Alfa Laval's GCU Sales Exceed 100 Units

The Alfa Laval Gas Combustion Unit (GCU) has been chosen for boil-off gas management on more than half of the LNG carriers built during 2018. 

This brings the total number of GCUs sold to well over 100 units, with new developments promising still greater market potential.

Since buying the fledgling technology from Snecma in 2013, Alfa Laval has proven the GCU concept and built up a strong position for the product in the LNG market. This simple and reliable incineration unit for boil-off gas, with few components and a minimal number of interfaces and moving parts, now has a long track record among the largest LNG ship owners. In 2018, the GCU has been the choice for the majority of LNG newbuilds.

Today the GCU is central to the Alfa Laval portfolio of systems for LNG, which also includes the  Alfa Laval Smit LNG inert gas generators. Alfa Laval has continued to develop the GCU technology, both in partnership with customers and at the Alfa Laval Test & Training Center in Aalborg, Denmark. Since the expansion of the Test & Training Center for gas applications in 2017, a full-size GCU has been the focal point of the 1350 m2 testing space.

Another GCU development will appear in 2019, when a smaller version is expected for commercial release. Whereas the current GCU is most suited to large vessels, the new unit will be optimized for 100–1000 kg/h of boil-off gas.