| Author |
Wieczorek, Agnieszka |
| Affiliation |
Gdynia Maritime University
81/87 Morska St., 81-225 Gdynia, Poland |
| E-mail |
wieczorek_agnieszka@wp.pl |
| Author |
Nanowski, Dariusz |
| Affiliation |
Navigator Gas
15 Wendy St., 81-341 Gdynia, Poland |
| E-mail |
dariusz.nanowski@navigatorgas.com |
| ISSN printed |
1733-8670 |
| URI |
https://repository.am.szczecin.pl/handle/123456789/2594 |
| Abstract |
Ethylene is one of the basic raw materials of the petrochemical industry that is used to produce plastics. One
of the largest producers of this compound is the USA, and a substantial increase in the demand for ethylene
has also been recently observed in the Middle East, the Far East, and China. This requires the transport of this
cargo by sea. Ethylene carriers are a type of LPG ships and are equipped with a cascade cycle that uses propylene
or refrigerant R404A as a coolant medium. These vessels have been designed to withstand the minimum
temperature of ethylene of –104°C for fully-cooled cargo. A mixture of ethylene and air (from concentrations
of 2.75–2.6%) becomes explosive during heating under elevated pressures. Hence, it is necessary to form an
inert atmosphere in the tanks using mostly nitrogen before the ethylene cargo is loaded. The process of aerating,
inerting, gassing-up, and cooling cargo tanks and cargo is constantly repeated during the operation of
LPG carriers. Due to the large amounts of ethylene lost during gassing-up, which results in significant financial
losses and disruptions in cargo compressors during the cooling of the tanks and cargo, this operation is the
most problematic of all. In this article, a solution is proposed for performing the gassing-up procedure which
prevents excessive ethylene loss. |
| Pages |
136-140 |
| Publisher |
Scientific Journals Maritime University of Szczecin, Zeszyty Naukowe Akademia Morska w Szczecinie |
| Keywords |
LPG carrier |
| Keywords |
ethylene |
| Keywords |
Nitrogen |
| Keywords |
gassing-up |
| Keywords |
gas mixing |
| Keywords |
gas composition |
| Title |
An experimental gassing-up operation on an ethylene carrier
using two cascades with two tanks each |
| References |
- McGuire and White (2000) Liquefied Gas Handling Principles on Ships and in Terminals. 3th Edition. London: Witherby & Co Ltd.
- Nanowski, D. (2016) The influence of incondensible gases on the refrigeration capacity of the reliquefaction plant during ethylene carriage by sea. Journal of KONES 23, 3, pp. 359–364.
- NGC (2002) Transportation of Condensed Gases by Sea, Correspondence Course. NGC Norwegian Gas Carriers, Norway.
- PRS (2001) Międzynarodowy Kodeks Budowy i Wyposażenia Statków Przewożących Skroplone Gazy Luzem. Gdańsk: Polski Rejestr Statków.
- SIGTTO (2016) Liquefied Gas Handling Principles on Ships and in Terminals (LGHP4). 4th Edition. London: Witherby Publishing Group Ltd.
- Wieczorek, A. (2017) The problem of insufficiently optimal gassing-up operation carrying after tanks inerting with reference to ethylene carriers, Zeszyty Naukowe Akademii Morskiej w Gdyni, Scientific Journal of Gdynia Maritime University 100, pp. 179–186.
- Wieczorek, A. (2018) Alternative solutions of optimalisation the gassing-up operation after tanks inerting of pressure swing adsorption (PSA) and membrane techniques. Zeszyty Naukowe Akademii Morskiej w Gdyni, Scientific Journal of Gdynia Maritime University 105, pp. 136–144.
- Wieczorek, A. & Giernalczyk, M. (2018) Optimization of gassing-up operation based on comparative analysis of two twin ethylene carriers. Journal of KONES 25, 1, pp. 441–446, 2018.
- Włodarski, J.K. (Ed.) (1993) Bezpieczeństwo Transportu Gazów Skroplonych Na Zbiornikowcach. Poradnik dla oficerów statków morskich. Gdynia: Studium Doskonalenia Kadr S.C Wyższej Szkoły Morskiej.
|
| ISSN on-line |
2392-0378 |
| Language |
English |
| Funding |
No data |
| Figures |
2 |
| Tables |
2 |
| DOI |
10.17402/409 |
| Published |
2020-03-31 |
| Accepted |
2020-03-09 |
| Recieved |
2020-02-04 |