Application of Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics Method in Optimization of Tank Heel

The smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is a meshless numerical method applied to the problems of fluid sloshing, gas flow, extreme deformation, and wave engineering. This method is used to perform LNG tank analysis to show the motion of liquid and to measure the filling head under operation conditions. Tank heel optimization is a critical concern in the design of LNG fuel tanks to keep the suction pump operation stable and prevent thermal shock during LNG bunkering. In this study, we introduce the design of the sump tank and numerical simulation to show that the model maintains the suction pump submergence at the minimum filling ratio during dynamic ship motion. The LNG tank structure was modeled as a rigid element, while the LNG liquid was represented using hydrodynamically smoothed particles. The simulation was performed to simulate roll and pitch motions and the instantaneous LNG level at the suction pump was also captured to evaluate the filling head. The captured results of the LNG level show that a filling ratio reduces to the minimum LNG tank heel by adapting the walled sump tank. The findings in this study contribute to the database for the method of the LNG tank design and optimization.