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)

Firstvery 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

external insulation
loose filled insulation with weather barrier
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 )

roof inner roof

rain cover
rain cover

insulated suspended deck

external insulation outer tank

prestressed loose filled insulation with weather barrier shell
concrete outer shell ( able to
outer tank ( not able to contain liquid ) contain
wall inner tank wall the liquid )
inner tank
inner tank bottom
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

wall insulation
at inner side
insulation of outer tank
at inside outer tank ( or loose filled outer tank
outer tank wall liner insulation ) shell
or prestressed
prestressed
concrete wall
concrete outer tank inner tank wall
with liner
inner tank bottom
inner tank
base insulation base insulation

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

LNG storage:
 Material: stainless steel (AISI 304)
 Insulation: foamglas or vacuum
 Design pressure: 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 2 tank design up to abt. 10,000 m
o 3 tank design up to abt. 15,000 m

Ship capacity above 15,000 m

Bilobe tank design
o 3 tank design up to 25,000 m
o 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:
o AISI 304L: 2.74 bar g
Tank weights:
o 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:
o Larger delta T during cooling down
o 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
Pressure [bar g]

2,5

2
Bas ic LNG
Com pos ition
1,5 N2:2%
CO2:0%
C1:89%
C2:5,5%
1 C3:2,5%
Tank Volume: 30.000 m
C4:1%
Insulation: 300 mm
Polystyrene
0,5 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

HFO GAS

HFO GAS

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 Ethylene-
carrier 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