Unit 1

LNG Introduction and Production

Part 1

Niteen R. Yeole
 Definition of LNG
• When NG is cooled to a temperature of
approx. -161.50C at an atmospheric pressure,
it condenses to Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
• Liquefaction reduces the volume by approx.
600 times, thus making it more economical to
transport over long distance across the
countries.
• LNG weighs less than one half of water, about
45% as much.
• LNG is odorless, colorless, non-corrosive and
non-toxic.
• When vaporized, it burns only in
concentrations of 5-15% when mixed with air.
• Lower flammability limit (LFL): The lowest
concentration (percentage) of a gas or a vapor in air
capable of producing a flash of fire in the presence
of an ignition source (arc, flame, heat). The term is
considered by many safety professionals to be the
same as the lower explosive level (LEL).

• At a concentration in air lower than the LFL, gas

mixtures are "too lean" to burn. Methane gas has
an LFL of 5.0%. If the atmosphere has less than
5.0% methane, an explosion cannot occur even if a
source of ignition is present.
• Upper flammability limit (UFL): Highest
concentration (percentage) of a gas or a vapor
in air capable of producing a flash of fire in the
presence of an ignition source (arc, flame,
heat). Concentrations higher than UFL or UEL
are "too rich" to burn.

• Operating above the UFL is usually avoided for

safety because air leaking in can bring the
mixture into combustibility range.
 Drivers for the use of LNG
• Growing demand for fossil fuel
• Versatality of usage
• Environmental awareness
• Security of supply
• Pricing & delivery flexibility
• Safer than the nuclear energy
• Worldwide growth rate of energy
consumption
 Indian Scenario of Natural Gas

• Cleanest fossil fuel

• Used as ….
• Feedstock: Manufacture of fertilizers, plastics and other
commercially important organic chemicals.
• Fuel: Electricity generation, heating purpose in industrial and
commercial units, cooking, transportation

Source:http://petroleum.nic.in/natural-gas/about-natural-gas
Accessed on 11 August 2020
 Gas supply sources in India

Domestic:
Oil & gas fields located at
i)Western areas: Hazira basin, Mumbai offshore
ii)Southeastern areas: KG basin
iii) North East Region: Assam & Tripura
In FY 2018-19, total domestic gas production
was about 90.05 MMSCMD.
Source:http://petroleum.nic.in/natural-gas/about-natural-gas
Accessed on 11 August 2020
 Gas supply sources in India

• Import of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG):

• Open General License (OGL)
• Long Term, Medium Term and Spot contracts. The
price and utilization of imported LNG is mutually
decided by buyers and sellers.
• At present, country is having six operational LNG
regasification terminals with capacity of about 38.8
MMTPA (~ 140 MMSCMD).
Source:http://petroleum.nic.in/natural-gas/about-natural-gas
Accessed on 11 August 2020
 Gas Consumption in India
• In FY 2018-19, the total gas consumption in
India was around 148.02 MMSCMD.
• Share of domestic gas: 48%
• Share of RLNG: 52%

Source:http://petroleum.nic.in/natural-gas/about-natural-gas
Accessed on 11 August 2020
 LNG Safety
• As a liquid, LNG can not explode or burn.
• If LNG is spilled, the resulting vapor will warm
up, become lighter than air and disperse with
the prevailing wind/air.
• Although LNG is colorless, but as it is released
into the air, the cold vapor would appear as a
white cloud.
• The lighter than air property actually makes it
less hazardous than some other fuels such as
propane or butane whose vapors are heavier
than air and tend to settle closer to the
ground.
• In gaseous form, LNG vapor can burn only if it
is released into the air and mixes with the
correct proportion of air (5 to 15 %).
• LNG has been transported and used safely for
more than 40 years.

• World over , there has not been any significant

accident of fire/ leakage of LNG during its
transportation, liquefaction or regasification.

• LNG system is quite robust where extreme

safety measures are taken during designing of
LNG equipments i.e. process plant, storage,
shipping and re-gas terminal.
 Safety Measures - Design
• State -of -the- Art Technology
• Automatic safety shutdown system
• Early detection of leakage/ spillage of LNG or
RLNG
• Plant design & Equipment Layout as per
International & Domestic standards.
• Dedicated team
 LNG Spill Prevention Methods
• Release from Unloading Arms
 Powered Emergency Release Coupling
Step 1 – Close the valves
Step 2 – Disconnect the unloading arms
• LNG transfer lines
 Protection- corrosion, overpressure, vehicle
crash.
• Prevention of Inner tank failure
 Metallurgy, welding procedures, earthquake
factor, low temperature detectors, no nozzle
on side or bottom of the tank, VRV.

• Prevention of outer tank failure

 Pre-stressed concrete
 Leak Prevention on LNG Terminal
• Overpressure/ vacuum protection
• Emergency Shut Down (ESD) system
ESD1 :- Stop ship Un-loading
ESD2:- Stop send out system
ESD3:- Stop complete facility
• Leak Detection System
Thermal sensors
Gas Detectors
 Health Hazards
• LNG can result in cryogenic burns from direct
contact with the body.
• Exposure to LNG or direct contact with metal
at cryogenic temperature can damage skin
tissue more rapidly than exposed to vapor.
• Metal not specifically designed-brittle failure
• 9% nickel steel
 LNG Transport Chain
• A typical LNG Transport Chain comprises
facilities starting from upstream gas field to
gas processing, gas liquefaction, LNG storage,
LNG shipping and LNG regasification.
• The gas treatment activities have to be suitably
located between the gas producing facilities and
the LNG liquefaction plant.

• For the economic consideration coupled with

system safety, following will be a desirable
combination:
 Activity & Location
• Dehydration
Near gas producing field
• Near
Watergas
treatment
producing
andfield
disposal

• Gas sweetening
• COliquefaction
At 2 removal plant
• At
Hgliquefaction
removal plant
• At liquefaction
Higher plant& condensate treatment
HC removal
• At liquefaction plant
 Feed Gas Preparation Technology
• LNG is produced by successive cooling till liquefying
all components of the feed gas.

• The feed gas to LNG plant may be the non-associated

gas (what is mostly the case) or a mixture of non-
associated gas and associated gas.

• All the components present in the feed gas have

influence on liquefaction process.
• CO2 freezes at -78.50C and may form dry ice in
the process thereby choking the heat
exchangers which are employed to cool the feed
gas.

• CO2 contents more than 50 ppm are therefore

not desirable in the feed gas.

• The raw feed gas having higher contents of CO2

shall have to be treated for CO2 removal to bring
down the contents to 50 ppm level.
• Like CO2 water vapor gets crystallized at much
higher temperature than LNG final temperature.

• Solidified water crystals may create possible

choking of the heat exchangers deployed in
liquefaction process.
• Total sulfur compound in excess of 30 ppm and H2S
alone beyond 5 ppm may cause corrosion problems in
the presence of water vapors.

• Nitrogen and other inert gases are limited to 1 mol%

(max.).

• Mercury , even present in traces can cause corrosion of

aluminum heat exchangers employed in liquefaction
process, if it comes in contact with free water.
• The presence of Aromatics in LNG feed gas
causes choking of the heat exchanger due to
solidification of the aromatic compounds.

• The permissible limit of aromatics in LNG feed

gas is 2 ppm.
 LNG Liquefaction Technology
• It is primarily a cryogenic and low temperature
gas processing.
• Two major types of these processes have been
used in existing plants.
• 1. Cascade cycle using several single
components .
2. Mixed refrigerant cycle using a mixture of
hydrocarbons (C1 to C3/C6 and nitrogen in a
single refrigerant circuit.
Major Components of LNG Liquefaction Plant

• Heat Exchangers: S & T, Spiral tube, Plate type

• Compressors: Centrifugal type
• Compressor Drivers: Steam turbines,
Gas turbines
 APCI Technology
• APCI Propane Pre-cooled Mixed Refrigerant
Process
• Feed Gas Treatment
• Separation of C2 + HCs
• Fractionation
• Refrigeration through MCHX
• Mixed refrigerant pre-cooling
 Advantages of APCI LNG Process
• Distribution of cooling load – less power
requirement.
• C3- feed gas dehydration
• C3 HE – S & T
• High thermodynamic efficiency
 Areas of concern
• C3 – high purity
• Major cost – MCHX
• Exceeding of design capacity-30 years, more
than 12 plants.
Optimized Cascade Process-Phillips
• Refrigerants-propane, ethylene & methane
 Advantages of Cascade Process
• Simplicity of operation & control
• Low HP requirement for compressor - High
thermodynamic efficiency.
• No requirement of refrigerant blending facility.
 Areas of Concern for Cascade Process

• Equipment & Piping Complexity – high plant

cost
• High maintenance requirement
• Requirement of superior quality refrigerant.