Mitsubishi Shipbuilding has held a handover ceremony for a demonstration test ship to transport liquefied carbon dioxide (LCO2)
Excool will be used for the CCUS R&D and demonstration project on CO2 transport – a project conducted by Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).
Christening and Handover Ceremony
A christening and handover ceremony took place at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group’s Shimonoseki Shipyard & Machinery Works in Yamaguchi Prefecture, in the presence of the shipowner Sanyu Kisen Co and other associated parties.
Carbon capture and storage is seen as vital to combating climate change with a number of major shipping projects devoted to it. Because the sources of CO2 emissions are often located so far from the offshore sites selected for permanent sequestering, demand is expected to increase for LCO2 carriers able to transport such cargo safely and economically.
MHI Group said it has utilised its expertise and advanced gas handling technologies cultivated through the construction of both LPG and LNG carriers to handle the entire design and construction of the LCO2 test vessel, including the cargo containment system. Working with Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, the company secured an approval in principle from classification society ClassNK for an LCO2 carrier earlier this year.
Nippon Gas Line, which is jointly conducting the NEDO project, will charter Excool and collect and analyse operational data through CO2 transport demonstration tests.
In addition, Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd and Ochanomizu University will be commissioned by the Engineering Advancement Association of Japan, one of the consignees for the NEDO demonstration projects, as subcontractors to conduct safety assessments of LCO2 transport operations, along with research and development for the ship’s LCO2 pressure control and stability and will develop and demonstrate technologies for safe and low-cost CO2 transport.
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Source: MHI
