DYWIDAG International to carry out Prestressing Works for LNG Tank No. 23, Pyeongtaek, South Korea
 
  • LNG Tanks
 
In April 2009, DYWIDAG International GmbH was awarded the contract for the execution of prestressing works for LNG tank no. 23 in Pyeongtaek LNG Terminal II in South Korea.

Today, South Korea is the world’s second largest LNG (= Liquefied Natural Gas) importer.
In the 1980s South Korea started to boost natural gas as the country’s main energy source to gain a growing independence from oil and nuclear power. Natural gas is one of the safest and most economical energy sources. Although 4 % of the world consumption of natural gas is currently liquefied (i.e. cooled down to about minus 162 °C and thereby reducing its volume by 1/600) and transported by specialized ships, a growing market for LNG full containment tanks is at both ends of the transport chain, i.e. in the exporting and importing countries.

The industrial city of Pyeongtaek, one hour south of South Korea’s capital Seoul, saw the country’s first LNG import terminal going into operation in 1986. In the beginning, its storage capacity consisted of 10 x 100,000 m³ membrane tanks. Today, Pyeongtaek Terminal is one of the three LNG receiving terminals operated by the national gas importer, Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS), throughout the country.

Due to the continuously rising demand for LNG for energy, household and industrial use KOGAS decided to expand the Pyeongtaek LNG site by starting construction on a second terminal (Pyeongtaek LNG Terminal II) in 2003 with 14 more storage tanks.

Since the construction of the first LNG tanks in South Korea a general change in the philosophy of the tank design took place. In 1994 the construction of the first full-containment tank started in Inchon. The full containment tanks are designed with a prestressed concrete outer tank and concrete roof and an inner 9 % nickel steel tank.

The DYWIDAG prestressing system is ideally suited for the prestressing of the outer concrete tank. In Pyeongtaek LNG Terminal II, DYWIDAG International has been involved in the construction of tanks 11 – 14 (140,000 m³), followed by the 200,000 m³ tanks 19 & 20 in 2008 and now also with tank 23.

Since the early 1990s, DYWIDAG International has been involved in the design and engineering works as well as the supply of prestressing material and execution of the prestressing works for various LNG tanks at all four LNG Receiving Terminals in South Korea.