SUMMARY S. Y. Güngen
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SUMMARY
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is Natural Gas that has been cooled to the point that it condenses to a liquid, which occurs at a temperature of around -161oC at atmospheric
pressure. Liquefaction reduces the volume of the Natural Gas by approximately 600 times, thereby making it more economical to transport between continents with specially designed ocean vessels. Gate terminal B.V. (Gate), the joint venture between N.V. Nederlandse Gasunie and Royal Vopak, is projecting to set-up an Independent Multi Customer LNG Receiving Terminal, one of the first of its kind, on the Maasvlakte, in the Port of Rotterdam. Planned to be operational by 2011, Gate should make a significant contribution to the security of future Natural Gas supplies in both The Netherlands and the rest of northwest Europe. The aim of this study is to develop a Computer Simulation Model of the Gate terminal, which, through means of realistic input Cases should provide insight into the Logistic Performance of the combination of the intended Technical Configuration of Gate and the intended Commercial Contracts with potential Customers. “Logistic Performance” is thereby defined as a fulfilment of the Gate terminal‟s Services to Customers, as stated in the Commercial Contracts.
As an independent Terminal, Gate is intended to serve multiple Customers, which maintain ownership of their LNG, but grant temporary custody to the Operator. The main services provided by the Gate terminal will be Reception and Storage of LNG cargos, followed by Regasification and Supply of the resulting Natural Gas into the Dutch network. At existing LNG Receiving Terminals, each Customer has dedicated tanks, or the LNG is property of the Terminal Operator. At Gate, Customers with different business profiles are to share the same Tanks. Consequently, the logistic processes at the terminal, as well as the total tank inventories will depend on all the Customers‟ Arrival and Send-Out behaviour.
Commercial Contracts are being developed by the Gate terminal Operator, which should orchestrate the potential Customers‟ Arrival and Send-Out behaviour in a way that reduces the Customers‟ mutual interference as much as possible, and gives them sufficient rights for both long-term storage and direct throughput of LNG volumes. In these Contracts, the Gate terminal‟s Service Limits towards Customers, such as the yearly Throughput Capacities, Storage Rights, maximum allowed LNG Carrier sizes and Send-Out Rates and are to be fixed for a period of 20 years.
The logistic processes, which LNG Carriers will encounter at the future Gate terminal, will not only depend on the chosen Terminal Configuration and Contractual Parameters, but also on the external factors such as weather and traffic delays. To be able to gain insight into the Logistic Performance of Gate, prior to its building, a Computer Simulation Model has been developed, in which the most important logistic processes, for the functioning of an Independent Multi Customer LNG Receiving Terminal, are included. An excel Input file provides easy access to the simulation parameters, which define the Terminal Configuration, the Fleet Parameters, Contractual Details and the probability distributions of weather and traffic bound Delay Processes.
SUMMARY S. Y. Güngen
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A series of Case Studies have been performed with the Simulation Model, in which the Logistic Performance was investigated within the Contractual Rights of Customers. The Delay Parameters for weather and traffic were based on statistics provided by the Port of Rotterdam Authority:
In Case A, the initially intended 1st Phase of the Gate terminal was experimented with. In
this Case, the Terminal has 2x180.000m3 Storage tanks, 1 Jetty and 1 Ship-Shore
Unloading Pipe. The total Throughput Capacity of 8BCMA consists of two 3BCMA Customers and one 2BCMA Customer. All Customers‟ fleets are comprised of 145.000m3
sized LNG Carriers, which is at present the average size of the World LNG fleet. The results for the KPI‟s indicate that the Logistic Performance of the terminal is by no means undermined.
In the succeeding Cases, the newest Customer Demands, of receiving “QatarFlex” sized LNG Carriers (217.000m3) were included in the Fleet Parameters. This belated demand
has only recently been expressed, due to fast developments in the LNG Carrier market, and is not conform the Commercial Contracts of the intended 1st Phase. In Case B, the
8BCMA Throughput Capacity and the Terminal Configuration remain the same as in Case A, but one 3BCMA Customer‟s fleet is comprised of “QatarFlex” LNG Carriers. The results for Case B show a significant decrease in Logistic Performance, due to a lack of Tank Capacity. The two Tanks cannot handle the peak capacity occupation caused by the arrival of “QatarFlex” sized cargos.
Following this result, Case C was defined in cooperation with the commercial department of Vopak LNG Holding B.V., in which an additional 3rd Storage Tank and an extra 4BCMA
of contracted Throughput Volume were added to the initially intended 1st Phase. The
total Throughput Capacity of 12BCMA consists of four 3BCMA Customers, of which one has “QatarFlex” LNG Carriers. In Case C, the Logistic Performance of the terminal is undermined, due to unavailability of the single Jetty. This is because there are more vessels arriving at the terminal, compared to the 8BCMA Cases.
