In recent years, the shipbuilding industry has been fiercely competitive in the field of LNG ships. Since the end of 2010, LNG ships have been ordering heat, and more than 50 orders have been placed on the market. Most of the orders have been taken over by Korean shipyards. Japanese shipyards are affected by the appreciation of the Japanese yen. In this round of ordering heat, almost no orders were received. As a result, some people in the Japanese shipbuilding industry screamed: South Korea has surpassed Japan in terms of LNG ships.
Propulsion equipment competition
For a long time, the main engine of the LNG ship mainly uses a steam turbine. In recent years, Korean shipyards have adopted dual fuel engines (DFDE). In the last round of custom-made heat, South Korean shipbuilding giants joined forces with Wärtsilä to accelerate the promotion and application of dual-fuel engines (DFDE). 40 of the LNG ships undertaken by South Korea installed DFDE, so the Korean market in 2010 The LNG ships that were completed in the future are mainly DFDE. It is estimated that by 2014, more than 80 LNG ships will be installed worldwide, accounting for about 20% of the current ships. However, because DFDE is a medium speed machine, several units need to be configured on one ship. This model is characterized by electric propulsion and the shaft cannot be directly connected to the propeller.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries currently has three LNG ship propulsion units: the UST Super Steam Turbine Plant, the Dual Fuel Engine (DFDE) and the Low Speed ​​Gas Diesel Engine (SSD-GI). Although each device has its own characteristics, the industry believes that the UST and SSD-GI models are the most economical in terms of shipping costs.
"Mitsubishi" believes that although the diesel generator itself is very energy efficient, the DFDE propulsion device generates various losses in the process of converting the power generated by the diesel engine into thrust. The energy efficiency of the propulsion unit in actual operation is basically the same as that of the UST super steam turbine. In addition, a set of DFDE units has four diesel engines, and the total number of cylinders is as high as 40 to 50. In order to operate normally, it is necessary to regularly inspect and exchange parts, thereby increasing the psychological burden on the crew. While the steam turbine requires certain skills and experience in operation, the maintenance of the equipment is simple and the maintenance cost is limited. Due to the high energy efficiency of the equipment, DFDE initially considered that the initial investment can be recovered within a few years. It is not so simple from the series of problems such as spare parts exchange and after-sales service.
Comparing DFDE with SSD-GI, these two propulsion devices have good fuel consumption and consume less fuel, so it is impossible to consume all of the boil-off gas as fuel. In order to process the remaining boil-off gas, the usual method is to either re-liquefy the boil-off gas or perform a combustion treatment, thus causing waste of energy. Therefore, in order to maximize the economic benefits of the high-performance device, it is necessary to control the amount of evaporation gas generated.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries has extensive experience in the development of steam turbines and has built 29 LNG vessels with steam turbines. The world's first "Kawasaki URA" reheatable steam turbine developed in 2007 has been used in Tokyo Gas/Japan Cruises for a 177,000 cubic meter spherical tank LNG ship completed in September 2011. According to reports, the LNG ship using the "Kawasaki URA" propulsion device has a fuel consumption of 15% less than that of a general steam turbine.
The "ME-GI" gas-fired low-speed diesel engine developed by Mitsui Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. is a high-efficiency two-stroke low-speed engine. The fuel used in this machine can be all gas or heavy oil, or it can be mixed with gas and heavy oil. The structure of the "ME-GI" engine is directly connected to the tail shaft so that the energy loss is small. The "ME-GI" engine is a new model developed on the basis of the technology of the "GIDE" (Gas Injection Diesel Engine) engine. It inherits the dual fuel function and also adopts electronic control to improve the engine. Environmental performance and work efficiency.
Mitsui used the ME-GI propulsion unit for a recently developed LNG ship called “Double Eco MAXâ€, which reduced fuel costs and CO2 emissions by 30% compared to the original steam turbine.
Ball tank cabin and film cabin competition
The LNG ship built by the Korean shipyard has a cargo tank type of film type. "Mitsubishi" and "Kawasaki" believe that compared with the film type cargo tank, the spherical tank type cargo compartment (MOSS type cargo compartment) has a lower construction cost than the membrane type because of the heat insulation layer on the outer wall of the spherical tank compartment, and the vaporized gas The amount of occurrence is smaller than that of the film type cargo tank, and the proportional control of the evaporation amount is also easier than that of the film type cargo tank. Therefore, the Japanese shipbuilding industry tends to adopt a combination of a cargo tank that optimizes the evaporation amount and a high-performance propulsion device.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries recently developed a 155,000-cubic-meter LNG ship called the tubular protective cover "EXTREM", which is a ship type that responds to the post-Panama Canal era. The biggest feature of the ship is that the outer periphery of the four ball tanks is covered by a long semi-circular cylindrical protective cover, which is integrated with the hull structure. In order to improve the cargo volume "Mitsubishi" to improve the tank tank, add a ring structure with a height of 1.5 meters in the middle of the tank, and make the tank tank in the same diameter (41.5 meters). The height reached 43 meters, which increased the cargo volume by 8,000 cubic meters. In addition, the new ship type can choose between 0.15% and 0.10% of the daily evaporation of LNG in the tank tank. The main engine uses a UST super steam turbine to reheat the steam to increase the efficiency of the heat. The new ship type has a 15% improvement in energy consumption compared to a typical steam turbine driven propulsion system, and the NOx emission control is below the IMO Level 3 standard.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries completed a 177,000 cubic meter spherical tank LNG ship completed in September 2011. The cargo tank has also been improved. The diameter is enlarged by 2.6 meters to 44 meters. The ship is equipped with 4 tank tanks. Maximize the loading volume. The cargo tank insulation system uses a plate insulation layer developed by Kawasaki, thereby controlling the daily amount of evaporation gas to 0.1%. The hull of the cargo area is double-shelled to protect the hull from damage.
In the prior art, the minimum value of the daily evaporation control of LNG in the tank tank is generally 0.1%, and Kawasaki Heavy Industries recently developed a new type of evaporation gas that can be controlled at 0.085% for a spherical tank. Plate insulation and insulation system, this technology has been patented. On this basis, “Kawasaki†is also developing an insulation and insulation system that further reduces the daily evaporation.
The Japanese shipbuilding industry believes that compared with the film type cargo hold, the MOSS type cargo hold has the advantages of high structural reliability and strong sag resistance of the cargo. In particular, after more than 20 years of age, the two types of cargo hold have very different maintenance costs. If you want to transform it into offshore natural gas storage and regasification equipment such as FSRU, MOSS cargo tanks will be more popular among users considering the sloshing resistance of the cargo liquid level.
Can Japanese domestic demand counterbalance the advantages of Korean companies?
After the earthquake in Japan triggered a nuclear accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, people tend to replace nuclear power with LNG. The advantage of the LNG thermal power station is that it has a small footprint, a large amount of power generation, and low loss during the transmission process. It should be built in an area close to the city. Although shale gas has been put into use in the US market, shale gas is also found in the inland areas of China. However, it is still too early to mass-produce shale gas in China. In the future, maritime transportation of imported energy will still be dominated by LNG. .
Japanese merchant ship Mitsui forecasts the future demand of the LNG ship market, and the demand for LNG ships will exceed 100 in the next 10 years. Mainly based on the following three aspects.
1. In the 10 years from 2011 to 2020, the global market demand for LNG will increase by 140 million tons. Among them, the demand in 2010 was 221 million tons, in 2011 it was 244 million tons, in 2014 it was 292 million tons, and in 2020 it was 384 million tons. Of course, the growth of demand for LNG also depends on the smooth operation of export projects in the gas source countries. Due to the limited number of newly established export projects between 2013 and 2015, the supply capacity of gas sources is slightly insufficient.
2. New export projects will be established after 2016. In addition to Australia, Qatar, Nigeria, Yemen and other countries, new gas exporting countries such as East Africa and the United States will be added. In particular, due to the large increase in shale gas production in the United States, the country's LNG is obviously surplus. Therefore, LNG produced in the United States will be exported in large quantities in the future, and its annual export volume is expected to reach 50 million tons.
3. The annual output of the newly established export projects between 2016 and 2020 will reach 73 million tons. According to the annual transportation capacity of a ship of 790,000 tons, 92 ships are required to complete the corresponding transportation tasks. Coupled with the scrapping factors of the existing fleet of older ships, the number of additional orders for LNG ships will reach 104 by 2020 (excluding the 55 orders made in 2011). In the six years from 2015 to 2020, the annual demand for the market is roughly 20, so shipbuilding companies will have many opportunities in the next few years.
In response to the current weak position of Japanese shipyards, Japan's three major shipbuilding groups have developed their own marketing guidelines, and are ready to use their own advantages to carry out active marketing activities.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries believes that the company's most economical and outstanding product is the newly developed tubular protective cover "EXTREM" LNG ship. The marketing strength should be based on the comprehensive strength of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries LNG ship technology and other shipyards.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries' product features are: the best combination of energy efficient propulsion unit and low evaporation cargo tank. The basic strategy of “Kawasaki†order marketing is to push products with 147,000 cubic meters, 155,000 cubic meters and 177,000 cubic meters, aiming at the national policy of “National National Manufacturing†in the LNG ship project. Nantong COSCO Kawasaki Ship Engineering Co., Ltd. Advantages, actively carry out marketing activities.
Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding's product range has a total length of 300 meters, tank capacity of 180,000 m3 MOSS LNG Carrier maximum level, as well as 147,000 cubic meters, 155,000 cubic meters of film type, tank-type LNG carriers. The newly developed "Double Eco MAX" LNG ship using the "ME-GI" propulsion device has been well received by overseas. Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding marketing strategy is: the Japanese market, aiming to build the ship's position in 2014 to start marketing. "Mitsui", said if given the chance, but also willing to participate and technological cooperation or partnership project countries.
Orders for the current advantages of Korean yards, the Japanese shipbuilding industry said that although in the current extraordinary appreciation of the yen, the won depreciated against situation, South Korean shipyards ahead of the orders, but demand for custom-made long-term development of 20 LNG carriers per year point of view, as long as the change in exchange rate movements, the Japanese shipyards fully capable of LNG carriers with comprehensive strength in terms of winning orders.
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