Standards Development

Scope

This document provides the design and operational requirements for transportation of LNG as cargo by railcar, including safety aspects under normal conditions and in case of events.

This document includes requirements for (at least):

- railcar coupling; - hose vs loading arm;

- hose / arm draining;

- permissives and emergency shut-down functions;

- liquid detection on boil-off gas return line; - leak / fire detection and management systems.

Purpose

To date, the LNG trade is a growing market worldwide with broad diversification of LNG sources, transport means and consumer bases. Major trends include, but are not limited to:

1) LNG utilization for traction (private vehicles, trucks, shipping, aviation);

2) small-scale onshore and floating offshore production;

3) expansion of transport over land, in which truck / road transport is leading while rail transport is appearing in the EU for which footprint expansion is expected in the near- toe mid-term.

Multiple players develop in isolation process line-ups, design principles and internal ‘best practices’ for LNG cargo loading / offloading into railcars and ISO containers.

This approach entails the risk of market getting flooded with bespoke, ‘one-off’ installations that can create at the minimum inconvenience during loading / unloading and increased operator burden, and in the worst case loss of LNG containment leading to potential industrial accidents.

Timely guideline formulation can help uniformity in design and operational approach and minimize the risks. Areas where guidelines can add value include:

- permissives and emergency shut-down (ESD) functions: standard valve interlocks, grounding, railcar motion detection, etc.;

- liquid detection on boil-off gas (BOG) return line: dig leg, temperature detection or other;

- hose vs loading arm: boundaries for application of each technology, recommended testing;

- leak / fire detection and management systems:

• type, location and number of gas & heat / smoke & flame detectors;

• spill channels and impounding basins with high-expansion foam;

• water spraying and dry powder systems;

- hose / arm draining: inventory drained to railcar, dedicated drain connection back to plant or other;

- railcar coupling: preferred type (threaded, flanged, Manntek or similar dry disconnect coupling [which conforms to ISO 21593], safety fitting (e.g. break couplings), emergency shut-off valves (e.g. Snappy Joe by Fisher).

Objective: create a world-wide homogeneous design and maximise conformity