Mann Tek produces and markets products for the safe and environmentally friendly handling of hazardous fluids. The company's business development manager for LNG, Johan Lilliesköld, discusses the challenges the oil and gas industry faces in the handling of cryogenics, and the advantages of their innovative cryogenic dry disconnect product.
Johan Lilliesköld: We are a Swedish manufacturer and supplier of different types of couplings; during the past few years, we've made significant breakthroughs within the LNG industry. We offer a dry cryogenic coupling that operates by our 'push and turn: free flow' and 'turn and pull: closed' system.
The company was established in 1997, and with almost 20 years of experience in the industry, we have built up extensive expertise on the use of our couplings in a variety of applications, guaranteeing excellent results. The couplings are manufactured in Mariestad, Sweden, in our new 3,500m² factory, and each piece is tested before being sent to customers.
After noticing an increasing need for the safe and spillage-free handling of LNG, a new product range at Mann Tek was developed to meet the challenge. Today, we have a full range of 1-6in self-sealing, quick-connecting and quick-disconnecting couplings for cryogenic applications.
We constantly strive to improve the performance and design of our products, to meet industry developments, new market demands, and the latest standards. This is what makes us a market-leading brand. Our couplings are the leading products worldwide where certifications and product approvals are concerned.
In 2015, a new ISO standard (ISO/TS 18683:2015) was published, concerning LNG as ship fuel. Mann Tek Dry Cryogenic Coupling is the first manufacturer worldwide to offer a fully compatible series of products in this new standard.
Our couplings offer safe connection and disconnection within one minute, with no product spill. They enable fuel lines and hoses to be gas free without emitting any gas molecules into the atmosphere or exposing gas to operators, providing a safe and environmentally friendly operation.
In January 2015, the environmental regulations on sulphur emissions in endangered marine environments such as the Baltic and North Sea were tightened and extended, and later regulations will require reduced emissions of nitrogen oxide. LNG contains neither sulphur nor heavy metals, and nitrogen content is around 80% lower than ship fuel MGO, pointing towards a great future for LNG to overtake MGO in marine use.
We have supplied couplings for several passenger ferries and OSVs, which run on LNG, and the world's first LNG bunker ship, returning satisfied customers across the board.
The first marine application for Mann Tek cryogenic coupling was to establish an LNG fuelling connection between the world's first and largest LNG cruise ferry, MS Viking Grace, and the world's first LNG fuel bunkering vessel, AGA Lindes' Seagas, in Stockholm, Sweden. This was the very first ship-to-ship LNG fuelling operation ever undertaken.
Besides use in the marine industry, Mann Tek couplings are used in many other applications, such as filling LNG tank trucks at the depot and on the customer's side, filling vehicles and LNG containers, and more.
