LNG: Conceptos generales y procesos

involucrados

Facultad de Ingeniería de Petróleo,

Gas Natural y Petroquímica - FIPP
 NGL: Conceptos generales y procesos

• LNG Proved to be Most Economic for Distances >1,500 Mile

• Volume Reduction of 600:1
• Transported in Insulated Tankers @ -162C & 1 atm.
NGL: Conceptos generales y procesos
 NGL: Conceptos generales y procesos

Producción
del Campo
Transporte

LNG Barco Terminal de

Terminal de Metanero Regasificación
Licuefacción
NGL: Conceptos generales y procesos
 Cost of Refrigeration

Methane
or Nitrogen

Cost/Btu
Removed

Ethylene Air/Water
Propane
-162C Temperature 25C
 NGL: Conceptos generales y procesos

Different liquefaction techniques include:

• Single refrigeration cycle
• Multiple Refrigeration Cycle
• Self Refrigeration cycle

The cooling of NG involves the use of refrigerants which could either be

pure components or mixed component refrigerants
 NGL: Conceptos generales y procesos

Mixed refrigerants are mainly composed of HC ranging from methane to pentane,

N2 and C02
• Pure components refrigerants: Specific operating ranges for each component
• Mixed refrigerants: Modified to meet specific cooling demands. Helps to improve
the process efficiency
 NGL: Conceptos generales y procesos

Three main liquefaction processes can be distinguished:

• C3MR or ACPI (designed by Air Products & Chemicals)
• Cascade (designed by ConocoPhillips)
• Shell DMR
 C3MR (ACPI)
• This method is based on propane pre-cooled mixed refrigerant. There are two
main refrigerant cycles.
• The precooling cycle which uses a pure component propane.
• The liquefaction and sub-cooling cycle using a Mixed Refrigerant (MR)
made up of nitrogen, methane, ethane and propane.

-The precooling cycle uses

propane at three or four pressure
levels and can cool the process
gas down to (- 40°C). It is also
used to cool and partially liquefy
the MR.

-In the MR cycle, the partially

liquefied refrigerant is separated
into vapor and liquid streams. The
refrigerant is used to liquefy and
sub-cool the process stream from
typically -35°C to the temperature
range -150 to -160°C.
 DMR

DMR – Dual Mixed Refrigerant is very similar to C3MR

The difference is in utilization of a second pre-cooling refrigerant component.
second column cools natural gas to LNG at -160°C.

• It allows keeping the

compressors at their best
efficiency point over a
very wide range of
ambient temperature
variations and changes in
feed gas composition.
• The natural gas stream is
cooled via two stages.
The first stage cools
natural gas to -50°C while
the the second column
cools natural gas to LNG
at -160°C
 Cascade

• The raw gas is first treated to remove typical contaminants.

• Next, the treated gas is chilled, cooled and condensed to -162 ˚C in
succesion using propane, ethylene and methane.
• Last stage is pumping LNG to storage tanks and awaiting shipment.
NGL: Conceptos generales y procesos
NGL: Conceptos generales y procesos
 NGL: Conceptos generales y procesos

All Processes Use Similar Equipment

GE MS7001 FB Gas Turbine

• Most New Plants Use Large Gas Turbine (& Combined Cycle) to Drive
Refrigerant Compressors
• Some Older & Smaller Trains Have Steam Turbine Drives
• Many Peak Shaving Plants on Electric Drives
• Use Large Process Type Centrifugal Compressors
Main Difference is in the Cryogenic Heat Exchangers
NGL: Conceptos generales y procesos
NGL: Conceptos generales y procesos
NGL: Conceptos generales y procesos
NGL: Conceptos generales y procesos
LNG Tanks
 NGL: Conceptos generales y procesos

Yacimiento
Camisea

PLUSPETROL
Planta TGP
Malvinas
Líquidos GNLC
Planta de
Gas Fraccionamiento
PERU LNG

Planta de Gas
Natural Licuado

Lima
Peru LNG
Peru LNG
 Peru LNG

• The gas entering the plant is first knocked out and filtered for any
condensates or particulate it may bring from pipeline, and then it is
purified by extracting acid components with a BASF-patented absorption
method using an aqueous solution of an activated Methyl Di-ethanol
Amine circulating counter-current to feedgas in the Acid gas Removal
tower
 Peru LNG

• After being cooled down for water

condensation the feedgas is passed through
silica-gel molecular sieve Dryers to remove the
rest of the water.
• Finally, and before entering the refrigeration
zone, the feedgas goes through additional
filtering and a Hg-removal Unit s
precautionary measures
 Peru LNG
A.P.C.I.’s propane pre-cooled mixed refrigerant process is the selected
liquefaction technology for PERU LNG Plant.

Two G.E. frame-7 gas turbines drive the Nuovo Pignone Propane (one casing,
four stages) and Mixed Refrigerant (three stages in 3 casings) compressors, in a
split configuration with the high pressure M.R. compressor installed in line with
the propane compressor.

Ambient air is the final

heat sink for the
Process through air-
cooled fin fans.

No scrub column
exists as the natural
gas does not contain
hydrocarbons higher
than ethane.
 Peru LNG

• In the propane cycle the natural gas is cooled down to -34 C at 3 propane
vaporizers.
• Another 4 propane vaporizers are used to condense the Mixed Refrigerant.
After vaporizing the propane enters the 4-stage compressor via 4 suction
drums.
• Then it condenses at the air coolers located on top of the Plant main rack;
finally the propane is further sub-cooled to improve cycle efficiency, before
expanding in its way to the vaporizers to repeat again the cycle.
 Peru LNG
• In the M.R. cycle very low temperature refrigeration is provided by a mixture of
nitrogen, methane and ethylene, with some ethane and propane as well. Partially
condensed high pressure M.R. is fed to the main cryogenic heat exchanger
(MCHE) via a vapor-liquid separator.
• Inside the MCHE, containing spirally-wounded aluminum pipes working at high
pressure, feedgas liquefaction and sub-cooling to -162 C is done as the liquid M.R.
vaporizes in the upper part while the light M.R. retrieves further heat from the
natural gas at the lower part of the MCHE.
• After being gathered in suction drums vaporized M.R. is compressed at the 3-
stages M.R. compressor; inter-stage cooling is done to improve cycle efficiency
 Peru LNG

• Once cooled down and liquefied the gas is stored at -162 °C in 2 large
singlecontainment LNG tanks of 130,000 m3 holding capacity each.

• Single containment was selected by PERU LNG as the site remoteness and
enough space being available to accommodate a different secondary
containment were features that facilitated to comply with regulations and
represented a safe design of installations.
Peru LNG
 LNG: PETRONAS Floating LNG Satu

• 132,000 tonnes of steel

• 365 metres long (75th floor of PETRONAS Towers), as long as 3 soccer fields
• Design life of 20 years
• Operating in waters 200 metre-deep
• 1.2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG
• Achieved first gas first LNG drop on 2016 and first LNG cargo on 2017
 LNG: Shell PRELUDE FLNG

• Location: Browse Basin, Australia

• Depth: ~250 metres
• Category: Floating liquefied natural gas
• Interest: Shell 67.5%, INPEX 17.5%, CPC 5%, KOGAS 10%
• Fields: Prelude and potentially other Shell natural gas assets in the region
• FLNG production capacity 3.6 mtpa of LNG,
• Prelude FLNG is the world's largest floating liquefied natural gas platform as well
as the largest offshore facility ever constructed