DELIVERING TRUST BETWEEN

PEOPLE, ORGANISATIONS AND

GOVERNMENTS

LNGC LT in the world by SGS

(Drydocks World Dubai) UAE
(Damen) France
(MMHE) Malaysia
(SHI, HHI, Hanjin) Korea
(Navantia) Spain

Anywhere
in the world

(MHI) Japan
(N-KOM) Qatar
((Sembawang,
g, Keppel)
pp ) Singapore
g p
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LT from new shipbuilding to in-service

Our clients from new shipbuilding (more than 97 vessels)
BG, BP, AP Moller, MOL, NYK, K Line, Teekay, MISC, SK, Shell, Maran
Gas, Hyundai, Hanjin, OSG, Exmar, ProNav, ILTC, QGTC, Golar LNG,
GasLog LNG Services
Services, Hoegh LNG,
LNG BW Gas,
Gas Chevron,
Chevron etc
etc.
More than 300 Membrane type LNG Vessels in service
Every 5 years in drydock (test strongly recommended)
Every 2.5 years in drydock or during sailing (good to know if available)

Test required if any repair done in cargo tank

Main repair shipyards in the world
Sembawang & Keppel shipyard in Singapore
Navantia shipyard in Spain
Drydocks World Dubai shipyard in UAE
NKOM shipyard in Qatar
Fujairah, Singapore anchorage or voyage in the world
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Our Leak Test services

New
N
construction
t
ti
LT services
i
(in
(i Korea)
K
)

Ammonia Tightness Test

Primary
y Barrier Global Test
Secondary Barrier Tightness Test
Helium Test & Global Test

In-service LT services (Globally)

S
Secondary
d
Barrier
B i Tightness
Ti ht
Test
T t & Global
Gl b l Test
T t
(leaks by change of bonding condition on SB)
g test to check major
j leak on SB))
Sonic leak test ((hearing
Ultrasonic leak test using AE sensors (leaks on SB)
Infrared Thermographic Leak Test (leaks on SB)
Helium test (leaks on PB welding after a large repair)
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Test Preparation

Test Preparation

Test Preparation

Test Preparation

Ammonia Test

Ammonia Test

10

Helium Test

11

Helium Test

12

Global Test for Primary & Secondary Membrane

13

Secondary Barrier Tightness Test

14

Infrared Thermographic Leak Test for LNGC

ITLT at the loaded condition during voyage (-160)
Pressure at Normal Phase
(IBS 5mbar / IS 10mbar)
Pressure at Investigation
(IBS 8~22mbar / IS 0~2mbar)
Temperature
(Cargo Tank -160 )
About 8 days for 4 tanks

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Main Set of Leak Test Equipment

LTCR (LT Control Room / 4.5 tons) : 19
Mini LTCU (LT control Unit) : 5
Pipe shuttle (4.5 tons) : 16
Helium detector : 7
AE workstation : 2

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LNGC of membrane type (GTT design)

Type

Mark III type

NO.96 type

CS1 type

Primary

SUS 304L 1.2mm

Invar 0.7mm

Invar 0.7mm

Secondary

Triplex bonding

Invar 0.7mm

Triplex bonding

Well-protected Primary

Vulnerable Primary

Vulnerable Primary

Vulnerable Secondary

Well-protected Secondary

Vulnerable Secondary

Structure

Feature

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Test procedure for No

No.96
96 type
T t Flow
Test
Fl
Chart
Ch t
Strength
g Test
Bearing Test

To simulate the mechanical effect of liquid methane weight

Pumping to -800mb
800mb from A.P,
A P and Visual Inspection
To verify membrane installed and check its bearing
Inject to -200mb from -800mb, and Visual Inspection

Mechanical Test

To identify any possible weak point of various welds types

Inject to +20mb Maintain 30min. Return to A.P : 3times

He + Dry air injection

Create vacuum down to -600mb and inject He 33% to +20mb

Check He concentration at sampling points

He Test

Admissible leakage rate : 9.3x10-7 Pa.m3/sec

Inspection Cond. : 20%(min.10%) He in space with +20mb
Travel speed of leak-test apparatus : 1m/min

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Test procedure for No

No.96
96 type
T t Flow
Test
Fl
Chart
Ch t
Repair
p
VBT & DPT
Pre. Global Test
Pressure Monitoring
Final Global Test

leaks 5; To be checked with He LT in all the repair areas

leaks 5; To be checked with PT and VBT
Examination for large leak at -100mbar for 10 seconds
Examination for small leak at -550mbar for 30 seconds
Dye penetrant test at atmospheric pressure
Vacuum creation down to -800mbs
Stabilization 12hours and monitoring 24 hours
Continuous observation of pressure and temperature
Keep -800mb for the following test and work in cargo tanks
Same test procedure above applied to Secondary and Primary
Final global test after side opening closure (-800mb)

19

Pressure control for No

No.96
96 type
He Test Pressure Control
Maintain 30 min.

Random Check

Air+He

+20mbar

A.P

-200mbar

33% He
-600mbar

-800mbar
Strength
Test

Air+He
He
Bearing Mechanica Air
l
Injection
Test

H li
Helium
L
Leak
kT
Testt

R
Repair
i

Repair
VBT
Test

Global
Test
20

Test procedure for Mark III type

T t Flow
Test
Fl
Chart
Ch t
N2 Drying
y g
Mechanical Test
NH3+N2 Injection
RLP Reaction
Painting

Extract the air and air humidity (RHspace60%)

Exhaust down to -800mbar,
800mbar then injection with dry N2 (at least 3 times)
Detect a weld weaknesses by stressing it
Three successive cycles AP > +20mbar > AP
Filling of IBS by mixture gas and filling of IS by N2
IBS at 20mb and IS at 25mb
Reference leaks must be properly sealed and covered with dye strip
To be successful NH3 test, All RLP should be reacted
Control of paint must be started with the following conditions
-All RLPs should be reacted on above and under level or on single wall
-NH3 concentration 1%,
-Membrane
Membrane surface and air temperature 20oC,
C RHin
RHin-tank70%
tank70%
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Test procedure for Mark III type

T t Flow
Test
Fl
Chart
Ch t
Official inspection
p

All of the membrane welding will be officially examined

Any doubtful indication will be repainted

N2 Rinsing

Exhaust down to -800mbar, then rinse with N2 up to AP

NH3 concentration must be reduced down to 1000ppm

Repair

Lower or equal to 4 leaks per 1000m2 : VT, VBT, PT

Higher than 4 leaks per 1,000m2 : additional NH3 test

Vacuum Box Test

Examination for large leak at -200mbar for 10 seconds

Examination for small leak at -500mbar for 30 seconds

Paint removal

All the
th paint
i t on membrane
b
will
ill b
be removed
d
During this activities, special care must be taken to avoid
membrane surface damage

22

Test procedure for Mark III type

NH3 Test Pressure Control
N2 Drying

NH3+N2 Mixture Injection

Pre
essure

AP

-800mbar

Mechanical Test

N2 Rinsing

Time
23

Test procedure for Mark III type

Primary Barrier Global Test
To check whether primary barrier walls are perfectly
tight when the tanks are loaded
To check whether the walls are still tight as compared
with the previous test during the scaffolding removal
operations till the final tank fitting operations
To confirm that the tank is still tight after closing of the
side opening
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Test procedure for Mark III type

Test Flow Chart / PBGT
Vacuum Creation
Stabilization

Pressure monitoring

N2 Injection to A.P.

-800mbar 5 % of IBS and IS

800mbar
4 hours from AP to -800mbar
At least 1 hour

During scaffolds removal

24 hours pressure reading per each cycle
Every 10min / first hr , every 30min / following hr
Temperature reading : every hour
In tank (3 level), External (Trunk deck) Temp.
For membrane surface damage repair
When scaffolds removal job finished

25

Test procedure for Mark III type

Primary Barrier Global Test Pressure Control
Closing of Side Opening

Prressure

AP

Reference Test

Final Test

-800mbar

Primary Barrier Global Test / Cycle#1-Cycle#n

Time
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Test procedure for Mark III type

Secondary Barrier Tightness Test
Performed after completion of tanks construction,
before the ships delivery
Establishing
gap
pressure difference between IBS and IS,
recording the variation of pressure difference
Giving information about the global sealing property of
secondary barrier of each tank
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Test procedure for Mark III type

T t Flow
Test
Fl
Chart
Ch t / SBTT
Vacuum Creation

Stabilization

P li i
Preliminary
T
Testt

Actual Test

-530mb 5% in IS
4hours from A
A.P.
P to -530mb

At least 1 hour at -530mb

530mb of IS

Monitoring of Pressure decay : 5 hrs / a cycle

Minimum 2 cycles without irregular pressure decay
Monitoring
g of Pressure decay
y : 12~14 hrs
or monitoring can be stopped at -300mb
Pressure reading : every 30 min. of IBS and IS
Temperature reading : every 30 min.
Cargo tank, Cofferdam and external temp.
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Test procedure for Mark III type

Secondary Barrier Tightness Test Pressure Control

Pressu
ure

AP

Preliminary Test / Cycle#2

Actual Test

-530mbar

Preliminary
y Test / Cycle#1
y

Preliminary
y Test / Option
p

Time
29

Test procedure for Mark III type

SBTT(Rev.3) Acceptance Criteria of In-service
In service
Vacuum Decay Curve of IS
P
(mbar)

Calculation of N.P.A (Air)

N. P. A. =

1.21010-3 VIS
ASBt

Where N.P.A. : Normalized porosity area in M2

-300

ASB

: Secondary barrier area of considered tank in M2

: Time
Ti
off pressure rise
i between
b t

-450

-450 and -300 mbar in hours

VIS

: free volume of secondary space in M3

CTC : Cumulative Thermal Cycles

t1

t2

Log.e(N.P.A.) = 0.3368Log.e(CTC)-1.65

T (hour)
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Test procedure for Mark III type

SBTT(Rev.4) Acceptance Criteria of In-service
In service
Vacuum Decay Curve of IS
P
(mbar)

Actual Test : 14 hours monitoring

VDRM = 150 / (tf - ti )
(P/14h)

-300

VDRmax =
60 {40 / [1+((CTC-0.7)x4)/40]}

-450

VDRN =
42.18 x VDRM x (VIS/ASB) x Cgas

ti

tf

T (hour)

z VDRN VDRmax
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www.sgs.com
www.sgs.com/NDT

CONTACTS INDUSTRIAL SERVICES

Leak Testing
Sangchul Lee,
Lee Korea
Phone : +82 10 4572 2723
+82 10 4739 8738
Email : sangchul.lee@sgs.com

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