HHI introduces new membrane LNG containment system

APRIL 15, 2013 —Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), the world’s largest shipbuilder, reports that it has developed a high performance Hyundai Membrane LNG Cargo Containment System that has received Design Approval from classification societies including ABS and DNV.

The containment system — suitable for LNG carriers, LNG FPSO, LNG fueled vessels, and LNG bunkering systems — features dual metal barrier and high performance insulation systems.

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 percent of the stored liquefied natural gas in comparison with conventional insulation panels.

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 IMO 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 says will commercialize the Hyundai Membrane LNG Cargo Containment System after the final performance test.

Introduction of the new LNG containment follows the November 2012 introduction by HHI of an independent liquefied natural gas storage tank model, the Lobe-Bundle Tank, that  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 (see earlier story).

With the development of Lobe-Bundle Tank and Hyundai Membrane LNG Cargo Containment System, Hyundai Heavy says it is now “better-positioned to build quality LNG carriers living up to the high standards demanded by the global market.”