Necessary safety procedures in LNG operations
So much so that the subject deserves a special article, in which we will delve deeper into this type of operation. To do this, we convened a team of experts: Nathália de Faria Almeida, Aracaju operations supervisor; Wagner Moura, Merchant Marine officer and port operations coordinator at CELSE and Lucas Buranelli, LNG terminal operations manager. Are you interested? So continue reading to find out more about how this transport is carried out and its safety procedures. Good reading! How is LNG transported? To begin this discussion, it is interesting to define what LNG is and how it works within a maritime chartering context. The acronym stands for Liquefied Natural Gas, a technology that has existed on the market for over 40 years, although it has become more popular recently. The idea of this technology is to reduce the temperature of natural gas, storing it at a temperature of -160ºC, until it stabilizes in its liquid state. “Liquefied natural gas is 600 times more compact than natural gas in its gaseous state, making transportation much more efficient. Thus, much larger volumes of mass and consequently energy can be transported on appropriate cargo ships , LNGCs, ( Liquefied Natural Gas Carrier ), also known in Brazil as Metaneiros explains Lucas.In addition to transport efficiency, LNG is phone databasealso highlighted by Wagner as a safer transport model: “LNG has been loaded and transported on ships safely for more than four decades. The gas is not loaded in a pressurized manner, therefore, in cases of failure in the cargo containment system, the LNG would return to the gaseous state and dissipate.” It is a safe and efficient model for transporting natural gas, making its trade more relevant and attractive to players around the world — with an already consolidated operation in Brazilian terminals. What security procedures are required? Any port operation is, by nature, already dependent on strict security terms — and this is no different in the handling, transfer and transportation of LNG. As explained by Lucas, the stability and temperature of liquefied gas guarantees some safety characteristics, such as a lower propensity for fires and explosions. But -160ºC is a considerable value that brings other risks.
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LNG at this temperature is quite harmful to skin, steel and plastic, for example, which would soon freeze when coming into direct contact with the cryogenic liquid and would not resist.” As he tells us, it was necessary to regulate the use of appropriate materials, such as the stainless steel used in LNGC tanks — a material capable of maintaining its integrity under these conditions. These determinations, among others, are part of the IGC, International Gas Code. Nathália, who, like Wagner, participates in operations of this type in Sergipe, at the CELSE LNG Terminal, explains that “the LNG arrives at the FSRU GOLAR NANOOK through methane tankers and is transferred to the FSRU (Floating Storage Regasification Unit) through of an operation called ship-to-ship ”. According to the expert, the types of ships used have special tanks, which can be spherical, double membrane tanks or prismatic tanks. The biggest safety effort is in the construction of the vessels and monitoring conditions during transport. “The entire ship is equipped with systems that monitor the existence of fire, gas leaks and temperature monitoring, for safety reasons says Nathália.
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