“Nickel-based steel produced in Rizhao supports the world’s largest LNG tank

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On January 25, the top 10 scientific and technological innovation achievements in Shandong Province for 2025 were officially announced, and the “Full-range Nickel-based Steel Products” project developed by Rizhao Co., Ltd. of Shandong Iron and Steel Group was successfully selected. This key achievement, which breaks foreign technological monopolies, has been successfully applied to the world’s largest LNG storage tank at the Zhuhai LNG receiving station, with a capacity of 270,000 cubic meters, thereby marking an important breakthrough in the localization of key materials used for clean energy storage in China. 　　At the Zhuhai LNG receiving station, giant white storage tanks stand tall, with liquefied natural gas at -162°C stored stably within them. The core material of its inner wall is entirely composed of nickel-based steels in all sizes ranging from 5mm to 40mm, developed by Rizhao Co., Ltd. of Shandong Iron and Steel Group. This application marks a significant breakthrough in China’s ability to supply thin-gauge nickel-based steel on a large scale and in a stable manner; the company has thus become one of the few enterprises in the country with such capability. 　　Previously, the core technologies related to nickel-based steel were monopolized by a few developed countries; domestic projects faced challenges such as high material costs, long delivery times, and limited specifications, which acted as bottlenecks. As a result, several projects had to be delayed due to material issues. “If the core materials are controlled by others, it is equivalent to having one’s path to development choked off. ”A member of the R&D team at Shandong Iron and Steel Group Rizhao Co., Ltd. admitted. 　　To overcome these challenges, the company formed a cross-departmental task force that spent 3 months working directly on the production floor, using visual planning to tackle various technical difficulties. The steelmaking process incorporates multiple innovative techniques to maintain the P content in the molten metal exiting the converter at below 0.003% ； The steel rolling process employs high-precision sheet shape control technology to address the issues of easy deformation and difficult tolerance control in ultra-thin steel sheets ； The element composition is optimized during the heat treatment process to ensure excellent impact performance of the steel plate in ultra-low temperature environments of -196°C. This achievement not only enables innovative technical integration but also holds significant economic and safety benefits; it reduces the weight of the inner walls of storage tanks, decreases the amount of welding required, shortens the construction period, and results in a premium of over 1,000 yuan per ton of steel ； The residual stress is only 4.7 A/cm, which is significantly lower than the 9.2 A/cm of conventional products, thus providing a solid safeguard for the safety of LNG storage. 　　It is reported that Rizhao Co., Ltd. of Shandong Iron and Steel Group plans to achieve an annual production volume of 10,000 tons of nickel-based steel in all relevant specifications within three years, with an annual output value exceeding 200 million yuan. At the same time, it will continue to optimize its production processes, aiming to reduce carbon emissions by more than 100,000 tons per year. By producing high-quality steel products, the company seeks to contribute to the development of China’s clean energy industry and gain a dominant position in the international market for ultra-low temperature steel.