At the Nor-Shipping trade fair yesterday, class society DNV presented Knutsen NYK Carbon Carriers (KNCC) with an approval in principle (AiP) for its new high pressure liquid CO2 tank system, potentially unleashing a far larger carrying capacity for the nascent CO2 trades.
KNCC is a new joint venture company established by the Knutsen Group and Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) to provide CO2 transportation and storage solutions.
“Ship transport of CO2 for commercial use is currently carried out via small ships at medium pressure. For the expansion of the carbon capture and storage value chain larger ships will be required to maximise transportation efficiency,” DNV explained in a release.
The KNCC new concept aims to tackle the scaling challenge by transporting liquefied CO2 at high pressure in the range of 35 to 45 bar and temperatures in the range of 0-10°C.
“By focusing on the transport of liquefied CO2 under high pressure at roughly ambient temperatures, the PCO2 concept looks to significantly scale potential transport volumes compared to existing solutions. In addition, the concept aims to maintain a relatively uniform product across the LCO2 transport chain, in terms of pressure, temperature and state, from capture through transport, to offshore injection,” DNV explained.
The concept is based on a cylinder type CO2 containment system applying principles used in compressed natural gas (CNG) transportation. The CO2 is stored in bundles of vertically stacked small-diameter pressure cylinders, rather than large cylindrical tanks.
Anders Lepsøe, CEO of KNCC, said his company was now prepared to take the next step with the new technology into this emerging shipping segment with newbuild orders on the cards.
