Quantitative study of the factors of LNG liquid foam stability: Operating parameters and collection containers and time

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is an increasingly used fuel; thus, the study of the safety of LNG requires attention. Stable LNG foams are expected to mitigate the hazards of LNG effectively. However, the effects of three factors on the foam stability have been neglected, including the operating parameters of the foam generator, the collection containers, and the time. This study reveals the effects of the operating parameters on the deviation of stability caused by the collection container and time, which have been quantitatively studied using 336 parameters and Taguchi analysis. We found that the collection container and time influence the foam stability and cannot be ignored. The relative deviation in the stability caused by changes in the collection time can be up to 40%. In particular, the collection container affects the collapse function. Based on the effect of the operating parameters on the stability at different time, the foam stability is likely controlled throughout the whole production run. The matching of the quantity of solution on the screen with the air volume is essential to improve the foam stability. (C) 2018 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.