Economic Design of Small Scale LNG Tankers and Terminals

Bjrn Munko TGE Gas Engineering

Trends in LNG shipping

Larger LNG carriers for classical LNG transportation market (up to 270,000 m) Smaller LNG carriers for new LNG transportation market
Clean fuel power plants for remote industrial areas or islands Regions without pipeline grid (e. g. Norwegian coast) Short sailing times in relation to LNG consumption Design requirement for partial filling

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Trends in LNG shipping

Smaller LNG carriers
A Japanese yard is building a 19,000 m vessel with 3 spherical tanks (delivery: 2007). An Australian company is developing projects of up to 30,000 m transport capacity. Standard designs for LNG ships (spherical aluminium tanks or membrane tanks) are expensive economics for such niche markets have to be improved.

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Trends in LNG shipping

Very Small LNG carriers (for coastal trade)
First very small ship (1,000 m) for Norwegian coast delivered in 2004 (stainless steel tanks, electric propulsion) Two LNG ships of 2,500 m delivered in 2003/5 for Japanese coast (cylindrical aluminium tanks) Anthony Veder (NL) is building a 7,500 m LNG/Ethylene carrier for coastal transport in Norway (vessel design and gas plant supplied by TGE)

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Design approach to small LNG terminals

Market: Small consumption (islands, remote industrial area) Utilizing the know-how from design of large LNG terminals and of small ethylene terminals Tank concept depends on throughput and storage capacity
above abt. 10,000 m: flat bottom tank (like large terminals) o containment type depends on local rules and safety requirements up to abt. 10,000 m: pressure vessel type tanks

BOG handling, tank pressure depends on send-out conditions LNG re-gasification concept depends on capacities and local conditions
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Example: 30,000 m flat bottom tank: built in Urumqi/China (single containment)

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Containment types acc. BS7777

single containment type: inner tank for containing the product, outer container for retaining and protecting the insulation only

roof

inner roof

insulated suspended deck

loose filled insulation outer shell ( not able to contain liquid ) inner tank

external insulation with weather barrier

inner tank wall inner tank bottom

base insulation Bund wall elevated concrete base

base insulation bund wall

concrete foundation with bottom heater

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Containment types acc. BS7777

double containment type: inner tank for containing the product, outer container for retaining the insulation and in case of inner tank failure the product liquid ( but not the vapour )
roof inner roof

rain cover insulated suspended deck

rain cover

prestressed concrete outer tank wall

loose filled insulation outer shell ( not able to contain liquid ) inner tank

external insulation with weather barrier

inner tank wall inner tank bottom

outer tank shell ( able to contain the liquid )

base insulation

base insulation

elevated concrete base

concrete foundation with bottom heater

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Containment types acc. BS7777

full containment type: inner tank for containing the product, outer container for retaining the insulation and in case of inner tank failure both the product liquid and the vapour
outer roof roof inner roof loose filled insulation

insulated suspended deck insulation at inside outer tank outer tank wall liner prestressed concrete outer tank inner tank base insulation wall insulation at inner side of outer tank ( or loose filled insulation ) inner tank wall inner tank bottom base insulation

outer tank shell or prestressed concrete wall with liner

elevated concrete base

concrete foundation with bottom heater

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Pressure vesesel type storage tanks: Example: 5 x 1,200 m ethylene storage (China)

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Pressure vesesel type storage tanks:

Ethylene storage built in China:

Inner Diameter: Length TL TL: Volume: Material: Insulation: Design pressure: 4.6 m 75 m 5 x 1,200 cbm 5% Nickel steel foamglas 23 bar g

LNG storage:
Material: Insulation: Design pressure: stainless steel (AISI 304) foamglas or vacuum depending on send-out situation
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LNG re-gasification equipment

Preferred equipment depends on required capacities and local ambient condition (air, sea water): Open rack vaporizer (ORV)
using sea water as heat source

Submerged combustion vaporizer (SCV)

using gas energy

Ambient air vaporizer (AAV)

using ambient air as heat source
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Open Rack Vaporizer

low operating cost: water pumping energy higher investment costs need of sea water intake min. temperature for seawater required

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Submerged combustion vaporizer

lower investment costs need of dedicated fuel gas installation high operating cost by gas consumption ( ~ 1.5% of gas send-out)

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Ambient air vaporizer

moderate investment costs need large installation areas dry ambient air preferred application currently under investigation (qualification program) for larger capacities

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TGEs design approach to small LNG carriers

Objective: minimize the CAPEX Utilize the know-how from design of Ethylene carriers Ethylene ships: TGEs market share for delivery of gas handling systems and cargo tanks is more than 80% Actual order book: 32 ethylene carriers Maximize operation flexibility for a combined LNG/Ethylene/LPG-carrier Main questions:
Cargo tank design Boil-off gas handling / propulsion system
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Types of cargo tanks for gas carriers

(Internal insulation tanks) (Integral tanks) (Semi-membrane tanks: very few applications) Membrane tanks Independent tanks (Type A) Type B Type C
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TGEs design approach: independent Type C tanks

self-supporting pressure vessel cylindrical or bilobe with outside insulation no secondary barrier required no restriction concerning partial filling

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Cargo tanks for 22,000 m Ethylene-carrier

5,700 m (4 tanks) 4.7 bar g 480 t 5% Nickel steel

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Type C tanks for LNG

Ship capacity below 15,000 m
Cylindrical tank design
o o

2 tank design up to abt. 10,000 m 3 tank design up to abt. 15,000 m

Ship capacity above 15,000 m

Bilobe tank design
o o

3 tank design up to 25,000 m 4 tank design up to 35,000 m (or even 40,000 m)

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Type C tanks for LNG

Tank design temperature: -163 C Tank material:
(Aluminium) (9% Ni-steel) SS AISI 304L

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Type C tanks for LNG

Ship design example: 30,000 m capacity: 4 Bilobe tanks each abt. 7,500 m capacity Min. design pressure @ density 500 kg/m:
o

AISI 304L: 2.74 bar g AISI 304L: abt. 530 tons

Tank weights:
o

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30,000 m LNG-Carrier

lbp = 175.2 m b = 27.6 m d = 8.8 m speed = 17.5 kn

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Type C tanks for LNG

Design constraints for LNG compared to Ethylene: Higher material shrinkage due to:
o o

Larger delta T during cooling down Higher material shrinkage factor for AISI 304L

Problem especially for bi-lobe tanks: for 15 m diameter tanks the shrinkage is 35 mm (304L) Detailed design review and complete re-design of supports necessary (displacement and stress analysis, temperature profiles)!
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Type C tanks for LNG

Design appraisal by a classification society FEM analysis of tank shell, supports and shipside steel structure for different loading cases

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Tank insulation for LNG

Tank insulation for Ethylene:
Typical Polystyrene panels glued to tank surface with abt. 230 mm thickness

Tank insulation for LNG application

Same insulation type may be applied (spherical LNG tanks use same technology) Insulation thickness of 300 mm (boil-off rate abt. 0.35 0.45 %/day) Design details modified (shrinkage, stress)

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Type C tanks for LNG new design

Concept approval certificate already issued by Class Patent pending 30 35,000 m designs have been discussed for a specific project with three shipyards on the basis of confidentiality agreements concerning design details

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Boil-off gas handling / propulsion system

Alternatives for boil-off gas handling considering typically short voyages and small BOG quantities:
a) Burn the BOG in a thermal oxidiser (combustor) b) Accept a pressure increase during voyage, provided that receiving terminal can accept it c) Utilize BOG for propulsion (electric power production) d) Reliquefaction

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Boil-off gas handling b) Pressure increase

4

3,5

9% Ni

SS 304L P ressure [bar g]

2,5

2
Bas ic LNG Com pos ition N2:2% CO2:0% C1:89% C2:5,5% C3:2,5% C4:1%

1,5

0,5

Tank Volume: 30.000 m Insulation: 300 mm Polystyrene Initial pressure: 140 mbar g

0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Sailing Time [days]

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Boil-off gas handling c) Utilize BOG for propulsion

Owner: Anthony Veder, NL (design and gas plant supplied by TGE) Project: Coastal transport in Norway LNG to be used as fuel HFO to be used as fuel for transportation of other cargoes
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Boil-off gas handling c) Utilize BOG for propulsion

GAS GAS

HFO HFO

7,500 m LNG/LEG/LPG carrier for Anthony Veder Electric propulsion (Gas, HFO): HFO generator sets: 2 x 3,685 kW Gas generator sets: 2 x 2,280 kW thrusters for optimum manoeuvrability
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Boil-off gas handling d) Reliquefaction

Electric propulsion (utilize LNG and HFO as fuel) high CAPEX Conventional slow speed diesel-mechanic (HFO) BOG reliquefaction needed (CAPEX !), if pressure increase is not an option Alternative concepts based on mature technology:
pure LNG carriers: nitrogen system (Brayton cycle) combined LNG/LEG carrier: utilize cascade technology from Ethylene ships (under development)

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Combined LNG/Ethylene/LPG Carrier

Changing grade from LNG to Ethylene or LPG requires tank warming up Changing grade is time consuming (especially from LNG to LPG) Cargo contamination may be an issue (for some cargoes visual inspection may be required) Frequent grade changes are not economic

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Combined LNG/Ethylene/LPG Carrier

Small LNG ships with type C cargo tanks can easily be upgraded to combined gas carriers (installation of BOG reliquefaction for Ethylene) LNG transportation in smaller quantities is not a mature market Combined LNG/Ethylene/LPG carriers like 7,500 m vessel meet the demands of a developing market
increase operating flexibility seasonal LNG transportation demands up to 35,000 m
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Economics of small LNG carriers

CAPEX:
Little changes for ships hull construction (steel grade of tank supports) Tanks and cargo handling system more expensive than for Ethylene carriers TGE estimation shows an overall CAPEX abt. 10 15 % above the corresponding Ethylenecarrier price, depending BOG handling concept

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Conclusion
Target market: small gas consumers without access to a pipeline grid TGEs design approach with type C tanks is based in vast experience with Ethylene carriers The combined 7,500 m LNG/Ethylene/LPG carrier demonstrates that TGEs approach meets the requirements of this developing market Small LNG carriers can be economical with type C cargo tanks up to 35,000 m capacity TGE has received a Concept Approval of a modified tank design with a classification society A patent is pending for the new tank design
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Thank you for your attention!

For any questions please contact TGE: email: bjoern.munko@tge.net phone: +49-228-60448-217