Determination of Operating Parameters of a Cryogenic Tank for Low-Tonnage Storage of LNG

In the modern world, the gas industry plays a key role in the fuel and energy complex of any country, ensuring energy security and economic development. With the constant consumption of natural gas, there is a need for efficient methods of its transportation and storage. One of the ways of transportation and storage of natural gas is its liquefaction.In the case of low-tonnage liquefied natural gas (LNG) production complexes, where we are talking about small volumes of production of the order of several thousand tons of LNG per year, in comparison with large-tonnage production, where productivity amounts to millions of tons of LNG per year, the efficiency of storage processes comes to the fore, as this allows for reliable and economically feasible operation of small-scale LNG complexes.In this context, determining the operating parameters of cryogenic tanks for low-tonnage storage of liquefied natural gas is becoming an urgent research topic. The method of storing cryogenic products in semi-insulated tanks has a number of advantages, such as low energy consumption, high efficiency, and long storage time.This article is devoted to determining the parameters of the cryogenic tank operation during low-tonnage storage of liquefied natural gas. The study is aimed at determining the parameters of the cryogenic tank operation based on the calculated heat flow to the stored LNG. In this paper, the authors developed and compared various calculation schemes of heat inflow, which considered such factors as heat transfer by radiation, convection and conduction, including heat inflows to LNG through thermal bridges and from the combined-cycle phase of stored liquefied gas.The result of the study is the revealed method for determining the heat flow to LNG stored in a cryogenic tank, which is optimal in terms of the accuracy of the results obtained and the simplicity of calculations. The results of this study can be used in the further development of storage technologies for both liquefied natural gas and other industrial gases.