An innovative process automation system is allowing terminal operators at Manga LNG to centrally manage the site’s many processes, improving safety and efficiency
Finland’s Manga LNG receiving terminal was inaugurated at Tornio, in the north of the country, in June 2019. The Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment commissioned the new LNG receiving terminal with the goal of promoting sustainable economic growth.
The terminal is the largest of its type in the Nordic region and will eventually be used to bunker LNG-fuelled vessels in the Bay of Bothnia, including Arctica’s 110 m icebreaker Polaris. It will also serve industrial and mining operators and heavy-duty road transport in Northern Finland, Sweden and Norway.
LNG is delivered to the terminal by Anthony Veder Group’s Coral EnergICE, an 18,000 m3 Ice Class 1A supergas carrier on time-charter with Finnish state-owned energy company Gasum.
A turnkey solution for the project was provided by Finnish engineering giant Wärtsilä, with the work scope including all engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) work and a 10-year maintenance and service contract. To facilitate terminal operations, an automation and integrated information management system was required, and in its role as EPC contractor Wärtsilä agreed with Valmet that the Valmet DNA process automation system should be installed.
Manga LNG Oy’s terminal manager Marko Kontio explains: “Valmet DNA controls the main processes in the terminal: ship unloading, bunkering, storage management, truck loading, gas send-out and evaporator units.
“All the operational data we need comes from Valmet DNA, from where it can be transferred to other IT systems,” he adds.
Manga LNG chief executive Mika Kolehmainen says: “The automation system provides us with several tailor-made reports. They are needed for regulators, for owners and for our own needs. We are able, for instance, to follow capacity utilisation rates. We also have access to the automation system from our office."
A single-platform solution, Valmet DNA combines all controls for process, quality, supervisory, drive, optimisation and mechanical condition monitoring. It incorporates architecture for high availability, expandability and upgradeability over a system’s lifetime, and is scaleable from a single stand-alone controller to plant-wide systems.
The terminal’s operators can personalise their interface with selected process windows, creating a custom desktop. Each operator has four displays, allowing them to view up to 16 windows at a time. A trend and event archive known as Time Machine enables operators to identify historic events, move backward and forward in time, and analyse trends based on historical data to anticipate future events.
Cyber risks
With cyber risks on the rise, LNG terminal operators need to factor cyber defence and resilience into their automation strategies. The Manga LNG terminal will benefit from several security features integrated into the Valmet DNA system. The system’s process controllers are based on the Linux operating system, with ‘hardening’ measures enabled that mean any unnecessary features that may cause a security threat are removed or disabled. The DNA system uses Valmet’s Application and Control Node (ACN) controller family, which executes control applications and controls production processes. The ACN process controller has an integrated denial of service (DoS) identification feature. This monitors the network and should a DoS attempt be detected, the ACN controller blocks or limits inbound traffic to protect the application. An access-control feature, which can be temporarily deactivated for maintenance purposes, means only proprietary Valmet DNA communication is permitted. While proprietary communication is not in itself a security feature, it narrows the potential attack window of the system; the system’s protocol is not publicly available, preventing detailed external analysis.
Manga LNG terminal – at a glance
Type |
LNG receiving terminal |
Tank net volume |
50,000 m3 |
Ship unloading rate |
3,000 m3 per hour |
Maximum send-out rate |
40 tonnes per hour |
Outlet gas pressure |
6.0 barg |
LNG in-tank pumps |
3 x 175 m3 per hour |
BOG compressors |
3 x 3,000 kg per hour |
Owner |
Manga LNG Oy joint venture (partners: Outokumpu Oyj, SSAB Europe Oy, EPV Energy Ltd, Skangas Oy) |
Operator |
Manga Terminal Oy (100%-owned subsidiary of Manga LNG Oy) |
Valmet provides automation services for Gasum’s LNG operations in the Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark). Valmet’s automation solutions are used to centrally collect and control all measurement data connected to the LNG terminal operations of Gasum’s LNG arm.
Global LNG demand is rising every year, with existing and new suppliers investing heavily in capacity to satisfy this hunger. LNG greenfield investment was forecast to reach almost US$103Bn this year, the highest annual level yet for the industry.
LNG terminal operators must ensure the gas supply chain runs smoothly and that vessels can be loaded or offloaded and turned around with a minimum of downtime.
The world’s largest LNG import terminal by capacity, Korea Gas Corporation’s (KOGAS) Incheon LNG terminal, provides a good illustration of how automation and process-control technologies can facilitate the smooth, safe operation of LNG terminals.
The two LNG plants at the terminal control and monitor the facilities and equipment, including the unloading arms, storage tanks, recondensors, open rack vaporisers (ORVs), submerged combustion vaporisers (SMVs), and trunk lines with metering stations.
With safety a paramount concern, constant pressure must be maintained inside storage tanks, requiring careful control of how boil-off gas (BOG) compressors, recondensors and pumps function. Sequence functions enable operators to control such processes remotely, starting and stopping compressors depending on temperature, composition and volume of gasses. A disaster protection system is also in place to deal with critical situations, and control room personnel can share information in real time with operators based in plants 1 and 2 to ensure an effective response should a fire or a gas leak be detected.
KOGAS needs to be able to adjust to shifts in demand for gas from the power plants, industrial companies and residences that it supplies. An ORV using seawater normally cools and vaporises the LNG, but in peak-demand operational periods this can be automatically switched over to an SMV that uses combustion of BOG to vaporise the LNG. Every aspect of the vaporisation process, including switching on and off pumps and the control of vaporisation temperature and gas pressure can be configured in a central system and the process of adjusting to shifts in demand is fully automated to ensure uninterrupted supply.
Systems used to control offloading, tank-gauging, pipeline monitoring, metering and other processes are integrated via a Modbus interface with each plant’s production control system. This data can then be used to generate reports, calculate efficiency and analyse performance. This also enables monitoring of equipment such as LNG pumps, compressors and other rotating equipment based on how long it has been operating, letting the plant’s operators take a predictive approach to maintenance. Reports can be generated based on individual processes or overall performance to give operators and managers better oversight of the plant’s operation.
Automation specialist Yokogawa Electric Corporation (Yokogawa) provides equipment to enable these process control and automation solutions in the case of the Incheon terminal, including the CENTUM series of production control systems.
A KOGAS spokesperson says: "With CENTUM and other systems, we have built an enterprise-wide operating information system.
“The visualisation of all process data allows us to maintain a clear picture of the execution of our business plans, create optimal LNG supply chain scenarios, and make quick decisions and timely adjustments.
“Operability and safety are enhanced, and operators as well as managers can maximise the effectiveness of their activities."
Yokogawa has a long history in providing such solutions to the LNG industry, having had its automation and digitalisation solutions selected for implementation on 90 liquefaction trains, 50 regasification terminals and almost 80 LNG carriers. In the first half of 2019, the company’s automation solutions were selected for three LNG projects in the US, ranging in size from 2.5 tonnes per annum to 14 tonnes per annum.
Elsewhere, Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) is providing automation systems for terminals around the world, including in Texas and Canada.
In Texas, HPS is the integrated main automation contractor for Freeport LNG’s export terminal, which saw its commissioning cargo shipped in September this year. The systems in place helped reduce risks and minimise potential schedule delays for both Freeport LNG and its EPC contractor during the terminal’s start-up phase.
HPS also provided process automation and safety systems for the Pieridae Energy Goldboro LNG project in Nova Scotia, Canada. The project will include a liquefaction terminal and facilities for LNG storage and marine export. It will be able to process 10 million tonnes of LNG each year and have storage capacity of 690,000m3, with start-up expected for 2021. Honeywell is responsible for designing, delivering and installing the distributed control systems, safety instrumented systems, fire and gas systems, and operator training simulators for the project. Honeywell will also be responsible for helping Pieridae integrate all plant infrastructure to the business enterprise systems.
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