Sustainability Analysis of an LNG Bunkering Protocol

International Maritime Organization's (IMO) 2020 regulation was aimed to force the maritime industry to replace heavy fuel oil with cleaner and sustainable bunkering fuels. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is a promising solution to achieving compliance with the established emission standards. However, its cryogenic nature demands new infrastructures and protocols for bunkering. Existing literature on LNG bunkering focuses primarily on protocols, standards, and safety. In this study, we present a comprehensive evaluation of the LNG bunkering procedure in the world's first national standard Technical Reference 56 (TR 56) using rigorous dynamic simulation. The bunkering time, material costs, and emissions for truck-to-ship and ship-to-ship bunkering are estimated. Bottom-filling operation is recommended for balancing the pressures of two tanks and managing boiler-off gas (BOG) efficiently, when a vapor return line is present. For leading maritime countries such as Norway, Hong Kong, and Singapore, purging and inerting the bunkering lines can impact emissions and material costs significantly.

Automated summary

IMO's 2020 regulation aims to replace heavy fuel oil with cleaner and sustainable bunkering fuels in the maritime industry. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is a promising solution for meeting emission standards, but requires new infrastructures and protocols for bunkering. This study evaluates LNG bunkering procedure using dynamic simulation, estimating bunkering time, costs, and emissions for different scenarios.