SCHOTT Electronic Packaging, a division of SCHOTT North America, Inc., a leading developer and manufacturer of high safety terminal headers for liquefied natural gas pumps, is adding an additional certification standard to its products for use in LNG vessels. At the end of 2012, pump manufacturers will benefit not only from the previous certification based on the directives according to IECEx and ATEX. The ship certification based on the so-called "plan approval" will now lower administrative costs for pump manufacturers even further in favor of faster delivery and operating times.

Today, roughly 400 tankers transport liquefied natural gas (LNG) around the world. According to the latest "BP Statistical Review of World Energy," 261.3 bcm (billion cubic meters) of LNG were shipped on a worldwide basis in 2011. By contrast, 488.1 bcm of natural gas flowed through pipelines. As this clearly illustrates, LNG already accounts for nearly 35 percent of the world's natural gas shipments.

This success has been made possible by the fact that the highest possible safety standards apply for LNG transports. This raw material that is liquefied by lowering its temperature and compressing it by 600x is then pumped into the vessel's tanks. The electrical connections to the pumps must be hermetically sealed to protect both the power supply and the LNG. SCHOTT relies on a special compression sealing technology to protect this highly susceptible process that has helped the company secure itself a leading position in the marketplace thanks to constantly improved material combinations and production processes. Unlike the other products on the market, glass-to-metal sealed terminal headers from SCHOTT require no maintenance whatsoever thanks to the use of inorganic, non aging materials which also make it the safest technology available on the market. Moreover, each and every product is tested for its resistance to pressure, impermeability, dielectric strength and insulation. 

All product types available from SCHOTT are already certifiable according to the European ATEX standard, the international IEC standard for electrical safety (IECEx) as well as specific local regulations like the KOSHA (Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency) for South Korea. These directives pertain to security-relevant requirements for the use of devices and equipment under the most severe conditions. SCHOTT has now arranged for all of its products for use in offshore applications to also be certified according to special standards for ship classification. "This certification based on the so-called 'plan approval' means it is no longer necessary to obtain a special project-related approval for each separate use of the product. This will save our customers a lot of time and effort due to the fact that we will be able to make these products available much more quickly," explains Thomas Göttlinger, Sales Manager for LNG on behalf of the Nuclear Safety Division of SCHOTT Electronic Packaging.

The respective certified products meet a general classification standard and therefore no longer need to be evaluated on an individual basis. This certification will most likely be available by the end of 2012. "This makes our hermetic glass-to-metal sealed penetrations not only the safest solution on the market but also offer a simplified process for faster delivery and deployment," Göttlinger emphasizes.