Thixotropic adhesives used to construct LNG ships

A Huntsman Advanced Materials product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Dec 7, 2006

Araldite LNG adhesives from Huntsman Advanced Materials are being employed by world shipyards, including Samsung Heavy Industries, in the construction of a new Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) ship

The vessel is the 100th of its kind to employ Araldite adhesives and to be built for use in the global LNG industry.

LNG ships are enormous ocean going vessels that transport supplies of LNG between energy rich and power hungry countries.

The global LNG market is experiencing a period of rapid growth.

It is estimated that in 2006, Europe will import over 40 million tonnes of LNG to make up for short falls in domestic energy supplies (Ref 1).

To meet worldwide demand for the cost effective delivery of LNG supplies, enormous industry containment ships are required to transport cooled LNG supplies thousands of miles.

Each ship has an average capacity of about 145,000 to 264,000 cubic metres , and during construction requires in excess of 100 tonnes of specialist thixotropic industrial adhesive.

These adhesives are typically used to create high performance, durable seals between the inside of LNG vessels and the internal insulation box that helps keep the gas stable at temperatures as low as -165C.

Huntsman has been providing material engineering adhesive and mastic solutions to the LNG sector since 1992.

It has approval from major shipping organisations and industry specifiers including Lloyds Register and Gaz Transport and TechniGaz (GTT).

It also has a dedicated team that works in close co-operation with the world's leading LNG containment developers, shipyards and panel fabricators.

Commenting on Huntsman's credentials for the LNG market and Samsung's association with the company, Soohae Yea, Manager for the Shipbuilding Purchasing Section of Samsung Heavy Industries said, "We pride ourselves on building ships that are safe, environmentally friendly and which satisfy customer demands for quality".

"Huntsman's Araldite products are the industry standard for LNG mastics and adhesives and are the obvious solution for us to use".

"Providing a one stop shop for LNG companies like Samsung, Huntsman provides us with the technical know how and a range of qualified products for use in containment vessels and at land storage facilities".

Samuel Lau, Regional Director for Asia Pacific at Huntsman Advanced Materials said: "Samsung's latest ship is the 100th of its kind to be built using Huntsman adhesives".

"This highlights the success of our products for LNG applications and our commitment to the current and future needs of the industry".

"Our products are underpinned by dedicated research and development projects plus global manufacturing capabilities".

Continuing he said: "In 2006 we announced $10 million worth of investment in new reactors and packaging lines for the creation of LNG adhesives and mastics".

"As part of this investment, our LNG team is collaborating with industry partners to see how new tank designs and floating LNG terminals can benefit from the use of containment technologies like adhesives and mastics".

"We are delighted Samsung is using Araldite adhesives to such great effect and look forward to leading the way in the creation of new engineering and material solutions for the LNG sector".

In addition to its work with Samsung, Huntsman has ongoing initiatives with other major global shipyards.

Ref : Statistics from US based market analysts Waterborne Energy Inc.