LNG Risk Management

Managing the risks of onshore and offshore LNG facilities via a thorough understanding of the design and key issues associated with liquefied natural gas.

Our multifaceted approach takes into consideration the needs of regulators, engineering contractors and most importantly, you. LNG terminals, send-out facilities and associated pipelines, and power plants around the world rely on our extensive experience to complete QRAs, HAZOP and hazard identification studies, safety integrity level (SIL) reviews, and consequence analysis modeling.

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Our Team

Georges A. Melhem, Ph.D., FAIChE

President & CEO The founder of ioMosaic and internationally renowned expert in the areas of pressure relief and flare systems design, chemical reaction systems, process safety and risk analysis. Read more...

Neil Prophet

Senior Vice President and Partner He brings over 20 years of experience in pressure relief and flare systems design project management and engineering expertise for chemical, pharmaceutical and petrochemical companies. Read more...

John Barker, Ph.D.

Director The head of our international offices in the U.K. and the Kingdom of Bahrain and an expert in risk management for oil, gas and transportation. Read more...

Marcel Amorós Martí

Director and Partner His expertise consists of a diverse range of industries from chemical and petrochemical to oil and gas and utilities. Read more...

Charles Lea, P.E.

Director, Minneapolis Office Lead He directs a number of large technical projects across multiple offices and is also responsible for all project management in our Minneapolis office. Read more...

Featured Resources

 

Quantify Non-Equilibrium Flow and Rapid Phase Transitions (RPT)

Although non-equilibrium flow and rapid phase transitions (RPT) are well researched, the literature published so far does not explicitly quantify the RPT phenomenon or provide reliable methods for the calculation of non-equilibrium flow for mixtures. Download this paper for a clear understanding of how non-equilibrium flow and rapid phase transitions develop and how they should be quantified for pure components and mixtures alike.

Read the White Paper

Understand LNG Fire Hazards

Potential hazards resulting from intentional or accidental spilling of large quantities of LNG include thermal radiation from vapor cloud fires (also referred to as flash fires) and pool fires. There is general agreement among LNG experts regarding the following aspects of potential LNG fire and explosion hazards:

  1. Vapors from large, un-ignited spills of LNG cannot travel far into developed areas without finding an ignition source, igniting, and burning back to the source.
  2. Once delayed ignition of the vapor cloud occurs, and provided that the cloud is unconfined and rich in methane, the LNG vapors will burn in the form of a vapor cloud fire.
  3. A vapor cloud traversing over commercial and/or residential terrain will almost certainly encounter an ignition source early in its downwind drift and the resulting vapor cloud fire will burn back to the source.
  4. The vapor cloud fire will burn back to the source and cause a pool fire at the source if the release is a continuous release and the release duration is longer than the time it takes the cloud to find an ignition source.
  5. If the vapor cloud is confined and/or the vapors contain large amounts of heavier hydrocarbons (C2+), then the flame can accelerate and result in an explosion. The magnitude of the explosion and explosion damage will depend on several factors including the amount of vapors above the lower flammable limit, the presence of obstacles and degree of confinement, the composition of the vapor cloud, and the strength of the ignition source.
  6. If immediate ignition occurs, a pool fire will result. The extent of the pool spreading (diameter) and flame height will depend on several factors including the flow rate of LNG, the spill surface type (water or land), the spill surface geometry, spill surface roughness, release composition, release temperature, ambient wind speed, ambient temperature, and ambient relative humidity.
  7. If the liquid pool is unconfined and the inventory of LNG is large, the fire will continue to burn until all the fuel is exhausted by the pool fire. It is not practical or even possible to extinguish large LNG pool fires resulting from large spills of LNG unless the flow of LNG feeding the pool can be stopped.

The maximum vapor cloud fire hazard area is typically estimated by calculating a downwind dispersion distance to the lower flammable limit (LFL) and a cross-wind dispersion distance to ½ LFL at low wind speed and stable atmospheric conditions. This maximum fire hazard zone is very unlikely to be experienced in any situation where the cloud drifts over populated areas. As indicated in point 3 above, the cloud will soon encounter an ignition source and burn back to the source well before the maximum hazard area is reached.


Featured Case Studies

Process Safety Management Quality Audits

Companies have implemented their process safety management programs to comply with OSHA and EPA requirements, but they continue to have accidents. Process safety management programs can meet the letter of the law, but may not be effective in preventing accidents. Traditional audit programs look at documentation and procedures, but do little to evaluate the program quality or effectiveness.

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An LNG plant in the U.S. was planning the renovation and expansion of its existing facilities, as well as replacing and installing new pipelines for transmission and distribution. Before construction began, the client needed to be sure the potential risks were identified and successfully managed to prevent any release of LNG and damage to their existing equipment and storage tank. 
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An LNG manufacturer had four nearly identical trains with three flare header systems. The client decided they wanted to use a new and more stringent criteria than previously performed under a different design criterion. The large scope and tedious nature of the data entry was a challenge since all calculations needed to be checked to determine the maximum pressure each flare pipe line would be exposed to.
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The California Energy Commission was directed to assist in the development of clean alternate transportation fuels. As part of this effort, they support the commercialization of fuel cell vehicles operating on hydrogen fuel. In order to be used extensively in the transportation sector, the safety of hydrogen production, storage, and supply needed to be addressed.

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