Dunkerque LNG the operator of France’s Dunkirk liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal said the facility has completed the upgrade of the maximum reloading flow-rate.
The operator noted that the project became a necessity as soon as the terminal was commissioned.
The maximum reloading flow-rate has been raised from 4,000 cubic meters per hour to 8,800 cbm/hour which means the ships’ stopover time when reloading has been halved.
Juan Vazquez , general manager of Dunkerque LNG said, “reloading a tanker faster means less downtime for the ship and, therefore, major savings for our customers. With a flow-rate of 4,000 cbm per hour, it took 40 hours to reload a tanker. Now, at 8,800 cbm per hour, it only takes 20 hours.”
This new service required large-scale renovation work, the operator said, adding that eight pumps were replaced on tanks 1 and 2.
The increase in refueling speed also causes a rise in the gas vapor that must be recovered then treated before being sent to the gas transmission network.
“That is why we had to install an additional compressor; now we can process 48 tonnes of gas per hour instead of the previous rate of 30,” Vazquez said.
The tests designed to verify that the new equipment behaves properly have just been completed, Dunkerque LNG said.