Betting Billions on Liquefied Natural Gas

CNNMoney.com ^ | August 28 2006 | Steve Hargreaves

[Leisler]

LNG is a nearly frozen, slushy liquid, not under any pressure. Furthermore natural gas only combusted under a very narrow range of temperature and oxygen mix. This is why it is some times hard to light your stove. Same thing applies to propane, but not as much. Anyways, you could fire 10 RPGs into a tanker and the mass of frozen LNG would suck them up like nothing. I don't think even in experiment anyone has been able to get a LNG tank to blow up. I don't even know if they have been able to split and spill a tank and get the spilt slush to cook off.

[Max in Utah]

The questions which occur to me are:
Would a tanker of LNG in an American harbor make an attractive target for terrorists?
How hard would it be to rupture the container(s) with explosives?
What kind of damage might we expect from such an attack?

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Link to that LNG post?

[ArrogantBustard]

Google < LNG explosion > ... there have been a few. There's also a huge amount of fearmongering on the topic.

[Max in Utah]

Looks like you answered my questions.

[Leisler]

World wide, like once every 5 years under unusual circumstances. More one legged, midget ballerinas get hit by lighting.

[glorgau]

BOOM

That's the sound of an LNG terminal.

[kellynla]

and what sound does a crude oil terminal make when it explodes?

[norraad]

flicker, flicker, shweeeshhhhhhhhhh (automatic foam suppression putting out little fire).

[green iguana]

Crude oil does not explode. It hardly burns - that's why we refine it into things that will burn (and explode...)

[norraad]

Remember Uncle Jed refusing to accept charity to have his swamp pumped out of that Gawd~awful stuff?

He thought Mr. Brewster was feeling sorry for him.

If we didn't pump it out and use it, it would be surfacing all over the place.

Best thing we can do is refine it and get some use out of it.

The earth continuously makes it (rock oil=petroleum) and it works it's way to the surface because of specific gravity.

[kellynla]

so according to you, oil refineries are safe and there are no explosions?

[thackney]

If I remember correctly a bus in Houston that had CNG fuel system went off with a big bang and it was nasty.

Houston still has CNG for buses.

[norraad]

Yeah, pretty much, esp. in light of the massive rivers of useful petroleum products that flow through them.

Also in light of the fact that the cross contolling board members that control them are constantly give more "lip" service to the appearance of safety instead of actual safety.

[thackney]

I am for any and all sources of energy.
Ethanol, NG, biodiesel, nuclear as well as oil;
and the sooner we get off the foreign oil addiction the better

BTTT

[green iguana]

Who in the world is talking about oil refineries? You asked what sound a crude oil terminal makes when it explodes... or did you forget?

[thackney]

Crude oil does not explode. It hardly burns - that's why we refine it into things that will burn (and explode...)

so according to you, oil refineries are safe and there are no explosions?

Crude oil is difficult to start burning. At refineries there are much higher flammable products that catch on fire like gasoline. When was the last time you read about a crude oil terminal catching on fire?

[kellynla]

The thread & article is about energy and alternate forms of energy.
You posted that NG explodes.
I asked about crude oil and you said it doesn't explode.
So these refineries that explode are a figment of our imagination. All forms of energy have drawbacks.

You may not like NG and you may be in love with crude oil
but Americans want to get off the foreign oil addiction. And whatever alternatives are out there should be explored and if financially feasible should be pursued.

Argue with yourself if you like but that's the bottom line.

[norraad]

Yes, NG = ideal vehicle fuel, because of cross interest board chairmanships it's been "hampered".

Engines never wear out with NG.

40% of auto-makers profit comes from repair & parts.

That's what killed the electric car.

i.e. Who killed the Electric Car.

[Rb ver. 2.0]

""Natural gas vehicles are just as safe as today's conventional gasoline and diesel vehicles."

When there's enough NG vehicles on the road for me to physically observe that they don't go "boom" in an accident any more frequently than gasoline vehicles, I'll be a believer.