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MAN Diesel and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. (DSME) have signed an agreement, effective immediately, to jointly develop and exploit the adaptation of DSME’s high-pressure cryogenic gas-supply system for installation with MAN B&W ME-GIengines [pictured].

The ME-GI engine is a gas-injection, dual-fuel, low-speed diesel engine that, when acting as main propulsion in LNG carriers or any other type of merchant marine vessel, can burn any ratio of fuel oil and gas, depending on the energy source available on board and dictated by relative cost and owner preference.

While LNG carriers carry a gas cargo, the potential for carrying gas aboard other vessel types is currently subject to a parallel development, for which a cryogenic gas fuel-supply system can be used.

MAN Diesel has decided to make a full-scale demonstration and performance verification test of the GI principle for all kinds of marine applications on its 4T50ME-X R+D test engine, which will be rebuilt as a 4T50ME-GI engine ready to operate on natural gas by end-2010.

The agreement covers the terms for jointly deciding a time schedule for developing and installing DSME’s cryogenic, high-pressure gas-supply system on the test engine at MAN Diesel’s test facility in Copenhagen. The gas-supply system will subsequently be developed for general use on MAN B&W ME-GI engines, and will ultimately be adopted as an integral part of the engine’s gas fuel-supply system for such applications where a cryogenic gas-supply system is applicable.

DSME is a world-renowned shipbuilder and designer and manufacturer of gas-supply systems with extensive experience in their manufacture, application and installation. YoungMan Lee, Senior Executive Vice President & Member of the Board of Directors of DSME, signed the agreement on behalf of DSME at the ceremony while Ole Grøne, Senior Vice President MAN Diesel Low-Speed Promotion and Sales, and Søren H. Jensen, Vice President and Head of Research & Development, Marine Low-Speed, signed for MAN Diesel.

At the ceremony, Grøne said: “This is a significant step in the development of the ME-GI engine and pertaining systems, which I expect to have a major impact on the market in the future. Indeed, there is already huge industry interest in this kind of technology as operators look to control costs and emissions. We see many new opportunities for the ME-GI’s increased flexibility and greater control within the LNG sector but also, and not least, generally within marine transportation.”

YoungMan Lee added: “The ME-GI engine combined with DSME’s high-pressure gas system will be a milestone in ship-propulsion systems. In applying the ME-GI engine and our supply system, operators will achieve significant economic benefits while simultaneously benefitting the environment. For instance, applying the ME-GI engine and DSME system to a 14,000-TEU containership could potentially reduce annual operation costs by USD 12 million or greater, based on current gas and oil prices. Moreover, SOx, NOx (with EGR or DeNox) and CO2 emissions would also be reduced at the same time.”