Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Cryogenic Equipment
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) used to be just a way to efficiently deliver natural gas over long distances or for storage, especially for import terminals or natural gas utilities ‘peak shaving’ to level out supply and demand. Since the late 90s, however, natural gas has seen more low-emissions and economical fuel applications for engines.
Technifab first became involved in Liquefied Natural Gas in 2000 as a subcontractor for a U.S. Department of Energy research program. The project was designed to advance the state-of-the-art low-temperature technology for LNG storage tanks. Technifab’s role was to take a developed concept and manufacture/produce LNG fuel tanks that could be used in heavy-duty truck fleets and transit bus operations with modified diesel engines.
The 100-gallon (380L) tanks utilized multi-layer insulation (MLI), a unique non-metallic central support beam, and a vacuum between the inner and outer tanks. A dual-line fill system allowed gas generated during filling to be recovered and reused in the fill station or supply/storage system. A constant pressure system also gave consistent LNG delivery pressure and temperature, whether the tank was full or nearly empty. As part of the program, the tanks passed testing for dynamic structural integrity by a major truck manufacturer.
Since that time, Technifab vacuum jacketed hoses and piping have been used in a variety of LNG applications, including a recent LNG piping system in a manufacturing and test facility used by a Fortune 100 firm.
Products
Techniguard rigid and bendable vacuum insulated pipe and our Techflex hoses can be excellent choices for LNG applications. Our vacuum jacketed pipe reduces the liquid loss with LNG and can provide a quicker fluid delivery time to the end use point. Vacuum-jacketed piping also does not have the deterioration or need to be replaced like foam insulation, which collects moisture and ice that causes increased heat leaks over time and saves on insulation replacement costs down the road. We also manufacture our own line of vacuum-insulated valves.
We help other firms develop custom cryogenic equipment, including dewars, used for LNG. In the rapidly growing LNG industry, Technifab has worked with customers to create products that help them deliver LNG in their specific application.
We also supply custom-machined products for LNG storage and delivery. Our strict quality standards, consistency, JIT delivery requirements, and tight cost controls have been recognized by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) to produce a variety of machined components used in the cryogenic industry.
