Rising demand for floating offshore gas terminals has resulted in the development of new technologies and specialized units, leading to a number of innovative design concepts. Based on DNV’s extensive experience in this segment, the organization has prepared a detailed design and construction guidance scheduled to be released in April 2011.
According to Conn Fagan, DNV’s Business Development Manager for offshore gas projects, the FLNG segment is developing rapidly. “A number of FSRUs and SRVs are currently in operation, and many more floating import gas terminals are now in different phases of development,” he says. “At the same time, the first LNG FPSOs are entering into detailed design phase, and we expect construction of these units to begin in the next two years.”
DNV’s Offshore Technical Guidance on gas terminals will cover a broad range of issues, including classification and regulatory compliance, conversion of gas ships, structural design, sloshing assessment, fatigue assessment, corrosion issues, regasification and liquefaction plant, assessment of novel concepts and qualification of technology, among others.
Fagan, who will present the Guidance at OTC this spring, says that the Offshore Technical Guidance (OTG-02), applies to different types of floating units, but is specifically directed towards floating ship-shaped designs. In addition, the issues generally discussed in the Guidance may be adapted to address related options such as LPG units, GTL units and CNG units.
“DNV has been fortunate to work closely with a number of major players active in the FLNG industry to resolve a broad range of technical, safety and reliability issues,” says Fagan. “This guidance is grounded in our extensive experience in this segment.”
Date: 2011-03-28