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a report by
Dominik Uznanski
1
and 
Pieter Versluijs
2
1. Project Manager and LNG Expert, Cryogenic Studies Section, Gaz de France Research & Development Division; 2. Vice President and Director Sales & Marketing, Whessoe, S.A.
Introduction
With an increasing diversification of LNG supplysources caused by a growing number of liquefactionplants around the world, an increase in short-termtrade and a general trend toward a worldwideliberalisation of gas markets, reception terminalsneed to deal with a greater variety of incomingliquified natural gas (LNG) qualities.With the need to reduce capital and operating costs,existing storage capacity must be used to itsmaximum extent and the capacity of new storagesmust be optimised.It is within this context, and as a response to thepreviously mentioned trends, that Gaz de France hasdeveloped a software model called LNGMASTER
®
, which can accurately predict thebehaviour of LNG in storage tanks.As such, LNG MASTER has three main areasof application:
•
it helps the operator to analyse and select theoptimum tank loading procedure for a new, yet toarrive LNG cargo;
•
once stored, the software can be used to evaluatethe evolution of the LNG in a terminal’s tanks inview of optimising their handling, in particular for stratification evolution and LNG send-outoperations, among others; and
•
it can be applied by tank designers to optimise thedesign of new sites.Gaz de France itself found its use invaluable when itagreed to receive LNG on a regular basis, from 1999onwards, from Nigeria for the ENEL Italiancompany via the Montoir-de-Bretagne LNGreceiving terminal.This article will examine the French context with adiversification of LNG sources; the challenges thatare often faced by the terminal operators who needto handle different qualities of LNG concurrently inthe same storage tanks (effects such as stratification,rollover, or flashing will be explained and somepractical rules to manage such cases will be given);and the LNG MASTER software will be discussed,as developed by Gaz de France – a real operationaltool allowing operators to optimise LNG tankmanagement. In conclusion, typical case studies willbe presented as examples of the use of LNGMASTER at the design stage or when operating anLNG terminal.
French Context and Diversification of LNG Sources
The level of imports are increasing at the twoFrench LNG receiving terminals within a contextof diversification of LNG sources, in particular atthe Montoir-de-Bretagne terminal where LNGtank management has been optimised whilesimultaneous modification works at the terminalhave been undertaken.A long-term contract was signed in 1992 betweenthe Nigeria LNG Company and Gaz de France for the reception of 0.5bcm/y of natural gas. Moreover,Gaz de France signed a ‘swap’ contract with ENELin 1997 to receive Nigerian LNG in exchange for gas redeliveries from Gaz de France’s existing basketof supplies.
Figure 1
shows these swaps. As a consequence, theMontoir-de-Bretagne LNG receiving terminal, onthe Atlantic coast of France, required someadaptations in order to receive these additionalquantities of LNG.
Challenges Faced by the Operators
When mixing different LNG qualities in the sametank, terminal operators have to face three cases.
•
The first case is ‘safe’ to operators. The incomingLNG is lighter than the LNG in the tank to befilled. A tank bottom filling operation ensures acomplete mixing of the two LNG qualities (theLNG injected at the bottom being lighter than thestored LNG) and there is no risk of creating a
Advanced Liquified Natural Gas Storage Tank Management
BUSINESS BRIEFING: LNG REVIEW 2005
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 Technology & Services
 
stratification that can potentially lead to a rollover.The boil-off gas (BOG) production, which can begenerated due to the temperature rise of the LNGtransferred from the LNG carrier to the filled tankis limited by the hydrostatic pressure at the bottom(due to the liquid column of stored LNG).
•
In the second case, the incoming LNG is heavier than the stored LNG. A tank top filling operationavoids stratification and the risk of subsequentrollover but usually results in excessive vapour evolution, due to the flashing of the injected LNGin the tank’s vapour space.
•
The last case is the situation that is the mostdifficult to deal with and needs care. Tank bottomfilling with an injected LNG heavier than thestored LNG can lead to a stratification, which willthen need to be managed, in order to avoid therollover risk. This stratification creation riskdepends on the injection speed, the densitydifference between the injected and stored LNGs,the geometry of the filling device and the heightof stored LNG.
Figure 2
illustrates the second previously explainedcase, showing the BOG production rate and operatingpressure increase during a tank top filling operation. Inthe example shown in
Figure 2
, heavy LNG is topfilled over light LNG in one of the tanks at theMontoir-de-Bretagne receiving terminal in France.The measurements show the time evolution of thetotal gas flow rate exiting the tank and of the gas phasepressure. As can be seen, a significant amount of gas isflashed off during the filling operation. The operatingpressure of the tank rises steadily during tank fillingand then decreases after the end of filling.The operator has several options in order to mitigatethe consequences of tank filling and reduce their effects. Firstly, the tank filling flow rate can bereduced in order to decrease the liquid leveldisplacement effect (piston effect) and the gas phaseflashing rate. However, this might not be possibledue to constraints relative to the maximum stayingtime of the carrier at the berth.A preferable solution is to regulate the tank’soperating pressure in a judicious way, in order tominimise gas production during tank filling. Thiscan be achieved by initially pre-cooling the tankheel before unloading occurs by lowering theoperating pressure (this draws-off more BOG, thuslowering the LNG temperature). Just beforeunloading, the operating pressure is increasedabove the nominal operating pressure, in order tolimit the amount of flashing of incoming LNGcoming into the tank’s gas phase. This newoperating pressure is then maintained throughoutthe filling process. Once tank filling is achieved,the pressure is then lowered progressively to theinitial nominal value.
BUSINESS BRIEFING: LNG REVIEW 2005
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 Technology & Services
Figure 1: ENEL ‘Swap’ ContractFigure 2: Total Gas Flow rate and Pressure Evolutions During Tank TopFilling at the Montoir TerminalFigure 3: Pressure Optimisation of BOG Rate During Tank Top Filling 
 
Advanced LNG Storage Tank Management
Figure 3
shows a comparison between the total BOGrate generated (surface evaporation and gas phaseflashing of incoming LNG) with and withoutoperating pressure optimisation when heavy LNG istop filled on top of light-stored LNG at a filling rateof 10,000m3/h. The results were obtained using anLNG MASTER computer simulation.The results show that by modulating the operatingpressure, the total BOG rate generated during fillingcan be reduced by approximately 50% in thisexample. This highlights the advantages that can bereaped from this procedure, not only in terms of costsavings by reducing compressor and gas heater output, but also in terms of safety by avoiding the useof safety equipment, such as site flares.In the third previously mentioned situation, thecreation of a stratification consecutive to bottom fillingof heavy LNG under light-stored LNG and itsmanagement after tank filling has ended, can lead tosignificant reductions in BOG generation, whencompared with top filling operations. This is illustratedin
Figure 4
, which shows the gas flow rate treated bythe terminal’s BOG compressors for tank top andbottom filling of heavy LNG into light LNG, withand without operating pressure optimisation.However, once such a stratification is formed, itneeds to be managed safely. A good predictionof stratification evolution is needed to carry outsuch management.
Figure 5 
shows a stable stratification in a storage tank.The heat inputs into the bottom layer graduallyincreases its temperature and reduces its density.If the system is left to evolve unmitigated, the densitydifference between the two layers vanishes and leadsto a rapid mixing of the two layers – thisphenomenon is called rollover. Due to the fact thatthe bottom layer is superheated with respect toconditions in the vapour space at rollover, thisphenomenon is accompanied by a transient high rateof vapour evolution that can be 10 to 30 timesgreater than the tank’s normal boil-off rate, thusgiving rise to a hazard, due to the potentially harmfuloverpressures the tank can experience.The first signal of a stratification’s presence in a tankis a decrease of the boil-off rate of the tank and anincrease of the temperature of the LNG in thebottom part of the tank, because the heat leaks in thebottom layer are not evacuated at the free surface byevaporation but contribute to that layer’stemperature increase.
Figure 6 (a)
and
(b)
show the evolution of an LNGstratification created in a 500m
3
LNG tank duringthe Gaz de France experimental campaignconducted between 1987 and 1989. This evolutioncan be broken down into four distinct phases, eachgoverned by its own phenomenology.During a first phase, the stratification’s layers can beconsidered as insulated both heat and mass wise andonly the lower layer heats up progressively, whichdecreases the density difference between the layers.During a second phase, interlayer penetration takesplace between the two layers, reducing the layer’sdensity difference even more. During the thirdphase, density equalisation occurs, which results in arapid mixing of the two layers, producing therollover event. The rollover is characterised by asudden liberation of overheat accumulated in thelower layer, which can now be liberated at the freesurface through evaporation. The LNG thenprogressively loses this overheat and returns to anequilibrium state in a fourth phase.
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Figure 4: Comparison of BOG Generation for Top and Bottom Tank Filling OperationsFigure 5: Stable LNG Stratification Behaviour 
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