Hanwha Ocean and Bureau Veritas partner to advance assessment of independent LNG fuel tanks

Bureau Veritas and shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean have announced a joint development project on the structural assessment of independent LNG fuel tanks for ultra large ships.

The project aims to enhance the design process of independent LNG fuel tanks and accelerate the development of new solutions for the structural assessment of those systems.

Many vessels are currently equipped with independent tanks, either for the purpose of LNG/LPG transportation or for the use of LNG/LPG as a fuel. These independent tanks are not rigidly connected to the hull structure, but are instead held by an important number of dedicated supports, which must be designed with consideration of non-linear structural response during operations, including loss of contact and sliding.

Accurately solving these contact nonlinearities usually requires large computational time, and the method is very sensitive to convergence parameters. Recently, Bureau Veritas developed a new methodology to assess contact behavior nonlinearities. The method was validated by comparison with simulations, and it was demonstrated that CPU time is significantly lower, while maintaining the same levels of accuracy. The proposed solution, which has been implemented in the Bureau Veritas hydro-structure interaction suite Homer, enables fully consistent structural analysis of vessels equipped with independent tanks.

“Through this joint development project with Bureau Veritas, it is expected that structural analysis technology will be further advanced to improve the performance of independent tanks and develop differentiated products for the application of future projects,” said Joong-Kyu Kang, head of the R&D institute of Hanwha Ocean.

“We are pleased to cooperate with Hanwha Ocean on the structural assessment of independent LNG fuel tanks, which will support technology development for the future application of innovative solutions while also ensuring the safety of shipping,” said Alexander Gregg-Smith, senior vice president of Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore, North Asia Zone.

“We hope that this project will strengthen the collaboration and relationship between Hanwha Ocean and Bureau Veritas for the future development of more sustainable shipping solutions and technologies.”