【Major Industrial Equipment in the Chemical Industry】439 – China’s first 50,000-cubic-meter LNG bimetallic full-volume tank, 2022

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On July 16, 2022, as the 415-ton heavy tank dome was precisely positioned at its designed location and the dome sheet fit perfectly with the pressure-bearing ring, the dome-aising ceremony for the Harbin natural gas emergency reserve tank was successfully completed. The Harbin Natural Gas Emergency Reserve Project is a key initiative aimed at establishing a natural gas reserve for the Harbin area. The main components of this project include the construction of a new LNG double-metal full-volume tank with a capacity of 50,000 cubic meters, a gasification unit with a capacity of 100,000 cubic meters per hour, loading and unloading systems, a BOG recovery system, as well as various supporting infrastructure and utility systems. Once completed, the project will provide an emergency gas supply to address disruptions or shortages in natural gas supply that may occur due to abnormalities in gas field production, pipeline transportation, or at gate stations or distribution stations ； It can provide a reliable supplementary gas supply for cities in the face of significant changes in the natural gas market ； And it addresses the issue of reliable on-demand gas supply in cities during periods when seasonal peaks, daily peaks, and hourly peaks overlap. The effective storage capacity of this tank is 50,000 cubic meters. The outer diameter of the tank body is approximately 52 meters, the height of the tank is about 31 meters, and the height of the dome is around 11 meters. The principle is that, through the combined action of the balancing system, sealing system, power system, etc., a blower is used to force air into the tank; the pressure difference then lifts the vaulting components as a whole to the designed position, which is equivalent to performing a \"heavy-lift lifting\" operation. The tank roof-raising operation took 143 minutes; with the assistance of 3 blowers, the tank’s roof was slowly lifted upward, moving gradually toward its designed position, until it finally fit perfectly in place. The successful completion of this lift-top operation on the tank’s dome represents a key milestone in the Harbin natural gas emergency reserve project; it signifies a shift in the construction work from operations on the outer tank to the installation of the inner tank, and holds significant symbolic importance. Harbin Zhongqing Company, the Southwest Branch of China National Petroleum Engineering Corporation, and Qingdao Huayou Engineering Construction Supervision held a topping-out ceremony at the construction site. Leaders from various functional departments in Harbin, relevant officials from the project party, and those in charge of the construction unit attended this ceremony, and observed the entire process of lifting the storage tank using air pressure on site.