In his article, Engineering with nickel steel for LNG applications Part two of two: 7% Ni TMCP steel, Pradip Goswami, P. Eng, IWE. Welding Consultant and Metallurgical Specialist, talks about the importance of having a viable way to transport and store mass amounts of liquefied natural gas (LNG), as it has become widely considered a form of clean energy. Although austenitic stainless steels 304 and 316 offer excellent ductility and notch-toughness at the LNG storage temperature of -161.5°C or below, 9% nickel (Ni) steel poses as the superior option. In the second part of the article, Goswami focuses on the 7% Ni thermo-mechanical control process (TMCP) grade steel.
7% Ni thermo-mechanical control process (TMCP) grade steel was developed by steel manufacturers in Japan and Korea, in which the outcome was the content reduction of expensive nickel by nearly 20%. Throughout the years, the technologies of steel making, refinement, design, analysis, welding, and inspection have improved significantly, which has increased reliability and volumetric capacity of the tank up to two to three times, Goswami writes.
For the full article, please email Catarina Muia at c.muia@kci-world.com for the article PDF.
Image courtesy of Masteel