N’GENIUS solution for LNG industry
UK-based materials technology company, N’GENIUS, has developed a range of high strength austenitic stainless steels that will aid the design and construction of onshore and offshore facilities in the oil, gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector. The N’GENIUS series is a complete set of high strength austenitic stainless steels which improve on the previous 300 series.
LNG piping systems, engineered products, fabricated products and equipment can be developed and manufactured with reduced wall thicknesses, offering the potential to make products and equipment lighter and smaller, significantly reducing topside weight and helping facilities overcome space and height restrictions. Any space savings would also improve accessibility regarding servicing and maintenance, repairs, upgrading or replacement work on products and equipment in the future.
In particular, large facilities with extremely heavy topsides including floating production storage offloading (FPSO) vessels, FLNGs and upstream fixed platforms, would greatly benefit from the design and construction advantages that the N’GENIUS series can provide. This includes the potential to reduce the overall construction time and costs, as well as benefitting from easier handling and lower associated transportation costs.
Dr C V Roscoe, the inventor of the N’GENIUS series, says: ‘The N’GENIUS Series has an infinite range of alloy types, variants and grades and is perfectly suited for all the different material specifications, scopes of work and products including piping systems, pumps, valves, modules, vessels and tanks. Therefore, the potential to optimise the weight and space of all these components, and in turn reduce costs, could be invaluable. It really is the total system material.’
The weight-saving benefits provided by the N’GENIUS series are achieved from wrought mechanical strength properties. For example, the minimum yield and tensile strength of the N’GENIUS 304LM4N and N’GENIUS 316LM4N grades are typically 2.5 and 1.5 times higher respectively compared to the minimum strength values of conventional 304L and 316L. This enables the N’GENIUS series to have higher allowable design stresses than conventional austenitic stainless steels.
The higher minimum Pitting Resistance Equivalent (PRE) values for N’GENIUS 304LM4N and N’GENIUS 316LM4N grades compared to those for 304L and 316L produce significant improvements in the localised corrosion and general corrosion resistance. This enables products and equipment to last longer, facilities to be designed for a longer service life, and projects made more sustainable and cost-effective.
The N’GENIUS Series will also help accelerate the wider implementation of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology by reducing the topside weight of onboard CCS. This will make the green technology more feasible and play a fundamental role in driving down carbon emissions.
