Proceedings of The Fifteenth (2005) International Offshore and Polar Engineering Conference
Seoul, Korea, June 19−24, 2005
Copyright © 2005 by The International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers
ISBN 1-880653-64-8 (Set); ISSN 1098-6189 (Set)
Technical Advancements - VOTRANS Large-scale CNG Marine Transport
Charles N. White, Paul S. Britton
EnerSea Transport LLC
Houston, TX, USA
ABSTRACT
This paper examines large-scale transport of Compressed Natural Gas
(CNG) and EnerSea’s VOTRANS (Volume Optimized Transport and
Storage) proprietary gas carriers and the low temperature high-strength
steel pressure vessel design. CNG marine transport allows emerging,
energy-hungry markets around the globe to access gas reserves that
would otherwise continue to remain stranded. The scalable CNG
solution will also help energy operators to globally reduce the amount
of energy being flared or wasted. As compared to other solutions for
de-stranding of gas reserves (LNG & GTL technologies), the shipping
of CNG offers a solution that significantly limits the wastage of gas
resources that are needed in the emerging markets and the amount of
captive investment required of operators.
The VOTRANS gas carriers store gas in large diameter high-strength
micro-alloyed carbon steel cylinders designed to store gas at
temperatures of -30°C at pressures up to 125 Bar. EnerSea worked
with Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC) to confirm low-temperature and
mechanical properties for plate and pipe material used in the fabrication
of the cylinder body and dished ends for its CNG pressure vessels. The
steel for the plate and pipe material requires high-toughness, low
temperature Charpy’s and CTOD’s. NSC has developed the plate and
pipe that will be fabricated into CNG pressure vessels for EnerSea’s
prototype test program in 2005. These cylinders are being subjected to
cyclic fatigue and burst tests to validate the results of fatigue and
fracture mechanics analyses performed and to confirm the cylinders
will qualify as pressure vessels. EnerSea and NSC will present the work
performed to date to confirm the robust CNG pressure vessel design for
large-scale marine transport.
KEY WORDS: EnerSea; CNG; VOTRANS; V-Ships
INTRODUCTION
Natural gas markets have exhibited increased volatility in recent years
due to increased demand coupled with supply shortages. While the
situation has stabilized somewhat, there is growing interest in
developing new natural gas supply sources. There are a number of
avenues being pursued—from new LNG terminals to deep water
62
Yoshio Terada, Naoki Doi,
Masahiko Murata
Nippon Steel Corporation
Japan
drilling to gas-to-liquids (GTL) approaches. Most of these efforts
require large infrastructure investments, which limit their range of
application.
The marine transport of compressed natural gas (CNG) represents a
different approach. Marine CNG transport was initially envisioned to
target small volumes of gas located in relatively close proximity to
markets. However, recent breakthroughs in this technology have
suggested, and in some cases validated, marine CNG’s potential to cost
effectively ship much larger volumes of gas over much greater
distances. While no CNG system is presently in commercial operation,
the development evolution of the leading technologies has progressed
from the conceptual stage to preliminary engineering design work, and
is believed to be at the cusp of wide scale application.
Natural gas has been compressed for storage and transportation for over
a hundred years in pipelines and other systems. The idea of transporting
natural gas via marine systems, in ways similar to crude oil and other
liquid hydrocarbons, has been around for almost as long. However, the
technology to make the marine transport of natural gas cost effective
has never been developed. Far too much containment weight and cost
were required to transport a given volume of gas. Modern efforts to
commercialize marine CNG transport include the construction of a gas
carrier by Columbia Gas in the late 1960s. This design employed high
cost alloy steel and, after a few transits, the project was deemed to be
uneconomic.
This paper presents a high level description of the significantly
different approach to the CNG challenge taken by EnerSea Transport
LLC. While some features of EnerSea’s VOTRANS (Volume
Optimized Transportation and Storage) system are common to that of
other CNG designs, major advancements have been achieved in the
areas of CNG containment and gas handling processes. These patented
and proprietary breakthroughs have demonstrated substantial cost and
operational benefits that are anticipated to introduce large-scale CNG
marine transport services as a new capability for delivering operators’
stranded gas to market.
The steel for the plate and pipe material used for the VOTRANS
containment requires high-toughness, low temperature Charpy’s and