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The construction of Japan's first LNG satellite terminal for large industrial customers.

Author(s) : HATTORI A., SEKIGUCHI M., YAMAGUCHI K., et al.

Summary

To meet gas demand in remote areas where it is difficult to access existing pipelines, Tokyo Gas began a first trial in April 2006 regarding the Sowa satellite terminal in the western part of Ibaraki Prefecture. This project involved the construction and ownership of a LNG satellite terminal and local pipelines and the supplying of gas to a number of large industrial customers. The location for this satellite terminal was limited in a small section of an industrial area, even though the gasification capacity had to be large enough to vaporize 40,000 tons of LNG per year-an amount equivalent to that of the largest LNG satellite terminal in Japan. Moreover, it was necessary to reduce LNG unloading time so as to increase the transportation efficiency of LNG lorries. Higher reliability was required due to a lack of backup supply sources for the satellite terminal. This situation differed from that of ordinary LNG terminals, which are generally connected to each other by pipelines. To satisfy the above difficulties, Tokyo Gas's entire body of knowledge related to LNG equipment was consolidated and examined, and new solutions were found. The following engineering achievements of the Sowa satellite terminal are spotlighted and backed up with actual data: reduction in space by adoption of atmospheric vaporizers with hot air generators; improvement of LNG lorry transportation efficiency with the reduction of LNG unloading time by half; reliability analysis using Tokyo gas operational data for major forms of equipment from over 30 years.

Details

  • Original title: The construction of Japan's first LNG satellite terminal for large industrial customers.
  • Record ID : 2008-1121
  • Languages: English
  • Source: LNG 15. Proceedings of the 15th International Conference and Exhibition of Liquefied Natural Gas.
  • Publication date: 2007/04/24

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