Gas carrier
Gas carrier
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Gas carrier

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Gas carrier

A gas carrier, gas tanker, LPG carrier, or LPG tanker is a ship designed to transport LPG, LNG, CNG, or liquefied chemical gases in bulk. Gases are kept refrigerated onboard the ships to enable safe carriage in liquid and vapour form and for this reason, gas carriers usually have onboard refrigeration systems. Design and construction of all gas carriers operating internationally is regulated by the International Maritime Organization through the International Code of the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk. There are various types of gas carriers, depending on the type of gas carried and the type of containment system, two of the most common being the Moss Type B (spherical) type and the membrane (typically GTT) type.

The seaborne transport of liquefied gases began in 1934 when a major international company put two combined oil/LPG tankers into operation. The ships, basically oil tankers, had been converted by fitting small, riveted, pressure vessels for the carriage of LPG into cargo tank spaces. This enabled transport over long distances of substantial volumes of an oil refinery by-product that had distinct advantages as a domestic and commercial fuel. LPG is not only odourless and non-toxic, it also has a high calorific value and a low sulphur content, making it very clean and efficient when being burnt.

Today, most fully pressurised oceangoing LPG carriers are fitted with two or three horizontal, cylindrical or spherical cargo tanks and have typical capacities between 20,000 and 90,000 cubic meters and Length overall ranging from 140 m to 229 m . New LPG Carrier ships are designed for dual-fuel propulsion system possessing the ability to utilize LPG or diesel fuel on a selective basis. Fully pressurized ships are still being built in numbers and represent a cost-effective, simple way of moving LPG to and from smaller gas terminals.

These ships carried gases in a semi-pressurized/semi-refrigerated state. This approach provides flexibility, as these carriers are able to load or discharge at both refrigerated and pressurized storage facilities. Semi-pressurized/semi-refrigerated carriers incorporate cylindrical, spherical or bi-lobe shaped tanks carrying propane at a pressure of 8.5 kg/cm2 (121 psi), and a temperature of −10 °C (14 °F).

LEG carriers are the most sophisticated of the gas tankers and have the ability to carry not only most other liquefied gas cargoes but also ethylene at its atmospheric boiling point of −104 °C (−155 °F). These ships feature cylindrical, insulated, stainless steel cargo tanks able to accommodate cargoes up to a maximum specific gravity of 1.8 at temperatures ranging from a minimum of −104 °C to a maximum of +80 °C (176 °F) and at a maximum tank pressure of 4 bar.

They are built to carry liquefied gases at low temperature and atmospheric pressure between terminals equipped with fully refrigerated storage tanks. However, discharge through a booster pump and cargo heater makes it possible to discharge to pressurized tanks too. The first purpose-built, lpg tanker was the m/t Rasmus Tholstrup from a Swedish shipyard to a Danish design. Prismatic tanks enabled the ship's cargo carrying capacity to be maximised, thus making fully refrigerated ships highly suitable for carrying large volumes of cargo such as LPG, ammonia and vinyl chloride over long distances. Today, fully refrigerated ships range in capacity from 20,000 to 100,000 m3 (710,000 to 3,530,000 cu ft). LPG carriers in the 50,000–80,000 m3 (1,800,000–2,800,000 cu ft) size range are often referred to as VLGCs (Very Large Gas Carriers). Although LNG carriers are often larger in terms of cubic capacity, this term is normally only applied to fully refrigerated LPG carriers.

The main type of cargo containment system utilised on board modern fully refrigerated ships are independent tanks with rigid foam insulation. The insulation used is quite commonly polyurethane foam. Older ships can have independent tanks with loosely filled perlite insulation. In the past, there have been a few fully refrigerated ships built with semi-membrane or integral tanks and internal insulation tanks, but these systems have only maintained minimal interest. The large majority of such ships currently in service have been constructed by shipbuilders in Japan and Korea.

The majority of LNG carriers are between 125,000 and 135,000 m3 (4,400,000 and 4,800,000 cu ft) in capacity. In the modern fleet of LNG carriers, there is an interesting exception concerning ship size. This is the introduction of several smaller ships of between 18,000 and 19,000 m3 (640,000 and 670,000 cu ft) having been built in 1994 and later to service the needs of importers of smaller volumes.

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