Burckhardt Compression’s Laby-GI Compressor type LP250 oil-free reciprocating high-pressure fuel gas compressor has reached 10,000 hours of continuous operation. The compressor system, installed on a 174,000 cbm liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier, is able to compress gas to 300 bar in a large, ring-sealed compressor system, without cylinder lubrication.
Burckhardt Compression’s Laby-GI fuel gas compressor systems play an important role on LNG carriers. As the liquified natural gas warms up during storage and transportation, the evaporated boil-off gas must be economically managed by either using it as fuel or re-liquefying it. Both, dual-fuel engines as well as re-liquefaction plants, require a certain operation pressure, ranging up to 300 bar.
Burckhardt Compression’s LNG solutions have been specifically designed to handle gases at low temperature and high pressure while meeting the requirements for operation at sea. The 5-stage fuel gas compressor system is designed to manage the vessel’s boil-off gas with a flow of up to 4700 kg/h.
According to Burckhardt Compression, dry-running sealing technology saves significant expenditures for cylinder lubrication and filter maintenance. The performance of the high-pressure reliquefaction system is improved due to the absence of fouling caused by small traces of residual oil carried within the gas. The oil-free gas compression removes the need for oil separation and gas filtration technology and guarantees the cleanliness of the heat exchanger in the high-pressure reliquefaction system, the company said.
The Laby-GI Compressor combines cryogenic, low-pressure labyrinth piston design and ring-sealed high-pressure technology on a single compressor frame. This allows simultaneous fuel gas supply to low-pressure 4-stroke auxiliary engines and high-pressure gas supply to the 2-stroke main engines and a dedicated high-pressure re-liquefaction system.
