Insulating for the future using Aspen Aerogels technology for LNG assets

Mark Krajewski, Director, Technical Services, Aspen Aerogels Inc., describes state of the art aerogel fiber composite blanket insulation for LNG pipes, vessels and equipment, adding value through its efficiency, flexibility and high performance

Those who have the privilege of attending Gastech come away with a deep appreciation for the criticality of the developments within the LNG industry.

Advancements in this market are vitally important to the energy security of the world, and, at the same time, are some of the most technically challenging and complicated work a group of companies, governments, and industry experts could engage in.

In recent years, the focus has amplified as natural gas and LNG are broadly recognized as the most important transitional fuels to supply the ever-increasing demand of the planet’s energy needs. That focus puts even greater pressure on all industry stakeholders to make LNG lower cost, more readily available, and with a lower carbon footprint. As owners and operators contemplate their next new build import or export terminal, they are assessing how to deliver projects faster, more efficiently, and in a way that maximizes resources while minimizing environmental impact and carbon emissions.

To achieve these new and escalating performance requirements, the engineers tasked with designing and constructing these facilities must use every tool available - from more efficient rotating equipment, to using electric turbines to drive the liquefaction process, and everything in between. But what if there was a tool in the tool kit that is often not even considered, almost an afterthought in traditional plant design dogma? A tool that can reduce the physical footprint of a facility and enable modularization. One that protects assets from corrosion, cold splash, and jet fire, while at the same time keeping loud processes quiet for operations in environmentally sensitive areas. There is: it’s thermal insulation - state of the art aerogel fiber composite blanket insulation.

Flexible aerogel insulation can provide these values because of its base aerogel technology and its associated performance. Aerogel is the best thermal insulator of any known material, so one can achieve any thermal design required, with less thickness of insulation. In some cases, LNG pipes insulated with traditional materials, cellular glass or PIR, have an insulated diameter two or three times greater than the pipe itself, while aerogel-based insulation would be a fraction of that thickness.

Aerogel composite blankets are flexible by design even at cryogenic temperatures. Unlike rigid sections of traditional insulations, aerogel blankets will move with the underlying piping as it thermally expands and contracts, negating the requirement for contraction joints. At a recent LNG liquefaction project, 1700 contraction joints were removed from the scope by using Cryogel® Z insulation, saving approximately eight man-years of labor. Flexible aerogel blanket insulation is simply a better form factor for cryogenic thermal insulations.

In addition, Cryogel Z insulation is tough and durable allowing for pre-insulation of any asset, so pipe spools can show up at the project site fully dressed and vapor sealed, compressing onsite schedule, and reducing cost. It is more efficient and less expensive to insulate and jacket assets in a controlled environment than at the project site. These next generation materials are the only known insulation that can provide both thermal and acoustical insulation with the same material. Traditional systems need two separate systems to achieve that performance and can be over 250mm thick.

For hot work, Pyrogel® insulation has class-leading thermal performance allowing for less space and better clearance between pipes on a rack. Pyrogel is considered the benchmark for protecting assets against corrosion under insulation (CUI) and provides acoustical and passive fire protection. And like its cold work counterpart, Pyrogel insulation also allows for pre-insulating of any piping or vessel offsite, saving time and money by removing insulation from the critical path of project completion.

Aerogel insulation blankets have enjoyed strong adoption by the LNG industry. There are, however, still major efficiencies to be realized by utilising these next generation protection materials not only as a replacement for lower performing traditional insulation, but by incorporating them throughout all phases of a plant design. Doing so will allow the engineers charged with the continuous improvement of these critical facilities to deliver them quicker, more efficiently, and with a lower carbon footprint.