Membrane Technology News

GTT announced the signing of a Joint Development Project (JDP) with the shipyard HD Hyundai Heavy Industries focused on a 102,000 m³ Very Large Ethane Carrier (VLEC) featuring GTT’s Mark III Slim membrane containment system. This new project paces the way towards an optimized membrane-tank integration to enhance hull design and vessel’s overall performance.GTT’s Mark III Slim technology, an ethane-optimized cargo containment system, offers a more compact design, based on a thinner membrane, simplified anchoring arrangements and lighter panels and caissons.

Robert Gordon University (RGU) and McAlpha have developed an advanced Catalytic Membrane Reactor (CMR) technology, poised to change ammonia production. Ammonia production currently accounts for nearly 2% of global CO₂ emissions, producing approximately 450 million tons of CO₂ annually—more than the aviation industry. Traditional methods are energy-intensive and environmentally damaging. The CMR technology, developed in collaboration between RGU’s School of Computing, Engineering and Technology and McAlpha Inc.…

French engineering firm Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT), COSCO Shipping LNG Investment (Shanghai) (CSLNG), and COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry (CHI) have signed a strategic cooperation agreement for multi-gas vessels development.The three parties have agreed to carry out an in-depth partnership in the fields of LNG Carriers (LNGCs), Ultra Large ethane carriers (ULECs), Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLECs), Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNGs), as well as LNG and ammonia as fuel solutions for Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs).Additionally…

GTT, COSCO Shipping LNG Investment (Shanghai) and COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry have signed a strategic cooperation agreement for the construction of LNG carriers.The three parties have agreed to carry out an in-depth partnership in the fields of LNG carriers, ultra large ethane carriers (ULECs), very large ethane carriers (VLECs), floating liquefied natural gas (FLNGs), as well as LNG and ammonia as fuel solutions for very large crude carriers (VLCCs).The agreement aims to foster…

French engineering firm GTT has received two orders from its Korean partner HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (HD KSOE) to design the cryogenic fuel tanks for 12 new LNG-fueled container vessels on behalf of CMA CGM.Under these new orders, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and HD Hyundai Samho (HSHI) will each build six container ships.Each ship will offer a capacity of 15,500 TEU and integrate LNG tanks with a total volume of 12,700 m³.These tanks will incorporate…

GTT and Deltamarin have obtained an approval in principle (AIP) from Lloyd's Register for their design of a dual-fuel very large crude carrier (VLCC), which incorporates a 12,500m3 liquefied natural gas (LNG) tank equipped with GTT's Mark III Flex membrane technology.The concept developed by GTT aims at maximizing vessel autonomy thanks to a large-capacity tank, giving shipowners and charterers the benefit of longer trade navigation with a single refueling operation, without any…

ABS, Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT) and DHT Holdings, Inc. signed a joint development project (JDP) to optimize a new, very large crude carrier (VLCC) with liquified natural gas (LNG) propulsion that meets Class and statutory requirements.The dual fuel vessel is intended to provide flexibility for operations and to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.The agreement—signed at the Gastech 2023 conference in Singapore—will see ABS, GTT and DHT focus on optimizing the VLCC design…

GTT, a France-based engineering firm, has secured orders to design tanks for six new LNG carriers to be built in South Korea.Four LNG carriers will be built by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and two will be built by Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries.HHI will build two LNG Carriers for an unnamed Asian shipowner and two for an unnamed European ship-owner. HSHI will construct LNG carrier duo for a European ship-owner.GTT will design the tanks of the vessels which will offer a cargo capacity 174…

French engineering company GTT has won orders from South Korean shipyards Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries (HSHI) and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) to design tanks for two new LNG carriers.GTT will design the tanks of the vessels which will each offer a cargo capacity of 174,000 m3. The company did not share any info on the value of the order.The LNG carrier built by HSHI, for an unnamed "Liberia ship-owner," will be fitted with the Mark III Flex membrane technology and the LNG Carrier built by DSME…

French firm GTT has secured an order from the South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) to design fuel tanks for five very large LNG-fuelled container vessels, to be built by SHI for the containership giant Seaspan.The vessels, to be chartered by Israeli firm ZIM, will be able to carry 15,000 containers each. The fuel tank of each vessel will offer a capacity of 12,000 m3 and will be fitted with the Mark III membrane containment system. These tanks will include features…

French engineering firm GTT and Chinese ship designer SDARI have received approval in principle (AIP) from classification society DNV for a new technical solution applied to liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled Newcastlemax bulk carriers.GTT said it designed the vessel's membrane tank up to the supporting steel wall and its integration into the vessel was studied by SDARI. The AIP confirms that the membrane fuel tank solution complies with safety regulations and is technically feasible…

The BioBarrier MarineMBR series of Type II sewage treatment plant (STP) from marine sewage and water treatment specialist Scienco/FAST is engineered to help meet the increasingly stringent needs of U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and International Maritime Organization (IMO) water quality standards and is ideal for water reuse applications, its manufacturer says.With its decades-long history providing adaptable and proven marine sewage devices, environmentally-friendly cleaners and other industrial water management technologies…

Gas Entec, a unit of Atlantic Gulf & Pacific Company (AG&P), has secured a contract from Sembcorp Marine Integrated Yard (Sembcorp Marine).Under the contract, Gas Entec will provide the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the cargo handling system for a 12,000 cubic meter LNG bunker vessel owned by Indah Singa Maritime, a subsidiary of Mitsui OSK Lines, operating out of Singapore.Gas Entec claimed that it is the world-standard in engineering for small- and mid-scale LNG infrastructure and other applications with specific expertise in cargo containment, handling and fuel gas supply systems for floating LNG terminals, bunker…

Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT), a company specialised in the design of membrane containment systems for maritime transportation and storage of liquefied gas, said its business activity was marked by a number of successes during the first nine months of 2019, particularly in the field of LNG carriers.In addition to the 26 orders for LNG carriers booked during the first half of the year, there were an additional 14 bookings in the third quarter of 2019, i.e. a total of 40 LNG carrier orders during the first nine months of 2019.GTT's core business activity is, therefore, at a particularly high level. All of the carriers will be equipped with GTT's recent technologies (Mark III Flex+, Mark III Flex and NO96 GW).

French liquefied natural gas containment system specialist Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT) has received an order notification for the tank design of six very large ethane carriers (VLEC).According to the engineering company its membrane technology has been chosen for the tank design which will be built by the Korean shipyards Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) on behalf of Chinese based Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical.The delivery of the vessels is scheduled from Q4 2020 onwards.GTT’s Mark III membrane containment system has been chosen for the design of the tanks.The design has been optimized in order to significantly increase the capacity within the standard VLGCs1 overall dimensions…

GTT concluded a contract with the Norwegian shipyard, VARD, for the supply of the LNG tanks to expedition ship, PONANT Icebreaker. This ship, whose delivery is planned for 2021, will be the first electric hybrid cruise ice-breaker with LNG propulsion. It will be operated by PONANT, a luxury polar expedition cruise line. Designed for LNG fuel specifications, these tanks will be equipped with GTT's Mark III membrane technology. The Group will conduct the construction of the tanks.

Langh Tech’s new generation of water treatment systems has been launched with upgraded membrane technology to increase water cleaning capacity. In 2017, Langh Tech launched a second generation of water treatment systems based on a new type of membrane filter elements. With the new elements, Langh Tech said a 50 percent increase in water cleaning capacity can be reached compared to the previous elements, without increasing the size of the water treatment units. The new membrane elements has been tested onboard Langh Ship’s M/S Marjatta from the first half of 2017…

The maritime industry has taken a step closer toward ballast free shipping with the award of a new approval in principle (AiP) at Marintec China on Tuesday. GTT and Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co. Ltd (DSIC) received AiP from Lloyd’s Register (LR) for their ballast-free shipping solution, a 30,000m³ B-FREE liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier design, which the developers say could combine environmentally-friendly features, increased efficiency and lower build and operating costs. “While we are still in the initial stage of the project and the design is subject to ongoing change, the initial results are indicating that we will meet our goal of having a ballast-free ship that is equal to, or better than existing conventional designs,” said Ma Yingbin, Vice Chief Engineer, DSIC.

GTT said it has received an order from Hyundai Heavy Industries to equip a new LNG carrier with its Mark III Flex containment system.   Hyundai's shipyard based in Ulsan, South Korea will build the vessel of 180,000 m3 on behalf of the Norwegian shipping company NORSPAN LNG XI AS (Knutsen). Delivery is scheduled in 2019.    Knutsen is a longstanding owner of LNG carriers equipped with membrane technology, with 10 vessels of this type.   GTT records the first LNG carrier order of the year. With its Mark III Flex containment system, GTT said it provides efficient insulation solution able to reduce the daily guaranteed boil-off gas rate to 0.085 percent of tank volume. The Mark and NO ranges have been designed to meet all the transport and storage requirements of liquefied gases.

GTT said it has received an order from Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) to equip a new Floating Liquefied Natural Gas unit (FLNG), reportedly the second biggest in the world.   The new FLNG, with a capacity of 238,700 m3, will integrate eight LNG tanks equipped with the Mark III membrane containment system. The unit will be built at SHI Shipyard, based in South Korea, on behalf of the Oil and Gas company ENI (Eni East Africa SpA) and its delivery is scheduled in 2021. This FLNG will be operated off the cost of Mozambique.   In addition to this new order, the GTT membrane technology has been selected to equip the three FLNGs already ordered in the world. These units are being equipped with the NO96 system as well as the Mark III system.

GTT's Houston-based US subsidiary, GTT North America (GTT NA), has signed a license agreement with the American engineering company Matrix PDM Engineering. The agreement was signed at the Matrix Service Company headquarters in Tulsa, OK, in the presence of John Hewitt – Matrix Service Company CEO, Joe Montalbano – Matrix Service Company COO and Matrix PDM Engineering President; and Aziz Bamik – General Manager, GTT NA. The license grants Matrix PDM Engineering the right to implement GTT’s patents to construct onshore storage tanks for LNG (liquefied natural gas), LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) and other liquefied gases through affiliated Matrix construction companies.

In a ceremony held in Geoje (South Korea), Indian's largest private sector company Reliance Industries Limited (Reliance) inaugurated its very first two VLEC (Very Large Ethane Carrier), in the presence of the shipyard Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and other key partners of the project. These vessels, Ethane Crystal and Ethane Emerald, are the world's first ethane carriers to feature GTT's membrane technology. They are the first of a series of six vessels, ordered by Reliance in 2014, which will be fitted with GTT's membrane containment systems. With a capacity of 87,000 m³, these two vessels are the largest VLEC ever built to date. They will be used to transport liquid ethane from the United States to India.

Envirocleanse LLC recently submitted a Letter of Intent to the U.S. Coast Guard and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) indicating that the company will apply for Type Approval of its patented Envirocleanse inTank ballast water treatment system (BWTS). Envirocleanse, a division of Charter Brokerage, a BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY company, produces a BWTS called inTank, which combines a proprietary membrane technology for the production of the nontoxic, noncorrosive biocide hypochlorous acid (HOCl) with the U.S. Geological Survey patented “nozzle system” for dispersion in the ballast tanks. Seattle based marine consultancy, Glosten, is a strategic partner in this endeavor, holding the patent rights to the nozzle system and providing engineering expertise.