Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), the world’s biggest shipbuilder, announced that it has developed a high performance Hyundai Membrane LNG Cargo Containment System.
The shipbuilding giant’s new membrane type containment system for liquefied natural gas received Design Approval from classification societies including ABS and DNV.
The containment system useable for LNG carriers, LNG FPSO, LNG fueled vessel, and LNG bunkering systems, features dual metal barrier and high performance insulation systems. The thin STS304L and Invar-alloy barriers optimized to sustain thermal, fatigue, and sloshing loads, are specifically designed to prevent LNG leakage at the welded secondary barrier. New insulation panels with low density polyurethane foam and glass fiber composite material reduce boil off rate by more than 10% of the stored liquefied natural gas in comparison with conventional insulation panels. Moreover, the insulation panels made up of reinforced polyurethane foam and plywood are specially designed for areas prone to sloshing damage such as LNG tank corners.
Hyundai Heavy’s LNG technology meets International Maritime Organization standards requiring high level of structural analysis, fatigue analysis, comparative wet/dry drop test, and fluid-structural interaction analysis for membrane type LNG cargo containment system. HHI will commercialize the Hyundai Membrane LNG Cargo Containment System after the final performance test.
In November 2012, the Ulsan, South Korea-based company introduced an independent liquefied natural gas storage tank model, Lobe-Bundle Tank. This model uses ring-shaped plates instead of conventional flat plates to reduce the weight of the tank and building cost, and spray-type insulation to substantially reduce construction time.
With the development of Lobe-Bundle Tank and Hyundai Membrane LNG Cargo Containment System, Hyundai Heavy now is better-positioned to build quality LNG carriers living up to the high standards demanded by the global market.
[mappress] LNG World News Staff, April 15, 2013; Image: HHI