higher pressure than the normal working pressure, and are supported so as to avoid mechanical vibrations. The gas pipes should furthermore be protected against drops of heavy items. The pipes will be pressure tested at 1.5 times the working pressure. The design is to be allwelded as far as practicable, with flange connections only to the necessary extent for servicing purposes. The branch piping to the individual cylinders must be flexible enough to cope with the thermal expansion of the engine from cold to hot condition. The gas pipe system is also to be desig ned so as to avoid excessive gas pressure fluctuations during operation. Finally, the gas pipes are to be connected to an inert gas purging system. Fuel oil booster system Dual fuel operation requires a fuel oil pressure booster, a position sensor, a FIVA valve to control the injection of pilot oil, and an ELGI valve to control the injection of gas. Fig. 7 shows the design control principle with the two fuel valves and two gas valves. No change is made to the ME fuel oil pressure booster, except that a pressure sensor is added for checking the pilot oil injection pressure. The injected amount of pilot oil is monitored by the position sensor. The injected gas amount is controlled by the duration of control oil delivery from the ELGI valve. The operating medium is the same servo oil as is used for the fuel oil pressure booster. Miscellaneous Other engine modifications will, basically, be limited to a changed position of pipes, platform cutouts, drains, etc.

Cylinder cover

Connection to the ventilated pipe system Control oil Sealing oil Gas spindle

Gas inlet

Fig. 10: Gas injection valve

Safety aspects
The normal safety systems incorporated in the fuel oil systems are fully retained also during dual fuel operation. However, additional safety devices will be incorporated in order to prevent situations which might otherwise lead to failures. Safety devices External systems Leaky valves and fractured pipes are sources of faults that may be harmful. Such faults can be easily and quickly detected by a hydrocarbon (HC) analyser with an alarm function. An alarm is given at a gas concentration of max. 30% of the Lower Explosion Limit (LEL) in the vented duct, and a shut down signal is given at 60% of the LEL. The safety devices that will virtually eliminate such risks are doublewall pipes and encapsulated valves with ventilation of the intervening space. The ventilation between the outer and inner walls is always to be in operation when there is gas in the supply line, and any gas leakage will be led to the HCsensors placed in the outer pipe. Another source of fault could be a malfunctioning sealing oil supply system. If the sealing oil pressure becomes too low in the gas injection valve, gas will flow into the control oil activation system and, thereby, create gas pockets and prevent the ELGI valve from operating the gas injection valve. Therefore, the sealing oil pressure is measured by a set of pressure sensors, and in the event of a too low pressure, the engine will shut down the gas mode and start running in the fuel oil mode. Lack of ventilation in the doublewall piping system prevents the safety function of the HC sensors, so the system is to be equipped with a set of flow switches. If the switches indicate no flow, or nearly no flow, an alarm is 10

given. If no correction is carried out, the engine will be shut down on gas mode. The switches should be of the normally open (NO) type, in order to allow detection of a malfunctioning switch, even in case of an electric power failure.

Defective gas injection valves In case of sluggish operation or even seizure of the gas valve spindle in the open position, larger gas quantities may be injected into the cylinder, and when the exhaust valve opens, a hot mixture of combustion products and gas flows out and into the exhaust pipe and further on to the exhaust receiver. The tempe rature of the mixture after the valve will increase considerably, and it is likely that the gas will burn with a diffusion type flame (without exploding) immediately after the valve where it is mixed with scavenge air/exhaust gas (with approx. 15 per cent oxygen) in the exhaust system. This will set off the high exhaust gas temperature alarm for the cylinder in question. In the unlikely event of larger gas amounts entering the exhaust receiver without starting to burn immediately, a later ignition may result in violent burning and a corresponding pressure rise. Therefore, the exhaust receiver is designed for the maximum pressure (around 15 bars). However, any of the abovementioned situations will be prevented by the detection of defective gas valves, which are arranged as follows: The gas flow to each cylinder during one cycle will be detected by measuring the pressure drop in the accumulator. This is to ensure that the injected gas amount does not exceed the amount correspon ding to the MCR value. It is necessary to ensure that the pressure in the accumulator is sufficient for gas operation, so the accumulator will be equipped with a pressure switch and a differential pressure switch. An increase of the gas flow to the cylinder which is greater than corresponding to the actual load, but smaller than corresponding to the MCR value, will only give rise to the abovementioned exhaust gas temperature alarm, and is not harmful. By this system, any abnormal gas flow, whether due to seized gas injection valves

In case of malfunctioning valves (not

leaky) resulting in insufficient gas supply to the engine, the gas pressure will be too low for gas operation. This is dealt with by monitoring the pressure in the accumulator in the valve block on each cylinder. The pressure could be monitored by either one pressure pickup, or by a pressure switch and a differential pressure switch (see later for explanation).

As natural gas is lighter than air, nonreturn valves are incorporated in the gas systems outlet pipes to ensure that the gas system is not polluted, i.e. mixed with air, thus eliminating the potential risk of explosion in case of a sudden pressure increase in the system due to quick opening of the main gas valve. For LNG carriers in case of too low a BOG pressure in the LNG tanks, a stop/off signal is sent to the MEGI control system and the gas mode is stopped, while the engine continues running on HFO. Safety devices Internal systems During normal operation, a malfunction in the pilot fuel injection system or gas injection system may involve a risk of uncontrolled combustion in the engine. Sources of faults are:

Defective gas injection valves Failing ignition of injected gas

These aspects will be discussed in detail in the following together with the suitable countermeasures.

or fractured gas pipes, will be detected immediately, and the gas supply will be discontinued and the gas lines purged with inert gas.

another very rare fault, which might influence the safety of the engine in dual fuel operation. However, the still operating valve will inject pilot oil, which will ignite the corresponding gas injection, In the case of slightly leaking gas valves, and also the gas injected by the other the amount of gas injected into the cylin- gas valve, but knocking cannot be ruled der concerned will increase. This will be out in this case. The cylinder pressure detected when the exhaust gas temper- mo nitoring system will detect this conature increases. Burning in the exhaust dition. receiver will not occur in this situation due to the lean mixture. As will appear from the above discussion, which has included a number of very Ignition failure of injected gas unlikely faults, it is possible to safeguard the engine installation and personnel Failing ignition of the injected natural gas and, when taking the proper countercan have a number of different causes, measures, a most satisfactory service most of which, however, are the result of reliability and safety margin is obtained. failure to inject pilot oil in a cylinder: Leaky joints or fractured highpressure External systems pipes, making the fuel oil booster inoperative. The detailed design of the external sys tems will normally be carried out by the Seized plunger in the fuel oil individual shipyard/contractor, and is, booster. therefore, not subject to the type approval of the engine. The external sys Other faults on the engine, forc- tems described here include the sealing ing the fuel oil booster to Oindex. Failing pilot oil supply to the engine. Any such faults will be detected so quickly that the gas injection is stopped immediately from the first failure to inject the pilot oil.

oil system, the ventilation system, and the gas supply and compressor system. Sealing oil system The sealing oil system supplies oil, via a piping system with protecting hoses, to the gas injection valves, thereby providing a sealing between the gas and the control oil, and lubrication of the moving parts. The sealing oil pump has a separate drive and is started before commencing gas operation of the engine. It uses the 200 bar servo oil, or one bar fuel oil, and pres surises it additionally to the operating pressure, which is 2550 bar higher than the gas pressure. The consumption is small, corresponding to a sealing oil consumption of approx. 0.1 g/bhph. After use, the sealing oil is burned in the engine.

Protective hose

Soldered

In extremely rare cases, pilot fuel can be injected without being ignited, namely in the case of a sticking or severely bur ned exhaust valve. This may involve such large leakages that the compression pressure will not be sufficient to ensure ignition of the pilot oil. Consequently, gas and pilot fuel from that cylinder will be supplied to the exhaust gas receiver in a fully unburned condition, which might result in violent burning in the receiver. However, burning of an exhaust valve is a Outer pipe High pressure gas rather slow process extending over a long period, during which the exhaust gas Ventilation air High pressure gas pipe temperature rises and gives an alarm well in advance of any situation leading to risk Fig. 11: Gas system branching of misfiring. A seized spindle in the pilot oil valve is

Bonded seal

11

Ventilation system The purpose of the ventilation system is to ensure that the outer pipe of the doublewall gas pipe system is ventilated with air, and it acts as a separation between the engine room and the highpressure gas system, see Fig 11. Ventilation is achieved by means of an electrically driven mechanical fan or extractor fan. If an electrically driven fan is chosen, the motor must be placed outside the ventilation duct. The capacity must ensure approx. 10 30 air changes per hour. More ventilation gives quicker detection of any gas leakage.

The gas Compressor System

The gas supply system is based on Flotech packaged compressors:

Lowpressure GE Oil & Gas RoFlo

type gas compressors with lubricated vanes and oil buffered mechanical seals, which compress the cold boiloff gas from the LNG tanks at the temperature of 140oC to 160oC. The boiloff gas pressure in the LNG tanks should normally be kept between 1.061.20 bar(a). Under normal running conditions, cooling is not necessary, but during start up, the temperature of the boiloff gas may have risen to atmospheric temperature, hence preheating and aftercooling is included, to ensure stabilisation of the cold inlet and intermediate gas. temperature Nuovo Pignone SHMB type gas compressor; 4 throw, 4stage horizontally opposed and fully balanced crosshead type with pressure lubricated and watercooled cylinders & packings, compresses the gas to approximately 250300 bar, which is the pressure required at the engine inlet at full load. Only reciprocating

piston compressors are suitable for this highpressure duty; however the unique GE fully balanced frame layout addresses concerns about transmitted vibrations and also eliminates the need for heavy installation structure, as is required with vertical or Vform unbalanced compres sor designs. The discharge temperature is kept at approx. 45oC by the coolers.

Buffer tank/accumulators are installed

to provide smoothing of minor gas pressure fluctuations in the fuel supply; 2 bar is required. for protection against debris.

Gas inlet filter/separator with strainer Discharge separator after the final stage
gas cooler for oil/condensate removal.

The highpressure GE Oil & Gas

Compressor capacity control system

ensures that the required gas pressure is in accordance with the engine load, and that the boiloff gas amount is regulated for cargo tank pressure control (as described later). normal start/stop, shutdown and emergency shutdown commands.

The compressor safety system handles

65% 65% LP. . + comp 65% 65% 65% natural BOG LNG Tank LP. + comp. Redundant gas supply system comprising . 2 x Low Pressure compressors 1 x gas combustion unit GCU . 1 x High Pressure piston compressor Add up with 35 % HFO + pilot oil 65% . HP comp 65% ME GI GCU

Fig. 12: Gas supply system natural BOG only

12

65% 65% LP. + comp. 100% 65% LP. + comp.

Redundant gas supply system comprising . 2 x Low pressure compressors 1 x gas combustion unit GCU . 1 x High pressure piston compressor

GCU

neously, which can be utilised when the engine is fed with both natural and forced BOG. The HP compressor section is chosen to be a single unit. If this unit falls out then the MEGI engine can run on Heavy Fuel Oil, and one of the LP compressors can feed the GCU. Typical availability of these electrically dri ven Flotech / GE Oil & Gas compressors on natural gas (LNG) service is 98%, consequently, an extra HP compressor is a high cost to add for the 2% extra availability. Gas supply system capacity management The minimum requirement for the regulation of supply to the MEGI engine is a turndown ratio of 3.33 which equals a regulation down to 30% of the maximum flow (For a twin engine system, the TR is 6.66). Alternatively in accordance with the requirements of the ship owners Both the LP and HP compressor packages have 0 => 100% capacity variation systems, which allows enormous flexibility and control. Stable control of cargo tank pressure is the primary function of the LP compressor control system. Dynamic capacity variation is achieved by a combination

100% HP Comp.

100% ME GI No Add up with HFO Expect from pilot oil

65% natural BOG 35%forced BOG LNG Tank

Fig. 13: Gas supply system natural and forced BOG

The compressor unit includes a process monitoring and fault indication system. The compressor control system exchanges signals with the MEGI control system.

The compressor system evaluates

and figure 15 shows the compressor system in more detail. Depending on whether the ship owner wishes to run on natural BOG only, Fig. 12, or run on both natural BOG and forced BOG, Fig. 13 is relevant. Both systems comprise a double (2 x 100%) set of Low Pressure compressors each with the capacity to handle 100% of the natural BOG if one falls out (alternatively 3 x 50% may be chosen). Each of these LP compressors can individually feed both the High Pressure Compressor and the Gas Combustion Unit. All compressors can run simulta-

the amount of available BOG and reports to the MEGI control system.

Redundancy for the gas supply system is a very important issue. Redundancy in an extreme sense means two of all com ponents, but the costs are heavy and a lot of space is required on board the ship. We have worked out a recomendation that reduces the costs and the requirement for space while ensuring a fully operational MEGI engine. The dual fuel en gine concept, in its nature, includes redunancy. If the gas supply system falls out, the engine will run on heavy fuel oil only. The gas supply system illustrated in Fig. 12 and 13 are based on a 210,000 M3 LNG carrier, a boil off rate of 0.12 and equipped with 2 dual fuel engines: 2 x 7S65MEGI. For other sizes of LNG carriers the setup will be the same but the % will be changed. Figs. 12 and 13 show our recommendations for a gas supply system to be used on LNG carriers,

Fig. 14: Typical HP fuel oil gas compressor

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Fig. 16: Gas compressor system indicating capacity control & cooling system

of compressor speed variation and gas discharge to recycle. The system is responsible for maintaining the BOG pressure set tank pressure point within the range of 1,06 1,20 bar(a) through 0 => 100% compressor capacity. At full load of the MEGI engine on gas, the HP compressor delivers approximately 265 bar whereas at 50% load, the pressure is reduced to 130180 bar. The discharge pressure set points are controlled within 5%. Compressor speed variation controls the capacity range of approximately 100 => 50% of volumetric flow. Speed control is the primary variation; speed control logic is integrated with recycle to reduce speed/capacity when the system is recycling under standby (0% capacity) or part load conditions. LP & HP compressor systems are coordinated such that BOG pressure is safely controlled, whilst however delivering all available gas at the correct pressure to 14

the MEGI engine. Load and availability signals are exchanged between compressor and engine control systems for this purpose. Safety aspects The compressors are delivered generally in accordance with the API11P standard (skidpackaged compressors) and are designed and certified in accordance with relevant classification society rules. Maintenance The gas compressor system needs an annual overhaul. The overhaul can be performed by the same engineers who do the maintenance on the main engines. It requires no special skills apart from what is common knowledge for an engineer. External systems External safety systems should include a gas analyser for checking the hydro-

carbon content of the air, inside the compressor room and fire warning and protection systems. Safety devices Internal systems The compressors are protected by a series of Pressure High, Pressure Low, Temperature High, Vibration High, Liquid Level High/Low, Compressor RPM High/Low and Oil Low Flow trips, which will automatically shut down the compressor if fault conditions are detected by the local control system. Pressure safety valves vented to a safe area guard against uncontrolled overpressure of the fuel gas supply system. Inert gas system After running in the gas mode, the gas system on the engine should be emptied of gas by purging the gas system with inert gas (N2, CO2),

Dual Fuel Control System

General In addition to the above a special dual fuel control system is being developed to control the dualfuel operation when the engine is operating on compressed gaseous fuels. See fig. 17. The control system is the glue that ties all the dual fuel parts in the internal and the external system together and makes the engine run in gas mode. As mentioned earlier the system is designed as an addon system to the original ME control system. The consequence is that the Bridge panel, the Main Operating Panel (MOP) & the Local Operating Panel (LOP) will stay unchanged. All operations in gas mode are therefore performed from the engine room alone. When the dual fuel control system is running the existing ME control and alarm system will stay in full operation. Mainly for hardware reasons the control of the dual fuel operation is divided into:

Fuel control The task of the fuel control is to determine the fuel gas index and the pilot oil index when running in the three different modes shown in fig.4. Safety control The task of the safety system is to monitor:

Which to some extent complement each other. The Dual Fuel Control System is designed to fail to safe condition. See Fig. 18. All failures detected during fuel gas running and failures of the control system itself will result in a fuel gas Stop / Shut Down and change over to fuel operation. Followed by blow out and purging of high pressure fuel gas pipes which releases all gas from the entire gas supply system. If the failure relates to the purging system it may be necessary to carry out purging manually before an engine repair is carried out. (This will be explained later). The Dual Fuel Control system is a single system without manual backup control. However, the following equipment is made redundant to secure that a single fault will not cause fuel gas stop:

All fuel gas equipment and the related

auxiliary equipment

The existing shut down signal from

the ME safety system.

The cylinder condition for being in a con

dition allowing fuel gas to be injected. If one of the above mentioned failures is detected then the Safety Control releases the fuel gas Shut Down sequence below: The Shut down valve V4 and the master valve V1 will be closed. The ELGI valves will be disabled. The fuel gas will be blow out by opening valve V2 and finally the gas pipe system will be purged with inert gas. See also fig. 9 Architecture of the Dual Fuel Control System Dual Fuel running is not essential for the manoeuvrability of the ship as the engine will continue to run on fuel oil if an unintended fuel gas stop occurs. The two fundamental architectural and design demands of the fuel gas Equipment are, in order of priority:

The communication network is doub

led in order to minimize the risk of interrupting the communication between the control units.

Plant control Fuel control Safety Control

Plant control The task of the plant control is to handle the switch between the two stable states:

Vital sensors are doubled and one set

of these sensors is connected to the Plant Control and the other to the Safety System. Consequently a sensor failure which is not detectable is of no consequence for safe fuel gas operation.

Control Unit Hardware For the Dual Fuel Control System two different types of hardware are used: the Multi Purpose Controller Units and the GCSU , both developed by MAN B&W Diesel A/S. The Multi Purpose Controller Units are used for the following units: GECU, GACU, GCCU, and the GSSU see also fig. 17. In the following a functionality description for each units shown in fig. 17 15

Gas Safe Condition State ( HFO only) DualFuel State

The plant control can operate all the fuel gas equipment shown in fig. 10. For the plant control to operate it is required that the Safety Control allows it to work otherwise the Safety Control will overrule and return to a Gas Safe Condition.

Safety to personnel must be at least

on the same level as for a conventional diesel engine

A fault in the Dual Fuel equipment

must cause stop of gas operation and change over to Gas Safe Condition.

ME - Control
On Bridge
BRIDGE PANEL

In Engine Control Room

ADMINISTRATION PC BACK-UP FOR MOP MAIN OPERATION PANEL - MOP ECR PANEL

GMOP

EICU A

EICU B

In Engine Room/ On Engine

ECU A

LOCAL OPERATION PANEL - LOP ECU B

ME ECU EICU ACU CCU HPS SAV CPS ALS MOP LOP

Engine Control Unit Engine Interface Control Unit Auxiliary Control Unit Cylinder Control Unit Hydraulic Power Supply Starting Air Valve Crankshaft Position Sensors Alpha Lubricator System Main Operation Panel Local Operation Panel

ME GI

Hardwire interface with ME

GACU 1

GACU 2

GECU

GSSU 1 1-6 cyl.

GSSU 2 7-12 cyl.

GCSU 1 1-4 cyl. PMI (on-line)

GCSU 2 5-8 cyl. PMI (on-line)

GCSU 3 9-12 cyl. PMI (on-line)

CCU Cylinder 1

CCU Cylinder n

GCCU Cylinder 1-6

GCCU Cylinder 7-12

ALS
Cylinder 1 SAV Cylinder 1

ALS
Cylinder n SAV Cylinder n

ELGI Cylinder 1 = n = 6

ELGI Cylinder 7

= n = 12

Inert gas

FAN

Sealing oil

10 Amp Sipply

ACU 1

ACU 2

ACU 3

HCU
Cylinder 1

HCU
Cylinder n

AUXILIARY BLOWER 1

AUXILIARY BLOWER 2

HPS

TSA A/B CRANKSHAFT POSITION SENSOR - MSA

Angle Encoders

GI GCSU GSSU GECU GMOP GACU GCCU

M P UMP 1

M P UMP 2

P UMP 1

P UMP 2

P UMP 3

Gas Cylinder Safety Unit per 4 cylinder Gas System Safety Unit per 6 cylinder Gas Engine Control Unit Gas Main Operation Panel Gas Auxiliary Control Unit Gas Cylinder Control Unit per 6 cylinder

F ilt er

Angle Encoders + MSA = Tacho system

Fig. 17: MEGI Control System Gas Main Operating Panel (GMOP) For the GI control system an extra panel called GMOP is introduced. From here all manually operations can be initiated. For example the change between the different running modes can be done and the operator has the possibility to manually initiate the purging of the gas pipes system with inert gas. Additionally it contains the facilities to manually start up or to stop on fuel gas. GECU, Plants control The GECU handles the Plant Control and in combination with GCCU it also handles Fuel Control. Example: When dual fuel Start is initiated manually by the operator, the Plant Control will start the automatic start 16 sequence which will initiate startup of the sealing oil pump. When the engine condition for Dual Fuel running, which is monitored by the GECU, is confirmed to meet the prescribed demands, the Plant Control releases a Start Dual Fuel Operation signal for the GCCU (Fuel Control). In combination with the GCCU, the GECU will effect the fuel gas injection if all conditions for Dual Fuel running are fulfilled. The Plant Control monitors the condition of the following:

Pipe Ventilation Inert Gas System Network connection to other units of

the Dual Fuel System and, if a failure occur, the Plant Control will automatically interrupt fuel gas start operation and return the plant to Gas Safe Condition. The GECU also contains the Fuel Control which includes all facilities required for calculating the fuel gas index and the Pilot Oil index based on the command from the conventional governor and the actual active mode. Based on these data and including information about the fuel gas pressure, the Fuel Control calculates the start

HC Sensors Gas Supply System Sealing Oil System

and duration time of the injection, then sends the signal to GCCU which effectuates the injection by controlling the ELGI valve. GACU, Auxiliary Control The GACU contains facilities necessary to control the following auxiliary systems: The fan for ventilating of the double wall pipes, the sealing oil pump, the purging with inert gas and the gas supply system. The GACU controls: Start/stop of pumps, fans, and of the gas supply system.

the time for the injection valve to stay open. If the GCCU receive a signal ready from the safety system and GCCU observes no abnormalities then the injection of fuel gas will starts at the relevant crankshaft position. The GSSU, fuel gas System Monitoring and Control The GSSU performs safety monitoring of the fuel gas System and controls the fuel gas Shut Down. It monitors the following: Status of exhaust gas temperature Pipe ventilation of the double wall piping Sealing Oil pressure Fuel gas Pressure

After the cause of the shut down has been corrected the fuel gas operation can be manually restarted. GCSU, PMI online The purpose of the GCSUs is to monitor the cylinders for being in condition for injection of fuel gas. The following events are monitored:

Fuel gas accumulator pressure drop

during injection

Pilot oil injection pressure Cylinder pressure:

Low compression pressure Knocking Low Expansion pressure

The sealing oil pressure set points The pressure set points for the gas
supply system. GCCU, ELGI control

Scavenge air pressure

If one of the events is abnormal the ELGI valve is closed and a shut down of fuel gas is activated by the GSSU. Safety remarks The primary design target of the dual fuel concept is to ensure a Dual Fuel Control System which will provide the highest possible degree of safety to personnel. Consequently, a failure in the gas system will, in general, cause shut down of fuel gas running and subsequent purging of pipes and accumulators Fuel gas operation is monitored by the safety system, which will shut down fuel gas operation in case of failure. Additio nally, fuel gas operation is monitored by the Plant Control and the Fuel Control, and fuel gas operation is stopped if one of the systems detects a failure. As parameters vital for fuel gas operation are monitored, both by the Plant Control/ Fuel Control and the Safety Control System, these systems will provide mutual backup.

GCSU ready signal The GCCU controls the ELGI valve on the basics of data calculated by the GECU. In due time before each injection the GCU receives information from the GECU of start timing for fuel gas injection, and If one of the above parameters, referring to the relevant fuel gas state differs from normal service value, the GSSU overrules any other signals and fuel gas shut down will be released.

Start of auxiliary equipment

Start of fuel gas supply

Safe condition/ purged system

Safe condition

Running on fuel gas

Purging

Stop to safe condition

Fig. 18: Fuel gas operation state model

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Summary
The twostroke engine technology is a most widely used and stateoftheartsolution for optimum utilisation of the fuel when burning HFO and gas. The technology selected for the twostroke solutions, such as gas compres sors, is wellproven from the LNG and power generation industries. The control and safety system for the MEGI system is based on the experience obtained from working gas plants, including the 12K80MCGIS in Japan, and cooperation with the Classification Societies. The twostroke diesel engine of today is superior to the traditional steam turbine solution with regard to the operating economy, when the MEGI engine is chosen

Abbreviations

BOG CNG ELGIvalve FIVAvalve

Boiloff gas Compressed natural gas Electronic gas injection Fuel injection valve actuator

CIMAC Congress International des, Machines a Combustion

ESD Emergency shutdown GACU Gas auxiliary control unit GCCU Gas cylinder control unit GCSU Gas control safety unit GECU Gas engine control unit GSSU Gas system safety unit HFO LNG Heavy fuel oil Liquified natural gas

MCR Maximum continuous rating MEGI ME engine with gas injection PMI Pressure mean indicator TR Turndown ratio

REFERENCES
[1] LNG Carriers with Low Speed Diesel Propulsion, Ole Grne, The SNAME Texas Section14th Annual Offshore Symposium, November 10, 2004, Houston, Texas [2] Basic Principles of Ship Propulsion, p.254 01.04, January 2004, MAN B&W Diesel A/S [3] MEGI Enginesfor LNG Application System Control and Safety Feb. 2005 Ole Grne, Kjeld Aabo, Rene Sejer Laursen, MAN B&W Diesel A/S Steve Broadbent,Flotech

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