Degassing and purging in marine & shipping: reducing
emissions and increasing sustainability
Shipping is a central component of international logistics, on the seas as well as in inland waterways. In this sensitive area, gases, fuels and chemical products place special demands on safety, environmental protection and health protection. Vessels transporting chemicals, fuels, LNG or other sensitive goods must be safely prepared prior to critical processes.
This also includes the complete removal of vapors and residual gases within the tanks. After all, flammable, toxic or environmentally harmful gases – such as VOCs (volatile organic compounds) or HAPs (hazardous air pollutants) – often remain in the tanks of ships. Only when tanks are completely gas-free, inspections, repairs, reloading or product changes can be carried out safely. The degassing of ships and tanks is important for the environmentally-friendly decomposition of residual gases and helps in reducing operational risks and preventing delays. Efficient degassing of ships also helps to fulfil international standards for safety and emissions. For many shipping companies and harbor operators, ship degassing has therefore become an indispensable part of sustainable shipping.
Efficient emission treatment for the shipping industry
Marine degassing solutions need to be flexible and efficient – especially in an industry where schedules are tight and interruptions to operations are costly. With our mobile vapor combustion units for degassing, we ensure that the systems are easy to transport and extremely flexible. As trailers or containers, the vapor combustion chambers can be transported quickly and can be applied directly where emissions need to be treated in shipping – in the port, at jetties or in the shipyard.
Our mobile vapor combustion units destroy gases, gas mixtures and vapors of explosion groups IIA, IIB and IIC with an efficiency of over 99.99 % – without open flame, odor or noise. In addition to the degassing of tanks of all types and ships, the combustion chambers can also be used for temporarily replacing stationary emission reduction systems such as vapor recovery units (VRU).
We also offer the purging of ships and vessels. Our mobile vaporizer with nitrogen storage tank can be used to inert tanks with nitrogen. As an inert gas, nitrogen does not take part in unwanted reactions such as oxidation, making it ideal as a medium for the safe handling of liquefied gases like LNG or ammonia. The nitrogen vaporizer can be used in combination with a vapor combustion unit or on its own.
Areas of application for degassing and purging in the marine & shipping sector
- Preparing ships for product change: Efficient changeover from one product to another is an essential process to maximize ship utilization. Residual gases from the previous cargo can ignite when coming into contact with the next cargo. Residual gases, VOC emissions and other hazardous gases from the previous cargo in the tank atmosphere must therefore be separated, treated and destroyed. Degassing the tanks eliminates flammable, toxic or environmentally harmful vapors and reduces the downtime of ships. Efficient and flexible degassing helps to ensure that product changes can be carried out smoothly and quickly and that all regulations are complied with.
- Preparing ships for maintenance and repair: Ships also need to be gas-free before they can be inspected, maintained or repaired – especially if welding work is involved. Once all tanks are gas-free, work on the vessel can begin safely.
- Support for loading and unloading procedures: Another area of application for our mobile vapor combustion units in the shipping industry is the temporary replacement of stationary VRUs. Instead of interrupting loading and unloading processes in ports during the downtime of the vapor recovery unit, an ETS combustion unit can take over the emission treatment task. This means that the loading and unloading of ships can continue without disruption even during a VRU downtime.
- Degassing and purging of LNG tanks: As LNG is becoming increasingly important as an alternative energy source and fuel, the handling of LNG tanks is also becoming more and more important. It goes without saying that LNG tanks must also be gas-free before product changeover, maintenance, cleaning or repair. Boil-off gases are a particular challenge when working with LNG: they arise because even a small amount of heat leads to vaporization of the cargo when LNG is stored close to its vaporization temperature. This happens particularly during unloading, but also partly during storage. As residual gases remain after LNG tanks have been emptied, they must be safely removed. You can find out more about the degassing and purging of LNG tanks in our blog post.
- LNG cool down: LNG is stored in a liquid state at a temperature of approximately -160 °C. It is therefore necessary to cool down LNG tanks before refueling. This also produces boil-off gases, which must be treated in a controlled manner. Otherwise, material stresses, cracks or malfunctions may occur – especially in the sensitive cryogenic components of LNG tanks. Our nitrogen vaporizers and combustion units are ideal for supporting LNG cool-downs. Find out more about our LNG cool down services here.
Practical insights into our applications in marine & shipping
In more than 3,000 applications of our technologies, we have of course also realized some applications in inland shipping and maritime shipping. Here, you can find a selection of degassing, purging and LNG cool down applications in the shipping industry:
- Degassing an LNG tanker in the Port of Amsterdam: After a ship loaded with LNG was severely damaged in a storm, it had to be repaired in the shipyard. To enable the repair works, we provided two mobile vapor combustion units for degassing the ship and making it entirely gas-free. After the repairs were completed, we degassed and purged the ship again to prepare it for refuelling with LNG.
- LNG cool down of a cruise ship in the Port of Rotterdam: After we were notified at short notice in the evening, a mobile vapor combustion unit, a mobile nitrogen vaporizer and additional equipment were already on-site in Rotterdam the following morning to carry out the LNG cool down of a large cruise ship. The process started around midday and was completed by night.
- Degassing of LNG fuel tanks: For another application in the Netherlands, we provided a mobile vapor combustion unit and a mobile nitrogen vaporizer to degas the LNG fuel tanks on board of a ship. After degassing, we also carried out the LNG cool down.
- Replacement during loading and unloading processes: During the downtime of a stationary vapor recovery unit in the Port of Amsterdam, we replaced the VRU with a mobile vapor combustion unit. Thus, it was possible to maintain operations with loading and unloading without interruption. During another VRU replacement in the Port of Amsterdam, our mobile combustion chambers took over the ships’ gases and carried out the breathing of the storage tanks. Another replacement application lasted several months – we stationed two units in the Port to take over and treat the vapors produced during ship loading.
- In the Port of Duisburg, we offer inland barges the permanent opportunity for degassing, purging and environmentally-friendly disposal of residual gases. Our station is permanently equipped with a vapor combustion unit and a nitrogen vaporizer. Learn more.
Find out more about our services for the marine & shipping sector.
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