Safety of LNG Regasification Terminals: the Blue Book Approach

The Integ-Risk project (http://www.integrisk.eu-vri.eu/), under the 7th Framework Program (EU Grant number CP-IP-213345-2), has the purpose to coordinate research and development sub-projects for improving the management of Emerging Risks related to new materials and technologies. Within the Project, a specific research is dedicated to the development of innovative approaches for the assessment of safety of LNG terminals, both offshore and onshore. The activities aimed at developing a framework for the assessment of safety of LNG terminals will develop through the assessment of the state of the art, both for onshore and offshore installations, and on a gap analysis to identify weak points or areas of emerging risks to be addressed. A specific Guideline (“Blue Book”) was issued summarizing data, methods and techniques for the assessment. The present paper will focus on the specific contribution provided by Italian iNTeg-Risk partners to the “Blue Book”. In particular, the work on the assessment of specific scenarios related to LNG terminals and that on consequence assessment models will be presented. A relevant effort was dedicated to the systematic exploration of credible accident scenarios that may follow external events involving LNG terminals. The results were used for the application of improved consequence assessment models both for the prediction of NG dispersion following release and for rapid phase transitions that may be caused by massive LNG releases over water.