기고｜Technical Challenges & Design Features of the Largest LNG Tank in Korea

Technical Challenges & Design Features

of the Largest LNG Tank in Korea
Eui-Seung Par｜Managing Director, Plant Division

Biography of Speaker
Eui-Seung Park is a Managing Director and a Technical Fellow of
Program Committee B(PGC B) of International Gas Union(IGU). He has
been working for Daewoo E&C for around 30 years and has been involved in
many natural gas and LNG projects. He attended Seoul National University
and received his BS in electrical engineering and also completed Advanced
Managerial Program(AMP). He is in charge of plant projects including LNG
in Plant Division.
E-mail : espark@dwconst.co.kr

Hong-Sung Kim Seung-Rim Lee

General Manger, Plant Division Senior Researcher, Institute of Gas Safety R&D
Seung-Beom Hong Korea Gas Safety Corporation, 332-1,
Manager, Plant Division Deaeya-Dong, Sihung-Si, Gyunggi-Do, 429-
Se-Jin Jeon 712, Korea
Senior Researcher, Institute of Construction Technology
Daewoo E&C Co., Ltd., C.P.O. Box 8269, Seoul, Korea
Joseph. H. Cho AIChE Spring National Meeting, April 2006
Technical Advisor, Ph.D., PE 6th Topical Conference on Natural Gas
Kellogg Brown and Root, 601 Jefferson Utilization
Avenue, Houston, TX 77002 Orlando, Florida , April 23-27, 2006

1. Introduction
Since the first LNG cargo was imported to
Korea at the end of 1986, the downstream LNG
industry of Korea has seen remarkable
development in each sector from receiving
terminals to the nationwide trunkline network.
As a result, LNG is positioned to become a
major primary energy source in the domestic
market.
The importance of LNG storage facilities in
Korea has recently been highlighted by the
country's considerable increase in consumption
and the security of a stable supply against
seasonal peak loads in winter, which have
resulted from sizeable investments to address
the issue in a timely manner.
This paper will discuss past major activities
in the various fields of the LNG tank industry
(such as engineering, construction, technology

Journal of The Korea Gas Union 37

기고｜Technical Challenges & Design Features of the Largest LNG Tank in Korea

development, safety study, etc.) starting from
the construction of the first receiving terminal
at Pyeongtaek in 1986 to the design of the
world's largest above-ground LNG tank which
is scheduled to begin construction in early
2006. The design of full containment LNG tank
of this 200,000m3 has been developed with an
emphasis on the cost saving and land use
efficiency under the Korean geopolitical
specifics. This paper also discusses the
technical challenges and design features of the
largest full containment.
2. Increase in LNG Tank Capacity
Currently, Korea is the world's 2nd largest
LNG importer after Japan. The Korean LNG
industry has been developing correspondingly
with an increase in LNG consumption by
approximately 16% per annum since the first
importation at the end of 1986 to the Pyeongtaek
terminal from Indonesia.
In terms of its development, 22.2 Million
Tones per Annum (MTPA) of LNG were
imported and supplied in 2004 through the
nation-wide natural gas trunk line network
(about 2,500 km in length), which was
constructed and operated by Korea Gas
Corporation (KOGAS). Particularly, the annual
gas demand growth rate is 9.7% from 1997 to
2004, which was more than 4 times greater
than of global growth rate of 2.3% in natural
gas consumption. Besides, its supply rate of
city gas to the household was 68.8%. However,
the demand for LNG from the power sector
shows a comparatively stable demand pattern
around 35%. The demand from the city gas
sector, which shows a big seasonal fluctuation,
takes a considerably large portion of total
demand (see Table 1).
Korea has executed a long-term supply and
demand program increasing the storage rate
from 9.6% in 2005 to 12.7% in 2015 in order to
make preparations against the annually
constant increase of demand and seasonal peak
loads. The Korean government expects that
large storage volumes contribute the stability
of supply and demand. This can also meet the
governmental energy-reserving policy in
natural gas. .
Table-1 shows the increase in LNG demand

Table 1 - Prospect for LNG demand and expansion plan for storage capacity
Annual
1997 2000 2003 2005* 2007* 2011* 2014* 2017* Growth Rate
(%, 03~)

LNG City Gas 5,770 9,528 11,979 13,658 15,386 18,852 21,700 24,893 5.36
Demand Power 5,377 4,689 6,468 7,612 8,572 6,992 6,014 6,764 0.32
(103 Ton) Total 11,147 14,217 18,447 21,270 23,958 25,844 27,714 31,637 3.93

Storage
Newly - 7.0 14.4 10.2 7.0 20.8 8.4 5.6
Capacity
(106m3) Accumulated 1.3 2.0 3.4 4.5 5.2 7.2 8.1 8.6

Storage
(%) 5.2 6.3 8.4 9.6 10.2 13.2 13.7 12.7
Rate
Note) * is planning data from 'The 7th Long-term Supply and Demand Program, by MOCIE (Ministry of
Commerce, Industry and Energy), December, 2004'

38 Journal of The Korea Gas Union


by around 4% makes the expansion of storage
and supply facilities inevitable, which requires
sizeable investment and the enlargement of
LNG tanks considering the economy of scale.
3. Development of LNG Tank
1st Generation : Above-ground
membrane LNG tank with dike
The first LNG tank introduced in Korea was
the membrane type at the Pyeongtaek terminal
In 1983, the membrane technology developed by
Technigaz, France, was adopted for the first
three units (100,000m3 x 3) and the same
technology was applied to the terminal
expansion, resulting in construction of total 10
units of storage tanks. This tank can be called
the 1st Generation LNG tank' for convenience.
2nd Generation : Above-ground 9% Ni
full containment LNG tank with dike
After construction of Pyeongtaek terminal,
the 2nd LNG terminal was built from 1990 to
1996 at Inchon terminal in order to meet abrupt
increase in LNG demand and supply natural gas
to Seoul Metropolitan area. This comprised 9%-
Ni full containment LNG tanks (100,000m3 x 3)
so-called the 2nd Generation LNG tank. This
type of tank was state-of-the-art at the time
of construction since only about 15 units1) had
been built in a few countries in the world.
Traditionally, the single containment type of
double wall LNG tank with 9% Ni inner tank
1) In the basis of countries operating import terminals (Source : A study on the containment type of LNG tank,
KOGAS, Aug. 1998)
K G U
was preferred from an economic point of view
and dominated the market with over 100 units
in the world. However, the geopolitical specifics
of the armistice as a divided country after the
Korean War made Korea select the full
containment type of LNG tank even though it
required high capital investment focused on the
safety of the tank. By 2000, 10 units of above-
ground LNG tanks (#1~10) had been installed at
Inchon terminal.
3rd Generation : In-ground membrane
LNG tank
Then came the so-called 3rd Generation LNG
tank, in-ground membrane type. These started
to be installed for the first time in Korea at the
same terminal from 1997. From 1997 to 2004, a
total of 8 units of in-ground tanks (#11~18)
were constructed through 4 individual projects
using the Japanese membrane technology. Two
tanks (#19~20) that have adopted the KOGAS
membrane technology are under construction.
These have resulted from a wide range of
research and development of membrane and its
components such as insulation material.
Besides, their individual storage capacity of
200,000m3 deserves attention as the largest
volume in the world for 8 tanks (#13~20) out of
10 units.
4th Generation : Above-ground 9% Ni full
containment LNG tank with no-dike
From 1999 to Oct. 2002, the 3rd LNG terminal
in Korea was built at Tongyeong and the so-
Journal of The Korea Gas Union 39
기고｜Technical Challenges & Design Features of the Largest LNG Tank in Korea
Fig. 1 - Development of LNG Tanks in Korea
called 4th Generation LNG tank has been
installed, no-dike 9%-Ni full containment LNG
tank (140,000m3 x 3, #1~3) with the largest
diameter of the LNG tank (86m in O.D.) in the
world. This terminal has made a significant
contribution to the supply of natural gas in the
southern area of Korea. After 2 more tanks
(#4~5) were installed, a total of 7 tanks (#6~12)
with the same capacity have been constructed
based on the KOGAS design since Jan. 2002
(#6~10 tanks in operation). In the first half of
year 2006, the super-size above-ground LNG
tank with a 200,000m 3 capacity will be
constructed in this terminal, which will be the
first time in the world.
During two decades of LNG history, Korea
has been developing with a remarkable increase
of LNG consumption and made a very dynamic
market for the LNG tanks. The market
contributes development of the large storage
tanks, adopted state-of-the-art technology. It
40 Journal of The Korea Gas Union
can be said that this results from devotional
efforts by the Korean government led by
KOGAS and some companies involving in LNG
tank design and construction.
4. Security of Safety for LNG Tank
Even though the Korean LNG industry has
only about running for 20 years, there are
considerable efforts to establish a Korean
regulatory system for enhancing LNG tank
safety. This was led by Korea Gas Safety
Corporation (KGS) and supported by KOGAS
and government agency. The High Pressure
Gas Safety Control Law was enacted in 1996
and then KGS began to implement verification
of safety for LNG tanks. In 1998, KGS
completed 'A Study on Inspection Standards of
LNG Storage Tanks' and this has presented
installation standards for LNG tanks at Inchon

and Pyeongtaek terminals.
KGS also performed 'A study on Inspection
Technology and International Standards for
LNG Storage Tanks' in 2002, which results in a
standard for the no-dike LNG tanks (7 tanks in
operation) at Tongyeong for the first time in
Korea. This detailed study on the functions of
dike for LNG tank was the basis of this
guideline, which regards the outer wall of a full
containment tank as the dike (or impounding
wall). The guideline does not require the dike
since full containment outer wall is considered
having the same function and safety of the
dike. After this guideline has been enacted, no-
dike were installed for the full containment
type of LNG tanks. As a result, the client has
benefited from enhanced land use efficiency.
In 2004, KGS implemented the 'Comparative
Risk Assessment of LNG Tank Design' with the
help of the English consulting firm, AEA
Technology, and the Korea Institute of Gas
(KIGAS). They compared and evaluated the
safety of the ordinary full containment LNG
tank and the KOGAS membrane tank through
structural analysis and quantitative risk
assessment. The latter KOGAS membrane tank
was found to have the same level of safety as
the full containment LNG tank installed at
Tongyeong.
KGS is developing Korean Industrial
Standard(KS) codes similar to the international
codes and standards such as BS, API and EN
code with governmental agency. The efforts of
KGS towards the establishment of proper
safety standards in time for Korean LNG tank
2) Estimated by the contract amount and storage capacity taking account of inflation
K G U
industry were successfully achieved during a
short period and eliminated unnecessary debate
over safety issues. As a result, KGS has
contributed greatly to the national plan for
LNG storage facilities and the development of
its related industries.
5. Design of the Largest Aboveground
LNG Tanks
The Korean LNG tank industry has developed
technologically and its market was enlarged along
with 9%-Ni LNG tank's installation at Inchon
terminal. At the same time, the market
competition has been serious as well, which led to
a reduction in the construction cost per unit
volume of tank capacity. For example, the LNG
tanks at the Tongyeong terminal were constructed
at the cost of 70% of the tanks at Inchon2).
Fig. 2 - Relative Specific Tank Construction Costs
* Notes)
- Specific tank construction costs were
obtained from total construction costs divided
by net storage volumes (m3).)
- 100,000 m3 tank has dike, while others are
no-dike type.
- 200,000m3 capacity LNG tank costs is based
on Kogas' planned Tongyeong project
Journal of The Korea Gas Union 41
기고｜Technical Challenges & Design Features of the Largest LNG Tank in Korea
Keeping pace with the increase of national
demand for LNG, the government policy of
enlargement of LNG tanks has been aimed at
reducing the national budget. It has also been led
to competitiveness in the market and development
of the technology in the engineering and
construction areas.
In terms of above-ground LNG tanks, the
result of cost efficiency for the enlargement of
tank capacity was obtained through the
analysis of many projects in Korea. The data
was collected from the various projects at
Inchon and Tongyeong terminal and analyzed
with adjustment for the identical timeframe
taking into account for annual inflation by 3%.
Daewoo Engineering and Construction Co.,
Ltd. ('DWC') has participated in the LNG tank
industry since 1995. DWC has independently
started the development of 200,000m3 above-
ground LNG tank based on design and
construction experiences at Inchon and
Fig. 3 - Sectional View of 200,000m3 LNG Tank
42 Journal of The Korea Gas Union
Tongyeong terminals, as a strategy to be a
market leader at the end of year 2000. The
world's largest tank was 180,000m3 above-
ground LNG tank at the Senboku and Himeji
terminals, Japan, in 2000. DWC targeted the
following objectives in the development of a
200,000m3 tank.
● Cost reduction per unit volume
● Enlargement of land use efficiency
● Technology development of structural
analysis and materials
● Reduction of construction period
In February 2005, DWC succeeded to develop
the design and structural analysis technology
for inner and outer tanks on the basis of
various codes and standards, first hand
experience from previous LNG projects and the
design and analysis technology acquired from
nuclear containment. The various LNG tanks
have been installed around the world including
Korea principally in accordance with BS7777

and API 620 codes. However, each code has its
own strict and different provisions for the
thickness of plate for the inner tank and the
hydrostatic test level, which in fact limited the
maximum capacity up to 160,000m3 for the
LNG tanks. But now the newly established
European code prEN14620 replacing BS7777 can
allow the inner tank design with over 50mm
thickness and partial hydro-test level up to
125% of the maximum liquid loads. Based on
this new regulation, DWC implemented a study
on various sizes of LNG tanks with the
optimum height to diameter(H/D) ratio and
finally selected the most economical H/D ratio
securing the safety in the seismic loads of
OBE(0.1g) and SSE(0.2g) without anchor strap.
Then, DWC designed and verified the tank with
structural analysis having the following
specifications.
● Capacity : 200,000m3 / 90m (ID) X 35.3m
(inner tank height)
● Internal pressure : 290mmbar / thickness
of 1st plate : 31.2mm
● Radius of curvature for dome roof : 0.8d
(Safety check with allowable stress &
buckling)
● Ring beam: designed to reduce thrust
transmitted from the dome roof & internal
tendon
K G U
6. Conclusion
As the second largest LNG importer in the
world, the Korean LNG industry has grown
remarkably in a relatively short period of 20
years. Along with this, LNG storage facilities
have also been steadily expanding according to
the increase in demand to secure the supply of
LNG against peak loads and introduction of
energy-reserving policy for LNG as an
important primary energy source such as
petroleum. Additionally, thanks to the constant
efforts from the government authorities such
as KOGAS and KGS and LNG-related
companies, it has been possible to build the
various and state-of-the-art LNG tanks based
on the governmental policy of the expansion of
LNG supply.
These efforts gave birth to the Korean
membrane and 9% Ni LNG tanks overcoming
many difficulties. Through these efforts, DWC
could secure engineering and analysis
technology for the largest 200,000m3 full
containment LNG tank of 9% Ni type based on
its own advanced technology as a leading
contractor in the Korean market and lay the
foundation to leap to into the global market
where the trend of expansion of LNG
liquefaction and receiving terminal is very
apparent worldwide due to the increase of LNG
demand and oil prices.
Journal of The Korea Gas Union 43
기고｜Technical Challenges & Design Features of the Largest LNG Tank in Korea

References

1. Se-Jin Jeon, "Design Basis for Large Above-Ground Tank", GASEX2002, May 2002
2. MOCIE (Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy), "The 7th Long-term Supply and
Demand Program", December, 2004
3. KOGAS (Korea Gas Corporation), "A study on the containment type of LNG tank", August
1998
4. "API 620: Design and construction of large, welded, low-pressure storage tanks", 1996,
American Petroleum Institute.
5. "BS 7777: Flat-bottomed, vertical, cylindrical storage tanks for low temperature service",
1993, British Standards Institution.
6. "prEN14620: Design and manufacture of site built, vertical, cylindrical, flat-bottomed steel
tanks for the storage of refrigerated, liquefied gases with operating temperatures between
0oC and -165 oC", 2006, European Committee for Standardization.
7. KOGAS R&D Division, "Design Information on the Largest LNG Storage Tank", May 2005

44 Journal of The Korea Gas Union