Layout Development of Manappad LNG Port

Near Manappad, located at the southern tip of India in the state of Tamil Nadu, Indian Gas Ltd. is planning the construction of a power plant, powered by LNG. The LNG will be imported through a new port. The objective of the project carried out by Frederic R. Harris was to develop an optimized layout for the LNG port and associated marine facilities. The approach selected for the Manappad project was to evaluate alternative layouts on the basis of operational downtime, defined as the total time that LNG vessels are unable to enter port or transfer cargo due to marine and weather conditions. A balance must be found between the benefits of low downtime and the associated costs. Although this balance could only be determined by the client, the project aimed to provide some tools to find this balance. This was achieved by defining a number of layouts, each providing a different level of protection with different requirements for associated capital investments. Downtime for each layout was determined, so that the client could make the trade-off between service level and costs.