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Thermal Study on LNG Cargo Tank
Li Rong*1, Jin Wenbing2, Zhang Juyong3, Jin Jialei4, Xu Endao5
School of Mechanical Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou, China, 310018
*1 lirongjx@hdu.edu.cn; 2644973807@qq.com; 3zhang_juyong01@163.com; 4jinjialei005@163.com; 5xuendao90@126.com
Abstract LNG ship during its transportation, there are many
The LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) cargo tank is a key strict requirements on its cargo tank in the design of
component in the maritime transport of ‐163℃ LNG. The LNG ship. At present the common types of LNG ship
cryo‐insulation performance of cargo tank directly affects the are as follows.
security of LNG transport greatly. Based on a 147000m3 LNG
Firstly, LNG ship with film type cargo tank. There is a
cargo tank, a structural type of the LNG cargo tank is certain,
which includes its materials and parameters. With the safety main shield wall with a very thin film to construct a
requirements of cryopreservation of ‐163℃ LNG, the cargo tank. The cargo tank is supported by an
temperature fields and the thermal stress distribution of insulating layer through the hull. For the sake of safety,
LNG cargo tank with full load are simulated by a 3d there are dual insulating layers outside of cargo tank.
mathematic model by finite element software. Lastly, a The outside of cargo tank are two layers, which make
cooling scheme of LNG cargo tank is completed according to of heat insulating material. And the inside of cargo
its thermal performance. The cooling method has some
tank is a thin film, which make of metal film.
practical meaning to some engineering.
“Technigaz” and “Gaz Transport” are two typical
Keywords LNG film cargo tanks, which are shown in FIGURE 1
LNG; Cargo Tank; Heat‐insulating Layer; Thermal Design (a) and (b). There is a leakproof interlayer in the LNG
film cargo tank; it needs not to calculate thermal stress
Introduction distribution of cargo tank. On the other hand, the thin
film of metal can reduce the weight of the cargo tank,
Nowadays, as one of the three pillars of the world
and can shorten the time of precooling before loading
energy, natural gas is the most important part in the
world. At present, natural gas become the fastest LNG.
growing energy with an average annual growth rate
20%, though it cannot meet the demand of the market,
which has to rely on imports. LNG (Liquefied Natural
Gas) is a product of natural gas, which can solve the
transportation from overseas origin. Since the boiling
point of LNG is ‐163℃ under standard pressure, it (a)“Technigaz”film (b)“Gaz Transport”film (c)global
needs maintain the ultra‐low temperature during its FIGURE 1. THREE KINDS OF LNG CARGO TANK
transportation. The LNG cargo tank is used to load the
Secondly, LNG ship with global type cargo tank. This
‐163℃ LNG, which must be protected strictly from
cargo tank belongs to “B type” independent liquid
ocean shipping environment. Therefore, the cryo‐
cargo tank, which is used almost exclusively for
insulation performance of cargo tank directly affects
the security of LNG transport greatly. And the thermal liquefied natural gas ship. And recently it is widely
design of cargo tank becomes its design point. used in LNG ship. Usually, there are 4~6 global cargo
tanks on one LNG ship. For each one, there is a global
Based on a 147000m3 LNG cargo tank, a structural & main shield wall of metal to construct a cargo tank.
thermal design of the cargo tank is put out. In order to And each one is protected with insulating system on
ensure its security of cargo tank, under thermal design its outside. The global cargo tank is supported by a
requirements, the thermal performance of cargo tank cylindrical tubular ball at its equator. Therefore, all the
must be checked in order to make out its cooling weight of LNG cargo tank is supported by its plate
scheme. membrane through the hull. Two kinds of LNG cargo
tank above are different in characteristics, design
LNG Cargo Tank
difficulties and practicability. Their advantages and
In order to ensure the safety and efficiency of the disadvantages are list in Table 1 in detail.
International Journal of Automation and Control Engineering, Vol. 4, No. 1—April 2015 5
2325‐7407/15/01 005‐4 © 2015 DEStech Publications, Inc.
doi:10.12783/ijace.2015.0401.02
6 Li Rong, Jin Wenbing, Zhang Juyong, Jin Jialei, Xu Endao
Item Requirement
Thermal conductivity small
Anti‐absorbent hygroscopicity excellent
Resistance to water vapour permeability excellent
FIGURE 2. DIAGRAM OF CARGO TANK INSULATION
Low thermal expansion coefficient small STRUCTURE
Flame retardant excellent TABLE 4. DETAILS OF INSULATION STRUCTURE
In addition to the above, insulation material should material Thickness(mm)
also meets good chemical stability, high mechanical a Stainless steel film 1.2
b Laminate 12
strength, cheap price and convenient construction and
c Enhanced foam 100
other requirements. Polyurethane foam, expanded d Aluminum reinforced plate 1
perlite, foam glass, polystyrene foam, PVC foam, e Enhanced foam 170
phenolic foam are commonly used as insulating f Laminate 9
materials in LNG ship largely. Their physical g Hull shell plate 15~22
properties are shown in Table 3. Second scheme: there is a 0.7mm 6% nickel alloy non‐
Compared with the thermal insulation material in expanded plate. And the membrane is made of
Table 3, each insulation material has its advantage. plywood box filled with perlite powder. The structure
Thermal Study on LNG Cargo Tank 7
Second insulation
Item First insulation scheme
scheme
(1) insulation is cheap
(1) low stress but should and simple;
FIGURE 3. DIAGRAM OF CARGO TANK INSULATION be consistent with the (2) welding is relatively
STRUCTURE assembly tolerance; simple;
Advantages
(2) thin film with 1.2mm (3) two film layers are
TABLE 5. DETAILS OF INSULATION STRUCTURE
thickness increases the same;
material Thickness(mm) strength; (4) anything on it can be
a 36% nickel steel 0.7 removed;
b Wooden insulating layer 230 (1) the INVAR is very
(1) the insulation layer
c 36% nickel steel 0.7 expensive;
will be destroyed by
d Wooden insulating layer 300 (2) it takes a long time to
any removal because of
e The cabin floor ‐‐‐ Disadvantages install the film;
its glue assembly;
(3) INVAR thin film is
(2) the foam is
very fragile, it cannot be
Thermal Simulation of LNG Cargo Tank expensive;
touched;
8 Li Rong, Jin Wenbing, Zhang Juyong, Jin Jialei, Xu Endao
greater risk of is small;
of LNG ship. Technology foundation of national defence.
implementation;
2006, 24(6):25‐35.
It is shown in Table 7, two cooling schemes can
Li Yukang. Overview of LNG ship tank insulation
achieve large LNG cargo tank to a low temperature. In
technology. Shanghai ship building. 2002, 23(2):23‐30.
the first cooling scheme, it can pre‐cooling pipelines
with liquid nitrogen before LNG ship arriving. But Patankar S V. Numerical heat transfer and fluid flow.
this scheme is a greater risk than second scheme, McGraw‐Hill. 1980, 15(8):55‐75.
because its limited operation space of nitrogen tank. Qiu Lin. Study on LNG ship cargo tank insulatioin
The second cooling scheme is convenient with small
technology and heat transfer. Shanghai maritime
risk, but it needs more time of cooling. Therefore, the
university. 2004.
second cooling scheme becomes the final cooling
solution. R.S.Kvamsdal, S.Koren. Energy saving LNG carriers[J].
GASTECH81:171‐185.
Conclusions Wang Yongwei, Wang Chuanrong, Wang Jing. Analysis on
This paper mainly analyzes two types of cargo tank on three types of LNG storage system on ship. 2007,
LNG ship. Then two typical cargo containment 32(2):15‐20.
systems are studied from their structural materials and
insulation structures. Based on this, we focus on film Rong Li is a lecturer at the School of Mechanical
cargo tank of a 147000m3 LNG ship to design its Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University. She studies
insulation structure and its cooling scheme. It is of thermal control of larger equipment currently. She received
certain reference value to actual manufacture film a PhD in astronomical techiques and methods from National
cargo tank on LNG ship. Astronmical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences in
2010.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT Webing Jin is a scholar candidate in mechanical engineering
at the School of Mechanical Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi
The authors are grateful to the “Zhejiang Provincial
University. He calculates thermal models of LNG cargo tank.
Natural Science Foundation of China (No.
LQ13E060004)”; and the “Zhejiang Open Foundation of Juyong Zhang is an associate professor at the School of
the Most Important Subjects (No. 201205)” for their Mechanical Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University. He
studies structural design of larger equipment currently. He
financial supports.
received a PhD in astronomical techiques and methods from
National Astronmical Observatories, Chinese Academy of
REFERENCES
Sciences in 2007.
ABS LNG Carrier Training Course. 2003, 32(11):65‐85. Jialei Jin is a Master candidate in mechanical engineering at
Advanced LNG Carriers. HSB International. 1997, 45(11):56‐ the School of Mechanical Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi
University. He studies thermal models of LNG cargo tank.
58.
He received a scholar in mechanical engineering at the
Chu Liangyong. Ship type evaluation for LNG import School of Mechanical Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi
transportation of China. Dalian maritime university. 2000. University in 2012.