Leak-Proof Safety Analysis of A Full Containment LNG Storage Tank
Leak-Proof Safety Analysis of A Full Containment LNG Storage Tank
Leak-Proof Safety Analysis of A Full Containment LNG Storage Tank
INTRODUCTION
In recent years, the growing demand of a liquefied natural gas as
pollution-free energy is one of the most important energy sources.
Especially, several Asian countries have built an extra-large LNG storage
tank up to 200,000m3 in service. The large LNG storage tank may
increase the cost effectiveness, operation easiness, and productivity. And
also it reduces the construction, operation and maintenance costs at the
limited construction site near the crowed city. In these construction
trends for a large-scale LNG tank, various kinds of advanced safety and
control systems including the information technology are provided to
guarantee the strict safety and increased productivity of LNG receiving
terminal facility. The safety and control systems include safety device,
sensors, instruments, safety structures, disaster prevention systems, and
IT based management systems for a LNG receiving facility.
The extensive and advanced engineering studies on analysis,
optimized design, construction, quality control, operation, and safety
have been carried out by many receiving terminal suppliers for securing
the safety of transportation and storage of the natural gas at any
circumstances. Among the studies, a particular emphasis is given to the
safety of the storage tank structures. Many tank designers are very
interesting to know the leak-proof endurance of prestressed concrete
structure at extremely low temperature -162 because we did not
experience such a disaster of the large scale storage tank. Thus, it is very
important to insure the safety and reliability of an extra-large LNG
storage tank.
This paper presents the leak-proof analysis of prestressed concrete
outer tank including the insulation panels after a collapse of the inner
tank. This study shows that the outer tank may contain the leaked
cryogenic liquid for the time being until the primary pump in the inner
tank transports stored cryogenic liquids to the nearest LNG storage tank
before the outer tank is demolished. This is the primary goal of the
current numerical investigation whether or not the tank system safely
retains the leaked refrigerated fluids after the inner tank is collapsed.
COMPUTER SIMULATION
The leak-proof analysis of LNG storage tanks must be carried out under
various load conditions specific with suitable boundary conditions. A FE
analysis using a cylindrical shell model is employed in the leak-proof
investigation of the inner tank - insulation panel - outer tank layers. The
boundary conditions of the sidewall structures in radial direction are
determined from consideration of the hydrostatic pressure of a cryogenic
liquid and thermal gradient loads.
The FEM model of the full containment storage tank as shown in
Figure 1 has been analyzed for determining the stabilized temperature
distribution along the thickness of the tank walls. From the results, it may
be understood and predicted the expected leakage retaining time due to a
leaked cryogenic fluid from the inner tank. The retaining leakage time by
the tank structures is very important design parameter for securing the
leakage safety of the LNG tank system.
In this study, the large storage LNG tank of Tongyoung receiving
terminal in Korea has been analyzed as a simulation model to estimate
the leakage retaining time after the inner tank is collapsed. The storage
capacity of the full containment LNG storage tank is 140,000m3. The
diameter of the inner tank is 59m and the height of the tank is 30.7m. The
total thickness of the tank is approximately 2.05m.
Assumptions
In this study, the following assumptions have been considered for a
simple computation of the complex geometry of the LNG storage tank
system.
- Analyzed for only 10 degrees of the whole tank system as an
axisymmetric model.
- The tank structure is assumed to be a leakage when two sides of the
tank wall are arrived at the same cryogenic temperature of -162 .
This occurs when the leaked cryogenic fluid from an inner tank is
only transported to the outside of the prestressed concrete structure.
It may be explained as a leakage occurrence between two sides of the
tank wall in design concepts and physical meanings. In other case,
we can not say the leakage even though two sides of the tank is
arrived at the same temperature of -162 . But, two sides of the
materials should be exposed to the same cryogenic temperature of 162 at any circumstances for the leakage simulation as done in this
study.
- The prestressed concrete is composed as a composite material with the
residual compression zone. This means that the prestressed concrete
has different density zones for the gas and liquid tightness and the
special strength of the structure, which are related to the safety of the
tank system. The thickness and the density of the residual
compression zone are influential design factors for checking leaked
cryogenic fluids when the inner tank is suddenly collapsed.
- For the leakage and temperature analyses, the material is homogeneous and
same properties at the same zone of the tank model. The material of
the tank structures does not have any cracks, voids, and external
particles in the matters even though the real case is a little different.
FEM Model and Boundary Conditions
Figure 1 shows the general description of the LNG storage tank in
radial direction. The inner tank is in direct contact with a cryogenic fluid
of -162 and the outer tank exposed to the air of 15 as shown in Figure
2. Insulation panels, corner protection, and vapor barrier between two tank
walls are constructed for the safety and
0.012m
0.623m
0.05m
PC
Polyurethane form
Foamglass
Perlite powder
30.7m
Vaper barrior
Cornor protection
0.3m
1.1m
0.15m
0.514m
Air
LNG fluid
W2
28.6m
Temperature distribution
before steady-state
Temperature distribution
after steady-state
PH
PG
29,028Pa
59,822Pa
89,243Pa
30.7m
104,934Pa
PC
119,644Pa
Insulation
panel
134,355Pa
149,065Pa
163,775Pa
194,177Pa
10 o
1.92m
Thermal conductivity,
W/mK
16
0.03838
0.0391
0.05592
0.0233
2.326
Specific heat,
J/kgK
510
792
753.74
837.49
1465.6
837.21
PC wall thickness
5m
2.0
9% Ni
Fiber glass blanket
Perlite powder
Foam glass
PUF
Prestressed concrete
Density,
kg/m3
8000
16
760
2180
1190
2500
PL
134,355Pa
Investigation zone
Ni Steel
B
Fiber-glass
Perlite-low
Foamglass
Perlite-high
PC
PUF
Fig. 4. LNG storage tank system that includes the inner tank,
insulation materials, and outer tank structures and cross
sectional area ABCD at the middle of the tank system
1.5days, 0 C
Investigation Zone : ABCD
Height : 14.4m
Material : Perlite powder
Initial Temp. : 15 C
5days, -74.2 C
10days, -129 C
20days, -157 C
31.3days, -162 C
Temperature distribution, C
-155
-156
-157
-158
-159
-160
-161
-162
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
-154
o
-155
Temperature distribution, C
-156
-157
-158
Insulation zone
PC zone
-159
-160
-161
-162
-0.25 0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00 2.25
8.0
7.5
7.0
6.5
6.0
5.5
5.0
4.5
2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 6500
3
44
40
36
32
28
24
20
2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 6500
3
The tank structures which include the corner protection, insulation panel,
vapor barrier and outer prestressed concrete should retain the leaked
cryogenic liquids for a long period until the primary pump empty a
stored cryogenic fluids in the collapsed inner tank.
CONCLUSION
In this study, the fundamental analysis has been presented for
investigating the leak-proof safety of the full containment LNG storage
tank based on the FEM technique. The primary concern in the full
containment tank is to evaluate the safety of the tank system without a
dike even though most of the LNG storage tanks have been built based
on the codes and regulations in their country.
The FE computed results indicate that the PC outer wall is expected to
protect the LNG leakage for a limited period until a cryogenic liquid
transferred to a neighbor LNG tank by a primary pump. The current LNG
tank structure in a full containment tank is obviously enough to securing
the leak-proof safety of the tank system with two primary pumps.
To guarantee the safety of the tank system, the full containment tank
should be constructed based on the BS 7777 design concept and other
regulations, which are recognized in the international LNG society. But,
as the tank size is radically increasing, the safety of the tank system
should be guaranteed with an increased density and thickness of the
compression zone in the prestressed concrete tank, and high density of
the insulation panel. In addition, the conventional safety structures such
as top girder and several stiffeners in the inner tank may be changed to
other structures for the maximum safety of the tank system. These
advanced design concepts may guarantee the safety of effectiveness of
extra large LNG storage tank system in future service.
REFERENCES
1. MARC users manual. Ver. 6.3, MARC Analysis Research Co., 1996.
2. BS 7777: Flat-bottomed, vertical, cylindrical storage tanks for low
temperature service. Part 1, pp. 9, 1993.
3. Technical development and investigation report for LNG storage tank.
Japanese Natural Gas Import Committee, pp. 158-159, March 1990.