Challenges on the Safety of Floating Liquefied Gas Terminals - Hull, Topside and Interface

Abstract

The increasing demand for natural gas and interest in offshore gas field development has led to significant activity in studies of floating liquefied gas terminals for production, storage and transfer of liquefied gas to vessels. Based on experience from Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSOs) systems, LNG carriers and onshore facilities, the challenges for new Floating Liquefied Gas (FLNG) terminal designs remain primarily in the safety of the unit. This includes hull design, topside and hull-topside interfaces.FLNG terminals are still an emerging technology which is of great interest to the offshore and energy industry. Current FLNG terminal designs are not only of larger size than conventional FPSOs, but also incorporate new design features, in particular the integration of the containment system as well as topside process facilities. The purpose of this paper is to present experience gained through various FLNG terminal projects and to describe safety requirements for FLNG terminals, including prescriptive and risk assessment criteria. This paper presents an easily adopted methodology to evaluate FLNG terminal designs with a focus on the overall safety of the structure and facility, and also introduces a tool developed for an integrated structural analysis methodology for FLNG terminals.