HYDRO-MECHANICAL ISSUES OF OFFLOADING OPERATIONS BETWEEN A FLOATING LNG TERMINAL AND A LNG CARRIER IN SIDE-BY-SIDE CONFIGURATION

This paper presents a state-of-the-art methodology to build a numerical hydro-mechanical model of a floating LNG Terminal with a LNG carrier moored alongside, complying with the physical mechanical behavior and hydrodynamic phenomenology involved in such a complex system. The required numerical functions are available for intensive engineering applications in the PRINCIPIA's software DIODORE (TM) dedicated to sea-keeping and mooring analysis. The methodology has been validated by comparison with non-captive model tests in IFREMER basin in the frame of the SALT 2 JIP led by PRINCIPIA. The paper describes first the academic side-by-side case that has been tested in basin, associated with the comparison between the experimental results and the numerical application using DIODORE (TM) In a second step, the main physical parameters of the simulation are analyzed and some gained insights are exposed.