LNG Facilities Module Design Considerations During Marine Transportation

摘要

Several recent major capital LNG plant projects have taken advantage of a modularized constructionrnstrategy for onshore facilities. As part of this strategy, a large number of modules are fabricated/assembledrnin fabrication yards which are located hundreds to thousands of miles away from the LNG plant site.rnWhen complete, these modules are loaded onto project assigned vessels and transported to the plant siternfor final hook-up and commissioning. Recent experience has demonstrated that the design criteriarnassociated with transoceanic and long duration tows is often more onerous than the in-place designrncriteria.rnLNG plant module structural design practice is often focused on in-place loading conditions, withrninsufficient forethought given to pre-service conditions such as marine transportation. Experience hasrndemonstrated that this has the potential to result in cost impacts, schedule delays, and technical risks whenrndesign limiting constraints are imposed late in the design process and execution phase. This paper presentsrnthe considerations, requirements, and criteria for module design during marine transportation, with the aimrnof closing the aforementioned gap. In doing so, the authors draw on their experience and lessons learnedrnover several recent projects.