BY TOM GULDNER
In the past, liquefied natural gas (LNG) has affected only U.S. fire departments in the few ports that have large LNG terminals and in some smaller, inland “peak-shaving” facilities. I have been training mariners and firefighters for more than 11 years. Up until now, the LNG training was needed only in these areas.
Several recent events are in the process of changing all that. Environmental concerns in the United States are forcing new emission regulations on the marine and other industries. Vessels will be required to drastically reduce the greenhouse gases being released from their engines. Some new marine engines are being designed to comply with these regulations and still use the fuel oils they have been using in the past. But, another method being considered to reduce the emissions is to switch to LNG as a fuel for operating the vessel. This option had not been considered before now because of the scarcity of LNG and the fact that it was considered too expensive to burn.
That brings us to the other event causing the change to LNG. Recent new discoveries of oil and gas throughout the United States have reduced the cost and increased the availability of LNG. This has markedly changed the playing field so that LNG is now a viable alternative to petroleum-based liquid fuels.
You may have read of the process of “fracking,”1 used to extract hard-to-reach oil and gas deposits. The actual name of the process is “hydraulic fracturing.” The process involves injecting water and chemicals under high pressure into shale deposits buried deep underground. For years, scientists have known that there are quantities of oil trapped inside the shale; until now, we were unable to get at it. Fracking breaks up the shale and allows the oil and gas to be extracted.
Scientists knew oil and gas were in the shale, but no one expected the huge quantities that are being found. It is now estimated that by 2015, the United States will exceed Saudi Arabia in oil exports.2
What this means for the fire service is that, in the very near future, any vessel in your district may have LNG tanks aboard to fuel that vessel. Another consideration is that these vessels will need to fill up someplace; so you may also have larger shore-side LNG tanks to meet this purpose.
There may also be LNG bunkering barges (photo 1) and bunkering vessels coming into your area to refuel ships and work boats docked there.3
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| (1) Courtesy of NLI Solutions NLI. Used with permission. |
LNG as a fuel is also going to affect ferries in the United States from the East Coast to the West Coast. The Washington State Ferry system plans to introduce LNG as a fuel for some of its large fleet. “Washington State Ferries (WSF) is exploring an option to use LNG as a source of fuel for the Issaquah Class ferries.”4 On the other side of the country in New York, the Staten Island Ferry is also considering the use of LNG. “In a bid to save fuel and reduce emissions, the Staten Island Ferry will convert a boat to run on liquefied natural gas sometime this year.”5
This LNG proliferation also applies to our inland waterways. There is already a plan to put an LNG bunkering station on the Mississippi River. As the line from the movie The Field of Dreams expresses it, “If you build it, they will come.” You can expect to see new tow boats built to burn LNG. Shell plans to install a small-scale liquefaction unit (0.25 million tons per annum) at its Shell Geismar Chemicals facility in Geismar, Louisiana, in the United States. Once operational, this unit will supply LNG along the Mississippi River, the Intra-Coastal Waterway and to the offshore Gulf of Mexico and the onshore oil and gas exploration areas of Texas and Louisiana.6
The firefighters up north on the Great Lakes don’t get away scot-free either. The Interlake Steamship Company is converting its fleet to burn LNG, and Shell Oil is ready to help. Shell said it plans to install a small-scale liquefaction unit capable of producing 250,000 tons of LNG per year in Sarnia, Ontario, and Interlake will be its first customer.7 You know there will be more to come!
Even if your fire department is not near any navigable body of water, you may still have to deal with the LNG phenomenon. Railway Age has stated that LNG-powered locomotives will be common on U.S. railroads by 2016. So, you’ll have to deal with an LNG tank in the tender car behind the locomotive and also fixed refueling stations or LNG tanker trucks brought in to refuel these trains somewhere along the railroad right-of-way. Bus systems such the Dallas Area Rapid Transit have used LNG for years.
Many departments will now need to be trained about the properties of LNG and the procedures for handling emergencies that may arise. Check your department’s standard operating procedures and see if you have preplanned for this new fuel.
What is this strange liquid? What are its dangers? What can local fire departments do in an LNG emergency? How can an LNG fire be extinguished? Should an LNG fire be extinguished? Will water extinguish an LNG fire? If not, what will?
It’s time to dust off the old LNG training bulletins you felt you didn’t need or to provide newer training to your firefighters. It’s a new age, and new tactics are needed.
I have been involved in training the tug boat crews who escort the largest LNG tanker ships into and out of LNG facilities in the United States and Mexico. These tug boats have fire pumps with a capacity of more than 10,000 gallons per minute and massive fire monitors, each of which can throw more than 20 m³ per minute or 5,280 gpm. They need to know the dangers of the LNG, and so will you.
Endnotes
1. A method of extracting oil or gas from a layer of rock by drilling and creating cracks.
2. http://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/buzzwork/entries/fracking.html.
4. http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Ferries/Environment/LNG.htm/.
5. http://www.wired.com/2013/01/staten-island-ferry-lng/.
7. Ibid.
TOM GULDNER is a retired lieutenant of the Fire Department of New York’s Marine Division, where he was the officer in command of a fire/rescue boat and also the training office. He had a U.S. Coast Guard license as a ship’s master and is certified as a fire instructor within New York State and nationally in the United States. He is a participating member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers Fishing Vessel Operations and Safety panel and its Small Working Vessel Operations and Safety panel and a principal member of the National Fire Protection Association Technical Committee on Merchant Vessels. His articles on marine firefighting have been published nationally and internationally. His company, Marine Firefighting Inc., is involved in consulting and training mariners and land-based firefighters in all aspects of marine firefighting.
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