Discharging LPG

To discharge the ship, one (or more) compressor is started up in the pumproom,and the tank to be
discharged is pressurised with vapour withdrawn from anothertank or tanks, not being discharged, and
sent via the condensate line to thetank being discharged whose liquid is blown "soda-water siphon
fashion" to thecargo pump suction

When the vessel arrives alongside after a period at sea, the "on arrival" tankpressures may be taken as
very closely corresponding to the S.V.P. (saturatedvapour pressure) of the product in the tank at the "on
arrival" temperature.When, due to pressurisation, the pressure On the pump suction has been
increasedto about one bar above the "on arrival" pressure, the pump is started up.

As the pump begins to operate, the pressure on the pump suction drops slightly. Ifthere is any risk of the
pressure on the pump suction falling below the S.V.P.of the product being discharged, the pump must be
slowed down. If the pressure on the pump suction does fall below the S.V.P., the liquid in the pump
suctionwill "flash" (vaporise), and the pump gas-up, which is the equivalent of an ordinary pump becoming
"air-locked". During the discharge, the vapour in the tank being pressurised for discharging purposes, will
be super-saturated, so that condensation will take place continuously. Heat will be released,
and the cargo will be steadily warmed. Fortunately, the heating effect due to the release of latent heat of
condensation warms the top of the liquid in the tank, and as the specific gravity of the heated liquid will
be less than that of the colder cargo, the warm liquid will tend to float on top and not to circulate by
convection, sothat it forms a thermal barrier about 30 centimetres thick. Nevertheless, the temperature
of the cargo before it enters the pump suction should be watched-ifno thermometer is fitted before the
pump suction, then the one at the liquid discharge manifold will give an equally good indication and an
allowance madefor an increase of the S. V. P., if the temperature does rise.

When the warmer last 30 centimetres of liquid reaches the pump suction, the pump frequently gases-
up. If this occurs, the warmer liquid should be transferred bydifference of pressure to another tank
(preferably the smallest and highest tankin the ship) which has sufficient space to receive the drainings
(see ChapterIV). This is easy because, being pressurised, the liquid remaining will quickly move
to an unpressurised tank. A small elevated tank is nearly always used because the concentration of warm
drainings in this tank will:(a) give the maximum sounding (depth) of liquid, which makes for easier priming
of the cargo pump;(b) if necessary, it can easily be refrigerated by using this tank as a vapour supply
source to supply any other tank being pressurised for dischargepurposes;(c) being relatively
elevated, it is easier to discharge (if it were situated above the cargo pump, it would not require
pressurising).If a vapour return line is provided at the discharge terminal, then vapour from shore can be
used to pressurise the tanks being discharged instead of taking vapour from tanks not being discharged.