Steel solutions for liquified natural gas

The increased use of liquified natural gas – triggered by the global energy transition – presents huge challenges for metallurgy. We are excited about helping to find affordable solutions that show great performance!

Aniruddha Dutta & Nuria Sanchez

Natural gas is regarded as one of the least carbon-intensive fossil fuels and will play a prominent role in energy transition. Expected to be the world’s largest energy source from the mid-2020s, the global gas demand is foreseen to peak about a decade later. There is a clear demand for natural gas, which will be used not only as a source of power but also as a fuel for road and marine transportation. Thus, there is an increased demand for downstream equipment as storage and usage for natural gas, specifically in its liquified form at -163°C.

Steels currently used throughout the supply chain – from large-scale LNG transportation and storage solutions to small- and microscale solutions – are costly. Therefore, new and cost-effective solutions are required for the forecasted future demands. Heavy plates containing nickel for the cryogenic industry are already being produced by ArcelorMittal for the construction of large-scale storage tanks and pipes. However, such heavy gauges are not required by the small- and micro-scale solutions for LNG, which are also looking towards cost-effective alternatives for current stainless-steel standards. Therefore, OCAS has invested in costeffective nickel-based material solutions as well as manganese-based alternatives. Keeping in mind a good balance between cost and performance, various production routes for both plates and coils – along with different fine-tuned chemistries – have been considered for both metallurgical systems and have shown promising results. With an eye on the entire production route, welding solutions for such metallurgical concepts are also being developed at OCAS, taking the technical sustainability of such products into consideration.