LNG put to the test

With Liquefied Natural Gas driving the wheel of Port Arthur's industrial boom, many citizens and officials have questioned the material's safety. Here is industry's response.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• LNG
• Port
• Arthur
• fire

[Beavesdad]

I have seen thousands of gallons of LNG spilled onto a pit filled with water. The pit was large but still less than 10,000 gallons. The LNG spread out accross the top of the water and froze the water it came in contact with. I am sure the volume of water in the pit was cooled but even this size release would have only a small and localized effect on an ocean. A tanker could release more but the effect would be cooling and would still be localized.

[Beavesdad]

LNG is stored at near ambient pressure. I have been in LNG plants and near LNG vessels. More importantly, I have participated in LNG research for several years. That research has involved pouring LNG onto the ground and onto water. I have also supported several LNG demonstrations including the specific demonstration in the above video.

[Beavesdad]

don't be too critical of a poster that likely knows more than you do about LNG. LNG is stored as a super-cooled liquid that is not under pressure. The comentator gets a couple of things wrong about LNG (it will not dissolve steel) but what you see in the video is a pool of LNG (liquid, not gas). Granted, it will evaporate faster than water but it can be scooped out and poured much like water. Regarding a spill on water, the effect would depend on the volume of water vs the volume of LNG.

[musiccmt1]

No impact. It would evaperate.

[paulfranke]

I would like to know what would happen if a tanker spilled a bunch of LNG into the ocean or if it leaked into a body of water what the implications to marine life would be?