A Prospective Study On The Propulsion System Of LNG Ship

This paper is based on the background that type of ship's propulsion system has to be selected and thus analyzed, which is required by the first LNG project of our country: Guangdong LNG project. Transportation of LNG by ship is a new comer in our country. Advanced technology from other country should be used for reference for the building and management of LNG ship due to the fact that we have no experience on the building and managing LNG ship. Thus thorough research and analysis on the every systems of LNG ship, including the main propulsion system, is needed.Firstly, the definition of LNG, the future requirement of LNG in our country and the import are introduced as well as the history and development of LNG transportation by ship, including the introduction of cargo hold and main propulsion system during ship building. Then conclusion is that the diversity of main propulsion system is the trend of development for LNG ship.Secondly, research on propulsion system of LNG ship is carried out. Analysis and comparison among the possible propulsion systems is conducted on the aspect of the characteristics of LNG transportation. By analyzing and comparing the advantages and disadvantages among various propulsion systems such as gas propulsion system, diesel engine propulsion system and electricity power propulsion, we draw the conclusion that it is a trend to choose double-fuel electricity power propulsion system as the main propulsion system for LNG ship in the future.Thirdly, the paper focused on researching double-fuel electricity power propulsion system. Analysis and comparison on aspects of economic, efficiency, safety, environmental protection, fuel and maintenance with traditional propulsion system are conducted. And the conclusion is that the double-fuel electricity power propulsion system has advantages on many aspects. In the following, the fundamental and application of the system is described.In the end, type of traditional steam turbine propulsion is recommended by the ship-building group due to the following considerations: the current level of ship-building of our country, the statistics research result, the success of the project, reducing the uncertainty as much as possible and controlling the risks of the project,together with the consideration of Guangdong Project. Therefore, the management and maneuvering is introduced as well as the material of the first LNG ship of our country.