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

LNG Conference

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

inner roof

roof

insulated suspended deck

external insulation
with weather barrier

loose filled insulation

outer shell
( not able to contain liquid )
inner tank

inner tank wall

inner tank bottom

base insulation

base insulation
bund wall

Bund wall
elevated concrete base

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 )
inner roof

roof

rain cover

rain cover
insulated suspended deck

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

outer tank
shell
( able to
contain
the liquid )

inner tank bottom

base insulation

elevated concrete base

base insulation

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
inner roof

roof

loose filled insulation

insulated suspended deck

insulation
at inside outer tank
outer tank wall liner
prestressed
concrete outer tank

inner tank wall

inner tank
base insulation

elevated concrete base

wall insulation
at inner side
of outer tank
( or loose filled
insulation )

outer tank
shell
or prestressed
concrete wall
with liner

inner tank bottom

base insulation

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)


Submerged combustion vaporizer (SCV)



using sea water as heat source

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

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

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

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: -163C

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:

AISI 304L: 2.74 bar g

Tank

weights:

AISI 304L: abt. 530 tons

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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:

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

Pressure [bar g]

SS 304L
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

Tank Volume: 30.000 m

Insulation: 300 mm
Polystyrene
Initial pressure: 140 mbar g

0,5

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

HFO

GAS

HFO

GAS

7,500 m LNG/LEG/LPG carrier for Anthony Veder

Electric propulsion (Gas, HFO):
 HFO
 Gas

generator sets: 2 x 3,685 kW

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
 seasonal
 up

operating flexibility
LNG transportation demands

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