Demonstrating the viability of small

scale LNG terminals

Paul Shields Chart Industries

T
he project was intended to create small scale
LNG infrastructure and establish the port
of Klaipeda as an LNG hub for the Baltic
region and northeastern Poland by creating a sin-
gle value chain from LNG delivered from a float-
ing storage and regasification unit (FSRU).

Background
The facility at Klaipeda in Lithuania is the latest
to demonstrate the economic and technological
viability of small scale LNG storage and distri-
bution (see Figure 1). Although unable to provide
the same economies of scale of the megatermi-
nals, such as those in Rotterdam and Barcelona,
which have daily LNG volumes measured in hun-
dreds of thousands of cubic metres, small-scale
terminals can be built at a fraction of the cost,
within a much shorter time frame and provide
operational flexibility. This creates an attractive
business model for terminal operators and own-
ers to quickly address the growing demand for
LNG as a fuel for transportation and energy and
take advantage of new supply, particularly North
American shale.

Configuration Figure 1 The LNG terminal at Klaipeda

LNG off-loaded and stored at Klaipeda can be
decanted into road tankers for onward distribu-
tion to off-grid users. It is utilised for ship fuel-
ling, bunkering, and is vaporised as a source of
energy for local community usage. Catering for
all eventualities enables the terminal to make
best use of landed LNG and immediately respond
to fluctuations in application demand.
Equipment standardisation and modularisation
The cryogenic section of the terminal comprises
five identical horizontal vacuum insulated, stor-
age tanks, each with a capacity of 1000m³, 5 +
5 ambient air vaporisers for gas delivery, twin
trailer loading bays, four cryogenic submerged
pumps for truck filling and bunkering, intercon-
necting pipework, emergency flare and all associ-
ated control and safety systems.
All equipment is shop built with standard pro-
duction techniques already proven in the field,
which minimises engineering and production
costs, schedule and risk.
Standardisation and modularisation (design it
once and duplicate manufacture) is another cru-
cial element in the reduction of cost and sched-
ule. Each of the shop built cryogenic storage
tanks is much smaller than a site built alterna-
tive, which means far less site work, civils and
permitting. Modularisation also means that the

www.digitalrefining.com/article/1002295 May 2019 1

 planned facility expansion, doubling the storage
capacity from the current 5000m³ to 10000m³,
is already built into the base design.
Accomplishments
Chart Industries provided single point accounta-
bility for project execution. The project also high-
lights the value of close collaboration between
partners to minimise cost and schedule in ensur-
ing timely completion according to budget.
Essentially, each stakeholder focused on their
area of expertise, but through close collaboration
duplicated engineering effort was avoided and
the project optimised as a whole, rather than by
section.
Summary
• Establish the port of Klaipeda as a regional
LNG hub
2 May 2019
• Demonstrate the technical and commercial
viability of small scale LNG
• Multifunctional terminal with operational
flexibility
• Shop built, standard, field proven equipment
for reduced cost, schedule and risk
• Modularisation reduces logistics and time at
site
• Base design incorporates a planned expansion
that doubles storage capacity.
LINKS
More articles from the following categories:
Heat Transfer
LNG, NGL and GTL
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