LNG regasification terminals: comparing the inherent safety performance of innovative technologies

The introduction of new LNG technologies in the current energy market allows pursuing key goals as the diversification of the import sources, the exploration of new productive fields, and the flexibility of the demand. The development of LNG terminals is particularly of interest in countries, as Italy, that mainly depend on energy importation and which, due to favourable geographic positions, may become an import hub for gas distribution in nearby territories. More in general, the security of the supply, where the diversification of the sources plays an important role, is an key issue for the energy future of the whole Europe, which currently imports more than 50% of the natural gas. Presently, 13 LNG receiving terminals are operating all throughout EU, and approximately 20 more are currently planned or under construction. New technologies, mainly related to advanced floating and off-shore LNG terminals are now tackling the market of the new regasification plants. Safety performance of the regasification plants is a core issue in the design and location of the facilities. Moreover, societal acceptability of these installations largely depends on the ability to soundly prove the negligible risk for the population and the environment. Especially as regards new and emerging risks related to advanced technologies (e.g. floating or off-shore installations), they were not systematically explored to date, though the hazards associated to these installations is highly perceived as critical by the population. In the current contribution, the safety and security issues related to new and existing technologies are systematically assessed and critically compared. Reference technologies applicable to on-shore and off-shore terminals are identified. Reference schemes are defined for each technology, according to the data available at different stages of the development (R&D, conceptual design, basic design, existing). The potential hazards associated with the alternative technologies are assessed by the identification of the possible failure and consequence chains relevant for each unit. Conventional (HazOp analysis, bow-tie analysis, etc.) and innovative (inherent safety Key Performance Indicators) tools are integrated in the assessment. The analysis of the expected consequences by conventional model runs allow the evaluation of reference severity values of possible accident scenarios. The definition and the application of leading KPIs may allow a breakthrough in the assessment of the emerging risks and in the identification of inherently safer solutions. The preliminary application of these techniques and tools to the assessment and comparison of new LNG regasification technologies demonstrates the potentiality of the approach as a design support and a reference in the identification of the critical safety issues.