A high-horsepower (HHP) natural gas engine for compression applications by a Caterpillar Corp. unit was but one of the offerings unveiled at the High Horsepower Summit that ended on Thursday in Jacksonville, FL.

The Caterpillar Oil & Gas Cal G3516 TA model has power ratings of 1,029 brake-kw and 1,380 brake-hp with an engine management system integrating speed control, air/fuel ratio control and ignition/detonation controls in one architecture. With a customer-supplied three-way catalyst, the engine is designed to meet stringent nitrogen dioxide levels, Caterpillar said.

As an annual summit, other types of natural gas applications also drew attention, including for marine liquefied natural gas (LNG) applications.

Summit sponsors Gladstein, Neandross & Associates recently assessed HHP gas applications in seaport operations. Citing the use of renewable natural gas (RNG), the report noted that HHP end users may be able to meet more stringent regulatory requirements while potentially lowering life cycle costs of port operations and reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Increasingly, marine vessel operators are exploring the use of LNG as a fuel.

Marseilles, France-based CMA CGM Group announced it is building nine cargo-hauling ships in China to be powered by LNG. The ship tanks, developed by GTT/Gaztrnsport & Technigaz, each are to have total LNG capacity of 16,600 cubic meters, or more than 4.9 million gallons. Delivery is scheduled between 2019 and 2020.

Separately, a unit of Royal Dutch Shell plc said it plans to supply LNG for a series of cruise ships operating along Florida’s Atlantic Coast and in the Caribbean. Shell plans to operate an LNG bunker vessel owned by Harvey Gulf International Marine.

Through Quality LNG Transport LLC, Shell agreed to supply LNG to the cruise ships, which are scheduled to launch between 2020 and 2022.

In in the land transportation sector, Sparq Natural Gas broke ground for a compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station in Tulsa. The station is to be the first natural gas vehicle fueling facility to use J-W Power’s PowerFill technology, according to Sparq officials.

Set to open before the end of the year, the station is Sparq’s fifth in Oklahoma and 10th in a multi-state network. The new station would link the Interstate Highway 44 CNG corridor between St. Louis and Dallas.

And cement hauler Catalina Pacific said it plans to have 118 CNG-fueled concrete mixer trucks in its fleet by the end of the year, including 52 already operating in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area.

The new trucks are built on the Kenworth T8805 chassis and powered by a low-NOx 8.9-liter ISL G near-zero emission NGV spark-ignition engine. They have the McNeilus Bridgemaster Transit bodies and the McNeilus CNG system that includes two CNG fuel cylinders from Agility Fuel Solutions. Each tank holds 38 diesel gallon equivalents of CNG.