LNG Tanks, South Hooks, West Wales

GGBS has been used to build five liquified natural gas (LNG) storage tanks on the coast in west Wales.

The project used a total of 87,000 cubic metres of ready-mixed concrete, containing up to 65 per cent ggbs.

The tanks measure 97 metres in diameter and stand 40 metres high with each of their double-skinned walls containing 6,804 cubic metres of concrete. They will store LNG before it is warmed and pumped into the UK’s natural gas transmission system.

For this application ggbs was beneficial in controlling cracking. The reactions involved in the setting and hardening of concrete generate significant heat and can produce large temperature rises. Subsequent cooling can then lead to thermal cracking.

But using ggbs reduces the temperature rise and helps to prevent early-age thermal cracking.