1.

LNG is natural gas which has been converted to liquid

form for ease of storage or transport. LNG takes up about
1/600th of the volume of natural gas. Depending upon its
exact composition, natural gas becomes a liquid at
approximately -162C (-259F) at atmospheric pressure.
2. LNGs extremely low temperature makes it a cryogenic
liquid.
3. LNG is odourless, colourless, non-corrosive, nonflammable,
and non-toxic
4 .Key liquid and gas properties for LNG are:
Chemical Composition,
Boiling Point,
Density and Specific Gravity,
Flammability, and
Ignition and Flame Temperatures

Chemical Composition
Natural gas is a fossil fuel, The chemical composition of natural
gas is a function of the gas source and type of processing. It is
a mixture of methane, ethane, propane and butane with small
amounts of heavier hydrocarbons and some impurities, notably
nitrogen and complex sulphur compounds, water, carbon
dioxide and hydrogen sulphide which may exist in the feed gas
but are removed before liquefaction. Pipeline natural gas may
contain small amounts of water vapour.
Boiling point is one of the most significant properties because it
defines when gas becomes a liquid. Webster-Merriman on line
(www.webster-merriman.com) defines boiling point as the
temperature at which a liquid boils or converts rapidly from a
liquid to a vapour or gas at atmospheric pressure. The boiling
point of pure ater at atmospheric pressure is 100C (212F).
The boiling point of LNG varies with its basic composition, but
typically is -162C (-259F).

When cold LNG comes in contact with warmer air, water, or the
environment, it begins to boil at that interface because the
surrounding temperatures are warmer than the LNGs boiling
point, as shown in
shows the boiling points of water and common gases. The
liquefaction process cools natural gas to change it to a liquid
which reduces the volume occupied by the gas by
approximately 600 times. LNG is converted back into natural
gas for distribution to industrial and residential consumers. The
LNG regasification process warms the
LNG and converts it back into its gaseous form
Density and Specific Gravity
Density is a measurement of mass per unit of volume and is an
absolute quantity. Because LNG is not a pure substance, the
density of LNG varies slightly with its actual composition. The
density of LNG falls between 430 kg/m3 and 470 kg/m3 (3.5 to
4 lb/US gal). LNG is less than half the density of water;
therefore, as a liquid, LNG will float if spilled on water. Under
ambient conditions, LNG will become a vapour because there is
no place on earth with a temperature of -162C (-259F). As
LNG vaporises, the cold vapours will condense the moisture in
the air, often causing the formation of a white vapour cloud
until the gas warms dilutes, and disperses
Flammability
Flammability is the property which makes natural gas desirable
as an energy source, and yet for the same reason flammability
can be a safety hazard. It is very important to be clear: natural
gas is flammable but LNG (the liquid form of natural gas) is not
because of the lack of oxygen in the liquid. A source of fuel
(e.g., flammable gas or vapour),
Air (oxygen), and
 A source of ignition (e.g., spark, open flame, or high-
temperature surface). The flammability limits for methane are
5% LFL and 15% UFL by volume in air. Outside of this range,
the methane/air mixture is not flammable
Ignition and Flame Temperatures
The ignition temperature, also known as auto-ignition
temperature, is the lowest temperature at which a gas or
vapour in air (e.g., natural gas) will ignite spontaneously
without a spark or flame being present. This temperature
depends on factors such as air-fuel mixture and pressure. In an
air-fuel mixture of about 10% methane in air, the auto ignition
temperature is approximately 540C (1,000F). Temperatures
higher than the auto ignition temperature will cause ignition
after a shorter exposure time to the high temperatureThe
precise auto ignition temperature of natural gas varies with its
composition. If the concentration of heavier hydrocarbons in
LNG increases (e.g., the methane portion of the natural gas
begins to evaporate or be removed from the mix), the auto
ignitiontemperature decreases. In addition to ignition from
exposure to heat, the vapours from LNG can be ignited
immediately from the energy in a spark, open flame, or static
electricity when they are within the flammable limits.
LNG has a very hot flame temperature. Simply stated it burns
quickly and is a better heat source than other fuels, e.g.,
gasoline. The methane in LNG has a flame temperature of
1,330C (2,426F). In comparison, gasoline has a flame
temperature of 1,027C (1,880F), which means LNG burns
hotter. Also, LNG burns quickly, at a rate of about 12.5
m2/minute, compared to gasolines burn rate of 4 m2/minute.
LNG produces more heat when burning because its heat of
combustion is 50.2 MJ/kg (21,600 Btu/lb), compared to that of
gasoline which has a heat of combustion of 43.4 MJ/kg
(18,720Btu/lb). The combustion of LNG produces mainly carbon
dioxide and water vapour. The radiant heat of an LNG fire is a
frequent safety concern of government regulators and officials,
and the public.

BASE LOAD PLANT

large baseload plants (typically larger than 2 mtpa),
almost all of which were in tropical locations [1]. While the
industry still is building this type of baseload plant, some
different plants types are being built or considered:
 Baseload plants in temperate or arctic climates,
Baseload plants with modular construction for offshore
structures or difficult
construction environments,
Smaller plants (<1.0 mtpa), where the CAPEX/OPEX tradeoff
shifts when compared
to past baseload plants, and
FLNG (Floating Liquefied Natural Gas) plants.
LNG Process
Figure 1 is a block diagram of an LNG Liquefaction Train. A
pipeline from the gas wells feeds
the train. Impurities are removed from the feed gas, including
(a) sulfur compounds and CO2 in
the Acid Gas Recovery Unit (AGRU), (b) water in molecular
sieve driers, and (c) mercury by
adsorption beds. The sweet stream then goes to NGL rejection,
where C2+ components are
removed. The amount removed depends on the NGL production
requirements and the need to
meet LNG product specifications, including heating value. A
small portion of the natural gas is
taken as fuel (called Fuel From Feed-FFF), and the remaining
stream is then cooled and liquefied
in two stages: first by the precooling refrigerant, and then by
the main refrigerant. The LNG is
then reduced in pressure in the Endflash drum. The remaining
low pressure cold LNG is sent to
storage. The Endflash Vapor is compressed and sent to the fuel
header, where it is mixed with
any FFF. The refrigeration unit compresses and circulates the
refrigerants to the precooling and
liquefaction units.
DEVELOPMENT OF LNG PROJECT
KEY TECHNICAL CHOICES
As a project is developed, the developer must make several
technical choices. Seemingly
minor technical decisions can impact the commercial aspects of
a project, and ultimately will
affect the overall project profitability. It is critical to consciously
make these decisions and
understand their technical and financial impacts on the project.
These key decisions are
What main refrigerant?
What precooling refrigerant?
What type of driver for the refrigerant compressors?
What is the best liquefier pressure?
What cooling medium should be used?
Integrated or front end NGL recovery?
What is the right amount of endflash?
What unit limits the production?
Specific Power
Specific Power measures the thermodynamic efficiency of the
precooling, liquefier and refrigeration blocks
Autoconsumption
The autoconsumption is the percent of the feed fuel value
which does not end up in the LNG or NGL product; it is the
percent of the feed which is used to provide thermal or
mechanical energy
Probably the most important choice in the LNG train is selecting
the main refrigerant. This refrigerant cools and liquefies the
natural gas, typically from about -35C to between -145 and
-165C. Selecting main refrigerant is critical to determine the
Specific Power, and it sets much of
the equipment and piping configuration and size.
Mixed Component Refrigerant (MR)
With MR, the main refrigerant is typically a mixture of C1, C2,
C3 and N2, although it can contain butanes and ethylene. The
composition is selected to minimize the temperature
differences between the hot and cold streams in the main
exchanger, which decreases Specific
Power, Ws
The strengths of MR are summarized below:
1. Much of the heat transfer occurs by boiling the refrigerant.
The heat transfer coefficients
are very high, which allows efficient heat transfer equipment.
The refrigerant fluid density is high, because it is partially or
completely liquid in much of
the process. The higher density results in more compact piping
and equipment.
Pure Component Cascade (PCC)
The feed is cooled with three separate refrigeration loops, each
containing a relatively pure fluid. In each loop, the low pressure
gas phase refrigerant is compressed, cooled, and condensed.
The pressure of the liquid is reduced, and it then evaporates to
provide refrigeration.
The first loop uses pure propane at 3 or 4 pressure levels. This
is followed by 2 or 3 stages of ethylene cooling, which is then
followed by 2 or 3 stages of cooling with methane. Each stage
has a separate temperature level, progressively colder. The
final methane loop and can be either closed or open. In an open
loop, N2 and methane are used as the refrigerantThe strengths
of Pure Component Cascade main refrigerants are
1. Much of the heat transfer occurs by boiling the refrigerant.
The heat transfer coefficients are very high, allowing good
efficient heat transfer equipment.
The refrigerant fluid density is high, because it is partial or
completely liquid in much of the process. The higher density
results in more compact piping and equipment.
3. The Specific Power is worse than MR refrigerants, but better
than gas expansion refrigerants (see below).
Gas Expansion
Gas expansion uses an all gas refrigerant, either CH4 or N2.
The refrigerant is compressed, cooled, and then expanded
through a turboexpander to reduce its temperature. The cold
gas is warmed, which cools the incoming feed.
The strengths of gas phase main refrigerants are
1. Processes with gas phase refrigerants tend to have simple
operation, because there is only a single vapor phase.
2. The gas phase refrigerant is typically either CH4 or N2. If N2
is used, it is inert, which can be an advantage for some FLNG
applications, where some operators prefer minimize flammable
refrigerants, particularly C3.
PRE COOLAN REFRRIGERANT
This refrigerant cools the natural gas feed and the main
refrigerant to approximately -25 to -45C. The benefit of
precooling is that the main refrigerant is optimized to provide
refrigeration at a very cold temperature. It is somewhat
inefficient to use this very cold refrigeration to cool the feed
from ambient to -25 to -45C;
Mixed Component Refrigerant (MR)
The precooling MR is a mixture of C1, C2, C3, and in some
cases C4. The composition is selected to minimize the
temperature differences between the hot and cold streams.
This has been used in some baseload LNG facilities.
Mixed Component Refrigerant (MR)
The precooling MR is a mixture of C1, C2, C3, and in some
cases C4. The composition is
selected to minimize the temperature differences between the
hot and cold streams. This has
been used in some baseload LNG facilities.
WHAT IS THE BEST LIQUEFIER PRESSURE?
It is generally advantageous to have the liquefaction unit feed
pressure to be as high as
possible. This has two benefits:
Lower CAPEX - The higher pressure feed has a higher
density, so the equipment is
smaller, or for the same size equipment, the production
increases. However, this size
reduction will be partially offset by the higher design pressure.
Lower OPEX - It takes less energy to liquefy the feed. The
overall power decreases
as the feed pressure rises to approximately 70 bara. Above this
pressure, the power
saved in liquefaction only offsets the feed compressor power.
WHAT IS THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF ENDFLASH?
The LNG leaving the liquefaction unit has two possible process
configurations:
Subcooled Cycle - The LNG is cold enough that no flash
vapor is generated is
generated in the storage tanks.
Flash Cycle Vapor flashes off as the pressure is lowered. As
the vapor evaporates, it
lowers the temperature of the remaining LNG. The flashing
vapor provides cost effective
refrigeration. The endflash vapor is compressed and sent to the
fuel system.

LNG PROPERITIES AND HISTORY

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly
methane, CH4) that has been converted to liquid
form for ease of storage or transport. It takes up about
1/600th the volume of natural gas in the gaseous state.
It is odorless, colorless, non-toxic and non-corrosive.
Hazards include flammability after vaporization into a
gaseous state, freezing and asphyxia. The liquefaction
process involves removal of certain components, such as
dust, acid gases, helium, water, and heavy hydrocarbons,
which could cause difficulty downstream. The natural gas
is then condensed into a liquid at close to atmospheric
pressure by cooling it to approximately 162 C (260
F);

2 History
Experiments on the properties of gases started early in
the seventeenth century. By the middle of the seventeenth
century Robert Boyle had derived the inverse relationship
between the pressure and the volume of gases.
About the same time, Guillaume Amontons started looking
into temperature effects on gas. Various gas experiments
continued for the next 200 years. During that time
there were efforts to liquefy gases. Many new facts on
the nature of gases had been discovered. For example,
early in the nineteenth century Cagniard de la Tours had
shown there was a temperature above which a gas could
not be liquefied. There was a major push in the mid to
late nineteenth century to liquefy all gases. A number of
scientists including Michael Faraday, James Joule, and
William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), did experiments in this
area. In 1886 Karol Olszewski liquefied methane, the primary
constituent of natural gas. By 1900 all gases had
been liquefied except helium which was liquefied in 1908.
The first large scale liquefaction of natural gas in the U.S.
was in 1918 when the U.S. government liquefied natural
gas as a way to extract helium, which is a small component
of some natural gas. This helium was intended for use in
British dirigibles for World War I. The liquid natural gas
(LNG) was not stored, but regasified and immediately put
into the gas mains.[5]
The key patents having to do with natural gas liquefaction
were in 1915 and the mid-1930s. In 1915 Godfrey
Cabot patented a method for storing liquid gases at very
low temperatures. It consisted of a Thermos bottle type
design which included a cold inner tank within an outer
tank; the tanks being separated by insulation. In 1937
Lee Twomey received patents for a process for large scale
liquefaction of natural gas. The intention was to store natural
gas as a liquid so it could be used for shaving peak
energy loads during cold snaps. Because of large volumes
it is not practical to store natural gas, as a gas, near atmospheric
pressure. However, if it can be liquefied it can be
stored in a volume 600 times smaller. This is a practical
way to store it but the gas must be stored at 260 F.
There are basically two processes for liquefying natural
gas in large quantities. One is a cascade process in which
the natural gas is cooled by another gas which in turn has
been cooled by still another gas, hence a cascade. There
are usually two cascade cycles prior to the liquid natural
gas cycle. The other method is the Linde process.
(A variation of the Linde process, called the Claude process,
is sometimes used.) In this process the gas is cooled
regeneratively by continually passing it through an orifice
until it is cooled to temperatures at which it liquefies.
The cooling of gas by expanding it through an orifice wasume which is known as the
energy density expressed in
MJ/liter. The density of LNG is roughly 0.41 kg/liter
to 0.5 kg/liter, depending on temperature, pressure, and
composition,[3] compared to water at 1.0 kg/liter. Using
the median value of 0.45 kg/liter, the typical energy
density values are 22.5 MJ/liter (based on higher heating
value) or 20.3 MJ/liter (based on lower heating value).
The (volume-based) energy density of LNG is approximately
2.4 times greater than that of CNG which makes
it economical to transport natural gas by ship in the form
of LNG. The energy density of LNG is comparable to developed by James Joule and
William Thomson and is
known as the Joule-Thomson effect. Lee Twomey used
the cascade process for his patents.

3 Commercial operations in the

United States
The East Ohio Gas Company built a full-scale commercial
liquid natural gas (LNG) plant in Cleveland, Ohio, in
1940 just after a successful pilot plant built by its sister
company, Hope Natural Gas Company of West Virginia.
This was the first such plant in the world. Originally it had
three spheres, approximately 63 feet in diameter containing
LNG at 260 F. Each sphere held the equivalent of
about 50 million cubic feet of natural gas. A fourth tank,
a cylinder, was added in 1942. It had an equivalent capacity
of 100 million cubic feet of gas. The plant operated
successfully for three years. The stored gas was regasified
and put into the mains when cold snaps hit and extra
capacity was needed. This precluded the denial of gas to
some customers during a cold snap.
The Cleveland plant failed on October 20, 1944 when the
cylindrical tank ruptured spilling thousands of gallons of
LNG over the plant and nearby neighborhood. The gas
evaporated and caught fire, which caused 130 fatalities. [6]
The fire delayed further implementation of LNG facilities
for several years. However, over the next 15 years
new research on low-temperature alloys, and better insulation
materials, set the stage for a revival of the industry.
It restarted in 1959 when a U.S. World War II Liberty
ship, the Methane Pioneer, converted to carry LNG,
made a delivery of LNG from the U.S. Gulf coast to energy
starved Great Britain. In June 1964, the worlds first
purpose-built LNG carrier, the Methane Princess entered
service.[7] Soon after that a large natural gas field
was discovered in Algeria. International trade in LNG
quickly followed as LNG was shipped to France and
Great Britain from the Algerian fields. One more important
attribute of LNG had now been exploited. Once
natural gas was liquefied it could not only be stored more
easily, but it could be transported. Thus energy could now
be shipped over the oceans via LNG the same way it was
shipped by oil.
The US LNG industry restarted in 1965 when a series of
new plants were built in the U.S. The building continued
through the 1970s. These plants were not only used for
peak-shaving, as in Cleveland, but also for base-load supplies
for places that never had natural gas prior to this. A
number of import facilities were built on the East Coast in
anticipation of the need to import energy via LNG. However,
a recent boom in U.S. natural production (2010-
2014), enabled by hydraulic fracturing (fracking), has
many of these import facilities being considered as export
facilities. The U.S. should have exported its first LNG
shipment by the end of 2015.[8]

4 Production
The natural gas fed into the LNG plant will be treated to
remove water, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide and other
components that will freeze (e.g., benzene) under the low
temperatures needed for storage or be destructive to the
liquefaction facility. LNG typically contains more than
90 percent methane. It also contains small amounts of
ethane, propane, butane, some heavier alkanes, and nitrogen.
The purification process can be designed to give
almost 100 percent methane. One of the risks of LNG
is a rapid phase transition explosion (RPT), which occurs
when cold LNG comes into contact with water.[9]
The most important infrastructure needed for LNG production
and transportation is an LNG plant consisting of
one or more LNG trains, each of which is an independent
unit for gas liquefaction. The largest LNG train
now in operation is in Qatar. These facilities recently
reached a safety milestone, completing 12 years of operations
on its offshore facilities without a Lost Time
Incident.[10] Until recently it was the Train 4 of Atlantic
LNG in Trinidad and Tobago with a production capacity
of 5.2 million metric ton per annum (mmtpa),[11] followed
by the SEGAS LNG plant in Egypt with a capacity
of 5 mmtpa. In July 2014, Atlantic LNG celebrated
its 3000th cargo of LNG at the companys liquefaction
facility in Trinidad.[12] The Qatargas II plant has
a production capacity of 7.8 mmtpa for each of its two
trains. LNG sourced from Qatargas II will be supplied
to Kuwait, following the signing of an agreement in May
2014 between Qatar Liquefied Gas Company and Kuwait
Petroleum Corp.[12] LNG is loaded onto ships and delivered
to a regasification terminal, where the LNG is allowed
to expand and reconvert into gas. Regasification
terminals are usually connected to a storage and pipeline
distribution network to distribute natural gas to local distribution
companies (LDCs) or independent power plants
(IPPs).
4.2 World total production
The LNG industry developed slowly during the second
half of the last century because most LNG plants are located
in remote areas not served by pipelines, and because
of the large costs to treat and transport LNG. Constructing
an LNG plant costs at least $1.5 billion per 1
mmtpa capacity, a receiving terminal costs $1 billion per
1 bcf/day throughput capacity and LNG vessels cost $200
million$300 million.
Global LNG import trends, by volume (in red), and as a percentage
of global natural gas imports (in black) (US EIA data)
Trends in the top five LNG-importing nations as of 2009 (US EIA
data)
In the early 2000s, prices for constructing LNG plants,
receiving terminals and vessels fell as new technologies
emerged and more players invested in liquefaction and regasification.
This tended to make LNG more competitive
as a means of energy distribution, but increasing material
costs and demand for construction contractors have put
upward pressure on prices in the last few years. The standard
price for a 125,000 cubic meter LNG vessel built
in European and Japanese shipyards used to be US$250
million. When Korean and Chinese shipyards entered
the race, increased competition reduced profit margins
and improved efficiencyreducing costs by 60 percent.
Costs in US dollars also declined due to the devaluation
of the currencies of the worlds largest shipbuilders: the
Japanese yen and Korean won.
Since 2004, the large number of orders increased demand
for shipyard slots, raising their price and increasing ship
costs. The per-ton construction cost of an LNG liquefaction
plant fell steadily from the 1970s through the 1990s.
The cost reduced by approximately 35 percent. However,
recently the cost of building liquefaction and regasification
terminals doubled due to increased cost of materials
and a shortage of skilled labor, professional engineers,
designers, managers and other white-collar professionals.
Due to natural gas shortage concerns in the northeastern U.S. and surplus nature gas in
the rest of the country,
many new LNG import and export terminals are being
contemplated in the United States. Concerns about the
safety of such facilities create controversy in some regions
where they are proposed. One such location is in
the Long Island Sound between Connecticut and Long
Island. Broadwater Energy, an effort of TransCanada
Corp. and Shell, wishes to build an LNG import terminal
in the sound on the New York side. Local politicians
including the Suffolk County Executive raised questions
about the terminal. In 2005, New York Senators Chuck
Schumer and Hillary Clinton also announced their opposition
to the project.[19] Several import terminal proposals
along the coast of Maine were also met with high levels
of resistance and questions. On Sep. 13, 2013 the U.S.
Department of Energy approved Dominion Cove Point's
application to export up to 770 million cubic feet per
day of LNG to countries that do not have a free trade
agreement with the U.S.[20] In May 2014, the FERC concluded
its environmental assessment of the Cove Point
LNG project, which found that the proposed natural gas
export project could be built and operated safely.[21] Another
LNG terminal is currently proposed for Elba Island,
Ga.[22] Plans for three LNG export terminals in the U.S.
Gulf Coast region have also received conditional Federal
approval.[20][23] In Canada, an LNG export terminal is
under construction near Guysborough, Nova Scotia.[24]
Cheniere is planning to begin exports from its Sabine Pass
export terminal in Oct. 2015.[8]