E P

Seismic Isolation of LNG Tanks

Revithoussa, Greece
The largest seismically isolated tanks in the world use Friction Pendulum bearings
TM

The Public Gas Corporation of Greece required seismic

isolation bearings for the construction of two large liquefied
natural gas (LNG) storage tanks on the island of Revithoussa,
near Athens, in one of Europes highest seismic regions.
Each 226 ft dia. x 106 ft. high tank is supported on 212
Friction Pendulum bearings. The total capacity of the tanks
is 38 million gallons, providing the central storage of LNG
for Greece. These are the largest and heaviest tanks in the
world to use seismic isolation.
The performance requirements for the isolation bearings for
this project were the most stringent in the history of seismic
isolation.

The bearings were required to maintain their

design properties while fully accommodating the effects of:

simultaneous lateral and vertical earthquake motions

35 years of aging in a marine environment
temperatures ranging from 10F to 86F
unscragged virgin properties
Friction Pendulum bearings where selected over elastomeric
bearings because tests of full size bearings proved that they
were best able to satisfy these demanding performance
requirements. The bearings reduce lateral shear loads on the
tanks by 80% for the design earthquake. Each of the 430
bearings used for this project has a vertical load capacity of 2
million pounds, a dynamic period of 2.75 secs., a friction coefficient of 5%, a displacement capacity of 12 inches, and
weighs 4100 lbs.

Earthquake Protection Systems, Inc.

451 Azuar Drive, Building 759
Mare Island, Vallejo, California 94592

Tel: (707) 644-5993

Fax: (707) 644-5995
E-mail: eps@earthquakeprotection.com

Jan 2004