LNG An Introduction

14th April 2009
LIQUEFIED
NATURAL GAS
(LNG) –
An Introduction
Presented By: N. MANIKANDAN

Contents
I. LNG OVERVIEW
II. TECHNIP’S LNG CAPABILITY
III. LNG MANUFACTURING PROCESS
IV. LIQUEFACTION TECHNOLOGIES
V. CRITICAL EQUIPMENT
VI. LNG REGASIFICATION
Liquefied Natural Gas - An Introduction 2

LNG OVERVIEW
►LNG is Natural Gas reduced to liquid state by cooling it to –162ºC
►LNG is colorless, odorless, non-toxic and the gaseous form is lighter

than air
►Natural gas required to manufacture LNG – from gas reservoirs often

offshore
►Gas produced from two different kinds of reservoirs, each requiring a

different processing technique.
– Gas reservoirs – produced at High Pressure
– Oil reservoirs – oil-gas dispersion/mixed phase or oil reservoir
gas caps; relatively lower pressure

LNG OVERVIEW
Methane (CH4 ) LIQUID AT 1 Bar

n-Butane –0.5ºC
Ethane (C2H6)
i-Butane –12ºC
Propane (C3H8)
LPG Propane –42ºC
NATURAL Butane (C4H10) NGL Ethane –88ºC
HEAVIER FRACTIONS also referred to as:
GAS Ethylene –103ºC
C5 +
ex-well Methane –161ºC
Pentanes Plus
Natural Gasoline Oxygen –184ºC
Condensate Nitrogen –196ºC
H2 –253ºC
Non-Hydrocarbons
Helium –269ºC
H2O, CO2, H2S, N2, Hg, etc.

Why should Natural Gas be liquefied?
►Liquefaction reduces gas volume by approx. 600 times.
►More economical for liquid transport

– through ship – between countries/continents
– through road carriers – in land.
►For remote gas fields (especially offshore) pipeline transportation

of gas is expensive – hence natural gas is liquefied before
transportation

WHY WE NEED LNG?
9Growing power demand in the world and forecast

that by 2050 energy needs will double that of today –
gas is a cheaper source of fuel.
9Oil companies under pressure to reduce gas flaring
– develop strategies for dealing with gas.
9Growing demand for cleaner fuels – gas is the
preferred choice for large-scale power plants.
9Reservoir recovery – on an average about 60% of
the gas in the reservoir is recoverable, as compared
to 33% of an oil deposit.

NG – A CLEAN FUEL COMPARED TO DIESEL
Flue gas from Flue gas from

Diesel burning NG burning
Values in grams/kWH power generation
CO 15.5 4
NOx 7 1
HC 1 0.5
PM 0.15 0.05

How is LNG/NG Measured?
► Natural Gas is measured in
• Volume units, i.e. cubic feet or cubic meters
• Energy Units, i.e. Million BTU or Million kCalories
► VOLUME UNITS
• Supplies to Power plants measured in Million standard cubic feet/day (MMSCFD)
or Million standard cubic meter/day (MMSCMD).
• Resources and reserves calculated in Trillions of standard cubic feet (Tcf).
A Gas field containing 3.65 TCF ≡ around 12 MMSCMD gas for 25 years
A rough way of visualizing a trillion cubic feet of gas ≡ imagine enough of
product to fill a cube with its sides two miles long
► ENERGY VALUES
• Amount of energy obtained from the burning unit volume of Natural Gas measured in
British Thermal Unit (BTU) or kCalorie or kJoule.
► At sea level, it takes about 75 BTU (19 kCal) to make a cup of tea.
► A cubic feet of natural gas gives off about 1050 BTU (depends on quality of
gas) » one cubic feet of Natural Gas may make 14 cups of tea
► 1 BTU = 0.252 kCalories = 1.055 kJoules

How is LNG/NG Measured?
►1 Ton LNG ≡
~1420 Std. m3 Gas
~51.7 Million BTU
~13 Million kCal
~54.5 Giga Joules
►100 MW power plant requires ~ 0.5

MMSCMD Gas(~ 352 Tons/day)
►15 MMTPA LNG Plant requires ~ 1 TCF
Natural Gas Per Annum

LNG Chain
Upstream Regasification
Transportation
Treatment and Marketing

Liquefaction

FEATURES OF LNG CHAIN
Gas Wells
Land/Offshore
Raw Gas
Natural gas
distribution
Pretreatment Extracted NGL network
Sweet Gas
NG
Liquefaction &
Fractionation Vaporization
LNG
LNG
Storage Storage
LNG
LNG
Loading
LNG Transportation LNG Unloading
(Ship/Road tanker)

TYPICAL COMPOSITION OF LNG
COMPONENT COMPOSITION (vol %)
Methane >85
Ethane <9.2
Propane <3.0
Butanes <2.0
Pentanes <0.25
Nitrogen <1.25
Water <0.5 ppm
Carbon Dioxide <50ppm
H2S <3ppm
Mercury 0.01 ppb

TECHNIP’S
LNG Capability
Technip in the LNG chain
GAS FIELDS LIQUEFACTION TERMINALS
► Nigeria ► Algeria ► Freeport
• Obite
► Nigeria ► Enagas
• Amenam • NLNG Tr 1+2 Barcelona
• NLNG Tr 3
► Brunei • NLNG Tr 4+5 ► Gulf LNG
• OPP • NLNG Tr 6
• NLNG Tr 7+8
► Qatar • OK LNG
• Qatargas ► Qatar
• QGII • Qatargas expansion
• QGII
► Indonesia • QGIII/IV
• Tunu • Rasgas III
• Peciko
► Yemen
► Egypt ► Iran
• Samian Sapphire
► Indonesia
• Bontang I
Turnkey solutions for reduced cost marine works

Technip and LNG in short
Camel, Algeria, 1964
►We built the first ever LNG Plant, 45 years
ago...
►We have been active ever since,

QGII, Qatar, 2008 introducing many concepts that are
widely used
►Tealarc process abandoned in 1993 in

favour of APCI liquefaction technology
under license
►YLNG and OK LNG confirm our position

in the first tier of EPC contractors in LNG
Camel, Algeria, 1964
Camel, Algeria , 1964

Three Mega LNG Projects in Qatar
► Qatargas II: construction of 2 of the world’s

largest LNG trains (4 & 5) with a total capacity of
15.6 million tons/year
► Qatargas III and IV: construction 2 additional

trains (6 & 7)
► Rasgas III: construction 2 trains (6 & 7)
Qatargas II
Technip, in a joint venture,

Qatar is building the 6 largest LNG trains in the
Saudi world, with a capacity of 7.8 million
Arabia
tons/year each.

LNG plants are huge!
Qatargas II – View from Flare stack 24th May 2007

Yemen LNG
► Client: Total, Yemen Gas &
partners
► Capacity: 2 x 3.35 million

tons/year
► Execution: Technip leader of

Yemgas JV Yemen LNG
► Commissioning: 2009
Using its LNG expertise and supported by
its presence in the Middle East, Technip and
its partners are building Yemen’s first LNG
plant.
Aerial view of Balhaf plant (Yemen LNG), Oct 2008

Shtokman LNG (FEED)
► Client: Shtokman Development AG
► Gazprom 51%
• Total 25%
• StatoilHydro 24%
► Location: Teriberka, near Murmansk

• One 7.5 Mt/y LNG train, APCI C3/MCR
• One gas export train
► FEED by Technip to be completed mid-2009
Shtokman LNG site
Technip is engineering the

LNG and gas plant facilities
for the first phase of
development of the largest
undeveloped gas field in the
world.

II. LNG MANUFACTURING
PROCESS

LNG Manufacturing Process
f Receiving gas from wells and manifolds
f Pressure control/reduction
f Inlet gas-condensate-water separation
f Feed gas compression
f Acid gas removal
f Gas Dehydration Feed gas pretreatment
f Mercury removal
f Liquefaction
LIQUEFACTION FORMS THE HEART OF ANY LNG

MANUFACTURING FACILITY
f End flash
f LNG Storage and loading
f Fractionation of C1, C2, C3, C4 and NGL (i.e. Demethanizer, Deethanizer,
Depropanizer and Debutanizer)
f Condensate/NGL Storage and loading

LNG PLANT BLOCK DIAGRAM
Non Associated
Natural Gas Liquefaction Process License
Associated
Gas
Field Sulphur LNG Storage LNG
Facilities Recovery Loading
Pipeline Acid Gas

Fuel gas N2 Rejection
Reception Removal
Mercury NGL
Dehydration Liquefaction
Removal Extraction
Refrigeration
LNG Train
Refrigerant Make up
Fractionation C5+ Gasoline (LPG)
Condensate Field condensate

Stabilisation
III. NG LIQUEFACTION
TECHNOLOGIES

Available Technologies for Liquefaction
¾ Mixed Refrigerant Cycle (MRC)
Single Mixed Refrigerant
Propane + Mixed Refrigerant
Dual Mixed Refrigerant
¾ Cascade Refrigeration Cycle (CRC)
Simple/pure component cascade
Mixed Fluid Cascade
¾ Expander Cycle (EC)

Nitrogen Cycle (different versions to suit plant capacity)
Technology selection based on Plant Capacity,

type of facility, feed gas composition changes,
trade-off between operating cost versus capital
cost.
CYCLE EFFICIENCY COMPARISON

Main Liquefaction Technologies
Process Licensor Cycles Plants in Operation Exclusive
Contractor
C3/MCR APCI 1. C3 90% market None
2. N2, C1, C2, C3
Yemen, Nigeria (Bonny &
OK), Brunei, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Australia,
Qatargas, Rasgas, Oman,
CoP LNG Conoco- 1. C3 Trinidad, Egypt Idku, Bechtel

Process Phillips 2. C2= Darwin Australia, Eq.
3. C1 Guinea
MFCP Statoil/Linde 1. C2, C3 Snohvit (never reached Linde

2. C1, C2, C3 capacity)
3. N2, C1, C2
AP-X APCI 1. C3 6 under construction in None
2. C1, C2, C3 Qatar
3. N2 QG Tr4 s/u 2008
DMR SGSI 1. C2, C3 1 under construction None
2. N2, C1, C2, C3 Sakhalin s/u 2008
Liquefin Axens 1. C2, C3 Pars LNG None

2. N2, C1, C2, C3 (Technip/JGC FEED)

Types of refrigeration cycles for Liquefaction
f Reverse Rankine Cycles
fUsed in large liquefaction plants
f Mixed Refrigerant Cycles
f Pure Component Cycles
f Hybrid e.g. pure propane cycle and one mixed refrigerant cycle
f Reverse Brayton Cycles
fSmall peak shaving units, LNG carrier boil off gas re-liquefaction
f Nitrogen cycles

MIXED REFRIGERANT CYCLE (MRC)
► Sweet gas pre-cooling done by propane

► Liquefaction done by main mixed refrigerant (MR)
► Mixture comprises of Nitrogen and hydrocarbons (C1
to C3).
► Mixture composition specified such that liquid
refrigerant evaporates over a temperature range
similar to that of liquefaction.
Advantages
9 Simple configuration
9 Higher thermodynamic efficiency
9 Fewer items of machinery
9 Only one or two compressors for refrigerant compression

TYPICAL NATURAL GAS – REFRIGERANT COOLING CURVE
► Basic principles for cooling and liquefying the gas using refrigerants
involve matching as closely as possible the cooling & heating curves of
the process gas and refrigerant.
TEMPERATURE
Nat. Gas Cooling curve
Refrigerant Cooling curve
HEAT

APCI PROPANE PRECOOLED MIXED REFRIGERANT PROCESS (C3/MCR)

NG Liquefaction with Mixed Refrigerant (C3/MCR)
PROPANE
HP-MR
Temperature (°C) TG
Water or Air
20
TG
0
Propane Cycle
-20 Dew Pt
-40
-60
-80 B Pt Liquefaction Refrigerant

-100
-120
-140
-160
∆H (kcal/kmole)
-180
200
600
1000
1400
1800
2200
2600
3000
3400
LICENSOR’S FOCUS
THREE ASPECTS OF LNG PRODUCTION
► COMPRESSION REQUIRED FOR REFRIGERATION CYCLES
► POWER TO DRIVE REFRIGERATION CYCLES
- EARLIER PLANTS USED STEAM TURBINES
- CURRENT INDUSTRY NORM IS COMBUSTION GAS TURBINES OR

ELECTRIC MOTORS
► MAIN CRYOGENIC HEAT EXCHANGER TO CHILL THE INCOMING GAS
- SPIRAL WOUND HEAT EXCHANGER (SWHE) DOMINATED MARKET
- BRAZED ALUMINIUM PLATE-FIN HEAT EXCHANGERS CHALLENGE

DOMINANCE OF SWHE

IV.CRITICAL EQUIPMENT

CRITICAL EQUIPMENT IN LNG PLANT
►CRYOGENIC HEAT EXCHANGERS
►LARGE COMPRESSORS – CENTRIFUGAL AND/OR AXIAL
►LARGE DRIVERS FOR COMPRESSORS (>50MW DRIVERS) –

GAS TURBINES OR MOTORS
►LARGE COOLERS FOR COMPRESSOR INTERSTAGE (AIR

COOLED OR SEA WATER COOLED)
►LARGE UTILITY SYSTEMS
►LARGE CRYOGENIC STORAGE TANKS

Types of Heat Exchangers for Liquefaction
(Main Cryogenic Heat Exchangers – MCHE)
fSpiral wound Heat Exchangers

(SWHE)
9Cylindrical tall tower, packed with spiral wound
bundle of narrow tubes.
9Transportation constraint limit the size – max size
4.5m dia x 30m tall, as a single piece.
9Flexible to operate
9Proprietary item – less competition

Air Products Main Cryogenic Heat Exchanger
APCI documents

REFRIGERATION COMPRESSORS
Propane pre-cooling
• Centrifugal compressor
• Side-streams at 3 or 4 pressure levels
• Typically 50 MW
• Gas Turbine plus Starter/Helper Motor
Mixed refrigerant liquefaction and sub-cooling

• Large volumetric flows
• Two casing arrangements (LP and HP)
• Axial LP / centrifugal HP compressor (45 – 48 bar)
• Typically 80 MW Gas Turbine (e.g. Frame 7) plus Starter/Helper Motor
• LP compressor - axial or centrifugal
• HP centrifugal compressor

Centrifugal Compressors

PROPANE COMPRESSOR (CENTRIFUGAL)

Gas Turbines - General Electric
Frame 9

Heat rejection – air and water cooling
► Liquefaction plants reject a large amount of heat to the surroundings to

provide cooling for the refrigeration compressor systems
Water cooling Air cooling

Typical cooling water requirement
– about 70,000m3/h

Typical Utilities for LNG Production
fElectric power
• typical power requirement – about 300 MWe for 5 MMTPA LNG plant
using all motor driven refrigeration compressors,.
• Depending on Train Capacity each Refrigeration Compressor in MRC
consumes 50 to 75MW power (turbine or motor driven)
fHot water/Hot oil as heating medium in

• fractionation section, glycol regeneration, solvent recovery in acid gas
removal unit.
• Hot water generated by heat recovery from gas turbine exhaust
• Typical process demand of thermal energy from hot water is about
100MWth for a 5 MMTPA LNG plant.
►Nitrogen – high purity (99.9%) – used in refrigerant make-up

LNG STORAGE TANKS
► Capacity: 30,000 m3 ~200,000 m3
► Typically about 44 to 80m dia and 22 to 36m Height
► Types of Storage Tanks
• Above-ground
– Conventional single wall tank with Dike
– Double containment tank (steel roof)
– Full containment tank (concrete roof + steel )
►Under-ground
– The UG tanks are of continuous membrane walls, sidewalls and Basement
slabs and Roof.
► Design Pressure: 290 ~ 310 mbarg / -5 ~ -10 mbarg, Design Temperature: –166ºC to –170ºC.
► Storage Tank Protection (Vacuum & Relief Devices)

• Pressure relief valve: Set Pr 260 mbarg Æ to flare
• Pressure relief valve: Set Pr 280 mbarg Æ to Atm
• Vacuum relief valve: Set Pr -5 mbarg ÆIn breath N2

LNG STORAGE FACILITY – Contd.
►Storage Tank Selection

Criteria
• Location
• Environmental considerations
• Operational conditions
• Safety and economic efficiency

Full containment tank TANK DESIGN PRESSURE
–15 to 300 mbarg
CARBON STEEL VAPOUR BARRIER
Filling, Emptying, Instrumentation, …
GLASSWOOL ALL PENETRATIONS THROUGH THE CONCRETE DOME
9% Ni STEEL
INNER TANK
REINFORCED
NG
CONCRETE ROOF
POST-TENSIONED
CONCRETE SHELL
PERLITE
SUSPENDED DECK
Liquid Gas at –160°C RESILIENT
BLANKET
9% Ni THERMAL
CORNER PROTECTION
HEATING SYSTEM
CONCRETE 9% Ni SECONDARY BOTTOM CELLULAR GLASS

SLAB Liquefied Natural Gas - An Introduction 47
MATERIALS OF CONSTRUCTION
► The MOC of major/critical Equipment in Pre-cooling and liquefaction units:
• Aluminum and SS for MCHE

• Refrigeration Compressors – 3.5Ni/13Cr
• LNG Expanders – SS
• Endflash unit – SS vessels and SS pumps
• SS-316 for columns/vessels
► The MOC of major/critical Equipment in LNG storage:
• Storage tank 9% Ni Steel

• LNG Pumps: Aluminum Alloy (Casting & Impeller)

LNG IMPORT FACILITY
Unloading Jetty
Liquid Unloading Arms & Vapour Return Arms
Liquid Unloading & Vapour return pipelines
LNG Storage tanks
Boil-off Gas (BOG) Compressor
LNG pumps (LP and HP Pumps)
LNG Vaporizers
Metering Systems for gas distribution/send-out

LNG REGASIFICATION
►LIQUID PRODUCT VAPORIZED/REGASIFIED BEFORE
TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION BY PIPELINE
►PHYSICAL TRANSFORMATION FROM LIQUID STATE
TO GASEOUS STATE REQUIRES HEAT INPUT INTO
THE LNG
►THE VAPORIZATION EQUIPMENT ACCOMPLISHES
HEAT TRANSFER IN A SAFE, EFFICIENT MANNER.
►WIDELY USED VAPORIZATION EQUIPMENT
• OPEN RACK VAPORIZER
• SUBMERGED COMBUSTION VAPORIZER

LNG REGASIFICATION – BLOCK FLOW
DIAGRAM
VAPOUR
BOG COMPR
RETURN
VAP ARM
EXPORT GAS
LNG UNLOADING BOG METERING
ARMS RECONDENSER
LNG VAPORISER *
LNG BOOSTER
PUMP TO GAS
DISTRIBUTION
PIPELINE
STORAGE
TANK IN TANK
PUMPS
M
SEA WATER SEA WATER

INTAKE DISCHARGE

–151 to –105ºC
0 – 150 mbarg
0 – 19000 Nm3/h
(NET BOG)
BOG Compressor FSRU PROCESS
– 30 to 0ºC
SCHEMATIC
3 – 6 Barg
TO VENT MAST
Natural Gas
0ºC; 84 Barg
Recondenser 14.7 MMSCMD
Vapour Return
Arm 5.37 BCM/Yr
Hybrid Intermediate Fluid Metering

Arm M Vaporiser
LNG
6 - 7 Barg
– 160.5ºC
Unloading LNG Storage Tanks

Arms (MOSS Spheres) – 155ºC
Sea water from power plant
87 Barg
4 x 34250 m3 turbine condenser
– 157ºC
Sea water
2 Barg
M return
12,000 m3/h
To 32”
PROPANE
DRUM Subsea Pipeline
– 145 to –
150ºC (via turret,
3 – 6 Barg PLEM)
HP Send Out Pump

LNG Vaporizers
¾ LNG re-gasified in vaporizing units by heating,
through heat exchange with seawater or by
burning gas.
¾ Open-Rack type LNG Vaporizer (ORV) uses sea
water as the heat source.
¾ Submerged Combustion Vaporizer (SCV) uses NG
as the heat source
¾ SCV used when ORV is under maintenance or for
peak shaving.
¾ Multiple ORVs and only one SCV are used.
¾ SCV capacity is generally 15 to 25% of ORV
capacity.

Open-Rack Vaporizer
¾ ORV composed of panel-shaped heat transfer tubes
made of aluminum alloy.
¾ LNG flows upward inside the finned heat transfer tubes,
sea water flows down along the outer surfaces of the
tubes.
¾ Performance Improvement and reduction of sea water
flow rate for conventional ORVs are limited due to ice
formation on the outer surface of heat transfer tubes.
¾ Approx. sea water requirement: 32 m3/ton LNG
evaporated at 5ºC ∆T
¾ To protect the ORV against corrosion by seawater, an
aluminum-zinc alloy is thermal-sprayed on the panels and
upper and lower headers exposed to seawater.

Open-Rack Vaporizer

Submerged Combustion Vaporizer

Distribution Facility
►Gas Distribution by Pipeline

• Power Plants
• Petrochemical/Fertilizer Plants
• Heavy/Light Industries (Steel/Automobile)
• City Domestic Consumption
►Liquid Distribution by Road Tanker

• Small Consumers
• Remote Housing Facility

SUCCESS OF AN LNG PLANT DEPENDS ON
►STRONG THERMODYNAMIC
FUNDAMENTALS
►SOUND ENGINEERING
PRACTICES
►WELL DEFINED EVALUATION
CRITERIA

Thank you
for
your attention

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14th April 2009

Presented By: N. MANIKANDAN

II. TECHNIP’S LNG CAPABILITY

III. LNG MANUFACTURING PROCESS

IV. LIQUEFACTION TECHNOLOGIES

VI. LNG REGASIFICATION

Liquefied Natural Gas - An Introduction 2

►LNG is Natural Gas reduced to liquid state by cooling it to –162ºC

►LNG is colorless, odorless, non-toxic and the gaseous form is lighter

►Natural gas required to manufacture LNG – from gas reservoirs often

►Gas produced from two different kinds of reservoirs, each requiring a

Liquefied Natural Gas - An Introduction 3

Methane (CH4 ) LIQUID AT 1 Bar

Liquefied Natural Gas - An Introduction 4

►Liquefaction reduces gas volume by approx. 600 times.

►More economical for liquid transport

►For remote gas fields (especially offshore) pipeline transportation

Liquefied Natural Gas - An Introduction 5

9Growing power demand in the world and forecast

Liquefied Natural Gas - An Introduction 6

Flue gas from Flue gas from

Liquefied Natural Gas - An Introduction 7

Liquefied Natural Gas - An Introduction 8

►100 MW power plant requires ~ 0.5

Liquefied Natural Gas - An Introduction 9

Treatment and Marketing

Liquefied Natural Gas - An Introduction 10

Liquefied Natural Gas - An Introduction 11

Water <0.5 ppm

Carbon Dioxide <50ppm

Mercury 0.01 ppb

Liquefied Natural Gas - An Introduction 12

Turnkey solutions for reduced cost marine works

►We have been active ever since,

►Tealarc process abandoned in 1993 in

►YLNG and OK LNG confirm our position

Liquefied Natural Gas - An Introduction 16

► Qatargas II: construction of 2 of the world’s

► Qatargas III and IV: construction 2 additional

► Rasgas III: construction 2 trains (6 & 7)

Technip, in a joint venture,

Liquefied Natural Gas - An Introduction 17

Liquefied Natural Gas - An Introduction 18

► Capacity: 2 x 3.35 million

► Execution: Technip leader of

Liquefied Natural Gas - An Introduction 20

► Location: Teriberka, near Murmansk

Shtokman LNG site

Technip is engineering the

Liquefied Natural Gas - An Introduction 21

Liquefied Natural Gas - An Introduction 22

LIQUEFACTION FORMS THE HEART OF ANY LNG

Liquefied Natural Gas - An Introduction 23

Pipeline Acid Gas

Fractionation C5+ Gasoline (LPG)

Condensate Field condensate

Liquefied Natural Gas - An Introduction 25

¾ Expander Cycle (EC)

Technology selection based on Plant Capacity,