Wärtsilä reliquefaction tech picked for Knutsen LNG pair

The Finnish technology group Wärtsilä has been contracted to supply its reliquefaction plant for Knutsen’s LNG carrier pair.

The ships are to be built at the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in South Korea.

The order, which includes an option for an additional two vessels, was placed in November 2020, Wärtsilä said in its statement on Wednesday.

The recently introduced Compact Reliq solution is based on the proven reversed nitrogen Brayton cycle refrigeration technology. The solution is designed to reliquefy the boil-off gas (BOG) from gas carriers and LNG bunker vessels, and for keeping the cargo cool under all operating conditions.

It also allows a portion of the BOG to be used as fuel for the ship’s engines, with the excess able to be sold as part of the LNG cargo.

The system will be instrumented for remote monitoring and online operational support as part of Wärtsilä’s Operational Performance Improvement and Monitoring (OPERIM) program.

The equipment is scheduled to be delivered to the yard commencing in February 2022, and the vessels are expected to begin commercial operations from late 2022.

Wärtsilä has earlier supplied Knutsen OAS Shipping with earlier generation reliquefaction plants for six of the company’s vessels.