Successful VOC-emissions reduction test
Posted: 27 June 2005
Vela International Marine, Ltd., a direct subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, has announced that its experimental project with Venturie A/S to reduce volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from tanker ships was successfully tested on June 11 while the VLCC (very large crude carrier) Gemini Star was loading Arabian Light Crude at Saudi Aramco’s Ju’aymah loading terminal. The system was run during loading at rates as high as 80,000 bbls an hour with VOC emissions reduced by 47%. Jorn Heimsted, Pr esident of Venturie A/S, noted that, “This test proves the system has captured 100 tons of hydrocarbon vapor.”
The system works similarly to keeping the carbonation in a soda bottle. By slightly increasing the “vent pressure” from atmospheric (where it is when most tankers load) to1200 mm water gauge (the typical discharge pressure on a tanker) the VOC emissions are reduced by up to 50%. The gases that do escape from the cargo’s surface are then gathered in the ship’s inert gas system and recombined with the cargo liquid by reinjecting the vapor stream back into the cargo itself via Venturies’s “Absorption Unit.” The gases that are then vented are much reduced in VOC content. VOC concentration in the vented gas stream varies, depending on fluid agitation, temperature, the cargo’s vapor pressure and the back pressure created by the venting system, but the keys to the system are Venturies’s “ Absorption Tower ” and the “Auto-Back” vent pressure control system. Venturie and Vela are working toward elimination of VOC emissions during loading and transport. “Right now we can prove that the system entirely prevents any VOC emission during transport, and this test shows that we now know how to control the venting of VOC gases during loading,” said Heimsted.
The next step will be to use the system during the topping off phase. “The system worked beautifully,” Gemini Star Captain Stefano De Petris said. “However, this is brand new technology and it’s best to take things slowly whenever testing out something so new.”
“Vela is very proactive with new technologies, and I congratulate Venturie on their system and Captain De Petris on executing a successful test.” Vela’s Pr esident and CEO, Saleh B. K’aki, said. “We have test bed systems on two other VLCCs and will continue to develop this system with Venturie. What we needed was a robust system that can be used on board a ship as a matter of operational routine. To do this, a VOC capture system must be both user-friendly and cost-effective.”
Venturie estimates they will be able to offer the technology for use on VLCC-type tankers at a very low cost. The system is very simple to operate and already has type approval from the three major classification societies – the American Bureau of Shipping, Det Norski Vertas and Lloyds Register of Shipping. “I was amazed at how smoothly things went,” said Gemini Star Chief Officer Ing Malcom. “I was keeping a close eye on the tank pressures but the system worked just as it was designed.”
Concluded Pr esident K’aki, “This system protects both the environment and the product’s value. It is a clear example of Vela’s continuing commitment to being best-in-class.”
Posted by Editor Pipeline Magazine
Information supplied by companies
or PR agencies who are responsible for content. Send press releases
to info@pipelinedubai.com |
