Marine CNG: An Emerging Technology

Marine Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is undeniably one of the latest emerging technologies in the gas transport sector. This allows the users to have an access to the gas fields which were previously too remote for commercial productions. CNG is now the one that occupies a niche between LNG and pipelines, while providing services to markets which are too far from where the gas supply is located to construct a pipeline. This also allows the monetization of fields which are too small to justify the high-cost LNG project. Marine transportation of CNG is considered to be cost-effective, reliable, and a safe method to connect the gas producers to the energy demand.

Primarily, CNG is a methane gas that is being pressurized in order to occupy a lesser volume than when at standard conditions. This pressurized methane is then loaded into the pressure vessels for the purpose of transport or to be used as a fuel for vehicles. At present, CNG is used commonly in public vehicle fleets wherein it has been proven to be safe, cost-efficient, and reliable fuel source. In the year 2010, fueling systems and pressure vessels were installed in more than 12 million vehicles all over the world. 

With the help of marine CNG systems, a viable solution to transport natural gas on a larger scale has been made possible. When it comes to the operation, marine systems similarly operate like the truck-based CNG systems by way of establishing a chain of carrier, outfitted with pressure vessels; a constant loading state, unloading and transiting to develop what is being called a floating pipeline where the flow from the supply of the gas going to the delivery destination is virtually consistent.

There is a significant price gap between natural gas and oil that is persistent as a result of the lack in the availability of gas transport options. However, with marine CNG, there has been an opportunity to take advantage of such disparity. With this, producers are now allowed to find more markets for their gas. In addition, buyers would now be able to replace their liquid fuels to generate power, which would be of great help to them in reducing emissions and costs. Today, there are a large number of the stranded gas reserves that has an adjacent market that fall within Neptune and the marine CNG economic niche, which has been ideally positioned to offer a safe, cost-effective, and reliable transport solution to connect such given demand.

With this system, different sectors can now enjoy the benefits that a compressed natural gas can offer. With an easy and reliable system, transporting Marine CNG can be accomplished with the help the new technology. CNG is basically a natural gas that despite being under pressure remains odorless, con-corrosive and clear. It is also environmentally friendly, the reason why it is called as the green fuel. People at present take advantage of CNG by using vehicles which run on CNG. With this, living in a safe and pollution-free environment is never impossible.