Leak-Proof Safety Analysis of a Full Containment LNG Storage Tank

Chung Kyun Kim

Department of Mechanical and System Design Engineering, Hongik University, Seoul 121-791, Korea
Kih Heahn Hahm
Korea Gas Corporation, Seongnam City, Korea

INTRODUCTION
In recent years, the growing demand of a liquefied natural gas as
pollution-free energy is one of the most important energy sources.
Especially, several Asian countries have built an extra-large LNG storage
tank up to 200,000m3 in service. The large LNG storage tank may
increase the cost effectiveness, operation easiness, and productivity. And
also it reduces the construction, operation and maintenance costs at the
limited construction site near the crowed city. In these construction
trends for a large-scale LNG tank, various kinds of advanced safety and
control systems including the information technology are provided to
guarantee the strict safety and increased productivity of LNG receiving
terminal facility. The safety and control systems include safety device,
sensors, instruments, safety structures, disaster prevention systems, and
IT based management systems for a LNG receiving facility.
The extensive and advanced engineering studies on analysis,
optimized design, construction, quality control, operation, and safety
have been carried out by many receiving terminal suppliers for securing
the safety of transportation and storage of the natural gas at any
circumstances. Among the studies, a particular emphasis is given to the
safety of the storage tank structures. Many tank designers are very
interesting to know the leak-proof endurance of prestressed concrete
structure at extremely low temperature -162 because we did not
experience such a disaster of the large scale storage tank. Thus, it is very
important to insure the safety and reliability of an extra-large LNG
storage tank.
This paper presents the leak-proof analysis of prestressed concrete
outer tank including the insulation panels after a collapse of the inner
tank. This study shows that the outer tank may contain the leaked
cryogenic liquid for the time being until the primary pump in the inner
tank transports stored cryogenic liquids to the nearest LNG storage tank
before the outer tank is demolished. This is the primary goal of the
current numerical investigation whether or not the tank system safely
retains the leaked refrigerated fluids after the inner tank is collapsed.

GENERAL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE STUDY SCOPE

The full containment LNG tank is composed of the prestressed concrete
as an outer wall and the 9% nickel inner tank with and without a dike
depending on the regulations and design codes of the country. The
prestressed concrete outer wall based on BS 7777 supports all the
mechanical forces and thermal loads caused by the inner tank collapse.
The inner tank stores -162 cryogenic liquid with maximum safety
devices and structures such as a corner protection wall, stiffener and top
girder, optimized thickness of the inner tank, safety valve and primary
pumps, insulation system, earthquake resistance design, condition
monitoring system, etc.
The full containment LNG tank with a prestressed concrete/9% nickel
model should be compromised with a cost and a safety of the tank system
at the planning step. At the Tongyoung receiving terminal of 140,000m3,
LNG storage tanks without a dike are to be built as an aboveground type
based on the computed results of mechanical and thermal stresses caused
by either transient or steady state conditions. The outer PC wall should
be designed and constructed by the minimum residual compression zone

of BS 7777 standard for a maximum safety. At the end, the composite

material of the prestressed concrete with a residual compression zone
should guarantee the safety of the LNG tank system when the inner tank
is collapsed. The PC structure of the outer tank is very important as a
dike role in a full containment tank.
This study provides the fundamental design data for investigating the
leak-proof safety of the full containment LNG storage tank based on the
coupled thermal-mechanical analysis technique[1]. This may lead to
reduce the construction cost without the loss of the safety of the largescale LNG storage tank if the outer wall can support the mechanical and
thermal loads, and protect the cryogenic liquid leakage due to an abrupt
failure of the 9% nickel inner tank. In this study, the increased leak-proof
capacity of the PC outer wall may guarantee the safety of the tank system
and radically cut the construction cost and the space of the LNG storage
tank. Therefore, a dike as a safety structure does not need any more
because the prestressed concrete, several insulation layers, and other
structures may delay or protect the leakage flow from the inner tank to
the outside of the outer rank.

DESIGN CONCEPTS OF THE LNG STORAGE TANK

The leakage analysis will be given to the full containment tank, which is
designed and constructed so that both the inner tank and the outer tank
are capable of independently containing the cryogenic liquid stored. In
general, the inner tank or wall should be approximately 1m to 2m distant
from the prestressed concrete outer tank. The storage tank should be
designed to suit the pressures that are met both the internal positive and
negative pressures in service[2].
9% Nickel Inner Tank
The inner tank, which is fabricated by the 9% nickel steel plate, contains
the refrigerated liquid under normal operating conditions. This means
that the inner 9% nickel steel tank is in direct contact with a cryogenic
liquid. For the storage capacity of 140,000m3 tank, the thickness of the
9% inner tank is 10mm at the top and over 25.1mm at the bottom. In the
full containment storage tank, the inner tank has safety structures such as
a top girder and several stiffeners, which can effectively support the
loads.
Prestressed Concrete Outer Tank
Under maximum design loading conditions that include the liquid
pressures and the thermal loads due to an inner tank leakage, the
minimum residual average compressive stress of 1N/mm2 should be
provided in the principal directions of the prestress. Thermal stress
developed by the temperature gradient of leaked cryogenic liquids is
strongly connected to the liquid tightness of the prestressed concrete
structure with a residual compression zone. Basically, the required
specific value of compression zone in the prestressed concrete structure
was not shown in BS 7777 and other regulations for a LNG storage tank.
But, the technical report[3] by the Japanese technical development and
investigation committee described the compression area as 100mm,
which is about 10 percent of the prestressed concrete thickness.

The outer tank, which is constructed by the prestressed concrete,

constitutes an effective protection against outer hazards but also ensures
the gas tightness of the PC tank with a vapor barrier inside the outer tank.
The outer tank is intended to be capable both of containing the
refrigerated liquid and of controlled venting of the vapor resulting from
product leakage from the inner tank. Therefore, the outer tank including
the concrete roof should ideally be a monolithic concrete structure in
order to achieve the highest degree of safety in all emergency situations.
Insulation System
The primary goal of the insulation material is to block the heat flow from
the outside of the outer tank to the inside of the inner tank. Only the
insulation panels reduce the boil-off gas and increase the safety of the
tank system.
The insulation panel system for a LNG storage tank is mainly
comprised of foam glass blocks on top of the bottom slab, perlite within
the annular space together with a resilient blanket on the outer face of the
inner steel tank and fiber glass blankets on top of the suspended ceiling.

SAFETY DESIGN AND CYCLIC LOADS OF THE TANK

Strength Stability
It must be shown that the 9% nickel inner tank as a system will maintain
its original shapes based on the stress and deformation of each part under
cycling loads such as hydrostatic and gas pressures, mechanical-thermal
loads, and seismic impact forces, etc. The outer tank which is constructed
by the prestressed concrete must support any kinds of loads and protect
the leakage, in which comes from the inner tank.
Leakage due to Inner Tank Collapse
The inner tank should not be fractured for any kinds of loads or abnormal
operation conditions. For the maximum safety and reliability, the tank
system should increase the safety factor, which is strongly related to the
construction and operation costs. In the worst case, the inner tank may
leak refrigerated liquids along the inner tank wall and the bottom of the
tank even if it is very small. Thus, the insulation panels and the
prestressed concrete structure included with the corner protection and
vapor barrier should protect the leakage that comes from a collapse of the
inner tank.
Cyclic Loads and their Effects
Cyclic loads that influence to the safety of the tank are likely to occur in
cryogenic liquid pressures and thermal loads, as a result of the following
operational conditions:
- Cool down to -162 from the ambient temperature.
- Cycling effects of 9% nickel structure between liquid and gas
temperature differences.
- Liquid pressures rise and fall.
- Warm up from liquid to ambient temperature.
Here, the thermal load is defined as the thermal stresses generated due
to temperature gradients of the sidewall and base of the structure. The
number of cycles is determined by considering the design life and
working conditions of the LNG storage tank. The LNG tank must use
suitable materials of high fatigue strength to protect the unexpected
collapse and does not permit the leakage from the inside. But, in the case
of the inner tank collapse by cyclic loads, the prestressed concrete
structure must protect the leakage and sustain the loads for a while until
the leak probability of the tank is kept at a low level. This means that the
primary pump and other safety devices work simultaneously and
effectively. The primary pump is submerged in the inner tank for
pumping out the refrigerated liquid to the nearest storage tank when the
inner tank is collapsed during a service.

COMPUTER SIMULATION
The leak-proof analysis of LNG storage tanks must be carried out under
various load conditions specific with suitable boundary conditions. A FE
analysis using a cylindrical shell model is employed in the leak-proof
investigation of the inner tank - insulation panel - outer tank layers. The
boundary conditions of the sidewall structures in radial direction are
determined from consideration of the hydrostatic pressure of a cryogenic
liquid and thermal gradient loads.
The FEM model of the full containment storage tank as shown in
Figure 1 has been analyzed for determining the stabilized temperature
distribution along the thickness of the tank walls. From the results, it may
be understood and predicted the expected leakage retaining time due to a
leaked cryogenic fluid from the inner tank. The retaining leakage time by
the tank structures is very important design parameter for securing the
leakage safety of the LNG tank system.
In this study, the large storage LNG tank of Tongyoung receiving
terminal in Korea has been analyzed as a simulation model to estimate
the leakage retaining time after the inner tank is collapsed. The storage
capacity of the full containment LNG storage tank is 140,000m3. The
diameter of the inner tank is 59m and the height of the tank is 30.7m. The
total thickness of the tank is approximately 2.05m.
Assumptions
In this study, the following assumptions have been considered for a
simple computation of the complex geometry of the LNG storage tank
system.
- Analyzed for only 10 degrees of the whole tank system as an
axisymmetric model.
- The tank structure is assumed to be a leakage when two sides of the
tank wall are arrived at the same cryogenic temperature of -162 .
This occurs when the leaked cryogenic fluid from an inner tank is
only transported to the outside of the prestressed concrete structure.
It may be explained as a leakage occurrence between two sides of the
tank wall in design concepts and physical meanings. In other case,
we can not say the leakage even though two sides of the tank is
arrived at the same temperature of -162 . But, two sides of the
materials should be exposed to the same cryogenic temperature of 162 at any circumstances for the leakage simulation as done in this
study.
- The prestressed concrete is composed as a composite material with the
residual compression zone. This means that the prestressed concrete
has different density zones for the gas and liquid tightness and the
special strength of the structure, which are related to the safety of the
tank system. The thickness and the density of the residual
compression zone are influential design factors for checking leaked
cryogenic fluids when the inner tank is suddenly collapsed.
- For the leakage and temperature analyses, the material is homogeneous and
same properties at the same zone of the tank model. The material of
the tank structures does not have any cracks, voids, and external
particles in the matters even though the real case is a little different.
FEM Model and Boundary Conditions
Figure 1 shows the general description of the LNG storage tank in
radial direction. The inner tank is in direct contact with a cryogenic fluid
of -162 and the outer tank exposed to the air of 15 as shown in Figure
2. Insulation panels, corner protection, and vapor barrier between two tank
walls are constructed for the safety and

0.012m

0.623m

Table 1 Physical and thermal properties of the tank materials

0.05m

PC
Polyurethane form
Foamglass
Perlite powder
30.7m

Fiber glass blanket

9% Ni
5.1m

Vaper barrior
Cornor protection

0.3m

1.1m
0.15m

0.514m

Fig. 1. Analysis model of the structure thickness between two tank

walls in radial direction
Compression zone

Air

LNG fluid
W2

28.6m

Temperature distribution
before steady-state
Temperature distribution
after steady-state

Fig. 2. Prestressed concrete with the residual compression zone that

is in direct contact with leaked cryogenic fluids after the
collapse of the inner tank
PV
118,801Pa

PH

PG
29,028Pa

59,822Pa
89,243Pa

30.7m

104,934Pa

PC

119,644Pa

Insulation
panel

134,355Pa
149,065Pa
163,775Pa
194,177Pa

10 o

1.92m

Thermal conductivity,
W/mK
16
0.03838
0.0391
0.05592
0.0233
2.326

Specific heat,
J/kgK
510
792
753.74
837.49
1465.6
837.21

performance of the cryogenic tank system. In Figure 2, W1 denotes the

standard density zone of 2,500kg/m3 for this study and W2 is the residual
compression zone with a high density compared with a standard density
of the PC material.
The leakage retaining time and temperature distribution based on the
thermo-mechanical coupled analyses were performed using a non-linear
FEM program MARC[1]. Eight-node, isoparametric, three-dimensional
brick elements with trilinear interpolation are simultaneously used in the
finite element analysis. The finite element model was subdivided into
1,920 elements and 2,745 nodes for the prestressed concrete as shown in
Figure 2 and 3,120 elements and 4,270 nodes for the LNG tank system as
shown in Figure 3.
The boundary conditions of the tank system are shown in Figure 3. The
various forces which include a liquid pressure PL by the LNG fluids, gas
pressure PG by the vaporized gas, and thermal loads by the refrigerated
fluid and boil-off gas have been considered for the FE analysis in an inner
tank. The outer prestressed concrete tank as shown in Figure 2 has used
the same boundary conditions of the inner tank and added vertical load
PV by the roof weight of the tank and the Hoop stress PH in the
circumferential direction on the assumption that the inner tank is
collapsed. The hydrostatic pressure PL depending on the LNG liquid
height is varying in large because the capacity of the tank is so large as
shown in Figure 3.
The general dimensions of the tank are given in Figure 1. The pressure as
a function of the refrigerated height is very important for computing the
mechanical behaviors and liquid tightness of the tank structures. The
physical and thermal properties of LNG storage tank materials for the
FEM analysis are given in Table 1.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

PC wall thickness

5m
2.0

9% Ni
Fiber glass blanket
Perlite powder
Foam glass
PUF
Prestressed concrete

Density,
kg/m3
8000
16
760
2180
1190
2500

PL

134,355Pa

Fig. 3. Analysis model and boundary conditions of the LNG tank

system

The finite element method is used for investigating the temperature

distribution and leakage retaining time of the tank system. This analysis
concept for computing the retaining time of leaked fluids, which is
calculated by the stabilized temperature distribution along the tank
structure in radial direction, may explain the lifetime of the tank system
due to the refrigerated fluid leaked from an inner tank.
The structure of the tank system is stabilized or equilibrated when two
sides of the tank wall are arrived at the same cryogenic temperature of 162 . This may be called as a leakage of the tank system in concept
design. For the leakage analysis, two sides of the materials should
exposed to the same cryogenic temperature of -162
at any
circumstances. But in the real case, we may not say that the leakage is
occurred even though two sides of the tank are arrived at the same
temperature of -162 . It may be occurred when the leaked cryogenic
fluid that comes from an inner tank is only exposed to the outside of the
prestressed concrete.
Figure 4 shows the cross sectional area of the LNG tank system, which
is composed of an inner tank, insulation panel with fiber glass, perlite
powder, foam glass and polyurethane form, and prestressed concrete
structures in a series. In Figure 4, the middle surface area of the tank is
denoted as ABCD and the temperature distribution along the LNG tank is
investigated as leak criteria.
At the perlite powder zone of the middle surface ABCD as shown in
Figure 4, the elapsed time for stabilizing the temperature from 15 to 162 has been presented as shown in Figure 5. The computed results
indicate that the elapsed time, which is converged from the initial

Investigation zone

Ni Steel

B
Fiber-glass
Perlite-low
Foamglass

Perlite-high
PC

Liquid height : 14m

PUF

Fig. 4. LNG storage tank system that includes the inner tank,
insulation materials, and outer tank structures and cross
sectional area ABCD at the middle of the tank system
1.5days, 0 C
Investigation Zone : ABCD
Height : 14.4m
Material : Perlite powder
Initial Temp. : 15 C

5days, -74.2 C

10days, -129 C

20days, -157 C

31.3days, -162 C

Fig. 5. Stabilized or equilibrated temperature profiles at the middle area

ABCD of the LNG storage tank system
-154
o

Temperature distribution, C

atmospheric temperature 15 to the cryogenic temperature -162 , is

strongly related to the leaked cryogenic fluids. In this figure, the
stabilized temperature of -157 at P point is equivalent to about 97% of
the refrigerated temperature 162 . It may be assumed that over 97% of the
cryogenic temperature is already arrived at the leakage stage in the
refrigerated fluid even though the cryogenic temperature -162 is strictly
explained as a perfect leakage. Thus, the point P as shown in Figure 5
provides the interesting criteria of the leakage retaining time caused by
the collapse of the inner tank.
The temperature gradients in radial direction may provide the basis of
the leakage analysis of the tank system from the inside of insulation
panels to the outside of the outer tank. The temperature distribution of
the prestressed concrete outer tank at the cryogenic liquid heights of
14.3m from the bottom of the tank is given in Figure 6. This figure
shows the progressive convergence from the initial air temperature 15
to LNG cryogenic temperature 162 between two side walls of the
prestressed concrete. The leakage from the inside to the outside of the PC
structure may be occurred depending on the equilibrium or stabilization of
the temperature distribution in radial direction. In Figure 6, the
temperature of -157.3 that is equivalent to 97% of the refrigerated
temperature -162 needs 4.8 days to arrive at the stabilized temperature
gradient from the ambient temperature 15 . As shown in Figure 2, the
dot line of and denotes the partially stabilized temperature distribution,
which may be explained as a quasi-leakage of the leaked cryogenic fluid
in the tank system. These retaining days, which need for retaining
cryogenic fluids leaked from the inner tank, are not enough to guarantee
the safety of the prestressed concrete structure with conventional two
primary pumps in the inner tank. But the stabilization of the temperature
from the initial air temperature 15 to the refrigerated temperature -162
needs 10 days as shown in Figure 6. Here the 100% stabilization of the
temperature gradient means that the prestressed concrete material is
already equilibrated to -162 . As shown in Figure 2, the dash dot line of
and denotes the fully stabilized temperature distribution, which may
be explained as a perfect leakage of the leaked cryogenic fluid in the tank
system. Thus, ten days for the safety of the prestressed concrete structure
are enough compared to that of the 97% stabilized temperature with two
primary pumps.
In Figure 7, the stabilized temperature distributions of the whole tank
structure have been presented as a function of the tank thickness in radial
direction. The computed results show the extended elapse time for a
stabilization of the temperature compared to that of the equilibrated
temperature, which is presented in Figure 6. In Figure 7, the stabilized
temperature of -157.3
(equivalent to 97% of the refrigerated
temperature -162 ) needs 20 days to arrive at the stabilization from the
ambient temperature to the cryogenic temperature as a function of the
total thickness of the tank system. In the case of the whole tank system,
these days that need for retaining leaked cryogenic fluids are enough to
guarantee the safety of the LNG tank system with conventional two
primary pumps in the inner tank. Even though we do not say the
insulation panels can perfectly block the leakage flow of the cryogenic
fluids in practical case, the result is very interesting for the LNG tank
designers. To arrive at the refrigerated temperature -162 of the tank
system from the initial air temperature 15 , the total thickness of the
tank system needs 43 days even though the leakage retaining time is so
long. The elapsed time of 43 days that retains the leaked cryogenic fluids
by the tank system shows 4.3 times higher than that of the results 10
days, which is retained by the PC structure as shown in Figure 6.
Figures 8 and 9 show the leakage retaining time of the tank structures
with and without a compression zone at the cryogenic liquid heights of
14.3m from the bottom of the tank. In Figure 8, the leakage retaining
time of the prestressed concrete is linearly increased as the density of the
prestressed concrete with a compression zone of 11cm thickness
(equivalent to 10% of the total

-157.3 C(97% of -162 C) after 4.833days

o
o
-158.9 C(98% of -162 C) after 5.333days
o
o
-160.4 C(99% of -162 C) after 6.167days
o
o
-162 C(100% of -162 C) after 10.125days

-155
-156
-157
-158
-159
-160
-161
-162
0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

Thickness of prestressed concrete, m

Fig. 6. Temperature distribution and leakage retaining time along the
prestressed concrete with the residual compression zone of 10%
for a high density of 4,000kg/cm3

-154
o

-157.3 C(97% of -162 C) after 20.33days

o
o
-158.9 C(98% of -162 C) after 22.42days
o
o
-160.4 C(99% of -162 C) after 25.75days
o
o
-1620 C(100% of -162 C) after 43.67days

-155

Temperature distribution, C

-156
-157
-158

Insulation zone

PC zone

-159
-160
-161
-162
-0.25 0.00 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 1.75 2.00 2.25

Thickness of LNG tank system, m

Fig. 7. Temperature distribution and leakage retaining time along the
LNG tank system without the residual compression zone for a
standard density of 2,500kg/cm3
8.5

Leakage retaining time, days

8.0
7.5
7.0

-157.3 C(97% of -162 C), PC thickness : 11cm

o
o
-158.9 C(98% of -162 C), PC thickness : 11cm
o
o
-160.4 C(99% of -162 C), PC thickness : 11cm
o
o
-157.3 C(97% of -162 C), PC thickness : 16.5cm
o
o
-158.9 C(98% of -162 C), PC thickness : 16.5cm
o
o
-160.4 C(99% of -162 C), PC thickness : 16.5cm

6.5
6.0
5.5
5.0
4.5
2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 6500
3

Density of prestressed concrete, kg/m

Fig. 8. Leakage retaining time and compression zone effects as a

function of the prestressed concrete density for a given
thickness of the outer tank
48
o

Leakage retaining time, days

PC thickness) and 16.5cm thickness (15%) is increased. The extended

length of the residual compression zone from 10% of the total PC
thickness (11cm thickness) to 15% of the total PC thickness (16.5cm
thickness) is also an influential parameter for the increased density of the
PC materials. These results indicate that the increased density and
expanded compression zone of the prestressed concrete may retard the
leakage flow rate of the refrigerated fluids in the outer tank.
Obviously, the leakage retaining time due to a collapse of the inner
tank is strongly related to the increased density and compression zone effects
in prestressed concrete structures. Therefore, the density and thickness of
the compression area of the PC structure is strongly recommended to
increase more safety of the full containment tank system as a barrier of
leaked cryogenic fluids.
Figure 9 shows the leakage retaining time as a function of the total
thickness of the tank system from the inner tank to the outer one. The
leakage retaining time shows the same trends compared to that of the
outer tank structure as shown in Figure 8. The leakage retaining time in
the total thickness of the tank system is about 22 days for 97% of the
cryogenic temperature -162 and 10% (11cm) compression zone with a
high density of 4,000kg/cm3. This value is 4.6 times higher than that of
the PC structure case as shown in Figure 8. The delayed time of the
leakage flow rate comes from the effects of insulation materials
compared two results as shown in Figures 8 and 9. This is enough time to
guarantee the leak-proof safety of the tank system with two primary
pumps.
For a conventional storage capacity of 140,000m3, the primary pump
is usually installed two or three sets in the inner tank. For instance, the
full containment tank of Tongyoung receiving terminal is installed two
primary pumps, which are determined depending on the advanced
technology of the tank system. The discharge capacity of the primary
pump is 330m3/hr per a tank for Tongyoung receiving terminal. It may
need 9 days to transport the total refrigerated liquids of 140,000m3 to
other LNG storage tank in an emergency. But if the corner protection of
the 9% nickel steel plate with a height of 5 meters is considered as a
safety structure, it needs approximately 7 days to transport the leaked
cryogenic fluids to the nearest neighbor tank. The computed results
indicate that the prestressed concrete cannot guarantee 7 to 9 days for a
perfect safety of the tank system with the 97% stabilization of the
temperature gradient. But if the total tank system is considered as a
retarding structure of the leaked cryogenic fluid, the tank system should
be guaranteed with conventional structures. In the full containment LNG
storage tank, a dike does not need any more because prestressed
concrete, several insulation layers, and other structures work as a
substitute safety structure. These structures delay or protect the leakage
flow from the inner tank to the outside of the outer rank.
In summery, the inner tank may leak stored cryogenic liquids through
the inner tank wall and the bottom of the tank even if it is very small in
service. To ensure the leakage safety of the inner tank, it is very
important to detect a leak in the inner tank with several leak detection
sensors, which are installed on the bottom of the annular space and on
the first few meters of the tank wall. The increased leak of cryogenic
liquids from the inner tank and the propagated crack of the 9% nickel
steel plate may radically increase the probability of sudden failure of the
inner tank. The corner protection and the insulation panels, which are
composed by the polyurethane form, loose perlite and resilient glass
blanket in part, should protect this catastrophe failure of the inner tank.
As a final barrier, the prestressed concrete outer tank with a vapor barrier
should retain leaked cryogenic liquids for a long period. At any
circumstances, the outer PC tank constitutes an effective protection barrier
against outer hazards but also ensures the liquid and gas tightness for a
maximum safety of the LNG tank system. During containing leaked
cryogenic liquids by the outer tank, the primary pump in the inner tank
transports spilled cryogenic liquids to the nearest LNG storage tank.
Thus, the LNG tank structures are kept at an outstanding level of the
safety and reliability with combined effects of the outer tank system and
primary pumps in the inner tank.

44
40
36

-157.3 C(97% of -162 C), PC thickness : 11cm

o
o
-158.9 C(98% of -162 C), PC thickness : 11cm
o
o
-160.4 C(99% of -162 C), PC thickness : 11cm
o
o
-157.3 C(97% of -162 C), PC thickness : 16.5cm
o
o
-158.9 C(98% of -162 C), PC thickness : 16.5cm
o
o
-160.4 C(99% of -162 C), PC thickness : 16.5cm

32
28
24
20
2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500 5000 5500 6000 6500
3

Density of prestressed concrete, kg/m

Fig. 9. Leakage retaining time and compression zone effects as a

function of the prestressed concrete density for a given total
thickness of the tank system

The tank structures which include the corner protection, insulation panel,
vapor barrier and outer prestressed concrete should retain the leaked
cryogenic liquids for a long period until the primary pump empty a
stored cryogenic fluids in the collapsed inner tank.

CONCLUSION
In this study, the fundamental analysis has been presented for
investigating the leak-proof safety of the full containment LNG storage
tank based on the FEM technique. The primary concern in the full
containment tank is to evaluate the safety of the tank system without a
dike even though most of the LNG storage tanks have been built based
on the codes and regulations in their country.
The FE computed results indicate that the PC outer wall is expected to
protect the LNG leakage for a limited period until a cryogenic liquid
transferred to a neighbor LNG tank by a primary pump. The current LNG
tank structure in a full containment tank is obviously enough to securing
the leak-proof safety of the tank system with two primary pumps.
To guarantee the safety of the tank system, the full containment tank
should be constructed based on the BS 7777 design concept and other
regulations, which are recognized in the international LNG society. But,
as the tank size is radically increasing, the safety of the tank system
should be guaranteed with an increased density and thickness of the
compression zone in the prestressed concrete tank, and high density of
the insulation panel. In addition, the conventional safety structures such
as top girder and several stiffeners in the inner tank may be changed to
other structures for the maximum safety of the tank system. These
advanced design concepts may guarantee the safety of effectiveness of
extra large LNG storage tank system in future service.

REFERENCES
1. MARC users manual. Ver. 6.3, MARC Analysis Research Co., 1996.
2. BS 7777: Flat-bottomed, vertical, cylindrical storage tanks for low
temperature service. Part 1, pp. 9, 1993.
3. Technical development and investigation report for LNG storage tank.
Japanese Natural Gas Import Committee, pp. 158-159, March 1990.