LNG

Svanehøj France, the tank control systems business, has been awarded contracts to update safety systems at the established Dabhol LNG import terminal on the West Coast of India and at the French Fos Cavaou LNG facility located east of Marseilles.

Svanehøj's tanks business has a long and distinguished track record since it was established at the French Channel port of Calais in 1961 under the banner of the UK engineering company Whessoe plc. 

At the time the company equipped its first gas carriers in the 1970s and its first LNG storage tank in 1983. 

It was also the first company to provide a level, temperature, and density (LTD) gauge for floating storage and it was part of Finland’s Wärtsilä from 2006 until it was acquired by Denmark’s Svanehøj in 2022.

Svanehøj France now develops technologies that enhance the safety of LNG, liquefied petroleum gas and cryogenic and refrigerated storageon sea and land.

Safety and control

“Svanehøj's instrumentation and software solutions are installed to ensure that all hazardous aspects related to liquified gas storage are known and controllable,” the company said.

“The systems proactively measure possible development or creation of stratification by monitoring the tanks. The product range includes tank level and density gauges, temperature transmitters, and control systems that operate accurately under cryogenic conditions,” the company added.

Svanehøj France noted that as time progresses, ageing machinery becomes obsolete, prompting the recognition of the importance of upgrading safety instrumentation. 

In response, the Dabhol terminal owned by the Konkan LNG subsidiary of GAIL India and the Fos Cavaou terminal operated by France’s Elengy, a unit of GRTgaz within the utility and energy group Engie, partnered with Svanehøj France to renew the safety instrumentation for a combined three LNG tanks.

“We are reconnecting with liquefied gas terminals worldwide and have learnt that some could be in better shape,” said Simon Dufour, an executive at Svanehøj France.

“Some only need spare parts, but some need new instrumentation installed. Without new instrumentation, it can result in dangerous situations and end up shutting downoperations,” Dufour explained.

Contract scopes

The company said that the Fos Cavaou LNG terminal has already successfully retrofitted one tank with a new densitometer, replacing previous systems and improving functionality and reliability. 

“Encouraged by this accomplishment and the cooperation with Svanehøj, Fos Cavaou plans to simultaneously replace the densitometers in the remaining two tanks with delivery of instrumentation in October,” said Svanehøj France.

Konkan LNG in India has embarked on a comprehensive plan to upgrade the Dabhol terminal with Svanehøj's valuable experience in safety instrumentation for LNG storage being leveraged. 

“The project encompasses replacing various components while retaining the existing temperature probes, guaranteeing qualitative safety measures,” Dufour said.

“As part of the upgrade, we will install three advanced servo-driven tank gauging systems, the LTs, to improve reliability and efficiency. An LTD tank gauging system and two data acquisition systems will also be delivered,” he added.

National Grid Plc, the owner and operator of Europe’s largest LNG import terminal at the Isle of Grain southeast of London and which came on line 16 years ago, has launched an engineering project to safely extend the life-span of the facility's assets.