Hokuriku builds Japan's biggest gas tank

Hokuriku Gas Co. is building Japan's largest natural gas storage tank in Kurosaki, near Niigata in northwestern Japan. The spherical tank is 34 m in diameter and was fabricated and installed by steel maker NKK Corp. It comprises 126 curved trapezoidal plates, each roughly 12 m by 3 m in area and 35 mm thick.

NKK said the spherical shape maximizes the pressure the tank can withstand and therefore its gas storage capacity, which NKK quotes as 200,000 cu m. Hokuriku plans to build another unit of the same size on the site. The first tank is due to go into service this autumn, while the second is slated for completion in autumn 2000.