the Lysekil LNG receiving terminal
Lysekil, Sweden
Lysekil LNG receiving terminal protected with the help of FOAMGLAS® Insulation.
Skangas AS, owned by Finnish company Gasum and Norwegian Lyse, builds and operates medium-sized, low carbon emission energy plants. One of their plants is the Lysekil LNG receiving terminal. The construction of this terminal helped make natural gas available for land based industries and the marine market in South-West Sweden.
The Owner and EPCM contractor’s “AGA” major mission was to construct a safe and environmentally sound terminal to protect all personnel and equipment involved in day to day operations.
A logical choice for the plant’s insulation material for cryogenic and above ambient hot piping applications was FOAMGLAS® insulation. It’s moisture impermeable making it an ideal choice for cryogenic applications. It helps ensure constant thermal efficiency and helps limit corrosion under insulation. In addition, FOAMGLAS® insulation is a non-combustible and non-absorbent material that does not produce toxic emissions in a fire, making it an excellent choice for passive fire protection.
All piping and equipment with operation temperatures down to -162 °C (-260 °F) were insulated with FOAMGLAS® insulation. Cryogenic classes were installed in two-layer systems. The first layer was applied “dry” with an inside anti-abrasive coating. The second layer’s joints were staggered and sealed with PITTSEAL® 444N. This second layer was factory coated with an Alu-butyl foil as a final vapor barrier. This helps protect the system in challenging process temperatures.
The whole system, including insulation material serves as a vapor barrier and helps reduce the risk of failures, such as lice formation over time. The larger dimensions and parts for the vessels were partly factory assembled to help reduce on-site installation time. All process pipes and equipment were covered with stainless steel cladding. The total length of piping that was insulated was approximately 6,000 meters (6,561 yards).
The LNG storage tank consists of a 45 m (147 ft) high cold-box and an inner steel tank measuring 38 m (124 ft) in height and 35 m (114 ft) in diameter and has a LNG volume of 30,000 m3 (1,060,000 ft³).
The tank sits on multiple layers of FOAMGLAS High Load Bearing (HLB) 800 and HLB 1600 insulation with respective compressive strength of 80 ton/m² (116 psi) and 160 ton/m² (232 psi). PITTCOURSE™ 100 bitumen sheets were installed between each layer of FOAMGLAS® insulation as a compression inter leveling system.
A final layer of sand was applied to compensate for irregularities in base surface and to absorb possible creeping of the steel tank base.
