MAN B&W Diesel is closely cooperating with major Korean shipyards, Samsung, Daewoo and Hyundai on use of ME-GI engines for LNG carriers. Work is now being finalised on the Hazid/Hazop safety study for the entire gas supply system from LNG tanks including vapourizer gas compressors and oxidizers, as well as internal gas system on the electronically controlled ME-GI dual fuel low-speed MAN B&W Diesel engines.

Det Norske Veritas (DNV), which is considered one of the most experienced classification societies in relation to handling of LNG, chaired the first Hazid/Hazop meeting in June. This meeting was held in connection with the total gas supply system and was initiated by Hyundai.

Apart from DNV, there were representatives from Hyundai, MAN B&W Diesel, and a compressor supplier, Burkhardt Compression AG, were at the meeting.

The high-pressure gas injection concept for the engine itself has already been evaluated and accepted by major classification societies. A mechanically controlled MC-GI engine has been working for several years as a power plant in Japan, confirming gas burning ability and performance.

The further progress in the study is the final evaluation and acceptance of the gas supply system which will be finalised this autumn.
As previously announced, MAN B&W Diesel already have 16 low speed engines on the reference list for LNG carriers for the Qatar project. These are HFO burning engines with reliquefaction to return the boil-off gas to the gas storage tank.

The introduction of the fully approved gas supply system, for operation with the ME-GI gas engine, gives two low-speed alternatives both with high reliability, availability and efficiency. Compared to other prime-mover solutions on the market both alternatives offer very competitive solutions in terms of pricing.