Alfa Laval’s GCU Preferred Choice for LNG Newbuilds

Swedish engineering group Alfa Laval has reached a milestone in Gas Combustion Unit (GCU) sales which exceeded 100 units.

Namely, the company’s GCU has been chosen for boil-off gas management on more than half of the LNG carriers built during 2018.

Since buying the technology from Snecma in 2013, Alfa Laval has proven the GCU concept and built up a strong position for the product in the LNG market. In 2018, the GCU has been the choice for the majority of LNG newbuilds.

Today the GCU is central to the Alfa Laval portfolio of systems for LNG, which also includes the Alfa Laval Smit LNG inert gas generators.

The company has continued to develop the GCU technology, both in partnership with customers and at the Alfa Laval Test & Training Centre in Aalborg, Denmark.

Since the expansion of the Test & Training Centre for gas applications in 2017, a full-size GCU has been the focal point of the 1350 m2 testing space.

Yet another GCU development will appear in 2019, when a smaller version is expected for commercial release. Whereas the current GCU is most suited to large vessels, the new unit will be optimized for 100–1000 kg/h of boil-off gas.

“The smaller GCU will be an excellent fit for small LNG carriers, floating storage and regasification units, LNG bunker vessels and vessels using LNG as fuel, which also need an option for burning boil-off gas,” Pieter Borg, Manager Exhaust & Combustion Systems at Alfa Laval, said.