Hamworthy Combustion, the leading international designer and manufacturer of combustion burners, is set to launch a new Gas Combustion Unit, called the AMOxsafe, into the marine sector.

AMOxsafe has been designed specifically to address the safety and environmental issues associated with burning off boil-off gas that cannot be re-liquefied in transit on diesel and dual-fuel Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carriers.
Separately, Hamworthy Combustion has confirmed recent reports that it is conducting a strategic review for the next stage of its development to double its size to a £100 million business, which  may result in a sale or flotation of the business for additional funds for growth.
Historically LNG has been shipped by carriers powered by steam turbines using boil-off gas from the LNG cargo as fuel.  This boil-off gas was perceived as “free” because it would otherwise have been vented into the atmosphere and lost.  However, improvements in re-liquefication technology, together with the increasing value of LNG, means that it is financially attractive to recover as much boil-off gas as possible, thereby achieving less cargo wastage.
In addition, many carriers have switched to more efficient and economical propulsion systems, such as diesel or dual-fuel engines, but this presents a new safety problem in that the absence of boilers means there is no longer a means for disposing of boil-off gas that cannot be re-liquefied.  Environmental and safety regulations no longer permit the boil-off gas to be vented into the atmosphere unless the ship is in danger, so new alternatives are required.
On land-based facilities, the solution is the use of a flare burner, but for obvious reasons a huge and highly visible flame, mounted onto an LNG carrier would be both alarming and potentially extremely dangerous for the crew, the ship and anyone in the vicinity.
“With the introduction of AMOxsafe, HCE has developed a safe and environmentally friendly incineration process for dealing with boil-off gas in the event of a failure of the re-liquefication plant,” said a spokesman.  “Moreover, because it is based on a more compact design and lighter all-metal construction, it offers a more cost-effective through-life solution than existing refractory lined systems.”
With market forecasts indicating that around 10 LNG carriers will be built per annum over the next decade, Hamworthy Combustion is aiming to take a major position in this safety critical market.  Supporting AMOxsafe’s launch, the company is investing over half a million pounds on building a full-cale test facility at its World Technology Centre in Poole on the south coast of England.  This facility will be the first of its kind in the world and will allow on-site demonstrations and training for ship owners.
Commenting on the launch of AMOxsafe, Alan Barlow, chief executive of Hamworthy Combustion Engineering, said: “Whilst LNG has been carried by sea for more than 40 years, the new economics of its transportation have created new commercial, safety and environmental challenges.  With 90 years of engineering innovation behind us, we have been able to come up with a market-leading solution to this problem.  This is just one more example of how changes in safety, environment and efficiency are driving our business.”