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PERU LNG
Melchorita, Peru
Triple Pendulum bearings protect critical storage tanks
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Two large liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanks for the

Melchorita facility are seismically protected with
Triple Pendulum bearings. Each LNG tank has a
storage capacity of 130,000 cubic meters and is
supported on 256 bearings. With a total capacity of
260,000 cubic meters, these tanks are the largest in
South America to use seismic isolation. The facility is
located in an area of recorded magnitude 8
earthquakes.
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View of Isolated Tank

Use of seismic isolation in the PERU LNG tanks

resulted in an economical tank design with a reduced
footprint, while providing the most reliable mechanism
for accommodating the large seismic displacements
that occur during an earthquake. The Triple
bearing provides superior seismic
Pendulum
performance at a lower bearing cost, compared to the
single Friction Pendulum bearing. Use of Triple
Pendulum bearings resulted in a 85+% reduction in
inner tank shear and design base shear for the Design
Basis Earthquake, thereby reducing the overall cost of
tank construction .
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Triple Pendulum Bearing Installation

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Owners: Hunt Oil, SK Corp, Repsol, Marubeni Corp.

Engineer & Contractor: CB&I

Earthquake Protection Systems, Inc.

451 Azuar Drive, Bldg. 759
Mare Island
Vallejo, CA 94592

Earthquake Protection Systems provided the design

and supply of isolation bearings for the PERU LNG
tanks. A total of 514 Triple Pendulum Bearings were
manufactured over a period of 4 months. All 514
bearings were performance proof-tested in real time

Tel: (707) 644-5993

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

Dec 2008