2012 International Conference on Computer Distributed Control and Intelligent Enviromental Monitoring

Natural gas liquefaction process for small-scale LNG project

Cao Wensheng 1,2
1

College of Mechanical Engineering, Jimei University, Xiamen 361021, Fujian, China

Cleaning Combustion and Energy Utilization Research Center of Fujian Province, Jimei University, Xiamen 361021,
Fujian, China
E-mail address: caows@163.com
liquefiers include onshore gas wells, customer sites that are
remotely situated from current gas pipelines, and industrial
customer peak shaving installations. Continued commercial
development of LNG vehicles creates the opportunity of
developing small-scale LNG projects. Comparing with
medium-sized or large-scale liquefaction plant, the key
characteristics of small-scale liquefaction plant are simple
process, low investment, miniature size and skid-mounted
package.
In this paper, a same basis is used to evaluate three types
of liquefaction cycle. These include propane pre-cooling
mixed refrigerant cycle, nitrogen-methane expander cycle
and new Mixed Refrigerant Cycle in Skid-mounted Package,
which is put forward by author. Based on the
thermodynamic analysis, the numerical simulation and
optimization of the above processes are carried through. The
key parameters of the three types of liquefaction process are
compared and analyzed.

AbstractIn the field of natural gas liquefaction, the smallscale natural gas liquefier has been attracting more and more
attentions home and abroad, thanks to its small volume,
mobile transportation, easy start-up and shut-down, as well as
skid-mounted package. A study was made to choose the
optimum liquefaction process to improve the economy of
small-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant. The same
conditions are used to evaluate three types of liquefaction
process which include propane pre-cooling mixed refrigerant
cycle, nitrogen-methane expander cycle and SP-MRC (Mixed
Refrigerant Cycle in Skid-mounted Package) put forward by
authors. The result of comparison indicates that SP-MRC is
suitable for mostly small-scale LNG plants in skid-mounted
package due to its reduced equipment list and acceptable
power consumption. The new SP-MRC adopts the technology
of integral incorporated cascade which combines heavy and
light hydrocarbons. It can reduce the quantity and volume of
compressors and heat exchangers ensuring higher liquefaction
rate and lower specific power consumption.
Keywords-Natural gas; Small-scale; LNG; Liquefaction
process

I.

II.

Three types of liquefaction process were designed for

comparison as follows.

INTRODUCTION OF LNG PROJECTS

Cryogenic liquefaction plants have been applied in the

commercial natural gas liquefaction fields which
liquefaction capacities are very large. For instance, the
capacity of single product line of base load LNG (liquefied
natural gas) plant is up to 3.4Mt/a, and the one of the peak
shaving LNG plant is about 0.9Mt/a. Cryogenic liquefiers
are commercially available for natural gas liquefaction.
These liquefiers are normally custom-made, permanent large
capacity plants for natural gas utility peak shaving and
transcontinental natural gas shipping.
The developing market of natural gas vehicles provides
an opportunity for LNG and LNG-CNG (compressed natural
gas) fueling stations. Other markets for smaller-scale LNG
978-0-7695-4639-1/12 $26.00 2012 IEEE
DOI 10.1109/CDCIEM.2012.110

DESIGN OF LIQUEFACTION PROCESSES

Propane pre-cooling mixed refrigerant cycle (C3/MRC)

Fig. 1 shows a typical propane pre-cooling mixed
refrigeration cycle. It comprises three cycles: propane precooling refrigeration cycle (pre-cooling natural gas and
mixed refrigerant), mixed refrigerant cycle (condensing and
super-cooling natural gas), and natural gas liquefaction cycle.
The mixed refrigerant cycle uses a combination of
refrigerants including methane, ethane, propane and nitrogen,
which make it possible to supply refrigeration at
continuously changing temperature. Many factors influence
the performance of this cycle. They are high pressure and
low pressure of the mixed refrigerant, and mole fractions of
nitrogen, methane, ethane and propane in the refrigerant.
439

make up of the mixed refrigerant. The factors that influence

the performance of this cycle are high pressure and low
pressure of the mixed refrigerant, temperature of separator
S1 and separator S2, and mole fractions of nitrogen, methane,
ethane, propane, butane and pentane in the refrigerant.

Figure1. Liquefaction process of propane pre-cooling MRC (C3/MRC)

N 2-CH4 expander cycle (N 2-CH4 EC):

Figure3. Liquefaction process of new energy saving MRC (SP-MRC)

Fig. 2 shows a typical nitrogen-methane expander cycle.

It comprises nitrogen-methane expander refrigeration cycle
and natural gas liquefaction cycle. The expander cycle is the
simplest liquefaction cycle. It provides refrigeration by
compression and work expansion of gas stream. The factors
influence the cycle performance are high pressure and low
pressure of the mixed refrigerant, temperature of the
refrigerant before expansion, temperature of natural gas
leaving main heat exchanger, and mole fractions of nitrogen
and methane in the refrigerant.

The explanation of SP-MRC is presented as follows. The

low-pressure refrigerant gas including light hydrocarbon
(nitrogen, methane and ethane) and heavy hydrocarbon
(propane, butane and pentane) is compressed by compressor
C1, and then enters pre-cooling exchanger E1, making high
boiling point components condensation. The temperature of
liquid refrigerant separated in separator S1 drops after being
throttled in throttle T1, supplying refrigeration for E1. The
gas refrigerant separated in S1 is compressed by compressor
C2, and then enters E1 again, separating gas and liquid
refrigerant in separator S2. The liquid refrigerant enters main
exchanger E2 for super-cooling, then be throttled in throttle
T2, supplying refrigeration for E2. The gas refrigerant enters
E2 for condensation and exchanger E3 for super-cooling,
then be throttled in throttle T3, supplying refrigeration for
E3.
The natural gas of pretreatment enters E1 for pre-cooling
and E2 for cooling, and the heavy hydrocarbon of natural
gas be separated in separator S3. The light hydrocarbon of
natural gas enters E2 again for cooling and E3 for supercooling, then be throttled in throttle T4, finally feeds into
LNG tank.

Figure2. Liquefaction process of N2-CH4 expander cycle (N2-CH4 EC)

Mixed Refrigerant Cycle in Skid-mounted Package

(SP-MRC)
Fig. 3 shows the Mixed Refrigerant Cycle in Skidmounted Package, which is put forward in this paper,
integrating with the strongpoint of multiform liquefaction
processes, as well as the trend of liquefaction process
development. It comprises mixed refrigerant cycle and
natural gas liquefaction cycle. Specific compositions of
methane, ethane, propane, butane, pentane and nitrogen

Property methods
Property methods are the base of simulation. Peng Robinson equation and Lee - Kesler - Plocker equation are
the keys of fluid package in simulation.

440

III.

RESULTS AND ANALYSIS OF SIMULATION

(N2-CH4 EC) is quite the contrary. The parameter values of

refrigerant flow rate, cooling water charge and specific
power consumption of the new energy saving mixed
refrigeration cycle (SP-MRC) are middle between the
previous two cycles, but the parameter values of SP-MRC
are very close to C3/MRC. The difference of liquefaction
ratios in the three cycles is very small, and the liquefaction
ratio value of C3/MRC is barely exceeding.

The simulation and calculation of the three processes

were done. Tab.1~4 is the composition of natural gas feed
and refrigerant, specified pressure and temperature of the
three cycles respectively.
Tab.1. Mole fractions of components

N2

CH4

C2H6

C3H8

i C4H10

Natural gas

0.7

82.0

11.2

4.0

1.2

C3/MRC
N2-CH4 EC
SP-MRC

5.0
56.0
5.2

41.0
44.0
24.6

34.0

20

29.5

20.4

n C4 H10 i C5 H12 n C5 H12

Analysis of simulation

0.9

5.5

4.8

5.1

From the comparison of the key parameters, C3/MRC is

most efficient. As for the process simplicity, C3/MRC is
most complicated, and N 2-CH4 EC is the simplest. C3/MRC
can be used in base load plants and some of large peak
shaving plants. N2-CH4 EC requires high-power
consumption, but has the advantages of simple process and
reduced equipments. It can be adopted in some of small peak
shaving plants where non round-the-clock operation and
frequent start-up and shut down are required. SP-MRC is
much simpler than C3/MRC, while its power consumption is
only a bit higher than the latter. It is suitable for most smallscale LNG plants in skid-mounted package due to its
reduced equipment list and acceptable power consumption.
To give a clear comparison, some key parameters of SPMRC with other two real mixed refrigerant cycles are
summarized in Tab. 6 (End of the paper). It can be found
that SP- MRC is superior to other two real cycles.
The performance parameters of SP-MRC keep better
level closed to C3/MRC, while its equipment list is
remarkably reduced. The key is that the propane, butane and
pentane components (heavy hydrocarbon component) are
relevantly added to the mixed refrigerant. The heavy
hydrocarbon components return the pre-cooling heat
exchanger supplying refrigeration for pre-cooling the natural
gas and the mixed refrigerant after being separated in
separator and throttled in throttle, replacing the function of
propane pre-cooling cycle. It should be pointed out that, the
strong coupling relationship is existent among temperature
of separators, refrigerant components and compositions, and
high pressure and low pressure of mixed refrigerant. The
specification of the above values is more influential to the
performance and operation of liquefaction process.

4.9

Tab.2. Specified pressure and temperature for C3/MRC

Pressure
(M Pa)
Temperature
()

Natural gas:
(NG)

High-pressure
refrigerant
(High-P)

Low-pressure
refrigerant
(Low-P)

LNG
store
(LNG)

4.80

2.46

0.26

0.12

32.0

-35.0

-53.0

-158.7

Tab.3. Specified pressure and temperature for N 2-CH4 EC

Pressure
(M Pa)
Temperature
()

Natural gas:
(NG)

High-pressure
refrigerant
(High-P)

Low-pressure
refrigerant
(Low-P)

LNG
store
(LNG)

4.80

4.39

0.60

0.12

32.0

32.0

28.74

-158.3

Tab.4. Specified pressure and temperature for SP-MRC

Pressure
(M Pa)
Temperature
()

Natural gas:
(NG)

High-pressure
refrigerant
(High-P)

Low-pressure
refrigerant
(Low-P)

LNG
store
(LNG)

4.80

4.25

0.36

0.12

32.0

32.0

28.67

-159.0

Results of simulation
The key parameters of the three liquefaction processes
were compared, and the comparison of the optimization
results is presented in Tab. 5 (End of the paper).
From the data analysis of above Tab. 5, it can be seen
that the propane pre-cooling mixed refrigeration cycle
(C3/MRC) needs the least parameter values of refrigerant
flow rate, cooling water charge and specific power
consumption, while the nitrogen-methane expander cycle

441

IV.

CONCLUSIONS

paper maybe offer a new idea in the development of smallscale skid-mounted LNG project.

The design and optimization of liquefaction process are

foremost parts for the development of small-scale LNG plant
in skid-mounted package. Its influence holds the balance.
The best suitable for small-scale skid-mounted liquefied
natural gas plant is found out in this paper, through the
numerical simulation and key parameter comparison of three
liquefaction processes, which are propane pre-cooling mixed
refrigerant cycle, nitrogen-methane expander cycle and new
energy saving mixed refrigerant cycle. It is new energy
saving mixed refrigerant cycle put forward by author. The
function of propane pre-cooling cycle is very important to
the mixed refrigerant cycle because it can make power
consumption of liquefaction process remarkable reduced. So
in the process of developing small-scale skid-mounted LNG
plant, a novel method of adding heavy hydrocarbon
components to the mixed refrigerant is used, which acts as
the role of propane pre-cooling cycle through ingenious
organization of liquefaction process.
Skid-mounted package is very essential to small-scale
LNG plant. The new energy saving mixed refrigerant cycle
makes it possible. The novel process put forward in this

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[1]

Finn A J, Johnson G L, Tomlinson T R, Development in natural gas

liquefaction, Hydrocarbon Processing, 1999 (4): 47~59.

[2]

Vink K J, Comparison of Baseload Liquefaction Process, Twelfth

international Conference & Exhibition on Liquefied Natural Gas,
Perch, Australia, 1998, 3.6.

[3]

Gu Anzhong, Lu Xuesheng, Wang Rongshun, Shi Yumei, Lin

Wensheng, Liquefied natural gas technology, China machine press,
2004. (in Chinese)

[4]

Terry Lavin, Comparison of Liquefaction Process, LNG Journal,

1998(3): 28~33.

[5]

Shi Yumei, The thermodynamic research of the mixed refrigerant

cycle to liquefied natural gas, Doctoral dissertation, Shanghai Jiao
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[6]

Zhu Gang, Study on transport properties of natural gas and

optimization on liquefaction processes of LNG peakshaving plants,
Doctoral dissertation, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 2000. (in
Chinese)

Tab.5. Comparison of the optimization results of the three liquefaction flows

Liquefaction
flow

Specific
flowrate of
refrigerant

Specific load of
cooling water (kJ/k
mol)

Specific power of
expander (kJ/k
mol)

Liquefaction
rate

Specific power
consumption
(kJ/k mol)

C3/MRC
N2-CH4 EC
SP-MRC

3.89
10.15
4.47

6623.0
80097.3
45471.6

13515.5

0.96
0.90
0.90

26153.4
63654.8
29340.0

Tab.6. Key parameter comparison of SP-MRC with other two real cycles
Index

SP-MRC in this
paper

Long Island lighting Co, Holbrook,

Japan

Northern Indiana Public Serv.

Co, Indiana, USA

Specific power consumption

(kJ/k mol)
Liquefaction rate
Compositions of feed gas
(mole %)
Pressure of feed gas
(M Pa)

29340

40600

36400

0.90
0.7%N2, 82%CH4,
17.3%C2+

0.70
2.27%N2, 92.02%CH4, 4.29%C2+,
0.94%CO2, 0.48%O2

0.82
3.57%N2, 90.29%CH4,
5.5%C2+, 0.64%CO2

4.80

4.30

2.76

Cao Wensheng: PhD, Associate Professor

This paper is supported by the Doctor Research Fund of Jimei University.

442