Energies2015,8,3142-3164;doi:10.3390/en8043142energiesISSN1996-1073www.mdpi.com/journal/energiesArticleRiskAssessmentforNaturalGasHydrateCarriers:AHazardIdentification(HAZID)StudyKipyoungKim1,HokeunKang2,*andYoutaekKim21TechnologyStrategyDevelopmentTeam,KoreanRegisterofShipping,36MyeongjiOceanCity9-roGangseo,Busan618-814,Korea;E-Mail:kpkim@krs.co.kr2DivisionofMarineSystemEngineering,KoreaMaritimeandOceanUniversity,727Taejong-ro,Yeongdo-gu,Busan606-791,Korea;E-Mail:kimyt@kmou.ac.kr*Authortowhomcorrespondenceshouldbeaddressed;E-Mail:hkkang@kmou.ac.kr;Tel.:+82-51-410-4260;Fax:+82-51-404-3985.AcademicEditor:FredeBlaabjergReceived:8November2014/Accepted:4March2015/Published:20April2015Abstract:Seatransportofnaturalgasintheformofhydratepelletsisanewtechnologicalapproach.Introducingnewtechnologiesbearsraisesthepossibilityofintroducingunknownrisksor—incaseofalternativesforalreadyexistingtechnicalsolutions—higherrisk,eitherhuman-,environmental-,orproperty-related.TheoptionofgastransportbynaturalgashydratepelletshasbeenintroducedwithintheKoreanjointresearchproject.Onekeytaskwasthesafetyevaluationofthenovelnaturalgashydratecarrier(NGHcarrier)developedintheproject.Theaimofthisworkwastosupportandassesstheriskaspectsofthedevelopmenttoensurethattherisklevelforthenewlydevelopedconceptisaslowasforexistingcompetingconcepts,especiallyLNGcarriers.TheNGHcarrierisbasedontheconceptoftheself-preservationeffectandtherebypreservesNGHintheformofpelletsatatmosphericpressureandtemperatureslowerthan−20°C.Inordertoidentifyallthepossiblehazardsinthesystemandthenenhancethesystemsafety,aHazardIdentification(HAZID)studywasconducted.AsaresultoftheHAZID,80identifiedhazardsintotalwereexploredandrankedintermsofriskindexforthesemi-quantitativeriskevaluation.Amongthehazardsidentified,threehazardswerefoundtohaveunacceptablerisklevelandtwentyeighttohaveacceptablebutALARPrisklevel.RegardingthehazardswithunacceptableriskorALARPrisk,additionalsafetyactionsandrecommendationsforriskcontrolwerediscussedandproposedinaSAFETYACTIONREGISTER,whichwouldbeconsideredandutilizedbydesignerswhendevelopingthedetailedsystemdesigninthefuture.OPENACCESSEnergies2015,83143Inconclusion,theoverallsafetyleveloftheNGHcarrierisconsideredacceptable.However,itwasfoundthatafewexternalhazardsassociatedwithextremelyharshweathercouldbecriticalthreatstothesystem.Relevantsafetyactionsagainstthem,therefore,mustbeprovidedinthesystemdesign.Keywords:naturalgashydrate(NGH);gascarrier;riskanalysis;HAZID;systemdesign;IMO1.IntroductionNaturalgasisoneofthemainenergyresourcesaswellasachemicalfeedstock.Theworldwideconsumptionofnaturalgasisrapidlyincreasing.However,gasmarketsarenormallyfarawayfromgasreserves.Therearemanypossibletechnologiesoftransportinggas,i.e.,pipeline,LiquefiedNaturalGas(LNG),CompressedNaturalGas(CNG)andNaturalGashydrate(NGH)transportation,fromproductionfieldstoconsumerselsewhereforuseasafuelorasachemicalfeedstockinapetrochemicalplant.Generally,naturalgasistransportedbypipelinesorbyshipsasLNG.BecauseofcostsofLNGproductionplants,itiswellknownthatLNGtransportationsystemshavebeenadoptedonlyforverylargegasfields[1,2].NGHisasolidice-likematerialwhichformsnaturallyinhydrocarbontransportsystemsathighpressureandlowtemperature,usuallycausingoperationalproblems.However,exploitationofthegastransportpotentialofhydratesthroughthedevelopmentofproces...
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