B-3

MARINE TERMINALS FOR LNG,

ETHYLENE, AND LPG*
M. B. Clapp and L. F. Litzinger

Chicago Bridge atul Iron Company

Oak Brook, Illinois

INTRODUCTION
Marine terminals for liquefied natural gas, ethylene, and liquefied petroleum gas
served by ocean-going vessels are the general subjects of this paper. Terminals served
exclusively by inland, canal, or river-going barges will be briefly discussed. For at
least 15 years refrigerated shipment of liquids of up to 3000 tons per barge have been
common. However, during the last 10 years ships designed to carry 10,000 to 70,000
tons of refrigerated liquids have been built and placed in service. Terminals serving
these ships are unique in many ways.
A terminal will normally be capable of both dispatching and receiving product.
However, the terminal is primarily built for only one function, either to send out or to
receive product. Its principal components are illustrated in Fig. l.

ECONOMICS
The savings in cost and shipping volume achieved through refrigeration are
illustrated in Table 1. The economic comparison is for land storage tanks complete
with spread footing foundations, but excluding piping or equipment external to the
tank itself.
The economic reasons for refrigerated storage are only partially covered by
Table 1. Due to very high unloading rates from ships (total contents in 20 hr or less),
marine terminals are not normally economically practical if the product is stored at
any temperature and pressure different from the ship storage condition. The last
two columns in Table I showing ratios of vessel weight and cost for refrigerated us

Fig. 1. Principal components of

a marine terminal for LNG,
ethylene, and LPG.

* Paper presented at 68th National AIChE Meeting, Houston, Texas, Feb. 28-Mar. 4,1971.
84

K. D. Timmerhaus (ed.), Advances in Cryogenic Engineering

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 1972
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Table I. Land Storage Comparison for 20,000 Tons Product II>
..,=
II>
Weight and cost a
refrig. s·
ratio o f - - a
Product Pressure storage Fully refrigerated storage press. '"Q'

Vessel, Vessel,
.
t'"'
lb vessel cost 2.
Product, lb/lb Cost per Product, lb/lb Cost per 9
Pressure Ib/ft 3 of prod. lb prod. Pressure Ib/ft3 of prod. lb prod. lb prod. lb prod. t"l
~
;-
Natural gas Not feasible 1 psig 29.3 0.098 5.5 to 7.5¢
Ethylene 300 psig 26.9 0.45 37 to 49¢ 1 psig 35.5 0.075 4.8 to 6.4¢ 1/6 1/8 =
JI>
Propane 250 psig 27.7 0.29 22 to 30¢ 1 psig 36.6 0.058 2.0 to 2.7¢ 1/5 1/11
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