Page

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Scope of This Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
VOC Release to the Atmosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Shuttle tankers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Crude oil carriers/VLCC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Utilisation of VOC as Engine Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
The technical challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
The technical solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Engine design features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Combustion Tests with VOC Fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Basic combustion behaviour of VOC fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Emission characteristics, basic tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Combustion adaptation for VOC fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Safety System Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Verification of the VOC Fuel System on a Shuttle Tanker . . . . . . . 18
Environmental Advantages of the VOC Fuel Concept . . . . . . . . . . 18
Availability of the VOC Utilisation System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Enhanced fuel economy in shuttle tankers and VLCCs . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Example A: Shuttle tanker with VOC utilisation system . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Example B: 300,000 dwt VLCC with VOC utilisation system . . . . . . . . . 22
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Appendix: Economy Model Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Utilisation of Volatile Organic Compounds
in Shuttle Tankers and Crude Oil Carriers
Contents:
Introduction
Shuttle tankers are widely used to
serve offshore oilfields from which pipe-
line connections are not feasible. The
shuttle tankers load their crude oil cargo
either fromstorage facilities at the oilfield
or directly fromthe production platforms
and the loading buoys at the oilfield.
The crude oil cargo is then transported
to oil refineries close to the oilfield. The
transport distance may be fairly short.
Crude oil carriers like VLCCs mostly
serve oilfields on land and may transport
the oil over long distances from oil ter-
minals in the production areas to refin-
eries closer to the areas where the oil
is used.
During the handling of the oil, i.e. during
loading and unloading in particular, large
quantities of the light components of the
oil evaporate. These oil vapours are
normally called VOC, short for Volatile
Organic Compounds. Evaporation also
occurs during the voyage when the oil
splashes around in the tanks. To prevent
the oil vapours exploding, the tanks
are filled with inert gas, which normally
consists of cleaned combustion gas
with an oxygen content below 8%. The
bulk of the inert gas is thus nitrogen.
To keep the pressure in the storage
tanks below 0.14 bar gauge (which is
a typical contemporary design value),
the VOC is today allowed to discharge
to the atmosphere through a vent pipe
from the crude oil tanks. In addition to
hydrocarbons, the discharge contains
a relatively large amount of inert gas.
The discharge of the VOC represents a
great loss of energy, as well as an en-
vironmental problem. Thus, the non-
methane part of the VOC released to
the atmosphere reacts in sunlight with
nitrogen oxide and may create a toxic
ground-level ozone and smog layer,
which has a detrimental effect on hu-
man health and the environment [1].
Ozone and smog attack mucous mem-
branes (in the eyes and lungs), crops
and forests.
The Norwegian authorities have com-
mitted themselves to reducing VOC
emissions to the environment to a sus-
tainable level. It is reasonable to expect
that limitations on non-methane VOC
emissions will also be introduced in the
future by other countries. Since the dis-
charged VOC, as already mentioned,
represents a large amount of energy,
the optimum solution will be to con-
dense and collect the VOC in special
tanks and use it at high pressure as
fuel for the main engine, instead of
heavy fuel.
This will reduce the VOC release to the
atmosphere and, since VOC is a cleaner
fuel without sulphur, the exhaust gas of
the main engine will be much cleaner
than when heavy fuel oil is used. Finally,
the fuel oil operating costs of the ships
will be considerably reduced.
The key technologies for achieving this
are the VOC collection, storage and
supply systems developed by Statoil,
and the MAN B&W high-pressure gas-
injection MC-GI engine modified to
burn the VOC.
Scope of This Paper
The present situation for shuttle tank-
ers and crude oil carriers like VLCCs
transporting crude oil, and the corre-
sponding environmental problem of the
VOC release to the atmosphere are de-
scribed. On the basis of measurements
by Statoil of the VOC discharged from
their shuttle tankers, the composition,
amount and energy content of the VOC
are evaluated.
The paper describes an attractive tech-
nical solution to the VOC emission
problem: the VOC Fuel system which
both reduces the VOC emission prob-
lemand utilises the VOC as fuel for the
main engine(s). Results of extensive
combustion tests with VOC combustion
on MAN B&WDiesels 4T50MX research
engine are described together with recor-
dings from the Type Approval Test for
the high-pressure, gas-injection system,
performed for representatives of six
Classification Societies.
The enhanced fuel economy and the
cost/benefit of installing the VOC utilisa-
tion system on shuttle tankers and
VLCCs have been analysed by means
of examples.
Utilisation of Volatile Organic Compounds
in Shuttle Tankers and Crude Oil Carriers
3
VOC Release to the
Atmosphere
The evaporation from the crude oil
tanks of shuttle tankers primarily occurs
during loading and discharging of cargo
and during crude oil washing of cargo
tanks. However, in the case of other
crude oil tankers like VLCCs sailing over
long distances, the VOC emission during
the voyage may also be significant.
Shuttle tankers
When a pipeline is not feasible to trans-
port offshore crude oil ashore, shuttle
tankers will have to take the oil fromthe
oilfield to the shore. Four different sys-
tems that are currently in use and un-
der construction are shown in Fig. 1 [2].
In Case 1 with subsea storage cells
and Case 2 without storage cells, the
crude oil is loaded directly from the oil-
field on board the shuttle tanker. In
Case 1 the shuttle tankers are loaded
via a buoy or a loading platform, and in
Case 2 via a submerged turret.
In Cases 3 and 4, the crude oil is stored
in a permanently moored tanker, while
the oil production in Case 3 takes
place on a fixed or floating platformand
in Case 4 directly on the moored ship.
In Cases 1 and 2, the evaporation of
VOC occurs on the shuttle tankers, on
which a possible VOC utilisation system
should therefore be located. In these
two cases, it may be possible to recover
and utilise all VOC.
In Cases 3 and 4 the major part of the
evaporated VOC may be conducted
via a gas return line from the shuttle
tanker to the moored storage tanker,
on which the VOC utilisation or recovery
systemcould be installed. In these cases
the return VOC gas might, in principle,
be used as a substitute for inert gas,
which will reduce the need for produc-
ing inert gas for the moored storage
tanker. If all VOC is to be recovered
and utilised, a minor VOC utilisation
system also has to be installed in the
shuttle tanker.
Since 1986, Statoil, which is the leading
operator of shuttle tankers in the North
Sea, has monitored the VOC emissions
from shuttle tankers, ref. the above
Case 1. The investigations show that
a substantial amount of oil vapour is
released to the atmosphere, in particu-
lar during loading.
In order to reduce the environmental
effects of the operation of the vessel,
Statoil has studied ways of lowering
the VOC emissions from its fleet and
has initiated remedies such as modi-
fied tank design, new loading proce-
dures, lower crude oil vapour pressures
and lower temperatures during loading
as well as absorption of the VOC into
the crude oil (however, this transfers
the problem of handling the gases to
the next link in the production chain).
Measurements by Statoil showed that
the magnitude of the energy lost by
releasing VOC to the atmosphere was
comparable to the total HFO consump-
tion of the vessel, see Fig. 2, which
compares the released VOC energy
and the corresponding fuel energy
needed for a shuttle tanker during a
round trip in the North Sea:
Statfjord oilfield Rotterdam/return and
Gullfaks oilfield Mongstad/return.
This led to the idea of using the VOC
as the main fuel for the engines, as this
Production
VOC
Transport
Shuttle tanker
Case 4: Floating Production,
Storage and Offloading (FPSO)
Fixed or
floating
production
platform
Storage
Storage
VOC
Production
Transport
Moored tanker for
floating production
and storage
Case 3: Floating Storage
and Offloading (FSO)
Shuttle tanker Moored storage tanker
VOC
Storage/transport
Case 1: Gravity Based
Structure (GBS) Storage
Production
Submerged turret
loading shuttle tanker
Case 2: Submerged
Turret Loading (STL)
Production
VOC
Transport
Fixed or
floating
production
platform
Shuttle tanker Buoy
loading
platform
Gravity
based
production
platform
Fig. 1: Crude oil production, storage and transport systems shuttle tankers
4
would substantially reduce the environ-
mental effects of VOC release, provide
significant savings on HFO costs and a
considerable reduction in the toxic gas
emissions from the engines. A shuttle
tanker with its frequent loading and
short sailing distance to port will bene-
fit substantially from this new VOC utili-
sation technology.
Crude oil carriers/VLCC
Crude oil is shipped in large bulk con-
signments and carried in huge tanks at
close to atmospheric pressure. As the
gas in the tanks has to be kept around
atmospheric pressure, large amounts
of VOC evaporate and are subsequently
emitted to the atmosphere during trans-
port and handling.
Measurements have shown that the
amount of evaporated VOC may be
around 0.6% of the total cargo volume
for a 300,000 dwt VLCC transporting
Iranian light crude oil from the Persian
Gulf to north-west Europe [3]. This cor-
responds to some three weeks heavy
fuel oil consumption for the ship, and
represents a significant savings potential.
However, the type and behaviour of
the various types of crude oil on board
tankers may vary and so may the
amount of VOC. The amount of VOC
may also depend on the vessels tank
design, the ambient conditions (a hot
climate promotes increased VOC emis-
sions), and the vessels sailing sched-
ule (trade pattern).
According to the above, therefore,
crude oil carriers will also benefit from
the new VOC utilisation technology,
though on a smaller scale. The VOC
emissions from such vessels may be
regulated in the future, in which case
this technology will ensure compliance
with new rules and, at the same time,
reduce the engines toxic gas emissions
and provide a substantial reduction in
the vessels consumption of heavy fuel
oil.
Utilisation of VOC as
Engine Fuel
The majority of main engines in the
worlds shuttle tanker fleet are of MAN
B&W design, so it was natural for Stat-
oil to contact us about the possibility of
adapting our engines to utilise VOC as
the main fuel. A cooperation agreement
has been signed for the joint develop-
ment and demonstration of the relevant
technology for use, not only in Statoils
future vessels, but also by other inter-
ested shipowners.
The technical challenges
As mentioned above, most VOC release
occurs during loading, when the crude
oil splashes into the inert-gas-filled
cargo tanks of the vessel. The splash-
ing, as well as the presence of non-
hydrocarbon inert gas, promotes vapori-
sation of the light fractions, in particular
methane, ethane, propane, butane, pen-
tane and some higher hydrocarbons
C6+, see the example for Statoil shuttle
tankers serving the Norwegian oilfields
of Statfjord and Gullfaks in Fig. 3. The
example shows that the mole fractions
of the various hydrocarbons in the
discharged VOC vary greatly with the
oilfield in question.
The discharged inert gas mainly con-
sists of nitrogen (about 83%) with
smaller amounts of carbon dioxide
(12%) and oxygen (5%).
The discharged gas (on todays ves-
sels vented to the atmosphere) thus
contains the above-mentioned hydro-
carbons as well as inert gas. During
loading, the proportion of hydrocar-
bons varies from about 20% of the
emitted volume at the start of loading
to about 70% when the cargo tanks
are nearly full, see Fig. 4.
The composition of the VOC from dif-
ferent oilfields, as shown above, varies
considerably. The propane and heavier
hydrocarbons account for 87% of the
total energy of the VOC at the Statfjord
oilfield and only 46% at the Gullfaks oil-
0
1
2
3
4
10 MJ
6
Rotterdam/ return
Mongstad/return
(west coast
of Norway)
VOC energy Statfjord
VOC energy
Gullfaks
Energy balance
(no contribution
from methane
and ethane)
5
Assumptions:
288,000 Nm VOC emitted during loading with average ALFA = 0.4
Engine efficiency = 0.37
.
.
3
VOC energy
Gullfaks
10 MJ
6
Energy
consumption
Mongstad/return
10 MJ
6
Energy
consumption
Rotterdam/return
10 MJ
6
VOC energy
Statfjord
10 MJ
6
VOC-processing
Return to North Sea
Unloading
Sailing
Loading
Total energy consumption
Energy content VOC
0.116
0.228
0.475
0.228
0.432
1.479
0.116
1.458
0.475
0.458
0.432
3.939
1.440 3.670
Fig. 2: Comparison of energy content in the VOC discharge with the energy requirement of
a shuttle tanker during a round trip in the North Sea (Source: Statoil)
5
field. It also varies during the produc-
tion lifetime of the oilfields.
It should be mentioned that Statfjord
and Gullfaks are old oilfields. Newer
oilfields have less total VOC emission
which, however, tends to increase with
age.
There are two main challenges in utilis-
ing the VOC. First, the emission rate of
VOC during loading far exceeds the
fuel consumption rate needed in the
same period, so it is necessary to col-
lect the VOC (or as much as possible
of it) during that period and store it un-
til the engine needs it. Secondly, the
combustion of a variable and to some
extent unpredictable fuel composition
makes great demands on the flexibility
and adaptability of the engines com-
bustion system. These demands must
be met, along with the demands of the
vessel on the engine.
A shuttle tanker or any other crude oil
carrier requires that the main engines
must, at any time, be capable of sup-
plying the power required by the ves-
sel. This applies equally if there is no
VOC supply, or if the VOC collection,
storage and supply systems fail. Thus,
engines utilising VOC must at any time
be able to switch over to operation on
HFO, supplying the same power so
only dual-fuel type engines can be con-
sidered for this application.
In principle, the VOC could be used to
fuel the auxiliary engines. However, the
total amount of VOC emitted from a
shuttle tanker or other crude oil carri-
ers far exceeds the total amount of fuel
needed for the auxiliaries so most of
the VOC must still be burned in the
main engines.
Among the various types of dual-fuel
engines, lean-burn gas engines em-
ploying stratified-charge combustion of
a premixed gas/air charge in the cylin-
der, ignited by a pilot injection of fuel
oil, are often used for stationary appli-
cations. The gas used is normally natu-
ral gas (mainly methane) of a constant
and known composition. The fuel
gases used in such engines normally
have methane numbers
1
in the range
80-100 and normally no lower than 70.
If the methane number of the fuel gas
varies during operation, the engine
must be designed for the lowest meth-
ane number that can occur during op-
eration.
In the actual VOC fuel gas in question,
the high content of propane and, in
particular, the higher hydrocarbons C4 -
C6+ lead to methane numbers which
are very low (close to zero) and which
vary with the oilfield, making it unrealis-
tic to utilise this in a lean-burn dual-fuel
type of engine.
Thus, the only technology available for
using VOC as fuel is high pressure
injection of the VOC directly into the
cylinders. This is what is used on our
high-pressure gas-injection MC-GI
engine. Fig. 5 shows a 12K80MC-GI
engine which uses this technology to
burn natural gas in a power station in
Chiba, Japan. The engine started op-
eration in 1994 and serves as a peak
shaving plant, supplying electricity to
Tokyo during the daytime.
1
The methane number expresses the
knock resistance of gaseous fuels, similar
to the octane rating of gasoline for motor
vehicles. Methane is rated 100 while hydro-
gen is used for zero.
Hydrocarbons
Inert gas
ALFA =
Hydrocarbon volume
Total gas release volume
ALFA
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
0.19
0.2
0.21
0.24
0.32
0.43
0.6
0.67
0.7
Relative loading time
0.27
Fig. 4: Relative volume content of
hydrocarbons in the discharged gas
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
0.404
0.210
0.106
0.060
0.067
0.049
0.021
0.083
1.000
Statfjord
VOC-specification from loading at Statfjord and Gullfaks
Based on Statoil measurements and recordings 1986-1996
Gullfaks
HC-spec. Gullfaks
Mole
fraction
1.0
methane
ethane
propane
i-butane
n-butane
i-pentane
n-pentane
C
6+
0.060
0.160
0.370
0.060
0.180
0.040
0.050
0.080
1.000
Mole fractions of HC gas
Statfjord
HC-spec.
Total
Fig. 3: Example of VOC discharge during the loading of a shuttle tanker
in the North Sea: Mole fraction of the hydrocarbons
6
The gas injection system and its safety
system have been type-approved for
marine use by five major classification
societies. The type-approval applies to
the use of this system on any of MAN
B&WDiesels type-approved two-stroke
engines. The MC-GI technology is de-
scribed in detail in our paper Large
Diesel Engines using High Pressure
Gas Injection Technology [4].
Fig. 5: A 40 MW 12K80MC-GI-S engine utilising natural gas
in dual-fuel mode in Chiba, Japan
Crude
oil
VOC
gas
4. High-pressure
VOC supply pump
Exhaust gas
low on SO , NO
and particulates
x, x
Crude oil
supply
2. VOC gas
condensation
system
1. VOC gas
cleaning
system
6.
VOC
injection
system on
engine
Vent to atmosphere
(Mostly nitrogen)
3.
VOC
storage
tank
(Condensed
VOC gas)
5.
VOC
preheating
system
VOC
Tanker
Air
Fuel oil
VOC treatment
and collection
system on deck
Fig. 6: Principle of the VOC utilisation system
7
The technical solution
The VOC utilisation system shown
schematically in Fig. 6 consists of the
main equipment mentioned below.
Statoil is responsible for Items 1, 2, 3,
4 and 5 while MAN B&W Diesel is in
charge of Item 6 (patents are pending
for the proprietary technology devel-
oped by the two companies):
1. VOC gas cleaning system
2. VOC gas condensation system
3. VOC storage tank
4. High-pressure VOC supply pump
5. VOC preheating system
6. VOC injection system on the engine.
As mentioned above, the tendency to
release VOC is greatest during the
handling of the crude oil, i.e. in shuttle
tankers especially during loading at the
oilfield. The VOC has to be converted
to a form that can easily be collected
and stored until the engine can use it.
The VOC and inert gases emitted from
the crude oil tanks are therefore con-
ducted through gas pipes to the VOC
treatment and collection system con-
sisting of (1) a cleaning system and (2)
a gas condensation system. The con-
densed hydrocarbons are separated
from the lighter hydrocarbons + inert
gas (which are currently emitted to the
atmosphere) and transported to a stor-
age tank. Liquid VOC is taken from the
tank, pressurised and supplied to the
engine, where it is injected directly into
the cylinders by an electronically con-
trolled mechatronic injection system.
The various stages/phases of the total
VOC collection, storage, supply and in-
jection systems are briefly described in
the following:
1. VOC gas cleaning system. All rust
etc. that has peeled off from the crude
oil tanks must be removed before the
gas enters the gas condensation sys-
tem.
2. VOC gas condensation system.
The gas is compressed before it is
cooled. During this process the pro-
panes, butanes (liquefied petroleum
gas, LPG) and the higher hydrocar-
bons may condense and become liq-
uid. The inert gas and the light VOC
gas (methane and ethane) remain in
gaseous form and are vented to the
atmosphere. The liquid VOC is sepa-
rated and transported to a storage
tank. The condensation of liquids and
separation from the gaseous phase
may take place in several steps de-
pending on the available technology.
3. VOC storage tank. The liquefied
VOC may be stored in a tank which,
depending on the VOC amount to be
stored, may be either:
a pressurised tank storing the VOC
at ambient temperature. If the vol-
ume to be stored is less than about
300 m
3
, a pressurised tank storing
the liquid VOC at ambient tempera-
ture at a pressure of about 10-15
bar gauge may be the most eco-
nomical; or
a cooled tank at atmospheric pres-
sure. If the volume to be stored is
more than about 300 m
3
, an insu-
lated and cooled tank storing the liq-
uid VOC at atmospheric pressure at
low temperature may be the most
economical.
4. High-pressure VOC supply pump.
From the VOC storage tank the VOC
may be delivered to the diesel engine
at a pressure of about 400 bar. A high-
pressure reciprocating diaphragm
pump with quantity control to ensure a
stable pressure at the engine inlet may
be used. This type of pump seals 100%
tight and ensures that the VOC cannot
enter the lube oil system of the pump.
It must be possible to stop the pump
with a signal from the engine in the
event of a shutdown of operation on
VOC.
5. VOC preheating system. To avoid
the risk of ice formation on the outside
of the high-pressure VOC pipes (which
may happen in the case of decompres-
sion of the pipes, involving flash-boiling
of the VOC), the VOC is heated to
about 50
o
C before inlet to the engine.
The preheater may, for example, utilise
steam or heat from the jacket cooling
water system on the engine but, in any
case, a separate circuit (exchanging
heat with the jacket cooling water)
must be used to ensure that VOC can-
not enter the cooling water system of
the engine if there is a leakage in the
VOC heat exchanger.
6. VOC injection system on the engine.
The preheated pressurised VOC is in-
jected directly into the combustion
chamber immediately after the injection
of a small amount of fuel oil (8% of the
oil amount at 100% load), acting as
pilot oil and securing stable, safe com-
bustion. The special VOC injection
valves are operated by a mechatronic
system which features computer con-
trol to allow for the greatly varying prop-
erties of the VOC fuel. The system is
described in detail in the following.
8
Engine design features
The internal and external systems
needed for operation of the engine on
VOC are shown schematically in Fig. 7.
As can be seen, these systems are very
similar to the well-proven systems used
on the natural gas burning 12K80MC-GI-S
high-pressure gas-injection engine, de-
scribed in detail in [4], the major differen-
ces being that the VOC (being a liquid) is
compressed to 400 bar by means of a
membrane type pump (not a multi-stage
gas compressor) and that the injection of
VOC is controlled by a computer control-
led mechatronic system(not by a cam-
shaft driven control oil pump).
The cylinder cover (Fig. 8) has bores
for two fuel oil valves and two VOC
injection valves. Furthermore, there are
bores for two more valves which can
be used for injection of the gaseous
VOCs (methane and ethane) or for
injection of water in order to reduce
the NO
x
emission, if required. On the
camshaft side, the cylinder cover has
a face for fitting the valve block.
The valve block (Fig. 9) houses a VOC
accumulator, a fast acting shutdown
valve, a non-return valve at the VOC
inlet pipe, blow off and purging control
valves and the fast acting NC valve
belonging to the Mechatronic VOC
injection system (see below). The pre-
heated and pressurised VOC is injected
directly into the combustion chamber
immediately after the injection of a small
amount of fuel oil (8%of the oil amount
at 100%load), acting as pilot oil and
securing stable, safe combustion at all
engine loads.
The VOC injection valves (Fig. 10) are
operated by a Mechatronic system
which features computer control to allow
for the greatly varying properties of the
VOC fuel. They are supplied with seal-
ing oil (fine filtered system lube oil from
the engine) from a separate sealing oil
system at a pressure some 25-50 bar
above the VOC pressure in order to
prevent the VOC from leaking into the
control oil system and in order to lubri-
cate the moving parts of the VOC injec-
tion valves.
Engine room Outside
Outside
Pilot
pump
Sealing oil system VOC system on the engine
Exhaust receiver
Cylinder
cover
Valve block
Inert gas line
Actuator
ECS
Governor
function
Ventilation system VOC supply system
Double wall pipe
VOC pipe
Air flow direction
VOC flow direction
Pressure oil
supply for
mechatronic
system
Mechatronic
control
oil system
HP
pump
Air
heater
Fig. 7: Internal and external systems for diesel engine operation on VOC
Fuel oil
Gas
VOC
Fig. 8: Cylinder cover with bores for fuel oil valves, VOC valves and valves for gas or water
injection
9
The mechatronic system is a com-
puter controlled and hydraulically acti-
vated system. The concept is shown in
Fig. 11. A pump station on the engine
supplies lube oil at high pressure to an
electronically controlled hydraulic valve
(NC valve) for each cylinder. VOC is in-
jected by opening the NC valve, admit-
ting high-pressure lube oil to the VOC
injection valves. The lube oil pressure
opens the VOC injection valves and al-
lows injection of pressurised VOC into
the cylinder. When sufficient VOC has
been injected, the lube oil pressure is
released to the tank by shifting the NC
valve to its other position and, as a re-
sult, the spring-loaded spindle in the
VOC injection valve closes, and VOC
injection is terminated. By virtue of this
system, the timing of the VOC injection
can be freely controlled in relation to
the injection of pilot oil so as to adapt
to the actual combustion behaviour of
the VOC.
Safety system. A full MC-GI safety
system is incorporated (see a detailed
description of this in [4]). The system
ensures redundancy, i.e. the engine
changes over to diesel mode in case
of any abnormality in the VOC system,
maintaining the same power output.
Recordings of the functionality of the
safety system will be shown below.
VOC Double wall
ventilation system
Control oil
Ventilation
system
Seal oil
Fig. 10: VOC injection valve
Gas
Blow off
Gas
Gas
VOC accumulator
Shut down valve
Double wall
ventilation
system
Fig. 9: Valve block with shutdown valve and VOC accumulator
VOC
injection
valves
Electronic
control
signal
High
pressure
pump
Pressurised
VOC supply
NC valve
Lube oil reservoir
Accumulator
Valve block
Fig. 11: Concept of the Mechatronic VOC injection system
10
Combustion Tests
with VOC Fuel
The combustion tests with VOC in-
clude tests with dual fuel operation as
well as pure VOC operation on a large
bore research engine (the 4T50MX In-
telligent Engine, a 10,000 bhp, 4-cylin-
der 50-cm-bore engine) in Copenhagen.
The engine was equipped with a
Mechatronic VOC fuel injection system.
The tests carried out served to identify
the demands which would be made on
the engine and fuel injection control sys-
temwhen using VOC as the main fuel.
As mentioned above, the liquefied
VOC consists mainly of propane and
higher hydrocarbons for which reason
a rather low methane number can be
expected. Consequently, the self igni-
tion properties of the VOC might allow
operation on pure VOC, i.e. without
pilot injection of HFO as the source of
ignition, thus opening an attractive pos-
sibility for nearly eliminating particulate
emissions and the complete replace-
ment of HFO by VOC.
Some of the main results of the initial
investigations are briefly outlined in the
following, accompanied by results of
adaptation tests in which the modern
research engine was adapted to per-
form similar to the 14 year old main
engines of the selected test vessel (see
below).
Basic combustion behaviour of
VOC fuel
The above mentioned possibilities for
operating the engine in single fuel
mode on VOC are illustrated in Fig. 12.
The VOC composition used for these
tests was a 70/30 mixture of propane
and butane (in fact a commercial LPG
brand) which was considered to be at
the poor ignition quality end (or the rela-
tively high methane number end) of the
actual range of VOC compositions. If
stable ignition could be obtained at low
engine load with this VOC composi-
tion, it was considered that all the avail-
able VOCs could be burned in pure
VOC operation. In this phase of devel-
opment, methane and ethane are not
included as fuel.
The tests were all carried out at 123
r/min, corresponding to the research
engines MCR point (Maximum Con-
tinuous Rating, i.e. 100% load and
rated engine speed), since the shuttle
tanker engines in question operate at
constant engine speed due to the use
of shaft generators and Controllable
Pitch (CP) propellers.
As can be seen from Fig. 12, combus-
tion at high load is very satisfactory,
with a smooth pressure rise in the cylin-
der and a smooth ROHR (Rate of Heat
Release) with an almost negligible igni-
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
170 180 190 200 210 220 230 240
TDC
Rate of heat release
25%
50%
75%
100%
MJ/s
Deg. C.A.
S
t
a
r
t
o
f
V
O
C
i
n
j
e
c
t
i
o
n
a
t
1
0
0
,
7
5
a
n
d
5
0
%
l
o
a
d
S
t
a
r
t

o
f

V
O
C

i
n
j
e
c
t
i
o
n

a
t

2
5
%

l
o
a
d
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
bar
120 140 160 180 200 220
180
240
25%
50%
75%
Cylinder pressure
Deg. C.A.
100%
Fig. 12: Cylinder pressure and Rate of Heat Release in pure VOC operation
11
tion delay. The ROHR starts rising im-
mediately upon start of the VOC injec-
tion, and the ignition delay is significantly
less than 1
o
CA. Though the ROHR
does not rise to the same peak value
as for diesel operation, combustion is
basically completed at the same time,
and the indicated efficiency is almost
the same.
At lower loads, the situation is com-
pletely different and combustion char-
acteristics resemble those of a small
high speed engine running on a mar-
ginal ignition quality fuel: there was
audible knock from the engine, the
reason being evident from the cylinder
pressure curve (steep pressure rise)
and from the ROHR: a nearly stepwise
initial rise to a very high peak-value of
the ROHR, reflecting the pre-mixed
burning period following the rather long
ignition delay period (in the order of 6
o
CA, equal to some 4.4 ms). The injec-
tion timing at 25% load was retarded
some 1.5
o
CA, with injection starting
around TDC, in order to limit the audi-
ble knocking to an acceptable value.
Though ignition was rather stable (the
curves shown are average values of 50
consecutive cycles), it is evident that
the engines cylinder condition (in par-
ticular the piston ring condition) would
suffer from the hard combustion in part
load operation. The absolute require-
ment of shuttle tankers for reliable
operation at any load without time limi-
tations, together with the logic of the
pertaining safety system, mean that
pure VOC operation is not a straight-
forward possibility.
Consequently, dual fuel operation using
VOC as the main fuel and diesel fuel as
the source of ignition must be used.
The cylinder pressure and ROHR curves
from 25% to 100% load shown in Fig.
13 indicate that stable ignition and
quite normal diesel type combustion
can be obtained in this way. An interes-
ting feature is, however, that ignition at
all loads takes place before the start of
the pilot oil injection. The reason for
applying such a late injection timing was
that an early injection of the pilot fuel
seems to disturb combustion of the
main VOC fuel under the given circum-
stances. The VOC composition tested
ignites easily before the pilot oil, how-
ever, this may be due to a local hot
spot or another ignition source created
by the pilot oil injection since pure VOC
operation at low load is significantly dif-
ferent from this dual fuel mode.
Emission characteristics, basic tests
The tests were carried out on one cylin-
der only (with the remaining three cylin-
ders operating on diesel fuel), so the
accuracy of the emission measurements
is limited, even when gas samples are
taken in the exhaust pipe fromthe VOC
cylinder, before the exhaust gas receiver.
Thus, the measurements should be
considered only as a rough indication
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
170 180 190 200 210 220 230 240
MJ/s
TDC
S
t
a
r
t
o
f
p
i
l
o
t
o
i
l
i
n
j
e
c
t
i
o
n
S
t
a
r
t
o
f

V
O
C
i
n
j
e
c
t
i
o
n
Rate of heat release
25%
50%
75%
100%
Deg. C.A.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
bar
120 140 160 180 200 220
180
240
25%
50%
75%
100%
Cylinder pressure
Deg. C.A.
Fig. 13: Cylinder pressure and Rate of Heat Release in dual fuel operation with 10% pilot oil
12
of what can be expected from the en-
gines in a shuttle tanker (see below).
The results fromthese first tests (at 75%
load) show a reduction in NOx emis-
sions in the dual fuel mode of around
27%, compared to the diesel mode,
confirming the expected values. In pure
VOC mode (without pilot oil injection),
the NOx emission is only around 5%
lower than in the diesel mode.
Emissions of carbon monoxide and un-
burned hydrocarbons were expected
to increase in the dual fuel mode due
to the increase in the fuel nozzle sac
volume (four fuel valves per cylinder
versus two in pure diesel operation).
CO and HC emissions were found to
increase by some 25 and 40%, respec-
tively, while in the pure VOC mode, the
CO and HC values were unchanged.
The final verification of the emission
characteristics will be obtained in early
1999 when the shuttle tanker enters
service with the complete VOC collec-
tion, storage and utilisation system.
Combustion adaptation for VOC fuel
As mentioned above, the engines of
the selected test vessel are around 14
years old and represent the state of
the art at that time. Modern engines
have higher compression ratios and
operate at much higher mean effective
and combustion pressures, as illus-
trated in Table 1. As a consequence,
the ignition and combustion behaviour
might be somewhat different and in or-
der to prepare properly for the demon-
stration test, the research engine was
modified extensively so as to approach
the performance characteristics of the
L55GUCA engine installed in the ship.
Initial tests in this configuration clearly
indicated that pure VOC operation
would not be acceptable, not even at
high load, and the tests continued in
dual fuel operation, to investigate the
effects of a number of parameters
relevant for the actual engines. Some
results are outlined in the following.
VOC injection pressure: Fig. 14
shows the influence of the VOC injec-
tion pressure (with constant injection
timing) on cylinder pressure, ROHR
and NO
x
emissions. Thanks to the
slower injection and mixing of the VOC
at lower injection pressures, the ROHR
is lower, leading to a lower firing pres-
sure and lower NOx emissions. Com-
bustion, however, is smooth and
basically satisfactory in all cases.
Pilot oil amount: Fig. 15 shows the
influence of the pilot oil amount (with
constant injection timing) on cylinder
pressure, ROHR and NOx emissions. It
is desirable to use as low an amount of
pilot oil as possible in order to replace
as much fuel oil by VOC as possible.
On the other hand, stable injection and
ignition of the pilot oil must be ascertai-
ned to ensure stable and reliable opera-
tion of the engine.
As can be seen from the figure, the
combustion process of the VOC
(ROHR) is almost identical for the three
tested amounts of pilot oil: 5%, 8%
(normal value) and 10% of the amount
at full load, with a tendency to slightly
lower NOx emission for low amount of
pilot oil. The initial part of the ROHR-
curve is slightly different, reflecting the
different amount of pilot oil injected
initially.
It can be concluded that the lower limit
for pilot oil amount is determined by
stable functioning of the pilot injection
valves and not by the ignition process
or the combustion of the VOC: at 5%
pilot oil, the pilot oil valve spindle is
only partly lifted, and a small variation
in pump index, opening pressure for
the pilot oil valves or fuel pump wear
(leakage) may lead to failure to inject
pilot oil through one injection valve or
in one cylinder in this event the safety
system will trigger a gas system shut
down and revert to fuel oil only opera-
tion. Thus, 8% pilot oil will be used so
as to ensure stable operation.
Pilot oil/VOC amount: Fig. 16 shows
the influence of the ratio between pilot
oil amount (with constant injection
timing) and VOC amount (with variable
injection timing) on cylinder pressure,
ROHR and NO
x
emissions. To ensure
flexible operation of shuttle tankers
(and LNG carriers as well) it is neces-
sary to be able to use the available
VOC irrespective of the actual load
demand on the engine. Thus, if there is
not sufficient VOC (or boil off gas) avail-
able, the pilot oil amount must be in-
creased so as to provide the required
power output from the engine. If this is
done with fixed timing for pilot oil and
VOC (or gas), the cylinder pressure will
increase substantially (by some 15 bar
Design features 6L55GUCA 7S50MC 4T50MX
Maximum firing pressure 98 bar 140 bar 180 bar
Mean effective pressure 13 bar 18 bar 21 bar
Scavenge air pressure 2.90 bar 3.55 bar 3.7 bar
Mean piston speed 7.1 m/s 8.1 m/s 9.0 m/s
Stroke to bore ratio 2.51:1 3.82:1 4.40:1
Rated engine output per cylinder 1100 kW/cyl. 1430 kW/cyl. 1840 kW/cyl.
Rated engine speed 155 r/min 127 r/min 123 r/min
Table 1: Design features of the main engines on board the test vessel, of a typical standard
main engine for shuttle tankers of today, and of the 4T50MX research engine
13
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
140 150 160 170 180 190 200 210 220
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
170 180 190 200 210 220 230 240 250
175 185 190 195 200 205
Deg.CA.
C
y
l
i
n
d
e
r
p
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
(
b
a
r
)
Pilot oil
VOC (5% pilot)
8% pilot
VOC (8% pilot)
10% pilot
VOC (10% pilot)
180
Deg.CA.
Deg.CA.
R
a
t
e
o
f
h
e
a
t
r
e
l
e
a
s
e
(
M
J
/
s
)
N
e
e
d
l
e
l
i
f
t
0
0,2
0,4
0,6
0,8
1
0
4
8
12
16
5% pilot 8% pilot 10% pilot
N
O
(
g
/
k
W
h
)
x
5%
8%
10%
5% pilot
Pilot oil
5%
8%
10%
Fig. 15: Effect of pilot oil amount on cylinder pressure, Rate of Heat Release and NOx emission shown together with the lifting curves for
pilot oil injection valve and VOC injection valve
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
140 150 160 170 180 190 200 210 220
400 bar
350 bar
300 bar
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
170 180 190 200 210 220 230 240 250
Deg.CA.
C
y
l
i
n
d
e
r
p
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
(
b
a
r
)
Deg.CA.
R
a
t
e
o
f

h
e
a
t
r
e
l
e
a
s
e
(
M
J
/
s
)
0
0,1
0,2
0,3
0,4
0,5
0,6
0,7
0,8
0,9
1
Pilot oil valve
180 185 190 195 200 205 210
Deg.CA.
N
e
e
d
l
e
l
i
f
t
0
4
8
12
16
300 bar 350 bar 400 bar
N
O
(
g
/
k
W
h
)
x
175
VOC valve:
400 bar
350 bar
300 bar
400 bar
350 bar
300 bar
Fig. 14: Effect of VOC injection pressure on cylinder pressure, Rate of Heat Release and NOx emission shown together with the lifting
curves for pilot oil injection valve and VOC injection valve
14
at 50% VOC/50% fuel oil), thus over-
loading the engine.
The figure shows the combustion be-
haviour of the engine with optimised
control of VOC injection (but fixed tim-
ing of the pilot oil, which is injected by
the conventional camshaft operated
fuel pumps). As can be seen, the
mechatronic system makes it possible
to control the VOC injection in such a
way that the cylinder pressure and
combustion (ROHR) remain virtually
unchanged, independent of the ratio
between pilot oil amount and VOC
amount. The figure also illustrates that
NO
x
emission in the dual fuel mode is
lower than in the pure diesel mode.
It is obvious from the diagram with
needle lift for the pilot oil injection
valves and the VOC injection valves
that this optimal control would hardly
be possible with a conventional cam-
shaft operated systemfor VOC injection.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140 160 180 200 220
C
y
l
i
n
d
e
r
p
r
e
s
s
u
r
e
(
b
a
r
)
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
10%
0
0,2
0,4
0,6
0,8
1
60
170 180 190 200 210 220 230 240 250
N
e
e
d
l
e
l
i
f
t
200 185 205 195 210 175 190
Pilot oil
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
10%
90%
0
10
20
30
40
50
H
e
a
t
r
e
l
e
a
s
e
(
M
J
/
s
)
0
4
8
12
16
20
10 20 40 60 80 100
% DO
N
O
(
g
/
k
W
h
)
x
[Deg.CA.]
Deg.CA
180
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
10%
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
10%
Deg.CA
Pilot oil valve lift
Pilot oil
VOC valve lift
Fig. 16: Effect of VOC/pilot oil ratio on cylinder pressure, Rate of Heat Release and NOx emission shown together with the lifting curves for
pilot oil injection valve and VOC injection valve
15
Safety System Performance
The utilisation of VOC is controlled by
the mechatronic system as illustrated
above and monitored by a dedicated
safety system with the same functional-
ity as that of the natural gas burning
MC-GI engines, described in detail in [4]
The engines normal safety system for
diesel operation is fully maintained and
is complemented by the VOC safety
system.
The main features of the VOC safety
system are briefly outlined in the follow-
ing and illustrated by recordings from
the Type Approval Test for the system,
performed on 24 and 25 June 1998 on
the 4T50MX research engine in Copen-
hagen to the full satisfaction of six ma-
jor Classification Societies.
Operational precautions. In compli-
ance with the demands from the Clas-
sification Societies, all start, stop and
manoeuvring takes place in the diesel
mode (HFO) only. Also, operation be-
low a certain load limit will only take
place in the diesel mode, the limit
being determined by the demand for
stable operation of the VOC injection
system, i.e. stable minimum injection
amount of VOC.
Thus, the limit will be decided from
case to case on the basis of the actual
engine layout and propeller type (fixed
pitch or controllable pitch propeller),
typically resulting in a lower limit of
some 20-30% engine output. If the en-
gine load drops below the relevant
limit, the engine automatically changes
over to diesel operation and maintains
the demanded power.
Fuel supply system. It is essential to
prevent VOC in the engine room, espe-
cially VOC gases which, because
these gases are heavier than air, would
tend to accumulate at the bottom of
the engine room. Therefore, VOC
pipes and all VOC containing engine
components are of double wall de-
sign meaning that any VOC leakage
will go directly into the ventilated
annular space surrounding the high
pressure VOC pipes.
This annular space is kept at lower
pressure than the engine roompressure
and ventilated at a minimum rate of 30
times per hour. The ventilation air is
filtered and preheated to some 50
o
C
and monitored at the outlet by two
hydrocarbon sensors. The monitoring
system sets off an alarm at a VOC
concentration of 30% of the Lower
Explosion Limit (LEL) and triggers a
VOC system shut down at 60% LEL.
The performance of the safety system
in this respect is illustrated in Fig. 17.
To trigger the shut down, propane gas
has been blown into the double wall
pipe system and, as can be seen, the
safety system closes the shut down
valve in the valve block (see Fig. 9) and
the engine changes over to diesel
mode. A very similar picture is seen for
the VOC shut down when the VOC
supply pressure becomes too low (indi-
cating high pressure pump failure, frac-
tured pipes or lack of VOC supply), too
low sealing oil pressure, too low engine
load and indication of VOC in the en-
gine room (the latter being rather un-
likely).
Combustion monitoring system. To
monitor the combustion process, each
cylinder unit of the engine is provided
with sensors for cylinder pressure, fuel
oil injection pressure and pressure in
the VOC accumulator in the valve
block.
The cylinder pressure is monitored in
order to detect faults such as a sticking
exhaust valve, leading to ignition failure
because of the lack of compression
pressure, or any combustion irregularity.
The fuel oil injection pressure is moni-
tored in order to ensure that pilot oil
has been injected prior to the start of
VOC injection, thus ensuring safe com-
bustion of the VOC. If the pressure
does not reach the opening pressure
level for the fuel oil injection valves, the
mechatronic system will not allow VOC
injection, and the engine immediately
changes over to diesel fuel mode on all
Engine revolutions
Mechatronic NC valve lift
VOC injection valve lift
Pilot oil injection valve lift
0 1 2 3 4 5
Shut down valve lift
Fig. 17: Demonstration of safety system features: VOC system shut down due to too high
VOC concentration in the double walled pipe simulated by introducing propane in the pipe
16
cylinders. This is illustrated in Fig. 18
where the VOC shut down is triggered
by the pilot oil injection pump index
suddenly being pushed to zero. As can
be seen, no VOC is injected right from
and including the first failure cycle,
and the load is quickly re-established
in the diesel mode.
The pressure in the VOC accumulator
is monitored in order to ensure that a
VOC injection valve sticking in the fully
open position does not lead to a dan-
gerous situation due to the large
amount of VOC injected. It is hardly
likely that sticking will occur from one
normal cycle to the next most likely
the valve will operate increasingly slug-
gishly over a period of some length,
leading to higher load on the pertaining
cylinder and thus increased exhaust
gas temperature. This is monitored as
well, and a too large deviation for a
cylinder from the average exhaust gas
temperature triggers a VOC shut
down.
However, even the situation of a sud-
den sticking in the fully open position is
managed by the safety system, and the
engine safety will not be endangered:
Fig. 19 shows the safety system reac-
tion to a sticking VOC injection valve,
simulated by suddenly increasing the
VOC injection amount substantially
above the normal value. When the
pressure drop in the accumulator ex-
ceeds a limit value, indicating that injec-
tion continues beyond the permitted
amount, the shut down valve in the
valve block is immediately closed by
the safety system, thus preventing fur-
ther injection.
Engine revolutions
Pilot oil injection valve lift
VOC injection valve lift
0 1 2 3 4 5
Pilot oil injection pressure
Cylinder pressure
Fig. 18: Demonstration of safety system features: VOC system shut down due to missing
pilot oil injection simulated by reducing the pilot pump index to zero
Shut down valve lift
VOC injection valve lift
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Pressure in VOC accumulator
Cylinder pressure
Engine revolutions
Fig. 19: Demonstration of safety system features: VOC system shut down due to sticking
VOC injection valve simulated by introducing a very large VOC injection
17
Verification of the VOC Fuel
System on a Shuttle Tanker
As the next step, a full-scale demon-
stration of the technology and concept
for shuttle tankers is being prepared.
The test will be carried out on M/T
Navion Viking, a shuttle tanker serving
the Norwegian Statfjord oilfield, which
provides large amounts of VOC. The
vessel has two 6.6 MW 6L55GUCA
main engines, both equipped with
shaft generators.
During a planned dry-docking of the
vessel in May 1998, equipment was
fitted for converting the two main en-
gines for VOC burning. At the same
time, the vessel was prepared for
fitting the full-scale VOC collection,
storage and supply systems, which
will be used to supply VOC fuel to the
converted main engines. The systems
will be fitted during the first quarter of
1999, after which one of the main en-
gines will start operating on VOC. The
other main engine will follow some six
months later, subject to satisfactory
operation on VOC of the first engine
and satisfactory operation of the VOC
collection, storage and utilisation
systems.
The full scale trials comprise one years
operation on VOC. Statoil will use the
results as a basis for deciding on the
full implementation of the VOC fuel
technology in its tanker fleet.
Environmental Advantages
of the VOC Fuel Concept
Depending on the composition and
amount of the VOC as well as the
ships sailing schedule, up to some
90% of the shuttle tankers fuel oil
consumption may be replaced by the
VOC, leading to substantial fuel cost
savings (considering the formerly dis-
charged VOC vapours to be free of
charge) as well as cleaner exhaust gas:
up to some 90% reduction of SO
x
emissions, directly proportional to
the percentage of fuel oil substitu-
tion. A further economic advantage
is that the use of VOC may replace
low-sulphur fuels in IMO Special
areas that require operation on
low-sulphur fuels
up to some 90% reduction in par-
ticulate emissions, due to the lighter
and more volatile fuel, which causes
less smoke formation
20-30% reduction in NO
x
emissions
due to the dual fuel combustion
process and more uniform mixing of
fuel and air in the cylinders
some reduction in CO
2
emissions
due to the higher hydrogen/carbon
ratio in VOC fuel than in fuel oil.
Availability of the VOC
Utilisation System
The concept will be generally available
to interested shipowners after the suc-
cessful termination of the demonstra-
tion test mentioned above. It might,
however, be of interest to shipowners
to have new shuttle tankers prepared
for this technology even before then.
For the engine, this means the use of
the MC-GI design for the exhaust gas
receiver and the cylinder covers:
The exhaust gas receiver needs to
be made of thicker plates (plus
changes in some minor design
details) to comply with the require-
ments of the Classification Societies
The cylinder covers have to be
provided with extra bores for the
VOC injection valves and faces for
the fitting of a valve block on the
camshaft side.
The extra cost of preparing the engine
for VOC operation is some 1-2% of
the engine cost. This preparation allows
the engines to operate on normal fuel
oil until it becomes feasible to carry out
the full conversion of the vessel so as
to be able to collect, store and burn
the VOC. This option has already been
selected by a number of owners order-
ing shuttle tankers, and more than a
dozen engines (mainly of the 7S50MC
type) are currently on order or in serv-
ice prepared for VOC as described
above.
Enhanced fuel economy in shuttle
tankers and VLCCs
With the system described above, the
VOC can be utilised and will thus re-
duce the fuel bill of the ship as well as
the pollution of the environment.
The advantages of the enhanced fuel
economy and the cost/benefit of install-
ing the VOC utilisation system on
crude oil tankers have been analysed
in terms of net present value (NPV).
For guidance, this economy model is
described in detail in the Appendix.
We have evaluated the economy of the
VOC system, using two examples, viz.
A) a shuttle tanker, and B) a 300,000
dwt VLCC.
The fuel cost in particular will be dis-
cussed, because of its great influence
on the operating costs of the ships,
but the differences in spare parts con-
sumption, overhaul work, and lube oil
costs have also been taken into consid-
eration.
The investment cost for the VOC utilisa-
tion system greatly influences the net
present value and the payback time,
while differences in price relating to
main engines and electrical power pro-
ducing equipment, also included, have
a minor influence.
The investment cost also depends on
the actual requirements for the limita-
tion of VOC emissions. Thus, if there
are no such VOC limitation require-
ments, the whole investment cost of
the VOC utilisation system should be
included. However, if there is a require-
ment for reduction of the VOC emis-
sions, the cost of the pertaining systems
(for instance a VOC recovery system)
should be considered, so that only the
difference in investment cost is included.
The investment cost for the VOC utilisa-
tion system used as the VOC Fuel
reference case in the following two
18
examples is probably on the low side if
there is no environmental requirement
to reduce VOC emissions, while it is
probably much too high if there is such
a requirement. However, we feel that
the feasibility study illustrates the char-
acteristics of various systems and indi-
cates the magnitude of the potential
benefits quite well.
Example A: Shuttle tanker with
VOC utilisation system
A shuttle tanker requires quite unique
manoeuvrability. Loading of the ship
includes long periods of accurate dy-
namic positioning at the oilfield, using
side thrusters and main engine driven
propeller(s).
The large side thrusters installed and
used mainly for dynamic positioning
call for equipment that can generate
sufficient electrical power, i.e. large
diesel generators or large shaft gener-
ators. With the installation on board of
a large power generating capacity,
owners often decide to install cargo
pumps driven by electric motors.
Whether power is supplied by diesel
generators or shaft generators, trans-
formers are needed to provide voltage
regulation for the generators, the
switchboard, the thrusters and the
cargo pumps. For more details as re-
gards shuttle tankers, please see our
paper Shuttle Tanker Propulsion [5].
The electrical power production equip-
ment normally used today includes
large diesel generators. An alternative
is large shaft generators driven by the
main engine(s), see Figs. 20 and 21,
respectively. The investment cost of
the electrical power producers is al-
most the same in these two cases.
Using these engine roomarrangements,
we have evaluated the VOC utilisation
system for a shuttle tanker with two
main engines of the 7S50MC type,
each driving a CP propeller.
Measurements of the amount of VOC
froma shuttle tanker with the roundtrip
pattern Statfjord Rotterdam/return in
DG
ME
ME
DG
ME: Main engine
DG: Diesel generator
Pump
room
ME
Pump room
DG
DG
DG
Fig.. 20: Engine room arrangement with diesel generators shuttle tanker
Disconnectable
thrust bearing
DG
ME
ME
DG
ME: Main engine
SG: Shaft generator
DG: Diesel generator
Pump
room
ME
SG
Pump
room
Fig.. 21: Engine room arrangement with shaft generators shuttle tanker
19
Fig. 2 have shown that the energy lost
by the VOC evaporation during a
round trip is of the same magnitude as
the total consumption of heavy fuel by
the main engines. The trade pattern
and the power consumption of this
round trip are illustrated in Fig. 22,
together with three engine room
alternatives.
Using a contemporary shuttle tanker
with diesel generators (DG) and with-
out a VOC utilisation system as the
basic Alternative No. 1, two other
arrangements with the VOC utilisation
system are compared, the one alterna-
tive, No. 2, with diesel generators (DG)
and the other alternative, No. 3, with
shaft generators (SG).
Since the main engine, by driving a
shaft generator, can meet the relatively
high electrical power demand, Alterna-
tive 3 will have the highest proportion
of VOC-based power (see Fig. 23)
and, therefore, as seen in Fig. 24, will
represent the lowest annual fuel costs.
Propulsion power, ME
Main engines:
SMCR:
2 x 7S50MC
2 x 10,010 kW at 127 r/min
Electrical power production, DG or SG
Buoy-
loading
at oilfield
Voyage to
port
Unloading
at port
Voyage to
oilfield
1
2
3
4
4'
1
1
1
2
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
5,000
10,000
El. power consumers
1 Accommodation and aux. machinery
2 Cargo pumps
3 Side thrusters
4 VOC system, step 1
4' VOC system, step 2
days/year
hours/trip
Engine room alternatives
Alt. 1 ME + 4 x DG (3,000 kW)
Alt. 2 ME + VOC + 4 x DG (3,000 kW)
Alt. 3 ME + VOC + 2 x SG (7,500 kW)
+ 1 x DG (1,500 kW)
kW
Propulsion power
Electrical power
65
20
117
36
65
20
117
36
kW
Fig. 22: Power estimate for a shuttle tanker (Typically: Statfjord Rotterdam/return)
Alt. 1 ME + DG
Alt. 2 ME + VOC + DG
Alt. 3 ME + VOC + SG
HFO based power
VOC based power
Power produced by ME
kW
15,000
10,000
5,000
1 2 3 1 2 3 3 2 1 1 2 3
Buoy-loading
at oilfield
Voyage to port Unloading
at port
Voyage to
oilfield
0
5,000
Power produced by DG
kW
Fig. 23: Heavy fuel and VOC-based power for a shuttle tanker
(Typically: Statfjord Rotterdam/return)
20
On the basis of the above round-trip
pattern, the VOC utilisation system will
have a payback time of 3.5 to 5.2
years, the shortest payback time being
achieved with the shaft generator alter-
native, see Fig. 25.
Figs. 26 and 27 illustrate the sensitivity
of this feasibility study to the parame-
ters used, especially to developments
in fuel oil prices and investment cost.
It will be seen that if, for instance, the
fuel oil price is 140 USD/t instead of
100 USD/t, the payback time will de-
crease to some 2.5 and 3.7 years, and
if the investment cost increases from
5.6 million USD to 8.1 million USD, the
payback time will increase to some 5.2
and 8.0 years.
Fig. 27 also shows that even if the
shaft generator Alternative 3 was up to
2.5 million USD more expensive than
the diesel generator Alternative 2, the
Alt. 2 ME + VOC + DG
Alt. 3 ME + VOC + SG
Real payback time
Years
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
80 100 60 120 140
Fuel price
Alt. 1 ME + DG
Alt. 3
Alt. 1
Alt. 2
USD
Fig. 26: Payback time sensitivity to fuel
price for a shuttle tanker with VOC
utilisation system
Alt. 3 ME + VOC + SG
Alt. 2 ME + VOC + DG
Alt. 1 ME + DG
1 2
Buoy-loading
at oil field
3 1 2 3 1 3 2 1 2 3
Voyage to port Unloading
at port
Voyage to
oil field
Annual fuel costs
800,000
600,000
400,000
200,000
Diesel generators
Main engines
Fuel costs (100 USD/ton)
USD1,000,000
0
Fig.24: Fuel oil costs for a shuttle tanker
Alt. 2 ME + VOC + DG
Alt. 3 ME + VOC + SG
Alt. 1 ME + DG
12
10
8
6
4
2
0 2 4
Real payback time
Years
0
2.5 Mill USD
Alt. 1
Mill USD 6 8
Alt. 2
Alt. 3
Investment cost
Fig. 27: Payback time sensitivity to invest-
ment cost for a shuttle tanker with VOC
utilisation system
Years after investment
20
16
12
8
4
0
2 6 10 14 18 22
Alt. 1
Alt. 2
Alt. 3
-4
Net present value
Million USD
In normal sea service days/year: 364.0
Fuel oil price USD/t: 100.0
Rate of inflation %/year: 4.0
Rate of interest/ discount %/year: 8.0
Alt. 1 ME + DG
Alt. 2 ME + VOC + DG
Alt. 3 ME + VOC + SG
Fig. 25: Net present value for a shuttle
tanker with VOC utilisation system
21
payback time would still be shorter for
the shaft generator solution.
Example B: 300,000 dwt VLCC with
VOC utilisation system
Very large crude oil carriers (VLCCs)
often have a relatively simple operating
profile, which includes many days in
normal continuous service running at
70 and 80% engine load with the tanks
in ballast, and with fully loaded tanks,
respectively. On the other hand, load-
ing and unloading of the cargo at oil ter-
minals and in port only takes a few days.
The normal electrical power consump-
tion used for the accommodation quar-
ters and for auxiliary machinery is
relatively low, so the greater part of the
fuel consumption is for the main engine.
We have made an evaluation of the
VOC utilisation system for a contempo-
1 1 1 1
2
2
2
15
2.7
140
25
15
2.7
140
25
Electrical power production, DG
Port,
loading
Voyage, full loaded Voyage in ballast
days/year
days/trip
Propulsion power, ME
Main engine: 7S80MC
SMCR = 25,480 kW at 79 r/min
El. power consumers
1 Accommodation and
auxiliary machinery
2 VOC system
kW
25,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
5,000
Engine room alternatives
Alt. 1 ME + 3 x DG (1,000 kW)
Alt. 2 ME + VOC + 4 x DG (1,200 kW)
Propulsion power
Electrical power
Port
unloading
kW
20,000
Fig. 28: Power estimate for a 300,000 dwt VLCC
Alt. 1
ME + DG
Alt. 2
ME + VOC + DG
1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
kW
VOC
based power
HFO
based power
Power produced by ME
Port,
loading
Voyage, fully loaded Voyage in ballast Port,
unloading
80% SMCR
70% SMCR
kW
Electrical power produced by DG
5,000
0
Fig. 29: Heavy fuel and VOC-based power for a 300,000 dwt VLCC
22
rary 300,000 dwt VLCC having a con-
ventional engine roomarrangement with
a 7S80MC main engine, and diesel gen-
erators for electrical power production.
Measurements show that the amount
of VOC emitted from the cargo may be
as high as 0.6%, but may depend on
the type of crude oil carried. For a
7S80MC main engine operating at
80% MCR, this amount of VOC corre-
sponds to the fuel needed for about 21
days of operation.
The economic evaluation therefore
depends on the length of the voyage,
and we have used the voyage pattern
shown in Fig. 28 for an economy evalu-
ation of the VOC utilisation system.
As Alternative 1, we use the 7S80MC
main engine in combination with diesel
generators as the basis and then com-
pare the economy for a similar engine
Alt. 1 ME + DG
Alt. 2. ME + VOC + DG
Fuel costs
(100 USD/ton)
Diesel generators
Main engine
Annual fuel costs
0
200,000
400,000
600,000
800,000
1,000,000
1,200,000
1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
USD
port,
loading
voyage,
fully loaded
port,
unloading
voyage,
in ballast
Fig. 30: Fuel oil costs for a 300,000 dwt VLCC
14
10
8
6
4
2
0
60 80 100 120 140
Alt. 2
Alt. 1
USD
12
Fuel price
Alt. 1 ME + DG
Alt. 2 ME + VOC + DG
Real payback time
Years
Fig. 32: Payback time sensitivity to fuel
price for a 300,000 dwt VLCC with VOC
utilisation system
0
2
4
6
4 8 12 16 20
Net present value
Million USD
Alt. 2
Alt. 1
Years after investment
Alt. 1 ME + DG
Alt. 2 ME + VOC + DG
Rate of interest/discount
Rate of inflation
Fuel oil price
In normal sea service
%/year: 8.0
%/year: 4.0
USD/t: 100.0
days/year: 310.0
-4
-6
-2
Fig. 31: Net present value for a 300,000
dwt VLCC with VOC utilisation system
Real payback time
Years
Investment cost
Alt. 1 ME + DG
Alt. 2 ME + VOC + DG
16
12
10
8
6
4
2
0 2 4
0
Alt. 2
Alt. 1
Mill. USD
14
6 8
Fig. 33: Payback time sensitivity to invest-
ment cost for a 300,000 dwt VLCC with
VOC utilisation system
23
configuration featuring the VOC utilisa-
tion system, Alternative 2. As the elec-
trical power requirement is relatively
low, the shaft generator case has not
been investigated.
For the two alternatives, the fuel oil and
VOC-based power is shown in Fig. 29,
and the fuel oil costs in Fig. 30.
As the amount of VOC is only sufficient
to cover part of the fuel consumption
on the fully loaded voyage, the payback
time of the VOC utilisation system for
this example is as high as some 8.6
years, see Fig. 31. When demands to
limit VOC emissions are introduced,
extra investment costs will be necessary
for all vessels to comply with such lim-
its, which will reduce the payback time
for the VOC Fuel option.
This study is also sensitive to fuel oil
prices and investment cost, a fact that
is illustrated in Figs. 32 and 33, which
show that if, for instance, the fuel oil
price is 140 USD/t instead of 100 USD/t,
the payback time will decrease from
8.6 to 5.8 years, and if the investment
cost increases from 6.2 million USD to
8.2 million USD, the payback time will
increase from 8.6 to 12.0 years.
Summary
Environmental friendliness will be one
of the dominant development goals in
the years to come. By introducing the
VOC utilisation system developed by
Statoil and MAN B&W Diesel, using the
high-pressure gas-injection MC-GI en-
gine, adapted to burn the VOC, this
goal can be met for shuttle tankers
(and other crude oil tankers). The com-
bustion tests carried out on the research
engine confirm the feasibility of utilising
VOC as the main fuel for large marine
diesel engines with fuel redundancy and
a very high safety level.
In particular for shuttle tankers
equipped with large shaft generators,
the installation of the VOC utilisation
system will, at the same time, have a
very beneficial effect on the ships op-
erating costs. Thus, the reduced fuel
costs could relatively quickly pay back
the extra investment cost involved in
complying with environmental require-
ments.
However, the installation of the VOC
utilisation system may also be benefi-
cial for other crude oil tankers like
VLCCs, in particular when VOC emis-
sion requirements are introduced and,
at the very least, a VOC recovery sys-
tem will have to be installed. A further
advantage is that the utilisation of VOC
as fuel may replace the use of low-sul-
phur fuel in areas designated by IMO
as Special areas (requiring the use of
HFO with less than 1.5% sulphur).
Acknowledgements
The demonstration project is supported
financially by most oil companies in
Norway in a joint effort to achieve a
cleaner environment, and by the Euro-
pean Commission through its Thermie
development programme under contract
number OG/147/97/NO/DK. The
Norwegian shipowners Rasmussen
Maritime Services and Navion have
played a definite role in the development
project. Gas emission recordings and
analyses from a number of crude oil
carriers have been performed over sev-
eral years by the SINTEF-organisation
in Norway. This support is highly appre-
ciated.
References
[1] Per R. Larnholm: VOC Recovery
Tests Successfully Completed by KPS
and Statoil, SINTEF VOC Seminar,
Oslo, 1997.05.14
[2] Otto M. Martens: Control of VOC
Emission from Shuttle Tankers and
Floating Storage Systems,
SINTEF VOC Seminar,
Oslo, 1997.05.14
[3] Anders J. Steensen: Important
Crude Oil Research will Reduce Pollu-
tion Technology Review Weekly,
August 1996
[4] Large Diesel Engines using High
Pressure Gas Injection Technology.
MAN B&W Diesel A/S,
Copenhagen 1996,
Publication No. P.206-96.02
[5] Shuttle Tanker Propulsion.
MAN B&W Diesel A/S,
Copenhagen 1997,
Publication No. P.335-97.04
24
For the purpose of evaluating the econ-
omy of alternative projects, we use the
net present value method. This method
is preferred because, irrespective of
the payback time, it compares the total
gain after a certain number of years in
operation, and thus also incorporates
the investment costs.
Definition of Net Present Value (NPV)
The net present value method is used
in order to get an evaluation of the profit-
ability of investing an extra amount of in-
itial capital in an alternative project,
compared with the basic project.
It is assumed that the alternative project
necessitates an extra investment of Co
at the project start, and that this invest-
ment gives an annual saving on the fuel,
lubricating oil and maintenance cost bill
equal to S
o
, based on todays prices,
see the Figure.
To determine the annual savings ob-
tainable during the subsequent years
n, So must be corrected for inflation,
i.e. Sn = So (1+i)
n
, in which i is infla-
tion and n is the number of years after
the investment.
To put these savings in relation to Co,
S
n
must be calculated back into to-
days prices at the discount rate d,
assuming that the discount rate is
equal to the interest rate for financing
r, as normally done in the shipping
trade, i.e. Sn/(1+d)
n
= Sn/(1+r)
n
.
As d = r, the investment cost after n
years Cn = Co(1+r)
n
calculated back
to todays price level is still equal to Co.
For the alternative project , the NPVn
shows, compared with the basic project,
how much extra money you will have
in your pocket i.e. the accumulated
savings obtained by making the extra
investment in todays prices after n
years.
The result of the calculation for the al-
ternative project is shown as an NPV-
curve as a function of years after
investment. The intersection point
with the abscissa (basic project) is the
alternative projects real payback time,
compared with the basic project.
Definition of Net Present Value (NPV)
The net present value is then defined as:
NPV
n

'

n1
n
S
n
(1+d)
n

C
O

(1+r)
n
(1+d)
n

'

n1
n
S
O

1+i
1+r
_

,
n

C
O
Sn
Savings the nth year after
investment
Co
Extra investment at project
start
n
Number of years after
investment
i Rate of inflation
r Rate of interest for financing
d = r Discount rate
S
2
S
3
S
4
C
o
S /(1+d)
n
n
S
1
C /(1+d)
n
n
C = C x (1+r)
n o
n
S = S x (1+i)
n o
n
Appendix
Economy Model Used
25