Compressed air applications in Marine

Shipboard Nitrogen Production

Shipboard nitrogen production is essential on vessels with inflammable cargoes and/or dual-fuel systems to maintain safety and efficiency, in addition to protecting sensitive cargo. Nitrogen is required for various applications. It is used to displace oxygen in cargo holds and tanks to create an inert atmosphere in order to prevent fires or explosions during the transportation of flammable materials like chemicals and oils. It is used to blanket sensitive products in storage tanks, protecting them from oxidative spoilage. And, after unloading cargo, nitrogen is used to purge tanks and pipelines of any residual gases or vapours, ensuring they are clean and ready for the next use. 

Compressed air is the primary feedstock for shipboard nitrogen generation. For efficient and reliable nitrogen production, the compressed air station should maintain a stable temperature, while delivering a dependable and efficient supply of high quality compressed air (free of oil, water and solid particulates). A stable feed air pressure is very beneficial for nitrogen generation based on the hollow-fibre membrane technology. A space-saving compressed air solution is also highly regarded due to the typical space constraints onboard.

KAESER solutions for Shipboard Nitrogen Production in Marine

Dependable nitrogen production

With a rotary screw compressor range from 15 - 5100 m³/h and a constant pressure of up to 15 bar, KAESER offers the best possible compressed air supply systems for on-board nitrogen generation. Perfectly dimensioned coolers ensure an exceptionally low airend discharge temperature. Oil separation takes place via a three-stage separation process with large oil separator tanks which benefit from a long oil filter maintenance interval. Manufactured by KAESER and maintenance-free, the centrifugal separator is also highly effective in eliminating moisture from the compressed air. Far less energy is therefore required to produce premium quality compressed air.

Ready-to-run powerhouses

KAESER pushes the boundaries of compressed air efficiency and availability once again with its latest generation of DSD to FSD series rotary screw compressors. 

Air, water or seawater-cooled, these rotary screw compressors can be perfectly adapted to any application. The open version features a particularly narrow design and is therefore ideal for use on board ships. 

Thanks to the cooling system’s efficient and high-quality heat exchanger, these versatile compressor packages keep a cool head at all times - even in tropical machine room temperatures. The rotary screw compressors are equipped with corrosion-free stainless steel piping, which, thanks to flexible piping connections, ensures an exceptionally quiet and low-vibration performance. Compressors are delivered ready-to-run, making on-board installation both straightforward and flexible.

Your benefits

  • Electronic Thermal Management for efficiency and reliability; stable air temperature for downstream dryer and/or nitrogen generator. No risk for high air-end discharge temperatures.
  • Compact and quiet; thanks to separate mounting and installation of components, KAESER compressors are exceptionally quiet and low in vibrations.
  • Stable pressure up to 15 bar; the high pressures available for the air enable the use of smaller membrane nitrogen generators with the same production capacity. The air discharge pressure is kept stable within + 0.1 bar, allowing these generators also to be operated without an air receiver.
Would you like more information about our shipboard solutions? We’d be glad to help you and will contact you as soon as possible.
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FAQs

The temperature of the compressed air supplied by the air compressor has a direct impact on the adsorption temperature of PSA (Pressure Swing Adsorption) nitrogen generators. A higher temperature will result in a drop in efficiency and productivity of the PSA air separation process. Moreover, fluctuating compressed air temperatures will make the control of the PSA process more complicated. The air separation process through hollow-fibre membrane modules is directly controlled by the compressed air temperature and pressure at the inlet of the membrane module(s). A stable feed air temperature and a stable feed air pressure will make the process control significantly easier. Besides, stable feed air temperatures and stable feed air pressures will allow an optimised dimensioning of the feed air filtration upstream of the membrane modules, reducing the risk for irreversible contamination of the same modules.

The productivity of the air separation process through hollow-fibre membrane modules will increase with higher feed air pressures. Consequently, less membrane modules will be required at higher feed air pressures, which results in reduced system footprint and lower CAPEX, which are significant advantages for shipboard nitrogen generation systems. KAESER offers marine rotary screw compressors with the highest discharge pressure (pressures up to 15 bar(g)) available on the market.

All feed KAESER marine air compressors with a capacity below 800 m³/h can be equipped with an integrated refrigeration air dryer. The integrated dryer will reduce the PDP of the compressed air below +8 °C at standard marine design ambient conditions +45 °C / 980 mbar(a) / 80% RH, which is a very favourable condition for nitrogen generation systems based on the hollow-fibre membrane air separation technology. Not only will the water content of the compressed air be reduced drastically, but even the oil content will be < 1,0 mg/m³ with the integrated air dryer. Both conditions will result in a significantly lower burden on the feed air filtration chain after the feed air compressor(s) and before the inlet of the membrane modules, and thus a significantly lower risk for irreversible contamination of the membrane modules.
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