After more than 10 years of joint research with POSCO (CEO and vice chairman Hakdong Kim), Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME, president & CEO Duseon Park) have hit a new milestone to apply high-manganese steel to LNG fuel tanks for the first time in the global shipping industry. The LNG fuel tank is essential to build eco-friendly dual-fuel propulsion vessels. 

On June 16, DSME held a ceremony to install IMO Type-C LNG fuel tanks using high-manganese steel on a very large crude oil carrier (VLCC) with the attendance of DSME president & CEO Duseon Park, POSCO Technical Research Laboratories executive vice president Jongkyo Choi, and persons involved.

Until now, materials such as Invar (nickel-iron alloy), aluminum and stainless steel have been used for cargo and fuel tanks that withstand liquefied natural gas at cryogenic conditions (-163℃). However, they had disadvantages such as high price, difficult fabrication process, and low strength. The newly developed high manganese steel LNG fuel tank can overcome these shortcomings. It has a lower price than conventional materials, and has high strength and wear resistance as well as a good performance at cryogenic temperatures.

For this reason, high-manganese steel has been attracting attention from the industry as the next generation material for LNG fuel tanks. Both companies have been developing tank-related technologies together in the entire process from pre-treatment, and welding to the use of high-manganese steel as LNG fuel tanks. Finally, after processability verification and mass production, they succeeded in installing it on board vessels as the result of their joint efforts for over 10 years. As a result, the two companies have established Korea’s LNG fuel tank ecosystem focused on high-manganese steel to secure national competitiveness in materials, parts and equipment industries.

Recently, as eco-friendly policies such as carbon dioxide reduction are being strengthened around the world, ships are switching to LNG as an onboard fuel source. In such an environment, all ships ordered from DSME this year are eco-friendly ships that use LNG as fuel.

In addition, high-manganese steel LNG fuel tank manufacturing technology would be more valuable for the Korean shipbuilder as it is a purely domestic technology. In the future, if price competitiveness is secured through mass production of high manganese steel, technological independence will be possible in the production of LNG cargo holds and the technology will be evaluated as a great stepping stone for strengthening the competitiveness of the Korean shipbuilding industry.

DSME president & CEO Duseon Park said, “DSME has set another milestone this time. We firmly believe that it will lead to strengthening the competitiveness of the entire shipbuilding industry in Korea as this technology developed as the result of joint efforts can be applied to the enitre shipbuilding sector".

POSCO Technical Research Laboratories executive vice president Jongkyo Choi commented, “We are delighted by the successful mass production of high manganese steel, which is a unique material of Korea, to LNG-fueled vessels. Finally, the supply chain of high-manganese steel LNG storage tanks, including steel maker, shipbuilder and tank manufacturers, has been completed. I believe this will play a big role in the future eco-friendly ship market.”
 

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