A Steel That Performs at Minus 196 Degrees Celsius
POSCO announced on Aug. 13 that its cryogenic high-manganese steel has been approved by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy for use as a material for land LNG storage tanks.
POSCO has developed the high-manganese steel for the first time in the world. The new product can exhibit an excellent performance in a cryogenic environment of minus 196 degrees Celsius. It also excels current nickel alloy steel in terms of price competitiveness. POSCO expects high manganese steel to gradually replace nickel alloy steel in the LNG tank market.
POSCO began research on high manganese steel in 2008 and completed the development of mass-production technology in 2013. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Korea Gas Safety Corp. provided technical consulting to POSCO to list POSCO’s high manganese steel technology as a manufacturing standard.
POSCO forecasts that 890 LNG tankers and 4,700 LNG carriers will be ordered from 2019 to 2030 in the world. Accordingly, the company plans to expand the listing of its high manganese steel technology as material and manufacturing standards overseas and actively land orders for LNG-related projects.