Green Technologies for Marine, Offshore, Oil & Gas Engineering

Background / Motivation

The initial GHG strategy envisages, in particular, a reduction in carbon intensity of international shipping (to reduce CO2 emissions per transport work, as an average across international shipping, by at least 40% by 2030, pursuing efforts towards 70% by 2050, compared to 2008); and that total annual GHG emissions from international shipping should be reduced by at least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008. In 2018, IMO committed to reduce CO2 emission. The roadmap of decarbonisation effort is outlined below.

Decarbonisation roadmap

Driven by global commitment to sustainability and environmental protection, IHPC aims to build upon strategic partnerships with partners (Public Agencies, Research Institutes (RI), Institutes of Higher Learning (IHL) and Industry) to advance green technologies for Marine, Offshore, Oil & Gas (MOOG) sector. 

Capabilities

IHPC’s MOOG Engineering focuses on:

Green Shipping

  • Green Shipping: Ballast Water Treatment System, Scrubber Tower
  • Innovative Offshore Structures Design: Energy Saving Device, Propeller Tip Vortex Persistence, Hull Form Optimisation, Shear Ram.

Clean Energy

  • Clean: LNG Gas Solutions, Ammonia, Hydrogen
  • Renewables: Tidal Turbine, Wave Energy Converter, Offshore Wind
Applications

Green Shipping (Ballast Water Treatment)

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is used to evaluate the scalability of the Semb-Eco LUV Ultraviolet (UV) Ballast Water Treatment System (BWTS) product series in terms of the Reduction Equivalent Dose (RED), a key performance parameter. The performance of base UV reactors has been verified following the IMO G8 guidelines. In addition, research and development on next generation cavitation/ultrasound (US) Ballast Water Management System is conducted. This BWTS does not require any chemical agent and it may eliminate the need for filters. 

IHPC’s modelling and simulation capabilities include:

  • Flow of water
  • UV radiation transportation
  • Cavitation
  • Compressibility
  • Turbulence
  • Micro-organism particle trajectories
  • Estimation UV dose
  • Prediction of Reduction Equivalent Dose (RED) 

Distribution of fluence rate
Distribution of fluence rate (top) & velocity (bottom)

RED simulations
Simulations correlate well with experiment in term of RED

Clean Energy (LNG Gas Solutions)

Asia dominates LNG market and Singapore is in a strategic position to tap on these opportunities. Singapore is LNG bunkering ready and pushing LNG as shipping’s fuel for the next decades, readying a swathe of incentives for shipping companies that decide to use gas instead of classic marine fuel. The Maritime Port Authority (MPA) of Singapore expects the first of its two LNG bunker tankers to facilitate ship-to-ship LNG bunkering for ocean going vessels from the second half of 2020 onwards. 

To enhance further wide adoption of LNG gas as cleaner solution, regulatory framework and acceptable safety protocols are required. One of the key challenges is that the current regulation for LNG bunkering procedure is conservative. Existing commercial simulators are not ideal to simulate LNG bunkering leakage in complex geometries. 

IHPC’s modelling and simulation capabilities include:
  • Gas dispersion model for simulations of LNG leaks as a high fidelity CFD-based quantitative risk assessment (Fig 1). The tool is capable of considering transient effects of a typical jet release, complex geometries and gas dispersion physics.

Gas dispersion model
Fig 1. Enclosure helps to block plume from spreading upwards and dispersed by the wind,
thus reducing the cloud size 

Collaboration Opportunities 

Leverage the span of technical expertise at IHPC for technology advancement to help your business move up the value chain. 

We welcome interested party to collaborate in research and development relating to Green Technologies for Marine, Offshore, Oil & Gas (MOOG) Engineering. Please feel free to explore in the areas focused at IHPC’s MOOG Engineering or any new technology area related to Green Shipping and Clean Energy.


For more info or collaboration opportunities, please write to enquiry@ihpc.a-star.edu.sg