Plant Design News

A race is being run by nuclear scientists and ship designers. The prize? “Decarbonization’s” holy grail — believed to be a “small” thorium-fueled, molten-salt rector’s unlimited power to propel sea trade. At the same time, a recently revived discussion among leading marine-nuclear thinkers revolves now around how to put an ultra-modern, as-yet non-existent marine reactor aboard a modern commercial vessel. As with nuclear power generally, shipborne reactors produce national discussion first, then discovery.

As the world increasingly searches for a means to reduced carbon footprint, compact floating nuclear power plants are emerging as a serios contender. To this end, Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and Seaborg signed a partnership agreement to develop floating nuclear power plants based on Seaborg's Compact Molten Salt Reactor (CMSR). The agreement includes development of hydrogen production plants and ammonia plants, able to manufactured in serial production for deployment globally."CMSR…

Rolls-Royce signed an agreement to sell the Bergen Engines medium speed gas and diesel engines business to TMH International, the international branch of TMH Group, for net proceeds of approximately $180 million.TMH Group, based in Russia, is an engineering company in rail transport technologies and the world’s fourth largest supplier of rail rolling stock. It offers a range of products and services including medium-speed engines for rail applications with current production of more than 850 engines a year.

North America is increasingly adopting energy storage systems (ESS) to use in combination with combustion engines or as the sole energy carrier in fully electric-powered systems.We clearly see a transition from ‘consideration’ to ‘execution’ of hybrid and all-electric maritime projects. Stakeholders want to explore how to make vessels more energy efficient and less polluting. Corvus Energy has deployed over half of the ESSs aboard vessels globally, totaling over 300 megawatt hours (MWh).In North America, Corvus has deployed 24 MWh of energy storage capacity, and there are 13 vessels under U.S.

Today’s desalination plants are rugged, durable and highly automated to meet the demands of operators and the crew, enabling them to meet schedule and mission with ample potable water production.In the days of old, marine distilling plants – then mostly steam – relied on archaic flash evaporators, which used steam to heat, power an air ejector, and ultimately create a vacuum whereby seawater would flash or boil and ultimately be distilled. The process would often occur over two stages and what did not flash would be pumped overboard as brine. Times have changed.

Lockdowns to slow the coronavirus pandemic are pummelling gas demand in the world's biggest buyers of liquefied natural gas (LNG), pushing Asia's spot prices to record lows and forcing some suppliers to start cutting output. Economies worldwide have ground to a halt as virus containment measures have taken their toll, slashing gas demand for power generation, heating, cooking, vehicles and chemical manufacture. The world's biggest LNG markets - Japan, China, South Korea, and India - are all seeing a drop in demand. Asia's spot LNG prices dropped to $1.85 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) last week, the lowest ever, as cargoes have flooded the market. "At prices in the $2/mmBtu range ... some producers are getting close to not recovering cash costs of their operations.

Italian shipbuilding company has been awarded an order worth almost 100 million euros (about 111 million U.S. dollars) to provide high-profile equipment as part of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project to build a nuclear fusion reactor.The ITER Project is a multinational collaboration aimed at building an experimental hydrogen fusion reactor, first of its kind, and acknowledged as one of the most ambitious initiatives in the world in the field of sustainable energy.A temporary consortium has been established for the execution of these activities. It includes Fincantieri itself as the main contractor, its subsidiary Fincantieri SI…

Energy trader Vitol and coal miner Peabody Energy are partnering with start-up Arq to turn coal waste into a low-sulphur oil product that could be an alternative fuel for shippers as new U.N. pollution rules loom, the companies said in a statement.Global oil and shipping companies are looking at any and all options to avoid becoming a casualty of the major market dislocations that the new standards will create when they come into effect in 2020.The U.N. International Maritime Organization (IMO) will ban ships using fuel with a sulphur content higher than 0.5 percent…

Van Oord’s first of two new midsize trailing suction hopper dredgers (TSHD), Vox Amalia, has been launched at the LaNaval shipyard in Bilbao, Spain. Its twin, Vox Alexia, is slated to be completed early next year. “These two vessels are designed for capital dredging, coastal works and dredging of trenches for pipe and cable routes for offshore installations such as wind farms,” explained Gerard Alkema, Project Manager Plant Design & Construction at Van Oord. The dredgers have a hopper volume of approximately 18,000 cubic meters and are equipped with two suction pipes with submerged e-driven dredge pumps, two shore discharge dredge pumps and six bottom doors. Each vessel is 158 meters by 36 meters and can accommodate 38 persons.

Boluda Towage and Salvage has taken delivery of the newly built VB Xaloc, the first tug of the owner’s multi-boat order from Astilleros Zamakona and first of Robert Allan Ltd.’s TRAktor 3200-V class escort tugs. The TRAktor 3200-V was designed by Robert Allan Ltd. specifically to meet Boluda’s requirements for performance, propulsion equipment, accommodation facilities, tank capacities and all within a gross tonnage (GRT) limit of less than 500. According to the designer, extensive…

Webb Institute has appointed Benjamin H. Scott as the Assistant Professor of Marine Engineering. Scott is a design engineer with over 30 years of experience in thermal and hydraulic analysis, heat exchanger design, thermal performance testing and fluid system design. Scott recently retired from Exelon Corporation as the senior manager of design engineering at their Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby, Md., where he oversaw a staff of 60 multidiscipline engineers responsible for all plant modifications and improvements…

Press release - Cadmatic and Numeriek Centrum Groningen BV (NCG) have combined their business operations and continue as one company. Cadmatic Oy has acquired all the shares and business operations of Numeriek Centrum Groningen BV (NCG). This is valid from the 16th of September 2015. Cadmatic and NCG have 23 years’ successful cooperation in business and software development. As a result of the long cooperation the jointly developed NUPAS-CADMATIC software is a leading design and engineering software application in the shipbuilding industry.

Nautilus Minerals Inc. has awarded a contract for the design of the Solwara 1 dewatering plant to be used on the company’s production support vessel to the Brisbane office of engineering specialist DRA Group. Nautilus CEO, Mike Johnston, commented, "The project team has been working closely with DRA for several years on studies and early engineering. DRA has extensive experience with similar floating dewatering/mineral processing facilities in related offshore industries. DRA’s regional director…

Cambridge, UK: AVEVA today announced that it has entered a multiyear agreement with Aker Solutions for AVEVA Everything3D (AVEVA E3D™). The Norwegian oil service company has selected AVEVA E3D to be its strategic 3D tool on plant design, modification and maintenance projects. This agreement is a continuation of a long-standing successful working relationship that spans more than 20 years. ‘The deployment of AVEVA E3D will enhance productivity, enabling Aker to execute larger, more complex projects with less risk using the best solutions available on the market. AVEVA is unmatched in the engineering design world,’ said Richard Longdon, CEO, AVEVA. ‘We are very proud to be continuing our long-standing working relationship with Aker Solutions.

AVEVA and ETAP have signed a partnership agreement under which both companies will jointly develop a software interface between AVEVA Electrical and ETAP’s enterprise solution for electrical power systems. The new interface will provide for the first time electrical engineers with a single round-tripping environment for complete data validation from design and network validation to 3D visualization. The interface will deliver capabilities for efficient design, development and production for the most complex electrical installations in all types of process and power plants…

Southern Co will take a $235 million charge in the first quarter and delay the startup of its $5.5 billion coal-gasification power plant in Kemper County, Mississippi, the company said in a filing with regulators on Tuesday. Southern Co, based in Atlanta, is scheduled to release its first-quarter earnings on Wednesday. Southern has previously taken $729 million in charges related to more than $1 billion in cost overruns at the 582-megawatt Kemper County plant, one of only two integrated gasification combined-cycle (IGCC) plants in the nation. Mississippi Power, Southern's smallest utility, owns the facility and plans to complete the gas-fired, combined cycle portion of the project this summer.

We deeply and sadly regret to advise the passing of George G. Sharp’s Chairman of the Board Dr. Ilario Hilary Rolih on February 16, 2014. Dr. Ilario Hilary Rolih passed away at the age of 82 on February 16, 2014 while on vacation in Cancun, Mexico. Dr. Rolih had more than 58 years’ experience in the marine industry. He was the chairman of the Board at George G. Sharp, Inc. since 1983. He had a Doctor of Naval and Mechanical Engineering Degree from the University of Trieste in 1956…

Smart™ 3D 2014 is a new single solution created from the consolidation of SmartPlant® 3D, SmartMarine® 3D and SmartPlant 3D Materials Handling Edition. Smart 3D 2014 builds upon Intergraph's Smart 3D technology architecture, say Integraph, to increase quality, interoperability and productivity for clients in the plant, offshore, shipbuilding, metals, mining and bulk material handing industries to have even greater workforce flexibility. Smart 3D is the world's first and only next-generation 3D design solution specifically tailored for plant…

Alan Olivier was elected Chairman and President of the UK P&I Club at their board meeting in Bermuda on October 28. He succeeds Dino Caroussis who has retired from the board. Mr. Olivier, 53, Chief Executive Officer of Grindrod Limited, became a Director of the UK Club in 2000 and a Deputy Chairman in 2006. Mr. Caroussis, 61, of Chios Navigation, had been the Club’s Chairman for the past five years, having joined the board in 1996 in the shipping division. He held senior treasury and financial positions before his appointment as chief executive of Unicorn Shipping in 1995.

Intergraph® a leading global provider of engineering software for the process, power and marine industries, was announced as one of the award winners at the Asian Manufacturing Awards 2013 gala dinner and awards ceremony held recently at Pan Pacific Hotel in Singapore. Intergraph was honored at the Asian Manufacturing Awards 2013 because of its innovative solutions that span the entire project life cycle, providing integration, automation and interoperability capabilities for large and complex projects.

The Port of Frederikshavn, Steeper Energy and Aalborg University have partnered to establish what they claim is the world’s first biomass-based plant in Denmark to produce a sustainable sulphur-free marine fuel that will serve over 100,000 vessels passing through the port annually. The Danish Minister for Trade and European Affairs Nick Hækkerup welcomes the new partnership: “This is a great example of a public-private partnership with a huge potential both for the environment and for business and job creation. I am very satisfied that a Canadian company like Steeper taps into the strong Danish bioenergy cluster and cooperates with Aalborg University on the development of new sustainable energy solutions.

Nordic marine energy technology company Minesto has developed a simulator to aid the development of its Deep Green marine power plant. According to Minestro, Deep Green is the only marine power plant that is able to cost efficiently produce electricity from low velocity tidal and ocean currents. The simulator has been developed in-house by Minesto’s own research and development department, and is in essence based on two existing open source programs: one for commercial flight simulation and one for marine vehicle simulation.

Dorian/Seacor‘s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers are to benefit from the latest reliquefaction plant development from Babcock’s LGE Process, following a contract signed last month (May) for the innovative vent gas cooler enhancement to be fitted on two new very large gas carriers (VLGCs) being built for Dorian/Seacor in South Korea, with an option for a possible further three vessels. The latest plant design enhancement (patents pending) from Babcock’s LGE is based on the innovative application of known and proven technology…