November 2017

INSIDE:
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2017 Strategic Directions:
Natural Gas Industry Report
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 ISSN 1747-1826

CONTENTS
03 Comment
NOVEMBER 2017
33 Starting up LNG plants smoothly
Davide De Bacco, Saipem SPA, Italy, presents some of the main challenges that have
been or could be encountered during the commissioning and start-up of base load
05 LNG news LNG Plants.

10 Emerging opportunities for 39 That’s classified

LNG in Asia
Richard Mortimer, Arup, Hong Kong, explores how LNG is becoming
the fuel of choice across Asia as energy demand increases rapidly.
Leo Karistios, Lloyd’s Register, Greece, outlines a number of recently-announced LNG
projects that the classification society is working on.
43 Test objectives
Rishi Agrawal, Gas Entec, South Korea, details innovation in
commissioning/cold/gas/regasification trials in the FLNG terminal and vessel
markets.

46 Lifetime optimisation
Pascal Freko, Reinhold Hölzl, Axel Lehmacher, Alexander Woitalka and
Teodor Todorov, Linde Engineering Division, Linde AG, Germany, demonstrate how to
optimise plate-fin heat exchangers’ lifetime.

50 Pushing Boundaries
Florian Picard, Fives Cryo, France, presents a new heat exchanger technology to the
market.

57 Cool it down
10 Curtis Lovelace and Craig Kedrowski, Stellar Energy, USA, explain how LNG plant
performance and stability can be improved with the use of turbine inlet air chilling.

61 Perfect performance
16 Electrifying global markets Maksym Kulitsa, Independent FSRU consultant, and David Wood,
Shawn Hoffart, Alap Shah and Javid Talib, Black & Veatch, USA, DWA Energy Limited, UK, explain how to improve DFDE low-duty compressor
identify how LNG-to-power and floating solutions are igniting the performance on FSRUs with 700-mbarg pressure-rated LNG tanks.
global market.
67 Keeping amine in the treating system
20 Site selection matters Ralph H. Weiland, Optimized Gas Treating, Inc., USA, looks at how to prevent amine
Rafael Hernandez, Magnolia LNG, USA, looks at the importance of site losses in gas treatment systems.
selection in controlling LNG plant construction and infrastructure costs.
72 15 facts on... emerging LNG markets
25 An innovative design for
enhanced safety
Sylvain Ringot, Dunkerque LNG, France, outlines how the
Dunkerque LNG terminal entered into commercial operation as a
model of safety in the LNG industry.
ON THIS MONT
MONTH’S
29 Eyes in the sky
cOVER
David Williams, Texo Drone Survey & Inspection Ltd, UK,
presents the latest drone technology set to revolutionise Hilli Episeyo FLNG | Credit:
the monitoring and maintenance of LNG plants. Golar LNG. This innovative
solution brings a faster and
more cost effective alternative
to address the competitive
global demand for energy. The
Hilli Episeyo conversion includes
topside installation by Keppel
Shipyard using Black & Veatch’s
PRICO® technology and topside
design and supply.

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COMMENT he South China Sea is an important trade route for
T LNG, and in 2016, almost 40% of global LNG trade, or
approximately 4.7 trillion ft3, passed through.
The latest report by the US Energy
Information Administration1 (EIA) details the critical role
the South China Sea plays in LNG trade flows, namely, the
importance of the trade route for Malaysia and Qatar.
The two major LNG exporters accounted for more than
60% of total South China Sea LNG volumes in 2016. Just
under half of Qatar’s global LNG shipments moved through
the South China Sea in 2016. As Malaysia’s only LNG export
plant stands on the South China Sea coast, all of Malaysia’s
LNG exports pass through the South China Sea. With these
figures in mind, the importance of the trade route cannot be
understated.
Multiple other smaller LNG exporters also use
South China Sea trade routes to reach their destinations. In
2016, Oman, Brunei, and the UAE shipped between 84% and
100% of their total LNG exports through the South China Sea.
Much attention has been paid recently to LNG demand and
supply dynamics and the impact of potentially lower demand
growth on LNG prices. Could emerging markets such as these
be key to the growth in demand that producers will be hoping
to see in the coming years?
Other LNG exporters in the region, such as Australia
and Indonesia, are utilising other trade routes to reach LNG
markets. In 2016, approximately 23% of Australian LNG exports
and around 29% of Indonesian LNG exports were shipped
through the South China Sea. The majority of the remaining
LNG exports from Australia and Indonesia passed to the east
of the Philippines and Taiwan, avoiding the South China Sea
on the way to customers in Japan, South Korea, and northern
China.
The four LNG importers with the largest volumes passing
through the South China Sea are Japan, South Korea, China,
and Taiwan, together accounting for 94% of total LNG volumes
Managing Editor Production
James Little Bethany Rees Matcham
james.little@lngindustry.com bethany.matcham@lngindustry.com
Editor
Website Manager
Joseph Green Tom Fullerton
joseph.green@lngindustry.com tom.fullerton@lngindustry.com
Editorial Assistant Subscriptions
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will.owen@lngindustry.com laura.white@lngindustry.com
Advertisement Director Administration
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rod.hardy@lngindustry.com nicola.fuller@lngindustry.com
Advertisement Manager
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will.powell@lngindustry.com
Editorial/Advertisement Offices, Palladian Publications Ltd
15 South Street, Farnham, Surrey, GU9 7QU, ENGLAND, Tel: +44 (0) 1252 718 999 Fax: +44 (0) 1252 718 992 Website: www.lngindustry.com
JOSEPH GREEN
EDITOR
going through the South China Sea in 2016. Just over half
of all of Japan’s LNG imports in 2016 were shipped by way
of the South China Sea. Similarly, about two-thirds of the
LNG imported by South Korea was shipped through the
South China Sea that year.
More than two-thirds of China’s LNG imports and more
than 90% of Taiwan’s LNG imports passed through the
South China Sea in 2016. Total imports of LNG to China
have more than doubled over the previous five years, from
0.56 trillion ft3 in 2011 to 1.20 trillion ft3 in 2016.
Based on projections in the International Energy
Outlook 2017, EIA predicts that China will surpass
South Korea as the world’s second-largest LNG importer
by 2018 and go close to matching Japan’s level of LNG
imports by 2040. If reports are to be believed, the country
has recently been in talks with both Russia and the US
to increase imports, as traders aim to grab a chunk of the
lucrative, growing business of exporting gas to China.
In this month’s regional report on ‘emerging markets’,
Arup explore emerging opportunities for LNG in Asia, with
a focus on the increasing influence of China in the import
market. A hot topic at the moment, new and emerging
markets are offering hope to producers looking to contract
their LNG in the coming years, under the shadow of a
potentially oversupplied market. With China’s imports
expected to continue to rise, and new players entering
the market, the busy South China Sea is only going to get
busier.
I hope you enjoy this issue of LNG Industry, and if you
picked up a copy at the CWC World LNG Summit in Lisbon
then don’t forget to visit www.lngindustry.com to subscribe
and receive all the latest news from the global LNG
industry.
1. www.eia.gov/todayinenergy
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 LNGNEWS
The Netherlands
CB&I announces Q3 2017
results
B&I have reported net income of US$10 million, or
C US$0.10 per diluted share, in Q3 2017, compared to net
income of US$121.8 million, or US$1.20 per diluted share, in
Q3 2016.
Net income for Q3 2017 was impacted by restructuring
charges of US$27 million, or US$0.17 per share, related to the
company’s cost reduction program, and excess interest expense
of US$22 million, or US$0.14 per share, due to accelerated
amortisation of debt issuance costs.
Continuing operations consist of CB&I’s Engineering &
Construction (E&C) and Fabrication Services businesses. The
results of the company’s Technology and former Engineered
Products and Capital Services operations have been classified
as discontinued operations for all periods presented.
“We have made significant progress on the decisive actions
we announced last quarter, including our cost reduction program,
the continued improvement of our project execution and risk
management processes, and the intended sale of our technology
operations,” said Patrick K. Mullen, President and CEO of CB&I.
“Our cost reduction program is on track, with a positive impact
on our financial performance already apparent. We are also
extremely pleased with the sale process for our technology
operations and the interest from bidders on developing a
long-term strategic alliance with CB&I.”
“Our results this quarter were impacted by unusual items
totaling US$49 million, or US$0.31 per share. We experienced
continued cost pressure during the quarter, primarily on the
IPL and Calpine power projects, with execution on our other
projects continuing as planned. New awards were lower than
expected, primarily within E&C, due to the delay of certain key
projects. However, we have a significant pipeline and anticipate
a strong fourth quarter and first half of 2018 for new awards.”
USA
Air Liquide signs contract with LNG supplier in the US
ir Liquide Engineering & Construction has been selected
A by Kinetrex Energy to upgrade their North Plant LNG
production unit in Indianapolis, IN, USA, by replacing the
cold box with the SmartfinT M proprietary technology.
This state-of-the-art, single mixed-refrigerant
Norway
Skangas first small scale
LNG loading at Statoil
terminal
kangas has successfully completed the first small scale
S LNG loading at the Statoil operated LNG plant at Melkøya
island outside Hammerfest in Norway. Statoil delivered the
cargo of 100 GWh to Skangas’ vessel Coral Energy.
“This terminal is an addition to our existing LNG sources.
Having several LNG sources supports our customers and
us with additional security of supply and it increases our
opportunities,” says Kimmo Rahkamo, CEO of Skangas.
“In addition, a future possible supply alternative from the
northern part of Norway could make it easier to open up for
new deliveries along the entire coast of Norway”.
The operation was conducted on the large scale jetty at
Melkøya LNG plant. The jetty is constructed for conventional
sized LNG vessels. As a comparison Skangas’ vessel
Coral Energy is a small to medium scale LNG carrier with
a capacity of 15 600 m3. In the Nordics her main task is to
serve Skangas’ customers and terminals with LNG.
The LNG from Melkøya was delivered to Skangas’
terminal in Lysekil, Sweden where Skangas has a LNG
terminal serving one of their major customers.
It is the gas from the Snøhvit field that arrives at
Melkøya terminal where it is converted into LNG. Conversion
to LNG makes it possible to transport gas by purpose-built
vessels and therefore industries can use gas as energy
although they are not connected to a gas grid.
Earlier this year Statoil and Skangas also made the
first small scale LNG loading at the Klaipeda Terminal
in Lithuania. Skangas continues to deliver LNG to
Statoil’s supply vessels from several bases in Norway. In
Northern Europe, Skangas’ new LNG bunker vessel Coralius
makes LNG increasingly available for the marine market.
technology for small to medium scale plants will enable
Kinetrex Energy to increase the plant capacity and leverage
its existing assets for clean fuel solutions. The upgraded
LNG plant, using Air Liquide technology, is expected to start
operation by the end of 2018.
November 2017 5
 LNGNEWS
USA
Chevron announce Q3
financial results
hevron Corporation have reported earnings of
C US$2.0 billion (US$1.03 per share – diluted)
for Q3 2017, compared with US$1.3 billion
(US$0.68 per share – diluted) in Q3 2016.
Included in the quarter was a gain on an asset
sale of US$675 million and an asset write-off of
US$220 million. Foreign currency effects decreased
earnings in Q3 2017 by US$112 million, compared with
an increase of US$72 million a year earlier.
Sales and other operating revenues in Q3 2017
were US$34 billion, compared to US$29 billion in the
year-ago period.
“We continue to see improvement in the underlying
pattern of earnings and cash flow,” said Chairman and
CEO John Watson. “Cash flow is at a positive inflection
point, with oil and gas production increasing and capital
spending falling,” Watson added. “We’re completing
projects that have been under construction and ramping
up production, notably at our Gorgon LNG Project in
Australia. And our shale and tight rock drilling activity in
the Permian Basin is exceeding expectations. We expect
this pattern to continue,” Watson commented. “Earlier
this month, we announced first LNG production from
our Wheatstone LNG development in Australia.”
News Highlights
X Cove Point LNG to begin LNG
production in November
X FLNG expected to be the game changer for
the liquefaction industry
X NOVATEK sign MOU with CDB
Visit our website for more news: www.lngindustry.com
6 November 2017
The Netherlands
Chart commissions Shell
LNG fuelling station
hart continues to develop natural gas vehicle fuelling
C infrastructure in The Netherlands with the opening of a
Shell LNG truck refuelling station in Waddinxveen, close to
the port city of Rotterdam. Since Chart engineers completed
commissioning the site has averaged 10 vehicles per day and
dispensed approximately 1500 kg of LNG.
The Waddinxveen station operates 24/7, incorporates fueling
of conventional fuels and LNG in the same area and is open to
both the general public and Shell’s fleet customers. As you’d
expect, the LNG section includes all of Chart’s latest technical
features for optimum safety, reliability and convenience with
zero emissions to atmosphere. It is controlled and maintained
through a remote monitoring system and proprietary ‘Saturation
on the Fly’ concept eliminates additional pre-cooling.
The station is equipped to serve all types of trucks and
buses with saturated or cold liquid from 0 to 8 bar. The
Dynaflow 3000 dispenser facilitates venting and fueling through
one liquid line and can also fuel Volvo trucks fitted with the
HPDI Euro VI engine. Like its counterparts installed at all
other Chart supplied Shell LNG stations, the Dynaflow 3000
Dispensers are MID certified and designed for a safe and precise
fueling operation.
The fueling process is fully intuitive and an experienced
driver can fill a vehicle in approximately 3 minutes.
LNGNEWS
UK
Gasconsult awards FLNG
development contract to
CB&I
asconsult, the UK based supplier of a
G proprietary and patented methane cycle
liquefaction technology, has announced that it is
has awarded a contract to LNG engineer CB&I for
the development of its ZR-LNG liquefaction process.
The work is being co-funded under the British
Government’s Innovate UK scheme and the work
will be performed from CB&I’s Paddington, UK
offices. The work will comprise design development
of the ZR-LNG process for a gas turbine driven
FLNG application based on multiple single train
modules of nominal 1.5 million and 1.0 million
tpy capacity. To comply with the objectives of the
Innovate UK grant regarding technology application
in developing countries, the work will also include
a pre-feasibility study of a land based Coal Seam
Gas LNG plant in Botswana. The Botswana work
will be performed by OTC, a Johannesburg based
engineering company.
The advantages of ZR-LNG include high
energy efficiency, low capital and operating cost,
higher project returns and simplicity of operation.
Specifically, the ZR-LNG process requires no
external refrigerants, using the methane feedgas as
the refrigerant medium and eliminating refrigerant
extraction or storage equipment. Refrigerant supply
logistics to remote locations are eliminated and
there are no refrigerant make-up costs. Absence of
a liquid hydrocarbon refrigerant inventory reduces
fire and blast risk, enhancing safety. All equipment
is available from multiple vendors and the design
concept has already been validated by BP and
several large E&C companies active in LNG.
Speaking on award of the contracts to CB&I
and OTC, Bill Howe, CEO of Gasconsult said “This
is a major step forward for Gasconsult as the work
will provide significant engineering information of
relevance to project developers and allow Gasconsult
to be fully responsive during the technology
assessment phase of LNG projects. LNG is a preferred
future energy source arising from its lower carbon
and sulfur emissions than coal and oil.”
China
The People’s Republic
of China wins bid for
International Gas Union
Presidency
L i Yalan of The People’s Republic of China
has been announced as IGU President from 2021 – 2024.
As part of the winning bid, the City of Beijing will also
host the World Gas Conference (WGC) in 2024 – the landmark
event for the Natural Gas Industry held every three years
in the country holding the Presidency of the IGU. The event
boasts influential speakers from within and outside the
gas industry, along with key policy makers who will present
their views on the most important technical, commercial
and strategic issues and opportunities facing the natural gas
industry.
As part of the Presidency, The People’s Republic of
China will take the lead in furthering the mission of IGU
to advocate gas as an integral part of a sustainable global
energy system, and to promote the political, technical and
economic progress of the gas industry.
“This is an extremely exciting time for the gas industry,
and we strongly believe that the People’s Republic of
China are perfectly placed to lead the IGU in the important
role it plays in advocating the use of natural gas,” said
David Carroll, the current IGU President. “Under their
leadership, the industry can continue to build on the
great work that has already been done bringing together
companies, policy makers and other external stakeholders
to fully promote and understand the essential – and
sustainable – role gas plays as part of the future energy
mix.”
Before Madam Li Yalan assumes the role of
President, she will serve the IGU as Vice President when
Joo-Myung Kang of Korea will assume the Presidency of the
IGU following the World Gas Conference in Washington D.C.,
25 – 29 June, 2018.
The next instalment of the WGC in Washington D.C.
will mark the culmination of the USA Presidency, under the
theme ‘Fuelling the Future’. For the first time in the 85-year
history of IGU, the World Gas Conference will be held in a
country that is both the world’s largest gas producing and
consuming nation – the USA. Held in the nation’s capital,
Washington D.C., it is ideally positioned to bring together
energy policy experts and industry leaders from around the
world.
November 2017 7
 LNGNEWS Curaçao
Australia Wärtsilä awarded contract
Origin Energy release to supply LNG fuelled power
quarterly production report plant to Aqualectra
for September 2017 he technology group Wärtsilä was awarded the contract

rigin Energy Limited has released its quarterly production

O report for the quarter ended 30 September 2017.
Origin’s quarterly production of 89.1 PJs was stable
compared to the June quarter, reflecting a sustained level
of production following completion of the 90 day two-train
operational test at Australia Pacific LNG.
Compared to the corresponding period in FY2016,
Origin’s quarterly production increased by 20%. This primarily
reflected increased LNG production by Australia Pacific LNG
and increased production at Otway.
Revenue for the September Quarter 2017 was
US$678.6 million, an increase of 1% compared to the June
quarter and a 58% increase on the corresponding period in
FY2016, reflecting higher production at Australia Pacific LNG
and higher realised prices across all products.
During the quarter, Origin entered into an agreement to
sell its conventional upstream oil and gas business, Lattice
Energy, to Beach Energy for US$1.6 million. The transaction
is effective as at 1 July 2017 with completion subject to
satisfaction of customary conditions, including appprovals
from the New Zealand Minister of Energy and Resources and
the New Zealand Overseas Investment Office.
Origin CEO Frank Calabria said, “We reached another
major milestone during the quarter announcing the sale of
Lattice Energy, which delivers on our commitment to simplify
our business and reduce debt.”
T to supply a 39 MW power plant to Aqualectra, the utility
company of the Caribbean island of Curaçao.
The turnkey project will provide much needed additional
generating capacity and provide Aqualectra with the fast
starting capacity and flexibility needed to add more wind
power capacity to the island’s system. The company already has
more than 46 MW of installed generating capacity from wind
energy and plans to add more renewable energy generation in
the near future. The order with Wärtsilä was booked in October.
The new plant will operate on four Wärtsilä 34DF dual-fuel
engines running initially on heavy fuel oil (HFO), but switching
to LNG at a later date. The Wärtsilä solution will add needed
reliability to the grid, and when running on LNG will notably
reduce the utility’s environmental impact. The plant will be
equipped with continuous emissions monitoring capability.
“The reality is, we need more generating capacity to meet
our growing demand for energy. And, given the focus we have
put on increasing our renewable capacity, we are conscious
of the fact that the output from wind power and solar are
inevitably intermittent. Hence our requirement for a plant
that can start quickly and ramp up to full output in a matter
of minutes. The flexibility provided by the Wärtsilä engines
will allow the necessary balancing, and is just what we need,”
explained Mr. Darick Jonis, Acting CEO of Aqualectra.
The Wärtsilä equipment is scheduled to be delivered in
mid-2018, and the plant is expected to be fully operational in
November of that year.

28 - 01 November/December 2017 12 - 14 December 2017 27 - 28 February 2018

CWC World LNG Summit Turbomachinery & Pump LNG US Summit
Lisbon, Portugal Symposia Houston, USA
world.cwclng.com Houston, USA lng-usa.com
tps.tamu.edu

29 - 30 November 2017 29 - 31 January 2018 04 - 08 June 2018

Tank Storage Germany European Gas Conference Posidonia 2018
Hamburg, Germany Vienna, Austria Athens, Greece
www.easyfairs.com/ www.europeangas-conference.com posidonia-events.com
tank-storage-germany-2017

8 November 2017
 At the Core
of LNG

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E-mail: bahx@chartindustries.com
www.chart-ec.com
 emerging
opportunities
for lng in asia

10
 Richard Mortimer, Arup, Hong Kong, explores
how LNG is becoming the fuel of choice across
Asia as energy demand increases rapidly.
apid growth in energy demand across Asia is seeing
R LNG become the fuel of choice. Driven by expanding
populations, rising standards of living, and sprawling
urbanisation, demand will only keep growing. With LNG
production and transportation at an all-time high, Asia
is seeing new opportunities for both land-based import
terminals as well as floating storage and regasification
units (FSRUs).
This trend is set to keep on going, with energy growth
predictions for Asia much higher than the rest of the world.
Japan and Korea have long relied on LNG for energy
security and power generation, but the industry is now
seeing a change across Asia. China, India, Indonesia, the
Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Bangladesh have
followed suit with the recent introduction of gas into their
import markets and are helping to drive demand across the
region. As these countries increase the demand for the
transitional fuel, new ways of bringing new large scale
power generation online quickly also needs to be found to
meet these needs.
11
 The natural choice
While locally available coal is still an attractive option in
terms of fuel cost, LNG is lower in carbon and particulate
emissions. While it is still a fossil fuel, gas is recognised as
the intermediate step between where the world is today
and where it needs to be in 30 – 50 years time.
Renewables will have an increasing role to play in this
future market, however Asia’s need for large scale
generating capacity is immediate. LNG comes at a scale
and development rate not currently possible with
renewables, coal or nuclear; coal-fired plants take up to ten
years to go from plan to operation and nuclear can take up
to 20 years.
Then there is the not-insignificant matter of cost.
Renewable costs are coming down but, as Australia has
found, countries need to be careful in making intermittent
renewables their base supply. The recent blackout events in
South Australia which have led to Elon Musk’s commitment
to building the largest battery in the world ‘in 100 days or
it is free’, have revealed the pitfalls of relying too heavily
on renewables (which are intermittent in nature) for base
power load. This is why China is making gas a key part of
Figure 1. LNG vessel the Methane Mickie Harper at QCLNG.
Copyright QCG.
Figure 2. Near shore LNG.
12 November 2017
its energy mix, and it is why China’s predicted gas demand
is outpacing other fuels.
The drop in the oil price and the gradual but increasing
de-linkage between LNG and oil pricing, alongside
discoveries of shale gas in the USA and China, means that
LNG is also becoming more affordable (e.g. the landed LNG
price in Japan has dropped from over US$15/million Btu in
early 2015 to below US$6/million Btu in mid-2016 and has
only recently risen to above US$8/million Btu). The oil price
is not expected to rise substantially any time soon, but
demand for gas is rising much more rapidly, so there is
pressure from buyers and sellers to de-link the prices of
these two commodities.
LNG also lends itself well to particular geographies.
Indonesia is the fourth most populated country in the
world, with people spread out across numerous islands and
demand for energy rising rapidly (the per capita
consumption of electricity in Indonesia is expected to rise
by over 25% from 2015 to 2020). How can one provide
power efficiently across a country like this? Regional LNG
import facilities linked to gas-to-power stations provide an
ideal solution and where distances are short, pipelines
from receiving terminals to other gas-to-power stations
located close to population clusters make sense.
Against this backdrop, it is no surprise that many
companies are looking at installing LNG import facilities.
Growth in FSRUs
As LNG becomes the fuel of choice across Asia, the region
is seeing a change in the way gas is transported and
stored. Until recently, the traditional approach has been to
use land-based terminals. However, floating systems have
become more popular over the last decade. Their price
relative to land-based systems has come down and they
can also be implemented much faster than land based
terminals for those facing immediate demands.
Identifying a site for a land-based terminal, obtaining
the necessary permits and approvals and then constructing
the facilities all takes time – easily five years or more.
Compare this to bringing a FSRU to a
port. With minimal engineering work you
can create a suitable environment for
mooring the FSRU and connecting it to
shore with a pipeline. This is cheaper
and, more importantly, much quicker. An
onshore gas-to-power plant can typically
be developed in 12 – 18 months. A new
build FSRU is probably around a three
year delivery and a conversion of an
existing LNG carrier to a FSRU is less
efficient but much quicker at probably
around 18 months.
Floating terminals offer other
benefits, such as secure and flexible
operations – especially in areas where
local politics and the potential for future
gas development are less certain. They
are, by their nature, easy to relocate to
other opportunities.
Converting LNG carriers into FSRUs,
instead of waiting for new ones to be
built in Korean shipyards, can make the
Who developed the world’s first LNG tanker?
Who opened up the Asia-Pacific market by exporting LNG to Japan in 1969?
Who licensed their Optimized Cascade® Process for four of the last seven
LNG projects in Australia? (Hint: It’s the same liquefaction technology that is expected
to produce nearly 25% of the world’s LNG by 2021.)

One Answer: ConocoPhillips

With all that expertise and experience in LNG,

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 floating storage options even more commercially attractive.
However, care needs to be taken to ensure the candidate
vessel will deliver the required operational performance
and be serviceable in the long term. Arup is assessing the
viability of such conversions, including reduced cost and
shorter schedule of converted vessels against the efficiency
of a tailor-made FSRU. Aspects specific to FSRU/FSUs like
containment system, offloading system, available deck
space, berthing and mooring configuration etc. are
considered during the evaluation. The decision of
converting LNG carriers into floating storage options is
driven by factors like suitability of the candidate LNG
carrier, intended design life of the terminal, location of the
terminal and prevailing metocean condition, terminal
utilisation and future operating strategy.
There is innovation in land-based storage too. New,
cost-effective solutions for land-based storage that allow
for future expansion have been developed to serve smaller
facilities. These include the cost-effective modular
single-containment tanks that Arup are also developing for
small to mid-sized applications.
Diverse opportunities
While LNG-to-power remains the most significant demand
in the Asia region, there are other applications for LNG
hubs – such as break bulking and bunkering. Singapore is
looking to set itself up as a regional hub for LNG trading
using on-shore receiving tanks. It will typically receive
large cargoes from LNG suppliers in countries such as
Australia or Qatar, and then reload the LNG onto smaller
vessels to distribute to smaller regional markets. By
breaking down large shipments in this way, the hub will
benefit from economies of scale in supply while charging
a premium to the regional users for smaller loads. The
regional users will also benefit because they would have
had to pay a much larger premium to get one of the LNG
suppliers to supply them directly with a much smaller
cargo than they would typically handle.
The provision of strategically placed bunkering
facilities offers another opportunity in the shipping
industry’s move to reduce carbon emissions. Replacing the
current heavy fuel oil engines with LNG engines would
make a major contribution to reducing carbon emissions
and some cargo and passenger ships are already running
dual-fuel systems. The lack of such facilities and
supporting infrastructure is presently holding back the
progress of their development and popularity. There is
potential for LNG terminals to provide bunkering facilities
across Asia and even worldwide. With more options for
refuelling, more ships would be likely to convert to
LNG – creating more demand.
Our recent work at Arup has included AALNG’s proposed
terminal in Probolinggo, Indonesia, which is ideally suited
to refuelling vessels. The proposed terminal will use a LNG
carrier conversion as a FSRU sited on a 2.5 km jetty. It will
have multiple purposes, including gas supply to the region,
break bulking and bunkering.
Market challenges
There are certainly challenges on the horizon for the
LNG market in Asia. The supply of LNG carriers for
transportation, or conversion to floating storage, is limited
14 November 2017
– as is the supply of shipbuilding companies. But for the
moment there remains plenty of potential for FSRU growth.
Overall, it is new markets – such as the Philippines and
Indonesia – that will fuel future growth in LNG. While
growth in traditional markets such as Japan has been
stagnant and indeed is even expected to decline over the
next two years, other emerging Asian LNG consumers are
seeing imported volumes of LNG growing at over 20%
year-on-year e.g. China’s LNG imports in January 2017 were
almost 40% higher than in January 2016. As more regional
LNG import facilities are constructed and commissioned in
the Asia region, this increased demand will start to
counteract the short-term surplus currently affecting the
market.
That leaves the question of how to secure long-term
demand. To address this challenge, major LNG producers
such as Shell are looking at an integrated model. Instead of
simply supplying LNG, they will work with partners to build
a receiving terminal or FSRU together with an onshore
gas-to-power plant that will then provide them with
decades of demand for their LNG.
Until now, another challenge has been the liquidity of
the market. Traditional importers like Japan have often
been tied into offtake agreements lasting decades, with
destination clauses stipulating where the LNG must be
delivered. But the Japanese government has now said
destination clauses are anti-competitive. This has opened
the door for established offtakers like Japan, whose
domestic demand is plateauing as more nuclear facilities
are being brought back online, to negotiate for the LNG
they were locked into purchasing to be resupplied directly
into a market where demand is increasing, such as the
Philippines.
Effectively, buyers can still honour the long-term
contract even though their own demand has changed by
supplying the LNG they are committed to taking into
another market. In the current buyers’ market, they have
been able to successfully renegotiate these clauses. This
is creating a new dynamic in the market that was
previously prevented by the highly restrictive destination
clauses, and opening up opportunities for them to trade
LNG with new receiving facilities in places such as the
Philippines.
Taking advantage of such opportunities could be harder
where power companies are state-owned. Government
organisations may be slower to move, particularly where
there is political deadlock, and the market will undoubtedly
be slower to evolve in these countries.
In other cases more opportunities for LNG are being
created by government policies. For example, South Korea
has announced that it will stop building nuclear plants.
Will it look to LNG to plug the gap in energy supply? And
will it be able to act quickly enough to get more
generation online? These questions are yet to be answered.
Global investments from Asia
Whatever the challenges, there are undoubtedly exciting
opportunities for LNG in Asia today. Not least is the
chance the region has to lead the world in LNG. We’re
already supporting LNG projects globally from Asia and
expect this trend to continue as investment reaches an
all-time high.
 GLOBAL
MARKETS
Shawn Hoffart,
Alap Shah and Javid Talib,
Black & Veatch,
USA, identify how
LNG-to-power and floating
solutions are igniting the
global market.

16
 ast untapped resources, low prices and
V growing global demand for cleaner energy
continue to fuel optimism across the
North American natural gas industry, according to
Black & Veatch’s 2017 Strategic Directions: Natural
Gas Industry Report. Each year, Black & Veatch
surveys qualified industry representatives and leaders
on key industry issues and trends and provides expert
insights and potential solutions.
This year’s report is notable as it demonstrates a
particularly bullish outlook for the industry overall,
and for LNG – particularly LNG-to-power and FLNG
development. Nearly 58% of survey respondents
stated they are optimistic or very optimistic on
near-term growth (between now and 2020) and 64%
stated they were optimistic or very optimistic on
long-term growth (between 2020 and 2030) as
shown in Figure 1.
To facilitate industry growth, infrastructure
investment is critical. While pipeline capacity in
North America is the consensus top infrastructure
investment need, it is notable that 42% of
respondents believe expanded LNG liquefaction
capacity is necessary to meet the industry’s growth
potential (Figure 2) and fuel emerging economies
throughout Asia, Africa and South America. But for all
the liquefaction units needed to export LNG from
North America, intake and regasification
infrastructure is needed in market destinations.
Looking to take advantage of the LNG oversupply
and low pricing, many developing regions are now
establishing gas-to-power markets that can
accommodate imported supply. Particularly in regions
that have historically run on diesel fuel oil,
converting to gas power can carry additional
economic and environmental benefits. In some areas,
conversions can cut electric costs in half.
Benefits of integrated
LNG-to-power facilities
Indeed, it is a lucrative time to invest in gas-to-power
projects, but developing long-term stable markets
will rely heavily on effectively moving LNG to these
emerging regions and economical configuration
of gas-fired generation infrastructure. However,
for long-term deployment success, investors in
developing projects must consider the economics of
converting power generation from fuel oil to LNG,
evolving global trades and, where applicable, the
commercial viability of FLNG solutions.
17
 If LNG import and natural gas-based combined cycle plants
are integrated properly, energy providers can experience up to a
10% increase in power generation capacity and increased power
plant efficiency with a minimum cost impact. There is a
significant reduction in a project’s overall capital cost, gain in
efficiency of LNG import facilities, as well as added
environmental benefits. In locations with colder winters, an
additional benefit is that vapourised LNG is warm enough to
meet distribution pipeline minimum supply temperatures for
more efficient transport to power consumers.
In Puerto Rico, the Peñuelas plant project is helping cut the
country’s reliance on oil and coal. Commissioned in 2000,
Black & Veatch supported the development of Ecoeléctrica’s
combined cycle plant and LNG regasification plants, the first
project to produce electricity with natural gas in the territory. The
regasification facility utilises waste heat vapourisation which
also helps power the combined cycle turbine operation – one of
the most efficient methods to regasify LNG.
For island nations like Indonesia, planning for integrated
LNG receiving terminals and gas-fired generation can help
balance energy portfolios and meet environmental regulations.
However, more LNG infrastructure development is needed to
meet these objectives and increase access to gas supply across
the country.
In Brazil, a 1516 MW combined cycle power plant is being
built in conjunction with a new floating natural gas storage and
regasification unit (FSRU). The Porto de Sergipe plant is being
built by Centrais Elétricas de Sergipe (CELSE), a consortium
Figure 1. Outlook on the future growth of the global oil and
gas industry. Source: Black & Veatch.
Figure 2. 42% of respondents believe expanded LNG
liquefaction capacity is necessary to meet the industry’s
growth potential. Source: Black & Veatch.
18 November 2017
formed by eBRASIL and Golar Power. The plant will include
advanced technology gas turbines that run on LNG power. It will
be the largest natural gas power station in South America when
fully commissioned in 2019.
Similar to projects in Puerto Rico and Brazil, Indonesia could
gain from co-locating LNG and power infrastructure but will
require additional planning considerations, collaboration with
local governments and engagement with non-traditional
stakeholders for successful deployment. Unlike landlocked areas,
co-located facilities in Indonesia can use and share heat, water
and cold energy. The power plant can work as a ‘sink’ for the LNG
cold produced in the vapourisation process. This way, less
seawater is required to regasify LNG, thereby reducing capital,
operating costs and impacts to the environment.
Integrated LNG-to-power projects can be complex
endeavours, and successful deployment will require
well-defined plans established early in development.
Comprehensive project design can also help capture necessary
funding for LNG supply and import infrastructure for maximum
return on investments.
Floating solutions cut costs,
environmental impacts
FLNG applications carry several advantages versus onshore LNG
import terminals for their flexibility and quicker deployment
schedules. FLNG and FSRU projects negate the necessity to
consider shoreline impacts, size and complexity considerations in
development.
In India, Black & Veatch is supporting Swan LNG Private
Limited in developing the country’s first FLNG project in
Gujarat. The Jafrabad project includes the construction of a jetty
topside that will receive LNG supply from ships and onshore
regasification facilities. The new FSRU will be moored to a
fixed jetty and will regasify imported LNG to enable
distribution by pipeline and road tanker. When completed in
2020, the project will significantly boost the country’s LNG
import capacity and help develop the Indian gas market, which
is projected to be one of the fastest growing in the world
during the next two decades.
The LNG-to-Power Independent Power Procurement Program
(LNGIPPP) underway in South Africa is also providing a
framework for similar projects that may be ideal for deploying
floating solutions. Closed cycle gas turbine projects in
Richards Bay and the Coega Industrial Development Zone are
slated to add up to 3000 MW of power capacity. Both ports will
be equipped with LNG import and regasification facilities.
Existing transmission infrastructure and the need to move new
power supply are important factors for each project site’s
generation and storage elements.
Floating solutions in South Africa can reduce execution and
start-up time, mitigate siting constraints and allow for the
shipment of gas to multiple locations. Business decisions must
be carefully weighed, and sound planning and implementation,
supported by proven project controls and management, can
enable gas to become a more prominent, economically viable
energy source for South Africa.
Commercial considerations of
FLNG
The ability to sell offtake gas through floating solutions has
attracted the attention of producers and investors alike. Floating
applications typically require fewer resources than onshore
facilities and have the added capability of being able to be
transported to nearly any location. Current market trends point
to smaller-scale projects being more profitable in the long-term,
but regardless of size, developing a sustainable business model
will involve overcoming financing hurdles.
Given the current price environment, it is not surprising that
industry respondents identified ‘commercial viability’ as the top
driver for making FLNG investment decisions, followed by
implementation costs and global LNG market trends (Figure 3).
These drivers further suggest that cost and speed of delivery are
top priorities for investors.
To make projects more commercially viable, developers are
partnering with engineering, construction and technology
providers that can configure FLNG solutions that assure returns.
Black & Veatch’s patented PRICO® process, for instance, can
liquefy natural gas more cost-efficiently and get to market faster
than traditional technologies. PRICO® has been applied to the
Exmar Caribbean FLNG project, which successfully completed
performance testing in November 2016. Exmar is currently
discussing several deployment opportunities for the supply from
this project. Figure 3. Industry respondents identified ‘commercial
viability’ as the top driver for making FLNG investment
Initial FLNG developments focused on building massive
decisions. Source: Black & Veatch.
facilities that could move and process large quantities of LNG
(5 million tpy and up), requiring significant capital investments in
the vicinity of US$10 billion or more. These commitments could
only be afforded by a few independent oil companies (IOCs) and
national oil companies (NOCs) who were willing to take on risks
associated with still fairly nascent FLNG concepts. The capital
expenditure (CAPEX) dollar per ton of production was extremely
high at more than US$3 billion/million tpy, however, LNG prices
were higher a few years ago which made the model seem more
economically sound at the time.
Global LNG prices have since dropped considerably and
developers are taking lessons learned from projects that have
been recently commissioned. As such, FLNG project planning is
evolving to meet these market conditions and smaller-scale
models are gaining traction. Survey respondents also believe
these projects will be the most lucrative – nearly a third (29%)
believe that the LNG production ‘sweet spot’ most dominant in
the market will be between 3 – 4 million tpy (Figure 4).
The new project model typically involves the development of
a small to mid-scale liquefaction facility moored in protected
waters, or to a jetty where gas is processed at a nearby offshore Figure 4. Nearly a third of respondents believe that the
LNG production ‘sweet spot’ most dominant in the market
field or liquefied from an existing pipeline onshore. These
will be between 3 – 4 million tpy. Source: Black & Veatch.
simpler nearshore FLNG configurations can be deployed with
less permitting requirements and shorter schedules than the
industry’s initial FLNG initiatives.
The smaller-scale approach also enables investors and owners Planning for the future
to mitigate project risks by developing their FLNG solutions in The need and demand for LNG in global markets, and
blocks rather than as a single, large CAPEX-heavy megaproject. The subsequent need for flexible delivery technology, shows no
phased approach allows developers to build out projects in stages. signs of fading. Markets in nearly every continent are looking
For example, instead of taking on a large, 12 million tpy project, to use natural gas power to diversify energy portfolios and
they can start with a 3 million tpy block and construct subsequent support economic development. The viability of LNG from a price
phases as market and economic conditions warrant. This approach perspective incentivises nations that solely run on fuel oil or
provides for easier project management and financing, as well as limited existing infrastructure for fossil fuels.
variable sales commitment volumes. Today’s challenging market demands new levels of flexibility
Ophir Energy, for example, is awarding contracts for projects – flexible size and/or capacity, flexible business models and
phase-by-phase, in the case they need to disconnect supply from flexible financing solutions. FLNG, LNG processing and
any of their three vessels. In May 2017, the organisation awarded LNG-to-power represent the technology needed for the evolving
the midstream construction contract for the Fortuna FLNG market. Each provide the flexibility needed to accommodate
project which will channel gas from their offshore ‘block R’ unique environmental constraints, scalability, and evolving
development. operational needs.

November 2017 19
 Site
selection
matters
nvariably, all LNG projects are measured
Rafael Hernandez,
Magnolia LNG, USA, I by the widely-used industry benchmark of
US$/million tpy to compare project costs against
historical and planned projects throughout their
development phases. Typically, each project originates
looks at the importance with an established US$/million tpy target during
early feasibility studies to support financial modelling.
of site selection in Although it is a simple task to compute US$/million
tpy from public announcements of project total cost
controlling LNG plant divided by stated LNG plant capacities, what scope
of work is included in the total dollar amount can be
construction and difficult, if not impossible, to decipher. Regardless, one
thing is certain; the published dollar amount for project
infrastructure costs. costs will need to account for and should include a

20
substantiated amount for temporary construction and
permanent infrastructure that will be required for the
project, exclusively driven by the selected location of
the site. It is reasonable to deduce that selecting a site
location requiring minimal infrastructure development
will result in a lower total US$/million tpy for the
project independent of plant capacity. Nevertheless,
the site selection process is not necessarily the first or
only criteria evaluated when planning the development
of an LNG facility. In today’s challenging LNG market
economics, it is critical to step outside the box and
reprioritise the site selection process as the industry
strives for facilities with the lowest US$/million tpy.
This is of increased importance in locations facing

21
 relatively high construction cost environments, such as the
US, Australia and Canada.
Brief history of LNG
An LNG facility is comprised of the liquefaction train(s) and
associated infrastructure of LNG storage, marine facilities,
balance of plant and construction facilities. A typical onshore
LNG facility also needs to have access to feed gas via
pipelines, utilities (i.e. power, water, communications), and be
located adjacent to a body of water suitable to handle LNG
ships, as well as to facilitate the transportation and delivery
of materials and equipment required for construction.
Historically, LNG projects have been constructed in close
proximity to the stranded gas reserves that were being
monetised, which often resulted in these developments
being sited in remote and harsh site environments. The
majority of these projects were located far from established
towns or developed communities and had no access to a
skilled labour force. These LNG projects needed to develop
all associated temporary infrastructure and implement an
extensive logistics programme, to accommodate imported
labour and materials, prior to the start of construction of the
permanent facility itself. Essentially, LNG projects had to
construct a self-supported ‘small city’ or ‘village’, including
site preparation and roads, a material offloading facility,
workers’ camp and facilities, power generation, and water
and wastewater treatment plants before the first permanent
plant installation commenced. These installations not only
added anywhere from 12 to 18 months to the overall project
schedule, but they were a major contributor to the overall
capital cost of the projects.
LNG today
LNG greenfield projects constructed in the 1990s and
2000s, mostly located in remote locations with substantial
Figure 1. Artist’s rendition of the Magnolia LNG project site.
22 November 2017
infrastructure developments, had overall costs in the range
of US$250/million tpy – US$700/million tpy1 (equivalent to
approximately US$340/million tpy – US$1050/million tpy
in 2017 dollars). Fast forward to the 2010s where some
recently completed greenfield projects in Australia, Africa,
and Papua New Guinea had final project costs that ranged
from US$2300/million tpy to US$4050/million tpy.2 Currently
proposed LNG projects in East Africa and Western Canada,
which are in remote sites with the need for extensive
infrastructure and immense logistical challenges, have
estimated values in the range of US$2000/million tpy –
US$2667/million tpy,2 and have had difficulty reaching a
final investment decision (FID), partly as a result of these
costs. Some estimated costs for these projects have reached
a point where they are no longer viable or competitive in
today’s challenging LNG market, and have been ‘shelved’
or recently cancelled as is the case with Petronas’
Pacific Northwest LNG project in British Columbia (B.C.),
Canada.
Transition to North America
Starting in 2012 with Cheniere’s Sabine Pass liquefaction
project in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, US, a new wave
of LNG projects started being developed in the US by
adding liquefaction capacity to existing ‘brownfield’ LNG
regasification terminals. These regasification terminals were
constructed in the mid to late 2000s when it was forecasted
that the US would be importing LNG to supply its increasing
domestic demand. Due to unanticipated changes in the
market, these regasification terminals were ‘mothballed’ or
idled in a ‘cooled down’ state following commissioning, and
were never placed into full commercial operation. Additional
breakthroughs in hydraulic fracturing (fracking) technology
and the US’s emergence as global leader in natural gas
production3 presented a unique reversal of opportunity for
 the LNG industry. With the addition of liquefaction capacity,
these dormant import terminals are being converted into
bi-directional facilities that can either import or export LNG
as the market or industry dictates, effectively marking a
transition of LNG development to North America.
Cheniere’s Sabine Pass liquefaction project was the first
brownfield conversion, which, due to its existing LNG
storage, marine facilities, and infrastructure, has been able to
achieve the lowest reported US$/million tpy cost for projects
under construction in the US at US$556/million tpy2. Soon
after, brownfield LNG conversions followed at other US
regasification terminals: Cameron LNG, Freeport LNG,
Cove Point LNG and Southern LNG with estimated capital
costs ranging from nearly US$600/million tpy to
US$1060/million tpy.2 Cheniere is also constructing the
Corpus Christi LNG project – a new greenfield facility in
Texas consisting of liquefaction trains, LNG storage, marine
facilities, and infrastructure, with a current reported capital
cost of US$870/million tpy.2
With capital costs of less than US$1060/million tpy for
US brownfield and greenfield projects, substantially less
than the recently completed Australian projects and the
proposed Western Canada and Africa projects, it is easy to
understand why there is a long list of proposed projects
planned along the US Gulf Coast.
Why the US?
In the US, as of 1 May 2017, there were four LNG projects
approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC) that had not started construction (Magnolia LNG
Your trusted consultants and technical advisors
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being the only greenfield facility), 10 LNG projects pending
FERC approval and four in pre-filing. Out of the 18 proposed
brownfield and greenfield projects, 16 are located along the
US Gulf Coast.4
So why such a delta in US$/million tpy costs for projects
in the US versus other locations? One of the key
differentiators between the US projects and other proposed
projects is their respective site locations. Many of the US
projects are located in industrial areas with extensive
infrastructure in place and have access to reliable supplies
of power, gas, and other utilities. These projects are also in
close proximity to population centres with available housing
and a reliable and proven skilled workforce, eliminating the
need for labour transportation, temporary infrastructure,
such as worker camps, and associated power generation and
water and wastewater treatment facilities. Most of these
project sites have suitable water access and relatively short
distances to reach the Gulf of Mexico via established
shipping channels for LNG ships, minimising the (sometimes
substantial) marine infrastructure costs. In addition, the US
has a proven and robust regulatory and permitting process,
supportive pro-business communities and government, and,
notably, lower inherent security risks when compared to
other countries.
Along the US Gulf Coast, however, not all projects
proposed or in current development have the same site
characteristics. Many of the current proposed projects are
missing one or more of the key features that define a site as
a ‘good’ site from a construction standpoint. For example, the
need for extensive soil preparation or soil stabilisation must
LNG Engineering
Onshore / Marine / Offshore
DP Consultancy
www.braemarengineering.com
Part of Braemar Shipping Services Plc

Figure 2. Plot of Magnolia LNG project site located adjacent to existing LNG canal,
turning basin, material offloading facility and staging area.
be considered. What is the size of the footprint for the
project? Does it include sufficient areas for laydown, staging
and temporary facilities, or must these be provided
elsewhere? Clearly, the more land to develop, the greater the
cost. Will any wetlands be affected/disturbed? Are there
existing material offloading facilities close to the site for
material deliveries or must these be constructed also? Does
the site need to be elevated or have flood protection dikes
constructed to address a potential hurricane storm flood
surge? How far from the site is the electrical power tie-in
and is it reliable, or will a dedicated power plant be
necessary? How far is the site from the nearest town and fire
and emergency services? Will park and ride and bussing
services be required to transport thousands of craft workers
during construction, or will a worker camp be required to
offset long commutes? Are there multiple roads to the
facility and will there be access after a major storm or
hurricane? How long after a major storm before the LNG
plant can be accessed safely?
In today’s economically competitive LNG market, simply
finding a site near water is insufficient to render it
economically attractive. Even in a preferred location along
the US Gulf Coast, responses of ‘yes’ to many of the above
questions can have a substantial impact to the final total
capital cost for a specific project. Costs are relatively higher
for greenfield projects when comparing to brownfield
projects due to absence of shared facilities, such as storage
and loading. Nevertheless, many currently proposed
greenfield projects have reported capital cost aspirations
estimates of US$600/million tpy, US$500/million tpy and
even targets as low as US$450/million tpy. These low
US$/million tpy aspirations may in some cases be driven by
challenging LNG market conditions representing targets
needed to support financial modelling rather than
representing realistic expectations. Close inspection of
construction-related costs associated with selected sites can
provide clues as to the viability of such estimates. Many of
these estimates seem overly aggressive as supported by the
‘best in class’ US$556/million tpy delivered to-date by
Cheniere’s Sabine Pass liquefaction project on a brownfield
site. By applying realistic assessments to the above
questions and considerations, many new greenfield projects
with less than optimum sites may find they are unable to
24 November 2017
achieve their full scope project
capital cost targets due to
construction challenges on the
selected sites.
Conclusion
Site selection is vital to controlling
LNG plant construction and
infrastructure costs, which, in turn,
can drive the financial viability of
a project. LNG Limited seeks to
develop a geographically diverse
portfolio of LNG export facilities
by identifying and securing the
best strategically located sites
that enable delivery of industry
leading low cost solutions. LNG
Limited’s successful implementation
of its stringent site selection
criteria fully considering construction costs on Magnolia
LNG, coupled with its proprietary OSMR® technology and
modular execution, results in a project that has been able
to achieve a binding and guaranteed lump sum turnkey
(LSTK) engineering, procurement and construction (EPC)
contract of US$544/million tpy and an overall capital cost
of US$635/million tpy5 including owner’s cost. Presently,
Magnolia LNG, with its industry leading US$/million tpy and a
fully permitted site, is the only project from the second wave
of proposed US brownfield or greenfield projects that is ready
for execution. Magnolia LNG selected 115 acres of industrial
land adjacent to the established Calcasieu River Industrial
Canal as its site for the project as illustrated in Figures 1
and 2. The canal has an existing turning basin and both are
dredged to a draft of nominally 42 ft. This allows the project
to build a marine berth for LNG ships with topsides located
on land solely by excavating and dredging a pocket within the
property boundary versus constructing a long and expensive
jetty and trestle. In addition, an existing material offloading
facility and staging area is located adjacent to the site on the
turning basin. The site elevation is approximately 28 ft above
sea level, above the 500 year flood surge, and does not need
a flood protection dike or any soil to be imported to raise the
site elevation. The permanent electrical power tie-in is located
under two miles away and the site has an existing feed gas
pipeline, water pipeline and temporary construction power
within its property boundaries. The site’s close proximity to
the community of Lake Charles, within a half hour commute to
the site, is an attractive incentive for the area’s proven skilled
workforce. The project will also benefit from the extensive
local and regional oil and gas service industry for construction
equipment and supplies, operations laboratory support and
fire and emergency response.
References
1. SONGHURST, B., ‘LNG Plant Cost Escalation’, The Oxford
Institute for Energy Studies (OIES), (February 2014).
2. CORKHILL, M., ‘LNG Project Costs and the Luck of the
Draw’, LNG World Shipping, (January 2016).
3. U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Website.
4. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Website.
5. Liquefied Natural Gas Limited, Investor Presentation,
(August 2017).
 An
innovative
design
for
enhanced
safety

Sylvain Ringot,
Dunkerque LNG,
France, outlines how the
Dunkerque LNG terminal
entered into commercial
operation as a model of safety Figure 1. Aerial view of the
in the LNG industry. Dunkerque LNG terminal. Copyright
Dunkerque LNG – Happy Day.

n 1 January 2017, the Dunkerque LNG terminal together at the start of the design stage, and very soon after,

O entered into commercial operations after five years of

construction. The 13 billion m3/year of gas terminal
is a model of safety in the LNG industry: Borrowing proven
technologies tested in other terminals and designed from the
beginning in order to enhance the reduction of risk and of
gravity of potential incidents.
EDF’s reputation as an energy company focusing on safety
was at stake: It was the first large scale gas facility designed
and executed entirely under the EDF Group’s planning and
management. To accomplish this, a project team was put
Dunkerque LNG, a company dedicated to the project, was
founded. Dunkerque LNG, a 65% subsidiary of EDF, 25% of
Fluxys and 10% of Total, is now the terminal’s owner and
operator.
EDF’s strong engineering expertise and Fluxys’ expertise
in LNG for more than 30 years have been combined to tackle
operating constraints after the design phase.
In addition, the design of the terminal does not
incorporate any one-of-a-kind technologies to avoid
associated risks.

25
 A design tailor-made for
operation
Ensuring that the terminal design fits operating constraints
was a priority from the beginning of the project.
Including the future operation manager in the project
team from the beginning of the initial studies in 2007
ensured that operating constraints would be taken into
account. At that stage of the project, his task was to
incorporate the operating experience feedback into
decision-making and into specialised safety reviews
(LOPA, HAZOP, etc.).
Later, as soon as the final investment decision was taken,
the operating team has started to grow to reach its full size
approximately one year before commercial start-up.
This early recruitment of operators made it possible to
prepare operating procedures and to train operators as detailed
studies progressed, and also meant that the future operator’s
maintenance and operating teams could monitor the work’s
execution. This made it easier to take over the facility as soon
as it was put into service. Because the operator participated in
engineering reviews, there was stronger checking of operability
and maintainability aspects of the installations.
This decision to consider operating constraints from the
beginning led to some specifics about the Dunkerque LNG
terminal design:
z The upper platform’s jetty has no process equipment
and/or pipework, as they laid on a lower level. This
decision allowed very easy operation and maintenance
Key characteristics of the
Dunkerque LNG terminal
The Dunkerque LNG terminal, connected directly to two
markets, France and Belgium, has an annual regasification
capacity of 13 billion m3 of gas, representing around 20%
of France and Belgium’s annual natural gas consumption.
This makes it the second-largest terminal in continental
Europe. The Dunkirk LNG terminal, installed on a 56 ha
platform at Dunkirk’s western port, is equipped with:
z • A landing stage that allows the largest methane
tankers (267 000 m3) to unload/reload at a maximum
flow rate of 14 000 m3/h for unloading and
4000 m3/h for reloading. Modifications are under way
which will allow the Dunkirk LNG terminal to reach a
maximum flow rate of 8800 m3/h (LNG) for reloading.
z • Three LNG tanks, each with a storage capacity of
200 000 m3 of LNG.
z • Ten Open Rack Vapourisers (ORV) sending
7000 m3(N)/h to 1.95 million m3(N)/h of natural gas
into the transmission system.
z • A 5 km underwater tunnel built between the
Gravelines nuclear power plant and the Dunkirk LNG
terminal, which brings in a portion of the lukewarm
water discharged by the nuclear power plan to the
LNG terminal. Given the North Sea water temperature,
this industrial synergy saves the equivalent of the
annual gas consumption of the Dunkirk metropolitan
area.
26 November 2017
of arms, which are sensitive devices on a terminal with a
single jetty.
z Pipe-ways and equipment have been distributed to
be accessible with an eye to roundsmen but also
maintenance operations.
z Fixed and travelling cranes make lifts for maintenance of
pumps and compressors with no need for mobile cranes,
which cause many operating incidents.
z The tank platform is designed for manipulating devices
(pumps, valves, actuators, frames) via a fixed crane
installed on the dome as well as dedicated supports
(safety valves).
An innovative design for safety
The Dunkerque LNG terminal was the first upper-tier SEVESO
establishment authorised in France after regulatory changes
following the AZF accident.
The demanding regulation and the EDF Group’s
environmental/safety culture led to the introduction, starting
with the terminal’s design and founded on accidentology
(including accidentology shared within the LNG industry), of a
few innovative concepts with the goal to minimise the risk
level of the establishment.
Collection of safety valves: All safety valves (Pressure
Safety Valves and Thermal Safety Valves) in the terminal are
collected, either towards the evaporation grid (Boil-Off Gas) or
towards the flare system, depending on the flow rate and the
design of the valves. By limiting all risk of uncontrolled
emissions of gas into the atmosphere, this configuration
reduces the terminal’s environmental impact in terms of
greenhouse gas discharge. Aside from the environmental
aspect, this choice reduces the size of ATEX zones and
therefore risks to workers.
LNG collection channels: All LNG and BOG pipes circulate
in pipe-ways. A channel located near the LNG pipes allows for
any potential LNG leakage to be collected. It can then direct
this LNG to a retention area fitted with foam generators. This
ensures that no LNG stagnates near equipment and limits the
need to protect the equipment against thermal flux. Finally,
such containment of accidental spreading of LNG limits the
size of vapour clouds that follow vapourisation of LNG and
makes it easier to predict intervention teams’ areas of focus in
the event of a major incident, as it determines where the
collected and retained LNG will be located.
Over-filling of tanks: this accident scenario is probably
among the most serious that could arise in an LNG terminal.
The rise in internal pressure could destroy the tanks’ walls
and cause the roof panels to collapse, leading to a massive
loss in containment. Therefore, two special provisions have
been implemented in the terminal’s tanks in addition to the
usual provisions (safety valves, vent valve, gauging, etc.)
z Every tank’s dome is frangible. According to the tank
designer’s calculations, an increase in pressure of about
700 mbar inside the tank creates enough cracks in the
dome’s concrete that internal overpressure is released
into the atmosphere. At this same pressure, the walls
remain undamaged, ensuring that the LNG is retained.
However, the maximum service pressure of the tanks
remains identical to the value usually maintained, and
pressure tests of the tank have been carried out without
difficulty.
LNG Industry Website

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Figure 2. Aerial view of the Dunkerque LNG terminal’s process zone.
Copyright Dunkerque LNG – Happy Day.
possible to check contractors’ attention to safety as they
developed their studies.
Figure 3. 3D Image of the LNG channels.
z Furthermore, in addition to the usual automatic actions
performed on the upper LNG level, a patented arrangement
allows very high levels to be detected. This detector
is made up of three temperature probes placed at the
altimetry corresponding to the tanks’ very, very, very high
(HHH) level. A dedicated small flow of natural gas maintains
its temperature at a value much higher than that of the
LNG, while an increase in the level of LNG would bring
their temperature down to -160ºC. Besides, a dedicated
device allows to test them from outside the tank.
Absence of High Pressure LNG header: Each of the
ten high-pressure (HP) pumps is devoted to a single ORV.
Regasification is structured into five groups of two Pump/ORV
sets, all identical. This arrangement makes it possible to avoid
shared HP pipelines of large diameter and their associated
risks, as these groups of equipment are fed with low pressure
(LP) LNG.
As a result, the number of HP valves in the terminal is
reduced: Isolation during maintenance is carried out from LP
LNG and from natural gas systems. Furthermore, the
maximum HP flows to be considered in risk assessment are on
the order of 200 tph instead of 3000 tph in the case of a
single HP header.
ORVs are reliable enough so that this arrangement does
not reduce the availability of the terminal’s regasification
function. The seawater pumps, however, remain standardised.
28 November 2017
Independence of protective systems: In addition to
the operating system supervised by the operator, three
independent systems ensure that installations are
protected from deviations in physical parameters or
when an abnormal situation is detected – they set off
an automatic protection of installations.
Register for safety action: The devil is in the details.
So as to check that safety was being taken into account
throughout the project’s lifetime, all observations with
safety implications were tracked from the beginning of
the project up to receipt of the installations via a
single register – the Safety Action Follow-up Register
(SAFUR).
The contractor in charge of the process aspect was
tasked with keeping this register up to date. This made
it possible to measure how safety was being accounted
for in detailed studies (number of new points opened)
and whether all project owner requests were being
properly accounted for (by effectively closing
observations). The existence of this register made it
Dropped-off ideas
For time reasons, a few ideas for simplification were not
implemented in this project.
The spacing between an ORV and the HP pump has been
kept around 40 m, even though a larger reduction was
targeted, or even to incorporate the HP pump and the heat
exchanger panels into a single concrete support assembly,
which would have required a more in-depth study of the
degassing systems and of the continued cooling of the pumps
and LNG systems. The possible reductions in line weights
would have perhaps made this study profitable.
A ‘conventional’ reincorporation system has been adopted.
Without going so far as to turn to liquefaction solutions
integrated into tanks, the condensation time for gas bubbles
in an LNG flow, under usual speed conditions as well as under
the pressure and temperature of an LNG terminal’s pipework
– less than one second – must make it possible to postulate
‘on-line’ reincorporation, potentially followed by a degassing
tank that would be passive so as to guarantee the protection
of the LP LNG pumps.
Developing this type of arrangement would allow to
suppress ion on the drum on each associated control loop,
which are complicated to apply and have caused industrial
incidents recorded at several LNG reception terminals. The
study of such a system could be carried out in collaboration
with other LNG actors to mitigate previous drawbacks.
Conclusion
The safety and security of people and assets, an absolute
priority for the three shareholders in Dunkerque LNG, has
been taken into account ever since the design of the terminal
was begun. The innovative solutions implemented allowed
Dunkerque LNG on 1 January 2017 to put into service an
industrial asset that is highly reliable in terms of safety,
which is a key satisfactory factor for its two customers EDF
and TOTAL, engaged for a 20 year period in regasification
subscription. For the next 50 years of operations, Dunkerque
LNG knows it can rely every day on the expertise of its partner
Fluxys.
 Eyes in the sky
David Williams, Texo Drone Survey
& Inspection Ltd, UK, presents
the latest drone technology set to
revolutionise the monitoring and
maintenance of LNG plants.
Figure 1. Industrial UAV Inspection.
evelopments in UAV technology for LNG inspection
D services and aerial survey work have been extensive
over recent years, and the pace of progress remains
unrelenting. The technology has transformed monitoring and
maintenance regimes, adding greater commercial value and
engineering accuracy – and proving itself against so many
long-established ways of working by allowing assets to be
inspected while they are live.
29
 The UAV inspection method avoids the need for
rope-access inspections and associated costly asset
shutdowns, saving time and money as well as removing the
risks of working at height. The accessibility and capability of
the mission-critical data gathered for asset integrity
inspections has been a ‘game changer’ for the LNG industry.
It is not just the savings in terms of time and cost-efficiency
that are decisive, but the numerous operational benefits that
include improved monitoring and planning and the removal
of risks to personnel.
Operational benefits such as these are invaluable
against an industry background of meeting tough targets in
long-term supply contracts and avoiding penalties.
Workscopes for fabric maintenance can be quantified much
more quickly and accurately through close visual inspection
for example. CVI inspections generate thousands of images
and high-definition video. All of this provides data to inform
engineering decisions in a fraction of the time that it would
take a large rope access team to cover an area such as a
flare stack. Additionally, the versatility of UAV inspections
also includes the ability to carry out precise asset
information modelling, optical gas imaging and
hyperspectral investigations of structures.
A technology with time and
cost-saving advantages
Getting accurate assessments on the state of a particular
asset quickly and in a relatively short period of time
compares highly favourably to bringing in a rope access
team to carry out an inspection that would involve a serious
amount of safety equipment and take many days or even
several weeks to plan and carry out. A UAV can be launched
in a matter of minutes and deliver real-time high definition
footage to an inspection team safely located on the ground
below.
The detail picked up by onboard cameras is minute –
even the smallest hairline cracks and defects are made
crystal-clear. The level of detail coupled with the ability to
review, slow down, and replay footage means that highly
detailed inspections can be carried out to identify problem
areas, common difficulties, or regular maintenance
requirements. It also means that repairs can be precisely
planned, based on the level of detail acquired; once again
this brings further savings in the form of vastly improved
planning.
Figure 2. Texo T28 Survey-Grade LiDAR system.
30 November 2017
Supporting planning in
shutdowns and turnarounds
The efficiency of planned shutdowns can be further
improved by using UAV inspection to precisely identify
the condition and specification of parts that may need
to be replaced. Parts and components are all too often
simply not available off the shelf and have to be specially
manufactured. This is a huge benefit to plant operators to be
able to order up parts well in advance of them potentially
failing.
As well as being much quicker to carry out, UAV
inspections can often extend production by generating
information that feeds into decisions about operational
continuity. Many operators are now inspecting their assets
on an annual basis using UAVs as part of a planned
inspection regime. Elsewhere, other operators are tracking
deterioration or already identified issues on a
month-by-month basis to push back the time between
shutdowns, something they are now able to do thanks to
accurate records of asset condition that can be quickly
updated on an ongoing basis.
Bringing objectivity to asset
management
All of these advantages have made UAV technology a
key player in helping LNG producers to design their
asset management programmes. Everything starts with
agreeing objective measures of guidelines and condition
ratings, which are based on detailed images that identify
precisely what each rating represents for each component.
In this way, all categories are agreed from the outset and
objectively with regard to true condition of components;
detailed images allow for asset condition to be precisely
graded. This also ensures the repeatability of inspections in
terms of consistent results – each inspection is to exactly
the same criteria. In this way, true condition can be reliably
tracked over a period, with interventions being planned
based on objective data that allow for highly accurate
projections.
UAVs and the LNG industry
In the LNG industry, plant availability is always at a
premium: Delivery slots for LNG producers are strictly
enforced and any delays in shipments can give rise to huge
cost penalties that derive from penalty clauses built into
supply contracts. In view of this, it is perhaps not surprising
that LNG producers are highly risk-averse in terms of any
potential disruption to production. Traditional methods of
inspection of course involve plant shutdowns, but they add
to the feeling of insecurity in other ways too: no-one knows,
for example, just what will be discovered.
By way of contrast, UAV inspection shows up defects in
high-quality definition and while an asset is live. It means
that potential defects in components can be spotted early
and before they become an issue – and well ahead of any
planned shutdown. Suddenly, maintenance regimes are
underpinned by up-to-the-minute engineering certainty
relating to all areas of LNG plant, include inaccessible flare
stacks and flare tips. There are huge benefits in terms of
reducing exposure to operational risk for plant and
personnel, which go hand in hand with improvements in
safety.
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 Other assets such as communications towers and waste
heat boiler ducting at LNG facilities can also be inspected by
UAV. Due to the immense heat generated, such plant is
similarly impossible to inspect live using traditional
inspections methods. CVI is combined with detailed
thermography to provide a complete and objective view of
asset condition – and all of this comes with the critical
differentiator of large cost savings through maximised plant
availability.
UAV inspection work at LNG plants is highly efficient in
terms of time taken: Inspections can range from a few hours
to a matter of a few days depending on the scale and
complexity of the assets to be inspected. Apart from its
inherent objectivity and high-definition detail, there is
another way too in which UAV technology provides greater
accuracy: UAVs, unlike human inspection teams, do not of
course get tired. This is a major consideration in hot climates
and in confined space inspections where human beings start
to flag and their attention to detail and being ‘on task’
generally can be compromised.
Inspections to produce data in all
formats and deal with all hazards
More detailed applications involve the use of multiple UAV
platforms with dual payloads and cameras that use a variety
of high-quality, factor calibrated and interchangeable lenses
that are tailored to meet varying requirements. Thermal
systems can cover everything from coupled structural
thermal analysis to hot spot identification, leak detection
and water ingress detection. Visual and thermal aspects
in one inspection or survey for maximum efficiency. Using
advanced flight control, highly detailed orthomosaics can
be stitched together seamlessly using advanced software
systems – to allow for an overview of the specified target
area – with the ability to magnify and observe the smallest
details.
Quality, quantifiable data is the key principle at the heart
of precision inspection by UAV. Texo DSI inspections are
supported by a bespoke cloud portal system that allows data
to be hosted by the company. The use of the portal enables
the direct comparison of historical inspections and
interaction with data sets, and analysis tools also generate
classification by fault type across a client’s entire portfolio.
Data can be generated not just for localised reporting but
also regionally and even globally.
Data gathered also includes hyperspectral imaging which
collects and processes information from across the
electromagnetic spectrum. Hyperspectral imaging deals with
the imaging of narrow spectral bands over a continuous
spectral range, and produces the spectra of all pixels in the
scene. It provides a unique spectral signature for every pixel,
which can be used by processing techniques to identify
hazardous materials such as asbestos for example. Gas
hazards can be detected using Optical Gas Imaging (OGI),
which can quickly locate leaks accurately across a wide area
and again without the need for shutdowns.
Internal and confined spaces
Internal and external inspections are equally crucial and
hugely important at any facility. Operations in confined, unlit
and hazardous spaces have long been a major safety and
logistical nightmare for plant engineers, often requiring long
32 November 2017
periods of planning and implementation of access solutions
such as rope access and scaffold. This leads to a costly and
risky inspection, with the added disadvantage of reduced
inspection times due to the time taken to establish access
solutions.
UAVs with dual visual and thermal sensor systems, paired
with super bright LED lighting allow for safe and highly
capable in confined unlit spaces. Rapid deployment and
manoeuvrability allow for tanks and other vessel structures
to be inspected thoroughly and in as little as 30 minutes. A
carbon fibre anti-collision encapsulation system is used on
the UAV to allow it to come into direct contact with surfaces
and maximise data quality while ensuring that no damage is
sustained either by the asset or the UAV itself.
UAV technology that delivers
accuracy and certainty
In an increasingly competitive commercial environment,
UAV companies need to be ahead of the game and building
solutions for clients ‘from the bottom up’ if they are to meet
the challenges facing the oil and gas industry, now and in
the future. This is precisely the route that Texo Drone Survey
and Inspection Ltd has taken.
Investment and innovation have led to class-leading
platforms that bring together UAV and survey technologies
to deliver previously unavailable capabilities such as highly
accurate survey grade LiDAR to the commercial UAV market.
The UAVs currently in operation can handle wind speeds of
up to 15 m/sec. and have the flexibility to carry a variety of
custom payloads; Texo DSI Ltd has permits for operations up
to 20 kg – representing a ‘game-changer’ for the energy
sector.
UAV surveys are ten times faster than contact-based
surveys, and provide a welter of high-definition images.
Accuracy of data in conventional LiDAR UAV surveys is
generally to around 40 mm; investment and development of
UAV vehicles and associated survey software has led to
Texo DSI Ltd achieving accuracy of up to 1 – 3 mm in its
survey grade LiDAR, which is delivered via its custom-built
UAV platform that measures over 1 million points per sec. This
gives Texo DSI Ltd the most accurate UAV deployed survey
grade LiDAR in the sector. It means that operators can get
quick and highly reliable surveys of entire assets in fraction of
the time that it would take a traditional survey team.
A constant technological
evolution
UAV technology meets a wide range of LNG producer
requirements, and the technology is constantly evolving
in terms of payloads and applications. Highly accurate
inspection data removes uncertainty and error from
maintenance and monitoring regimes. Coupled with huge
operational benefits, it makes UAV solutions a highly
compelling proposition in the contract-driven LNG industry.
Quite simply technological innovation is a key part of
continued commercial success for UAV companies and LNG
producers alike.
Another example of this consistent development and
innovation is evident in Texo DSI Ltd launching the world’s
first UT integrated UAV system for precision thickness
measurement applications on both flat and curved
surfaces.b
Starting-up LNG
plants smoothly

Davide De Bacco, Saipem SPA,

Italy, presents some of the main
challenges that have been or
could be encountered during the
commissioning and start-up of
base load LNG Plants.
he purpose of this article is to focus

T on some of the major issues that

have been experienced by Saipem in
past LNG projects, and that could affect the
timely and successful commissioning and
start-up of future LNG production facilities,
particularly those located in remote or
underdeveloped areas.

Gas-in
Many LNG base-load plants are not
connected to an external electrical network
or grid. The main power

Figure 1. Temporary flare for early ‘fuel gas-in’

(image courtesy of Zeeco Inc.).

33
 supply is often generated by gas turbine driven generators
(GTGs) on site in an ‘island’ configuration.
The final commissioning and start-up of a LNG plant
requires the running of large motor drives, such as compressor
helper motors/heating medium circulation pumps, and many
smaller motor drives (such as fin fan motors). These drives
cannot all be fed simultaneously by temporary or permanent
diesel generators due to the limited amount of generated
power. Therefore, it is necessary to have the permanent GTGs
in service and supplying reliable power, prior to starting
commissioning activities inside the units associated with
these drives.
The provision of a temporary flare (or vent) like the one
shown in Figure 1 (close to the Power Generation area) is an
option to be considered if feed gas, for the provision of fuel
gas, is available well in advance of the permanent flare
construction and commissioning activities being completed. A
safe disposal system for those units in gas service is a
requirement that must be met prior to ‘fuel gas-in’.
The installation of a temporary flare could also allow
construction and commissioning activities to continue in the
potentially extensive area that would otherwise have been
required for the normal gas path from the gas inlet facilities
to the permanently installed flare stack(s).
Prior to the commencement of commissioning activities
on a GTG, sufficient load (5 – 10% of machine rated power)
must be available to keep the GTG running continuously, in a
safe and reliable condition. Running of a GTG at low loads for
extended periods of time will increase the frequency of
intrusive maintenance and result in accelerated wear and tear
of the unit as a whole.
In the case of a ‘greenfield’ project the procurement of an
electrical load bank, like the one shown in Figure 2, should be
considered to provide the necessary load for the performance
of critical electrical testing linked to the plant load (Load
Sharing, Load Shedding, DLN Tuning, etc.) during GTG
commissioning and initial start-up.
Process train ‘warm-end’
The provision of dry sweet feed gas from the ‘warm-end’
is fundamental to allow the dry-out and commissioning of
cryogenic sections to proceed.
The dry-out (deriming) of the cold sections of LNG plants
will avoid moisture freezing when the unit is cooled down to
cryogenic temperatures. Inefficient dry-out could potentially
lead to plugging and mechanical damage of cold section
equipment.
Figure 2. Electrical Load Bank (courtesy of Simplex Inc.).
34 November 2017
The success of this potentially time-consuming activity is
linked to:
z The early development of detailed procedures identifying
each of the circuits to be dried out, with their own
requirements/targets, arranged in a sequence to meet the
start-up schedule.
z The drying out of sensitive equipment (aluminum heat
exchangers and rotating machines) in accordance with
vendor or licensor procedures.
z The identification and avoidance of trapped moisture
in any potential dead leg of the dry-out circuits, such
as interconnecting lines, valve bodies, instrumentation
sensing lines.
z The simultaneous dry-out of some circuits to fully exploit
the defrost gas heater installed duty during the whole
dry-out period, thus minimising the duration of the
activity and consequently the amount of flared gas.
z The recording of accurate dew point measurements at
regular intervals during the dry out operation and in
static conditions, a few hours after the interruption of the
dry-out gas flow, to confirm the effective dry-out of each
circuit.
Further reduction of flared gas can be obtained by
pre-drying the defrost gas network and the cold process units
with instrument quality air prior to inerting them with
nitrogen.
Over confidence in the commissioning and initial start-up
of the warm-end units, which are common to many other
hydrocarbon processes, could result in contaminant carry-over
leading to spurious trips and potential damage or blockage
within downstream cold-end units.
Contaminant breakthrough is often attributed to amine
foaming and channeling or insufficient regeneration of
molecular sieve driers.
The likelihood of any potential carry-over which could be
caused by operating staff inexperience in a new plant or by
lack of fine tuning/on line troubleshooting of the control and
safety logics (e.g. regeneration sequence) can be mitigated by:
z A thorough degreasing of the Acid Gas Removal Unit
(AGRU).
z The development of detailed desiccant loading plans.
z Multiple regeneration cycles of the driers before feeding
downstream units.
z The adoption of additional alarms and automatic
protection elements on a temporary basis (e.g. reduced
settings for differential pressures on the AGRU columns).
z An increased frequency of field operations tasks (such as
skimming and sampling of the AGRU).
Attention to detail and cleanliness specifications are
equally important in the warm-end of a LNG train as those in
the cold-end. This is not necessarily the case in other
processes where the specification of the final product could
be the only determining factor.
Process compressors
The commissioning and start-up of process/refrigerants
compressors is one of the most challenging activities in
the commissioning and initial start-up scope. This activity
 Project : Hilli Episeyo FLNG | Credit : Golar LNG

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 into a nitrogen inerted system, which could
0 lead to embrittlement and potential rupture of
the equipment.
Ͳ30 If refrigerant fluids cannot be imported,
they have to be produced inside the plant
Ͳ60
battery limits either by a NGL Recovery and
7HPSHUDWXUHƒ&
Ͳ90
0DQXDOFRROGRZQ Automaticcooldown
Manualcooldown
Ͳ120
$XWRPDWLFFRROGRZQ
Ͳ150
Ͳ180
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Figure 3. Manual vs Automatic cooldown control.
Figure 4. LNG carrier (courtesy of Moss Maritime).
requires a continuous multidisciplinary focus of machinery,
process and instrumentation specialists, including vendor
specialists, for the preparation, firing and monitoring of
the turbine/compressor units and the resolution of any
troubleshooting issues that may arise.
If the refrigeration compressors are driven by gas turbines,
consideration should be given to the start-up fuel gas sources
and operating parameters which may not necessarily be the
same as those encountered during normal operation. During
the engineering phase, Saipem recommends paying particular
attention to the initial fuel gas source to ensure that all the
facilities will be in place and properly sized to allow fuel gas
burnability at start-up conditions, including heaters, insulation
and venting facilities.
The import of hydrocarbon refrigerants like ethane
(or ethylene) and propane from outside the plant battery
limits, either by tie-ins with existing plants or by ships/trucks,
is usually preferred to producing them during the initial
start-up due to the large amount of natural gas flared during
their production. Detailed procedures for the initial build-up
of refrigerant inventories should be developed during the
engineering phase to identify risks and ensure a smooth
start-up.
The provision of temporary vapourisation facilities shall be
considered if only liquid ethane and propane are available for
the first filling. This is in order to avoid excessive temperature
drop close to the injection point as a consequence of partial
pressures equilibrium of the refrigerant fluid being admitted
36 November 2017
Fractionation unit, if the feed gas is heavy
enough in terms of C2+ content, or by dedicated
process schemes inside the liquefaction unit.
If refrigerant fluids cannot be imported
easily or in a timely fashion, Saipem would
recommend conducting the preliminary runs of
the refrigerant compressors with different fluids
(e.g. nitrogen) to allow some commissioning
activities, including dry-out, to be completed
without waiting for the availability of the
design process fluids. The possibility to operate
refrigerant compressors with instrument air, nitrogen, or dry
natural gas as process fluid and source of seal gas must be
included in the design specifications of the machines, and
should be carefully assessed from the early detailed
engineering phase to evaluate the benefits of such flexibility on
the whole start-up schedule against the constraints on the
design and equipment costs.
During these runs, the replacement of anti-surge valves by
calibrated spools protects the valves against any residual debris
from the pre-commissioning phase, simplifies the design of the
valves and avoids the tuning of the anti-surge control system
for such particular scenario. The start-up of heavy duty gas
turbines involves large-size variable speed drivers as starter
motors. Connecting such large users to a partially unloaded
‘island’ electrical network may induce resonance phenomena
(known as Sub-Synchronous Torsional Interactions or SSTI) at
the natural frequencies of power generation gas turbines shafts,
leading to machine shutdown for excessive vibrations and
consequent total plant power failure.
Each of these events is a potential cause of cumulative
fatigue wear/damage of sensitive components (i.e. shafts,
blades, etc.) and significantly affects the commissioning
advancement by pushing everything back to black start
conditions. Saipem has studied this phenomenon in depth and
carried out a detailed root cause analysis with the conclusion
being that the only mitigation of the SSTI risk is to increase
the Short Circuit Power of the electrical network by increasing
either the number of generators in service or the number and
size of electrical loads with relevant circuits.
Process train ‘cold-end’
The efficient and gradual cooldown of the cryogenic units is
critical for the integrity of the aluminium heat exchangers and
rotating equipment, as well as reducing the amount of flared
natural gas typically associated with this phase.
Traditionally, the MCHE (Main Cryogenic Heat Exchanger)
cooldown is manually performed and requires operating skills
to adjust several process variables in parallel while keeping
the unit within design and operational limits, minimising
flaring and producing LNG as quickly as possible.
Licensors and Advanced Process Control Vendors are
starting to propose automatic control tools to assist operating
staff during this delicate phase reducing the quantity of
off-spec LNG and recovering extra production as it can be
deduced by the graph in Figure 3.
 The start-up of cold units is typically the worst operating
flaring scenario of an LNG plant. The provision of dedicated
mitigations, such as ensuring availability of MR components
to maintain the cooldown rate and barricading, should be
considered to both minimise the amount of waste gas and
reduce the exposure of field operating staff to the hazard of
ice falling from the flare pipework.
Experts in Heat Exchange – since 1920
LNG storage and loading
The process train commissioning/start-up schedule can
only be considered fully optimised if it complements the SAFEGUARDING
TOMORROW’S
commissioning/start-up of the storage and loading facilities,
therefore avoiding stand-by periods due to the unavailability

RAW MATERIALS
of the storage tanks to accommodate the LNG product.
The option to proceed with a reverse cooldown of the
LNG storage and loading system (i.e. from an LNG carrier to
the storage tanks) should be carefully evaluated since it
presents some significant advantages: SUPPLY WITH
z It decouples the commissioning and start-up of the LNG
storage and loading systems from the process train TODAY’S
optimising the whole start-up schedule.
z It is more efficient and easier to manage due to the LNG
TECHNOLOGIES
carrier’s ability to supply a stable and continuous flow of
LNG vapour and liquid to meet the cooldown and initial
Oil and gas play a significant role in the global energy
fill requirements of the LNG storage and loading system.
mix. Kelvion is the experienced partner at your side
z It minimises the amount of wasted LNG and consequently
with trendsetting solutions that provide efficient heat
the size of the LNG disposal systems. The LNG train
produces far more LNG in minimum turndown mode than exchange capabilities in production, transportation,
can be utilised for the cooldown of the LNG storage and and processing for the oil and gas industry, with
loading facilities with the excess on-spec LNG requiring outstanding reliability, availability, and an unyielding
disposal. pursuit to cut your life-cycle costs to the core.
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Reverse cooldown is particularly beneficial if the
completion of the storage and loading facilities is well in
advance of the Process Train. The stored LNG can form part of
the first export cargo and be utilised to commission and
start-up other associated units such as the BOG compressors.
Even if the system was not initially intended for reverse
cooldown a dedicated multidisciplinary design review and risk
assessment can be conducted at site to provide this flexibility
and usually results in only a few minor adjustments being
required.
The first loading of an LNG carrier, like the one in Figure
4, is particularly challenging for greenfield plants where the
safety systems of the jetty, as well as the communication
systems from the plant to the ship, shall be put in place for
the very first time. Reverse cooldown will test and verify many
of these systems well in advance of the first loading, and
potentially reduce the docking time of the LNG carrier and the
standby time of supporting resources such as tugboats.
To avoid unnecessary delays, on past projects Saipem
consolidated the loading safety check lists, procedures, and
port authority regulations/approvals well in advance of the
first LNG carrier docking. This can be achieved by involving all
the parties concerned (i.e. contractor, end user and port
authority), in dedicated meetings/workshops to communicate,
address, and resolve any issues that may arise.
The KºBloc is a fully welded
The start-up phase of an LNG plant could result in low plate heat exchanger with a
filling rates, or extended periods of no production if major solidly bolted frame which
problems are encountered. This can result in long residence consists of four columns, top
and bottom plates as well as
time of the LNG in the tanks with resultant inefficient mixing four side plates – and that´s
just one of the product
solutions Kelvion offers the
oil & gas market!
 and ageing of the product which increases the risk of
stratification (see Figure 5) and consequent roll-over. During
these periods the temperature and density profiles inside the
LNG tank must be carefully monitored so that a timely
intervention can be coordinated to circulate the stratified LNG
in order to improve mixing.
LNG production ramp-up
Neglecting the risks associated with this period could lead to
significant delays in the overall project schedule.
For example, DLN Tuning is one of the main start-up
schedule drivers for a base load LNG plant which utilises gas
turbines equipped with DLN combustors. DLN tuning involves
the adjustment of combustion parameters with the aim of
assuring a gas turbine’s optimised functionality, including NOX
and CO emissions compliance, for the entire range of load and
fuel gas compositions during all of its operational phases,
ignition, warm-up, acceleration and normal stop.
Figure 5. From LNG stratification to roll-over.
Figure 6. LNG ship management tool output.
38 November 2017
DLN tuning is performed by a team of vendor control
specialists with the assistance of the plant operations staff.
DLN tuning must be successfully completed before gas
turbines can be fully loaded and safely released for
continuous premix operation (i.e. at base load conditions).
Performing DLN tuning at the boundaries of the
Modified Wobbe Index design range requires the availability
of the leanest and richest fuel gas sources.
It is clear that early detailed planning, consolidated with
the gas turbines vendor(s) and shared with the end user, is a
key factor in minimising disruptions to the start-up schedule.
When LNG production approaches the nominal value the
filling time of the storage tanks decreases and consequently
the margins for delayed ship arrivals also decreases.
During the performance tests it is common to load more
than 1 million m3 of LNG. Saipem’s proprietary
predictive/optimisation tool for the management of LNG
production and LNG ships, seen in Figure 6, is useful to limit
the disturbances to the performance tests and the potential
requirement to repeat them.
The same tool can also support operating staff during
the entire plant lifetime to manage LNG production rate
according to weather forecasts, size and estimated ship
arrival date/time.
Conclusion
The commissioning and initial start-up of LNG plants consists
of multiple phases, each one characterised by its own peculiar
challenges.
Saipem has been involved as a successful EPC contractor
in the LNG business for almost 20 years.
It is a Saipem standard to address all of these challenges
from the early engineering phase with dedicated
multidisciplinary risk assessments to capitalise on lessons
learned and experience gained from previous projects.
 That’s classified

loyd’s Register (LR) believes that the LNG-fuelled fleet will be a considerably large sized market in the future. The

L commercial recognition or requirement for assets with LNG-fuelled capability, the availability of LNG as fuel to
bunker at popular destinations, combined with the technology maturing, has created the perfect environment for the
LNG-fuelled fleet to grow. LR believes that this will continue to happen, with newbuild ships in particular.
During Gastech 2017 in Tokyo, Japan, LR announced a number of innovative gas projects it is participating in or providing
approval to, including: an LNG-fuelled very large ore carrier (VLOC) joint design programme; approval in principle (AiP) for
Babcock’s LGE Process for ecoSMRT® technology; general approval for GTT MARS™; AiP for a flexible and modular ‘natural
gas operating fleet’ concept; and a joint development project (JDP) to commence an AiP for a barge-mounted power plant.

Leo Karistios,
Lloyd’s Register, Greece,
outlines a number of
recently-announced
LNG projects that the
classification society is
working on.

39
 LNG-fuelled VLOC design
The LNG-fuelled VLOC joint design programme is a
collaboration with Woodside Energy Ltd., Anangel Maritime
Services Inc., Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (HHI) and
General Electric Co.
The programme is aimed at exploring the suitability of
technologies for large ships, such as VLOCs. Since the
introduction of International Maritime Organisation (IMO)
nitrogen oxide and sulfur oxide emission limitations, and
the increased developments in the global supply of gas,
there is a continued need for ship designs to evolve to
provide more alternatives to traditional oil-fuelled
designs.
Ship propulsion designs burning natural gas are
considered the most favourable option, and the adoption of
novel gas storage, supply and propulsion technologies are
not only environmentally friendly, but also provide a wealth
of possibilities for cost-efficient design and operation.
The next generation of cost-efficient and
environmentally friendly large ships are best defined by
the design development of an alternative propulsion
system, improved asset safety and reliability. The
agreement outlines the joint design project for a
conventional dual-fuel powered VLOC incorporating
proven technologies. The next stage of the joint design
programme will then investigate the design and benefits
of highly efficient next-generation LNG-fuelled propulsion
systems.
A programme of work has been agreed by the joint
parties to address design, construction and operational
aspects including LNG bunkering, with the aim to create a
new generation of cost-efficient, safe, reliable and, above
all, environmentally-optimised design for large ore carriers.
LNG MR reliquefaction system
Additionally, LR presented AiP to Babcock’s LGE Process
for its LNG mixed refrigerant (MR) reliquefaction system,
ecoSMRT.
Designed in response to the increased issue of excess
boil-off gas (BOG) resulting from the introduction of
dual-fuel propulsion engines (ME-GI/X-DF) with high
efficiency, the ecoSMRT LNG reliquefaction plant is
Figure 1. (L – R) Jose Navarro, Lloyd’s Register (LR), Alan Duckett,
Babcock, and Jim Smith, LR, at the presentation of the approval in
principle (AiP) during Gastech.
40 November 2017
designed for application on LNG carriers to save excess
BOG by its reliquefaction.
The scalable system, optimised for LNG carriers, uses
the well-proven and reliable technology of MR
refrigeration, but is based on a novel arrangement of these
components. The improved single mixed refrigerant (SMR)
LNG reliquefaction system reduces complexity, minimises
overall footprint and reduces cost at initial investment as
well as during operation.
LPG transport technology
LR also awarded general approval to GTT for their
technology dedicated to LPG transport: GTT MARS. As an
expert in LNG, GTT is already well-known for its capacity
to meet the gas and maritime industry requirements, and
now demonstrates to the LPG industry its know-how in
designing containment systems for liquefied gases.
GTT MARS is based on the traditional sea-proven
containment systems of the company to transport liquids at
-55°C or above with densities up to 700 kg/m3. The
technology uses the corrugated stainless steel membrane
from Mark III supported by plywood boxes filled with glass
wool. GTT MARS is, therefore, quite simple, allows LPG
vessels to transport more liquid, and has a lower heat
capacity.
Therefore, the LPG industry will benefit from an
optimised containment technology allowing the transport
of more cargo and shorter cooling down and warming up
times than the other systems.
During the award ceremony at Gastech, LR’s Gas
Technology Strategic Market Manager, Leo Karistios,
commented: “LR is very pleased to have been supporting
GTT’s move into LPG containment systems. GTT MARS is a
membrane technology with great potential for LPG project
ship application. We have been working with GTT since
December 2015, and today we have achieved a significant
milestone for the full assessment of GTT MARS.”
Natural gas operating fleet
concept
In addition to this, LR also provided Wärtsilä and
COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry Co. (CHI) with AiP for their
joint development of a natural gas operating fleet
concept. This development project was carried out
under the terms of a memorandum of understanding
(MoU) signed in June 2016 between the three
companies.
The aim of the concept is to offer global
operators a more efficient and economical fleet
design that meets current and anticipated
environmental requirements according to the
classification rules. The fleet comprises four vessels:
a pusher tug; a LNG storage barge; a LNG
regasification barge, and a floating liquefaction
natural gas barge. The pusher tug can be used to
transport the three barges.
The concept’s main advantages are its operative
flexibility and the fleet’s competitive CAPEX and OPEX
costs. The pusher tug makes all of the units mobile
and transportable. The number and choice of units
will depend on the project, since not all of the
concept’s units are necessarily needed for every
 project. For example, the concept can be utilised to act as a
LNG carrier (using only the pusher tug and LNG storage
barge), or it can be used for more complex projects
involving liquefaction and regasification systems (using all
units). The modular design of Wärtsilä’s liquefaction and
regasification units makes this an excellent concept for gas
plants in the 50 – 200 MW range. The low draft design also
makes it very attractive for gas power plant projects in
South East Asia.
Barge-mounted power plant
Furthermore, LR signed a JDP with HHI to commence an AiP
for a barge-mounted power plant, Hi-Floating Power™.
Hi-Floating Power is HHI’s floating power plant solution
capable of generating maximum power of 221 MW by
running 13 units of HiMSEN dual-fuel engines, upgradeable
up to 400 MW through the addition of extra HiMSEN
dual-fuel engines.
The design of the solution combines HHI’s shipbuilding
expertise with advanced engine engineering and
manufacturing capabilities. By separating dual-fuel engines
into two independent compartments, it provides more
reliable operation, even in the case of emergencies, such as
fire and/or shutdown of either compartment.
Hi-Floating Power can produce power with
barge-mounted generators using natural gas sent out from
adjacent LNG floating storage and regasification units
(FSRUs) via jetty or marine gas oil (MGO) stowed on board
as a back-up fuel. By removing the need for LNG storage
and regasification facilities on board, design and build time
is shortened with simpler configuration and improved
safety features.
The mobility feature, allowing the generation of
electricity in collaboration with the FSRU only when
needed and being independently stationed when not in
operation, brings increased economic solutions to
operators. The three different types of four-stroke dual-fuel
engines of Hi-Floating Power can be selected as per the
client’s preference, and will allow operators to enjoy
operational flexibility.
Mr Chang, Executive Vice President of HHI said: “Since
we have been given a list of inquiries of much more
economical and flexible floating power generating plants
from the market, we come to conclusion that there will
surely be demand for the new concept of floating power
plant. And that’s the rationale behind the JDP signed by HHI
and Lloyd’s Register today. We do believe the JDP will bring
a win-win solution for both companies and will surely lay a
solid foundation for the era of new floating power
generating plants.”
Conclusion
The work that is currently being done by LR, shipbuilders,
shipowners and industry associations is ensuring that the
industry has efficient and safe solutions for using LNG as a
fuel. We are now seeing more and more examples of LNG
as fuel being considered on deepsea applications, such as
large containerships, bulk carriers and VLOCs, and no longer
being limited to short sea shipping applications as has
been the case up until now.

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Test objectives
Rishi Agrawal, Gas Entec,
South Korea, details innovation
in commissioning/cold/gas/
regasification trials in the FLNG
terminal and vessel markets.
T
he objective of commissioning/cold/gas/regasification
trials is to confirm satisfactory operation of LNG fuelled
ship components and associated systems including
associated controls, alarms, and shutdowns. The trials are also
used to quantify the fuel-saving and GHG emission outcomes of
an LNG conversion ship (retrofit) relative to conventional diesel
or marine fueled ships.
At first, commissioning or On Board Tests (OBT) must be
completed, then cold tests, gas trials, and finally regasification
trials. In this article, the specific tasks covered in the
commissioning/cold/gas/regasification trials shall be explained.
Commissioning
Commissioning activities are activities to be performed after the
mechanical completion at the shipyard. The main objective is
to test the functionality of onboard equipment and instruments
before introducing LNG. All required tests are conducted with
nitrogen gas during commissioning. Several kinds of test are
conducted during commissioning, however the major tests are:
z Emergency shutdown (ESDS) system test: Normally, two
ESDS are designed for LNG vessels. ESD-1 is the emergency
shutdown of the LNG transfer in a controlled manner. ESD-2
is the automatic activation of the Emergency Release System.
43
 z Cargo Instruments: Cargo instruments are tested with
nitrogen gas with dummy values in order to be sure of the
alarm set points.
z Hydraulic and pneumatic valve/control valves test: Valves
open/close indication test at cargo control room.
z Gas detection system test: The gas detection system is tested
with sampling gas to verify audible and visual alarms.
z On board equipment such as the vapouriser and BOG
equipment test: Vapouriser functionality check such as
temperature and pressure with nitrogen gas.
z LNG bunkering (loading arms) test: ESD release, ESD and
normal valve open/close test with nitrogen.
There are many other equipment tests in auxiliary and
machinery areas such as generators, boilers, engine load tests
(with diesel only), seawater cooling system and others. The
engine load test with gas is conducted either at the gas trial or
regasification trial stage.

Cold test
After finishing commissioning works, the cold test is the next
activity at the shipyard. The cold test is carried out for the
following purposes prior to the gas trial (low-temperature
N2 gas and liquid cryogenic nitrogen (LN2) is used in place of
LNG):
z The confirmation of displacement and expansion of cargo
pipes at low temperature.
z The confirmation of functional performance of insulation
system for cargo pipes at low temperature.
The LN2 cold test is intended to prove the safe and
adequate operation of all systems and their components
involved with or pertaining to the LNG vessel. Cryogenic piping
and machinery with related instruments and controls are to be
tested using cold nitrogen gas and/or liquid nitrogen in the
shipyard. Cold test procedure is outlined in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Source: Gas Entec Co, Ltd.
Gas trial
After finishing the cold test with LN2, the vessel is ready to
introduce LNG. During the gas trial, cargo equipment such as
the LNG cargo pump, LNG vapouriser and BOG equipment is
ready to be tested with LNG. Large LNG vessels will sail to the
closest LNG terminal in order to conduct the gas trial. Gas trial
tests for small vessels can be conducted at a shipyard. The gas
trial procedure is outlined in Figure 2. After finishing the gas
trial, the vessel is ready for delivery.

Regasification test
In continuation of the gas trial, the regasification test is
carried out at a location either offshore or close-to-shore. The
regasification test for every LNG vessel (such as an FSRU or
LNGC) differs slightly. The objective of this test is to operate all
the cargo equipment on full capacity and redo the engine load
test only on gas. Before operating the cargo equipment at full
capacity, the above procedures must be followed rigidly.
Figure 2. Source: Gas Entec Co, Ltd.
The plan and procedures
verification process is outlined in
Table 1. Expected commissioning period for large LNG vessels. Figure 3.

Stage Description Period (in weeks) Remarks Economics and

technical analysis
1 Commissioning – On board test Minimum 12 weeks Only day work (10 hours) for FLNG terminal
2 Cold test 1 week 24 hours operation
commissioning
There are multiple factors that
3 Gas trial 2 weeks 24 hours operation affect the unit investment cost
of FLNG terminal commissioning
4 Regasification test 1 week 24 hours operation infrastructure in comparison to shore
based LNG terminals. In a broad
Total period 16 weeks
sense, the factors for FLNG relate to:

44 November 2017
1. Technology: A lower economic scale for FLNG terminals in
terms of process technology, design and construction period
in comparison to shore based LNG terminal.
2. Location: Great flexibility in FLNG terminals which
can locate near a gas distribution network making the
economics of the supply chain viable and can reduce
regasification costs which occur in imports terminals and
include handling and vapourisation costs.
3. Price to inputs: Inputs such as material, services, access
to land, etc. are most critical factors which have a direct
impact on commissioning/trials and operations. FLNG
terminal commissioning not only require fewer services
such as utilities, shore equipment, tools and instruments
but also limited access to land.
4. Exchange rate variations: Exchange rates do not only affect
the EPC phase but also commissioning phase due to taking Figure 3. Source: Gas Entec Co, Ltd.
or hiring special services from other overseas countries.
5. Inflation rates: Inflation rates vary from procurement technological innovations, such as equipment functionality
to commissioning period and FLNG terminals have tests during commissioning at the shipyard through simulation
significantly less impact on inflation rates due to the programs, have developed more confidence in ship-owners
reduced time of construction and commissioning. and shipbuilders in terms of safety and effective operation.
The above procedures and results of analysis (i.e. the process
6. Expected commissioning period for big LNG vessels.
steps and reference period) provide the form of technological
Conclusion innovation statistics for commissioning/cold/gas/regasification
At present, LNG terminals/vessels (FSRU, LGNC) are the main trials of FLNG terminals. For reasons explained, the process steps
constraints against the increase of offshore terminals. The and the corresponding reference period should be used with
reduced CAPEX and OPEX, and the flexibility to move from one caution and must not be regarded as a substitute for the due
location to another in the same country has attracted a number diligence in each instance of LNG shipbuilding or conversion
of customers worldwide to develop FLNG terminals. Additionally, projects.
 Lifetime
optimisation
late-fin heat exchangers (PFHEs) are key components in
P many processing plants. They have compact dimensions
and offer a range of operating benefits. Yet using them
incorrectly can result in significant failure and repair costs.
The Linde Group’s Engineering Division has established a
team of specialists who can simulate the life expectancy
of both existing and newly built PFHEs. They optimise the
technical environment of PFHEs and provide plant operators
with individual guidelines, which help to ensure that these
essential components provide decades of trouble-free service.
Heat flow and heat exchange are fundamental for
processing gas and liquids. On a small scale, perhaps you used
this principle yourself if you boiled an egg for breakfast this
morning. The key parameters to consider are temperature and
pressure. For boiling an egg in a kitchen, where air pressure is
around one bar, the water temperature has to reach 100ºC –
46
that is an easy equation. Because processes in a gas plant are
far more complex, sophisticated equipment is essential for
managing heat flow.
These heat management units are called heat exchangers,
and their task is to transfer heat from a warm fluid to a cold
fluid. There are three most commonly used types. Although
shell and tube heat exchangers (STHE) and coil-wound heat
exchangers (CWHE) are used to perform specific tasks, for
example, managing high-pressure applications, allowance for
mechanical cleaning or dealing with corrosive fluids, PFHEs
have become the engineers’ first choice for various operating
scenarios.
Linde Engineering also employs PFHEs in most of its
cryogenic processing plants. These include natural gas,
synthesis gas, hydrogen, chemical and petrochemical plants,
air separation plants, among others. As a manufacturer of
Pascal Freko, Reinhold Hölzl, Axel Lehmacher,
Alexander Woitalka and Teodor Todorov,
Linde Engineering Division, Linde AG, Germany,
demonstrate how to optimise plate-fin heat exchangers’
lifetime.

47
 PFHEs since 1981, Linde has adapted its units to suit the
growing range of processes. Linde’s PFHEs consist of flat and
corrugated plates that are brazed in vacuum furnaces.
Delivery of 12 000 units since 1981
Vacuum-brazing is a complex technology that guarantees the
production of exchangers that demonstrate a higher reliability
compared to traditionally used salt-bath soldering. Linde has
developed special vacuum furnaces, which are located in the
production site in Germany. The vacuum brazing procedure
forms part of Linde’s own know-how and is the key to the
unique quality of its PFHEs.
Furthermore, a second production site has been
established in Dalian, a city of 6 million inhabitants in
north-eastern China, near the Korean Peninsula. In total,
Linde Engineering has supplied more than 12 000 PFHEs to
plants all over the world.
Every PFHE is unique
Despite the high quantity of PFHE units produced, practically
each and every PFHE is customised for its specific task. One
reason is because the size of PFHEs has grown consistently
since the 1980s. This means that the size of the vacuum
furnaces continually adapted to fulfil the industry’s standards.
Today, Linde Engineering is able to deliver PFHEs with a
length of up to 8.2 m. In recent decades, as LNG plants have
increased in size – to capacities of millions of tpy – process
Figure 1. 3D surface plot of metal temperatures vs
simulation time and heat exchanger length.
Figure 2. FEM simulations compile an evaluation of
stresses.
48 November 2017
streams have become stronger accordingly. A single process
stream in a single PFHE block can carry up to 20 MW of heat
duty or more.
The larger a heat exchanger is, the higher its heating area.
In Linde’s PFHE, the specific heating area can measure up to
2000 m² per m³. From an economic perspective, it is more
efficient to increase the size of individual heat exchangers
rather than installing more units. This is an example of how
Linde’s steady investment in innovation in developing larger
furnaces helps customers to reduce costs.
Another quality that makes each unit unique lies within
the process requirements of individual plants. Each unit is
designed individually for its specific requirements regarding
heat exchange and boundary conditions like allowable
pressure drop. Specialised engineers develop custom-made
solutions for every plant. Even if many PFHE units look similar
on the outside, their heat profile is typically one-of-a-kind.
Beside the unique structure, every PFHE offers the
following advantages:
z High efficiency.
z Multi-stream (cooling and/or heating).
z Intermediate in/outlets.
z Low cost.
z Small volume resulting from high density in heat transfer
area.
z Low weight due to aluminium material.
z Low design temperatures (to -269°C).
z High NTUs achievable (Number of Transfer Units).
z Pure counter-current flow.
z Allow minimal temperature differences between separate
streams (less than 1 K possible).
z Usage as reboiler, condenser, heater, cooler, chiller, or a
combination.
Thermal stress leads to failure
To ensure optimal performance, some technical usage
restrictions for PFHEs exist. The use of corrosive fluids is
not allowed, as these could damage the aluminium alloy
construction. PFHEs also face some limits in applications
concerning high pressure and high temperature. Compared
to other heat exchanger types, for example, CWHEs or STHEs,
PFHEs are more sensitive to rapid changes in load. These
can lead to thermal stress that can cause leakage of the heat
exchanger unit in the long term by thermal fatigue.1
In countless studies, Linde’s engineers have evaluated
PFHEs under realistic operating conditions. Their main
conclusion gained from the analysis of failure cases: fatigue
resulting from thermal stress under off-design conditions2 is a
major cause of failures, and is responsible for significant
lifetime consumption.3
But what is thermal stress and
why can it be that harmful?
In short, thermal stress refers to mechanical strain arising
from local and/or temporal changes in temperature. When
exposed to heat, metal expands. Because the temperature
profile throughout the PFHE is uneven – hot streams become
cold, cold ones become hot – expansion is uneven as well.
This causes an effect that is common in bi-metals. The
physical cause is different, but geometrically they behave
likewise: one side expands further than the other, which
results in bending or warping.
Of course, a PFHE will not bend like a banana because of
temperature differences or rapid temperature changes. Linde’s
PFHEs are built with a higher stress resistance than is needed
under normal operating conditions. Improper operation does
not damage the heat exchanger immediately. But continuous
excessive stress leads to fatigue and to changes in the
material’s microstructure. Grain boundaries within the
aluminium alloy lose alignment and the crystal lattice
becomes weaker. Ultimately, leakages occur, resulting in high
costs for repair and an unplanned interruption in operations.
How to extend a heat exchanger’s
lifetime
To fully understand the connection between stress and
how this shortens a product’s lifetime requires taking a
short excursion into materials science. As German railway
engineer August Wöhler discovered in the second half of the
19th century, cyclic stress is a bigger threat to a material’s
stability than single stress episodes, even those producing a
higher peak stress. Wöhler created a model to put the stress in
relation to the number of cycles a specimen can run through
before damage occurs because of fatigue. Today, this is known
as the Wöhler curve. It shows that even small differences in
stress levels can have a massive impact on the material’s
lifetime.
So, reducing thermal stress changes is the key to
guaranteeing a long lifetime of a heat exchanger.
Unfortunately, units will typically experience temperature
swings as part of normal operations. Since every plant and its
PFHEs are custom-made, they face individual thermal stress
loads. An individual analysis is needed to calculate thermal
stress, and this will be used to estimate the lifetime of a
single PFHE.4
Step forward in understanding
plant dynamics
This is exactly what Linde’s interdisciplinary team of specialists
does. They have been investigating thermal stress and its effect
on plant components for more than a decade. Based on this
experience the Linde team has been able to develop simulation
tools that allow insights into temperature distributions and
the resulting thermal stress.4 These tools provide operators
with both qualitative and quantitative information on unstable
operation situations, such as plant start-up, trip scenarios and
transitions between various modes of operation.
One example of a simulation tool is a dynamic
thermo-hydraulic heat exchanger modelling framework. It is
based on Linde Engineering’s in-house process simulator called
Optisim®.5 A further modelling system has been patented: the
dynamic 3D finite-elements analysis modelling system LIBAS®
(Linde Brazed Plate-fin Analysis of Stress) for PFHEs is based on
theoretical investigations and practical experiments.6
Both are combined und utilised in the Hazard Analysis
(HAZAN), for lifetime estimation studies and for root-cause
studies of PFHE failures. During the plant-engineering phase,
analysis is carried out with these tools. The results help the
design engineers to optimise their concept.7 Thanks to
detailed studies performed in advance, plant design has
become more precise and sustainable. Additionally, the use of
dynamic models has been a big step forward in understanding
the dynamics of plant equipment.
Life prolonging measures for heat
exchangers
The expertise gained through simulation and analysis helps
Linde’s engineers to prolong the lifetime of heat exchangers
already in operation as well. The basis for their work is the
lifetime analysis of running heat exchangers. As many of
Linde’s PFHEs were installed more than 20, sometimes even
30 years ago, the focus at that time was not on measuring
all possible data streams. Therefore, reliable data is rarely
available from this period. In those cases, specialists
of structural mechanics, process engineering and other
departments contact the plant operators to define typical
scenarios that heat exchangers face during operation. After
performing thermo-hydraulic simulations and finite-element
methods (FEM) simulations, they compile an evaluation of
stresses. Based on this, they suggest measures to improve
(e.g. operation procedures) and by doing so prolong the
lifetime of a PFHE.
For plant operators, this evaluation of stress variables can
be extremely useful – and cost-saving. In some cases, a PFHE
failure forces operators to shut down the entire plant. Even in
mid-scale plants, loss of profits can rise to millions of euros
per day, not including the costs of repair. If the damaged PFHE
has been installed in a cold box, repair becomes even more
complex due to the limited accessibility of the box due to
their compactness.
As an experienced manufacturer of PFHEs and a pioneer
in customised plant design, Linde Engineering offers a unique
combination of manufacturing and service. Customers and
plant operators from all over the world have benefitted from
Linde’s lifetime estimation. While detailed analysis is executed
within Linde plants only, lifetime screening is possible for all
kinds of PFHEs.
References
1. Hölzl, et al “Experimental fatigue evaluation of aluminum
brazed plate fin heat exchangers”, ASME Pressure Vessel and
Piping, 2013.
2. Hölzl, et al “Damage analysis and fatigue evaluation of an
aluminum brazed plate fin heat exchanger”, ASME Pressure
Vessel and Piping, 2014.
3. Hölzl, R., “Lifetime estimation of aluminum plate fin heat
exchangers”, ASME Pressure Vessel and Piping, 2012.
4. Hölzl, Reinhold, Process for determining the rigidity of a
plate heat exchanger and process for producing the plate
heat exchanger, European Patent EP 1830149 B2, US Patent US
7788073 B2 and Corresponding Patents in China and Japan.
5. Alexander Woitalka, Ingo Thomas, Pascal Freko,
Axel Lehmacher: DYNAMIC SIMULATION OF HEAT
EXCHANGERS USING LINDE’S IN-HOUSE PROCESS
SIMULATOR OPTISIM® (Proceedings of CHT-15, ICHMT
International Symposium on Advances in Computational
Heat Transfer, May 25-29, 2015, Rutgers University, Piscataway,
USA, CHT-15-001).
6. Hölzl, et al “Experimental fatigue evaluation of aluminum
brazed plate fin heat exchangers”, ASME Pressure Vessel and
Piping, 2013.
7. Pascal Freko, Ingo Thomas, Reinhold Hölzl, Axel Lehmacher,
Alexander Woitalka: OPTIMIZATION OF LIFETIME
EXPECTANCE FOR HEAT EXCHANGERS WITH SPECIAL
REQUIREMENTS (Proceedings of the 15th International Heat
Transfer Conference, IHTC-15 August 10-15, 2014, Kyoto, Japan,
IHTC15-9791)
November 2017 49
50
 Pushing
boundaries

From Brazed Aluminium Plate-Fin Heat

Exchangers…
Brazed Aluminium Heat Exchangers (BAHX) are widely used in the cryogenics
Florian Picard, industry, mainly for refrigeration (natural gas liquefaction (-160ºC),
He (-269ºC), H2 (-240ºC), etc.) and cryogenic distillation (ethylene (-104ºC),
Fives Cryo, France, natural gas (-163ºC), NGL (-90ºC), NRU (-196ºC), etc.).
BAHX are resourceful for such cryogenics applications thanks to their high
presents a new compactness, high thermal efficiency, low weight (BAHX’s density is about
heat exchanger 1300kg/m3) and low maintenance (Mean Time To Failure (MTTF), or availability
level, is 99.99%). Therefore, they provide low capital, installation and operating
technology to the costs.
Generally speaking, a brazed Plate-Fin Heat Exchanger (PFHE) consists of a
market. block of alternating layers, which are separated from one another by plates
(see Figure 1). Each stream circulates in dedicated layers, and gives or receives
energy from the other ones by means of fins. Bars surround and close up each

51

layer ensuring its tightness. Once stacked, all pieces of the
heat exchanger are brazed all together in a vacuum
furnace, in a single operation. Afterwards, headers and
nozzles are welded directly onto the brazed core.
Fins are the heart of that heat exchanger technology.
Fin configuration can be optimised and custom-designed to
any heat exchanger specification in order to find the best
technical and economical solution. Several types of fins are
available (Figure 2: straight, perforated, serrated,
herringbone), and their geometry (thickness, height, fin per
inch, perforation, serration) is custom-defined according to
thermal, hydraulic and mechanical requirements, for each
stream, in order to reach the overall target performance of
the heat exchanger.
This typical structural configuration gives outstanding
abilities to a PFHE:
z Compactness: Heat transfer surface area can reach
2000m2/m3.
z High efficiency: Brazed Plate-Fin Heat exchangers are
mainly used in counter current flow configuration,
which is the most thermal efficient configuration
and largely better than cross flow configuration. Very
low pinch temperature, lower than 1ºC, is possible,
and pressure drop can be limited and very low
(approximately a few tens of mbar).
Figure 1.: Brazed plate-fin heat exchanger structure.
Figure 2. Types of fins available.
52 November 2017
z High performance: Each stream’s circuit is designed
as an independent chamber vessel, i.e. its pressure
resistance is not dependent on other adjacent stream’s
circuits which are also under pressure (lower or higher
pressure). Moreover, mechanical characteristics are very
good, thanks to this brazed heat exchanger structure,
which is made of bars, plates and fins. Therefore, large
temperature gradients are possible during steady
operations, and can be easily predicted by calculation
for transient conditions (start-up, shut-down).
z Design flexibility: Multi-stream capability in a single
unit is common – up to 15 streams can be gathered in
the same core. And flow configuration can be adapted if
necessary (cross-flow, co-current flow, cross counterflow,
etc.). Optimised custom design is promoted by a large
available range of fins, which could be also specifically
adapted according to specification requirements.
…to Brazed Stainless Steel
Plate-Fin Heat Exchangers
Aluminium Plate-fin Heat Exchangers are today mainly
used for such cryogenics applications, with a temperature
range of between -270ºC – 65ºC, and a maximum design
pressure of 140 bar. The innovation was to extend the
range of functioning of PFHE technology by using stainless
steel instead of aluminium, in order to:
z Increase the temperature range to much higher
temperatures.
z Increase the pressure range to much higher pressures.
z Increase the mechanical robustness.
z Increase the corrosion resistance.
Figure 3 shows the projected operation range for these
two complementary technologies.
The Brazed Stainless Steel Heat Exchanger (BSSHX) is
foreseen to be suitable from cryogenic (-196ºC) to high
temperatures (300ºC), and for high pressures (300 bar).
BAHX abilities, in particular its design versatility, are then
extended to high temperatures and high pressures.
Therefore, BSSHX offers a new compact heat exchanger
solution to the whole heat exchanger market, by proposing
a new compromise between performances and costs,
compared to other existing and available heat transfer
technologies (shell and tubes heat exchanger, Printed
Circuit Heat Exchanger (PCHE) etc.).
BSSHX technology also offers new possibilities in the
cryogenic field, improving mechanical integrity (allowing
higher temperature difference between streams for
example), corrosion resistance (protection against mercury,
water and other contaminants), and reducing longitudinal
thermal conduction effects.
BAHX and BSSHX are two complementary products. The
choice will depend on the customer specific requirements,
to get the best heat transfer solution.
Developments strategy
Considerable research and development (R&D) updates
have been carried out since 2008. The ambition for
BSSHX is to become an industrial relevant heat exchanger
technology, marrying up with the needs of the markets, and
proposing new heat transfer solutions for customers.
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 Such R&D developments are guided and organised
around three main questions:
1. What are the real abilities and
performance (heat transfer, hydraulic,
mechanical integrity)?
Fives Software can provide many performance estimations
of BSSHX. For many years, an experimentation plan has
been implemented to confirm each assumption and model,
in particular to validate thermal, hydraulic and mechanical
performances of each fin. At the same time, overall
performance and mechanical integrity of a BSSHX have
been tested and confirmed according to representative
industrial operating conditions, both in lab and on-site.
2. What is the best manufacturing
process in order to manufacture
relevant and reliable industrial
equipment?
The original BAHX’s manufacturing process has been
completely reconsidered for BSSHX. For example, complex
pieces, especially fins, are produced with stainless steel,
which has very different properties than aluminium
Figure 3. Operating range of PFHE according to material.
Figure 4. Fives’ new stainless steel heat exchanger.
54 November 2017
(hardness, ductility, etc.). Moreover, BAHX is brazed at
600ºC, whereas BSSHX is at 1200ºC.
An important point is that each manufacturing stage of
BSSHX has to be performed in accordance with PED
(Pressure Equipment Directive) and ASME (American Society
of Mechanical Engineers) standards. So, the entire
manufacturing process is developed according to these
specific and imposed rules, and is monitored by a strong
quality control system.
3. How to install, operate and maintain
BSSHX?
PFHE is a brazed structure with numerous heterogeneous
pieces. Local and overall temperature differences within the
core can produce contraction/expansion of the parts, and
could lead to internal stresses. Based on many calculations
and some experimentation, BSSHX can accept much higher
permissible temperature differences between adjacent
streams than aluminium; as a reference, ALPEMA warns
not to exceed 50ºC for single-phase flows, and 30ºC for
two-phase flows for BAHX. The maximal acceptable limit
has not been yet established for BSSHX, and is currently
under investigation.
Unsteady operating conditions can generate cyclic
stresses which could exceed the yield strength of the
material, and failure by fatigue may result. An
experimental campaign has just begun in order to
evaluate and understand the potential damage which may
occur due to thermal fatigue, the generated mechanical
distortion and constraints, the evolution of thermal and
hydraulic performance according to the number of thermal
shock, and the number of shocks before breaking (if it
occurs).
Unlike BAHX applications, which mainly involve clean
streams, BSSHX should be operated with some moderate
fouling and plugging, while limiting performance losses.
Fin geometry can be adapted to propose much larger
hydraulic diameter (greater than 12 mm in height), much
more adapted to dirty streams.
Corrosion allowance for the brazed stainless steel heat
exchanger is close to the corrosion allowance of stainless
steel. Therefore, BSSHX can be used for any stream which is
compatible with stainless steel.
Availability is the key point. Holding the performance
over time, with the minimum of maintenance operations is
the main objective. Cleaning, checking and testing are
periodically scheduled and have to be performed if
necessary. These procedures are similar to the BAHX ones
(in particular site leak detection pressure test and site
helium leak detection test).
Repairing procedures, for leak or any other problem, are
also the same, by welding but with stainless steel. Headers
can be removed by cutting to have access to internal
distributor inlets, and finally welded back on the heat
exchanger.
A new technology on the market
Thanks to these R&D efforts, this new technology has
become more and more mature, and Fives is now ready to
introduce BSSHX into the market (see Figure 4).
In 2016, two orders were placed with one of the biggest
players in the gas industry, for a small scale natural gas
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Figure 5. Brazed stainless steel plate-fin heat exchanger
structure.
Figure 6. Cold test performed on BSSHX.
liquefaction plant. For this cryogenic application, BSSHX
was chosen because of severe mechanical requirements,
which cannot be endured by BAHX. Two other main
advantages appeared. BSSHX is 35% smaller than the
equivalent BAHX: due to the lower thermal conductivity of
the stainless steel in comparison with aluminium, the
BSSHX is less disturbed by high temperature gradient
according to its length, and then is more compact than
BAHX in this configuration. Also, welding can be performed
to finish with connections of the BSSHX to stainless steel
56 November 2017
pipes, and does not need expensive bi-metallic transition
joints.
As PFHE is a pressure vessel, the mechanical design has
to be ruled by a pressure vessel code. PED standards were
required and ASME code construction was chosen by Fives.
Implementing the standards required many rules and
validations, concerning material, manufacturing and
assembling processes, and mechanical robustness approval
of the heat exchangers.
For example, Figure 5 presents a bursting test of a
representative brazed stainless steel plate-fin heat
exchanger structure, which could be used to validate both
the maximal pressure strength of a given fin configuration,
and the brazing process, in order to follow PED and
ASME requirements.
The sample must burst into the fins, and not in the
brazing joint to be validated. Afterwards, the experimental
bursting pressure reveals the maximal design pressure of a
fin, by applying safety factors and tolerances as permitted
by ASME Code Section VIII Division 1. The maximal
operating temperature, which is defined by the customer’s
specifications, impacts on the maximum allowable design
pressure and is taken into account.
Once the BSSHX is manufactured, pressure and then
leak tests are performed to validate the mechanical
integrity, in accordance with the applicable design code.
These tests confirmed the tightness and the robustness of
that BSSHX structure. First, hydrostatic and pneumatic tests
were performed and confirmed each individual pressure
chamber could be pressurised to the required Maximal
Allowable Working Pressure in complete safety. Then,
helium leak tests were also performed to ascertain the
absence of a leak between two different chambers or with
the outside. Amazingly, measured leak rate was
1 x 10-8mbar.L/s whereas BAHX’s standard measured leak
rates are between 1 x 10-3 mbar.L/s. and 1 x 10-7 mbar.L/s.
Many additional tests were also performed in the
meantime. A start-up test was performed (see Figure 6)
with liquid Nitrogen (-196ºC), to test the mechanical
integrity of the BSSHX according to a big cold shock.
Afterwards, another helium leak test was made and
confirmed the perfect tightness of the heat exchanger
(10-8 mbar.L/s).
Conclusion
Today, many other business opportunities are growing,
especially in natural gas applications and gas compression
cooling.
This new compact, efficient, multi-stream stainless steel
heat exchanger technology has been developed to propose
new versatile and competitive heat transfer solutions,
which will help customers to create new business
opportunities.
Two Brazed Stainless Steel Plate-Fin Heat Exchangers
have already been commissioned, giving concrete
commercial perspectives to this new heat exchanger
technology, after many years spent on R&D.
These two first orders symbolise the starting point of
the commercial launch of this new technology, in addition
to the existing Fives’ Cryogenics | Energy offer which
already includes Brazed Aluminium Plate-Fin Heat
Exchangers and cryogenic pumps.
 Curtis Lovelace and
mbient conditions have a significant
Craig Kedrowski,
Stellar Energy, USA, A impact on the performance of gas
turbines used to drive refrigeration
compressors for gas liquefaction. This is primarily
explain how LNG due to the fact that as temperature rises, air
becomes less dense and mass flowrate through the
plant performance turbine decreases. LNG plants located in climates
where ambient temperatures exceed the
and stability can be turbine’s inlet air design point can experience
degraded performance and unpredictable
improved with the power output. In severe cases, it can even
turn the gas turbine into a production
use of turbine inlet bottleneck. One way for operators to
air chilling.

57
 eliminate this issue and stabilise LNG production is with
turbine inlet air chilling (TIAC).
An overview of TIAC
TIAC is a proven technology that cools inlet air before it
enters the compressor side of the turbine. This can take
Figure 1. Aerial view of construction progress; the three
chiller plants are located on the left side of the photo.
Figure 2. Modular assembly allows for factory-tested wiring
and piping that is fully connected at the job site.
58 November 2017
place either through adiabatic cooling methods, such
as fogging or wet compression, or through mechanical
chilling. Both technologies have been used extensively
in the power industry over the past two decades and
are widely recognised by gas turbine original equipment
manufacturers and power plant operators as a reliable
tool for maximising efficiency and maintaining constant
output.
For LNG plants, TIAC systems using mechanical
chilling can be a cost-effective method of optimising
liquefaction and stabilising production. When chosen early
in the project design phase, the use of TIAC can also aid
in the selection of compressors for liquefaction. Often,
compressors are required to operate across a broad range
of power inputs because, as ambient conditions change,
so does gas turbine output. By using TIAC to maintain a
constant inlet air temperature, gas turbine performance
becomes much more predictable, thus allowing for the
refrigeration compressors to operate efficiently in the
narrow power band.
Currently, there are a number of LNG facilities
throughout the world that employ some form of TIAC. The
remainder of this article will introduce an alternative
TIAC system that offers a number of operational
advantages. This system is currently being installed at
Cheniere Energy’s liquefaction facility near Corpus Christi,
Texas, US.
Use of TIAC at liquefaction
facility
Owned and operated by Corpus Christi Liquefaction, a
subsidiary of Cheniere Energy, the liquefaction facility
is designed for three trains (two of which have been
contracted) with expected aggregate nominal production
capacity of up to 13.5 million tpy of LNG.
In June 2015, Stellar Energy was awarded a contract
by Bechtel Oil, Gas, and Chemicals, Inc. to supply a
TIAC system for the Corpus Christi facility. Stellar Energy
assessed the design inputs of ambient design condition,
turbine inlet temperature, and site footprint, and designed
a modular air-cooled TIAC system that uses centrifugal
compressors and a non-flammable hydrofluoro-olefin
refrigerant to provide a constant 45ºF inlet temperature
to the turbines.
The three-train TIAC system at the facility features a
common header, and is capable of producing a total of
36 900 t of refrigeration. The common chilled glycol
piping system and redundancy on the chillers provide
excellent plant reliability.
System advantages
The solution proposed by Stellar Energy implements
design principles that are common to power plant
applications. When used in regions like the Gulf Coast
with warm, humid conditions, the system offers a number
of advantages over inlet air chilling systems using
propane refrigeration. Some of these are outlined below.
Reduced project risk
Early in the project design phase, Stellar Energy proposed
modular, off-site fabrication of the TIAC system instead
of a field-erected system. This afforded a number of
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Figure 3. The module is assembled on a skid and enclosed with insulated metal panels.
Figure 4. Rendering of the Corpus Christi liquefaction
facility.
benefits, including reliable access to skilled manpower,
improved fabrication quality, a controlled manufacturing
environment, and reduced site safety risk. Using modular
methods ultimately allowed Stellar Energy to reduce
construction time of the TIAC equipment packages from
16 weeks to 8 weeks.
Increased reliability
Although screw compressors are generally capable of
producing higher compression ratios than centrifugal
compressors, they often have drawbacks with regards to
reliability. This is largely due to the fact that they use
high-speed, twin-rotor positive displacement compressors,
which place stress on the rotors and bearings and create
the need for high-lubricating oil circulation rates. This
oil can carry over into the refrigerant stream, causing the
need for protective measures to prevent the fouling of
heat transfer surfaces. In contrast, centrifugal compressors
are variable volume machines that have fewer moving
parts and are simpler to operate than screw compressors.
In addition, the reduced flow and function of the
60 November 2017
refrigerant oil in a centrifugal
compressor essentially eliminates
the risk of oil migration.
Improved safety
In a conventional propane
refrigeration cycle, gaseous
propane is sent to an air-cooled
condenser where it liquefies and
drops back into a receiver. In
the Corpus Christi Liquefaction
TIAC design, a secondary heat
transfer fluid (low-concentration
glycol solution) is sent through
condensers to a radiator field
via vertical inline pumps. This
eliminates the need to directly
condense the primary refrigerant,
thus confining it to a much smaller
area and reducing refrigerant
system charge. Additionally, the
hydrofluoro-olefin refrigerant
used has an ASHRAE A1
classification, which signifies that it has the lowest
rating for flammability and toxicity. The decision to use
a non-flammable refrigerant eliminates the cost and
hazard of the equipment running in a classified electrical
location.
Ease of maintenance
Due to fewer moving parts and simpler operation,
the maintenance requirements for the TIAC system
at Corpus Christi Liquefaction are substantially less
than would have been required for a propane system.
Increased accessibility was made possible by the design
of the modules, which feature large open walkways for
equipment with overhead pull panels and oversized
garage doors. The design team strategically located all the
valves and instrumentation to allow personnel the ability
to easily pull, clean, and maintain equipment.
Lower construction cost
Modular construction in Stellar Energy’s fabrication
facility in Jacksonville, Florida, US, eliminated weather
delays and shortened delivery time compared to a field-
erected system. Direct-employed fabricators eliminated
the need to rely on the project site’s tight labour market.
Furthermore, material costs were reduced by the use
of standard and readily-available components that are
common to the TIAC industry.
Conclusion
TIAC technology is widely recognised throughout the
power industry as a proven solution for improving gas
turbine performance and ensuring stable power output.
These benefits also translate to the LNG industry, where
predictability and reliability affect the bottom line. Expert
analysis of project-specific variables is key to ensure
a custom solution for optimal performance. The TIAC
system in Corpus Christi Liquefaction is currently in the
installation phase. First gas at the facility is expected in
2018.
 Maksym Kulitsa,
Independent
FSRU consultant,
and David Wood,
DWA Energy Limited,

Perfect
UK, explain how
to improve DFDE
low-duty compressor

performance performance on FSRUs

with 700-mbarg
pressure-rated
he global fleet of Floating Storage and Regasification Units (FSRUs)

T continues to grow with some 27 in operation in 2017. The FSRU fleet

consists of new-build vessels and converted LNG carriers (LNGC). The
most-recently built FSRUs are dual fuel diesel electric (DFDE) vessels, typically
LNG tanks.

involving LNG storage tanks with pressure ratings conducive with a maximum
allowable relief valve setting (MARVS) of 700 mbarg or more. However, some
of the DFDE-type FSRUs have encountered performance problems with
their low-duty compressors (LDC), such as 4-stage turbo-compressors. These
problems occur in high-tank-pressure conditions (BOG feed pressure may rise
to 670 mbarg), because the LDC is typically designed for a range of operating
tank pressures up to 220 to 250 mbarg (i.e. 250 mbarg is typical MARVS of LNGC
carrier in current service). When the LNG tanks on these FSRU are operating

61
 at pressures above 250 – 300 mbarg the LDC, designed to
operate at 250mbarg or less, struggle to operate efficiently.
Unlike steam-powered FSRU, the LDC for DFDE
periodically experience problems related to surges at the
compressor stages. Even though control systems are
installed to protect equipment from damage related to
turbo-compressor surges, and these are effective in avoiding
surges, at high tank pressures the LDC are unable to develop
a nominal flow (due to the imposed anti-surge protection
constraints) and motor-rated power is reached at about 80%
of the nominal discharge flow. This is problematic for FSRU
as the LDC cannot supply rated flow of boil-off vapour to the
recondenser or similar equipment. This results in some
boil-off vapour not being condensed and vapour remaining
and accumulating in the LNG tanks. Additionally, the
overpressure valves return a significant amount of expanded
(heated by LDC) vapour back to the LNG tank. Eventually,
that accumulation can lead to the requirement to dispose of
(i.e. waste) some of the excess boil-off vapour through the
gas combustion unit (GCU), as it cannot be added to the gas
send-out volumes.
Gas disposal for such reasons constitutes a loss of cargo
due to equipment inefficiency. Typically, such losses are not
large. For example, 20% of the LDC’s 4.5 tph rated flow is
only 0.9 tph. Also, the duration of high tank pressures on
FSRU usually only occurs during ship-to-ship transfer (STS)
operations or after cargo rollover conditions. If the duration
of an STS is 30 hours, the LDC might experience
performance problem during just the final 20 hours of that
cargo transfer. Such an occurrence would likely result in
some 18 t of possible boil-off vapour not being condensed
and eventually burned in the GCU. Such a quantity of LNG
lost would typically be worth less than US$10 000,
depending on prevailing LNG prices, but would also involve
avoidable atmospheric emissions. Following a cargo rollover
event, it can take up to two days to lower tank pressure to
the point at which the LDC returns to its normal operating
range. During this period, the LDC would run at reduced flow
rates, which would slow down the cooling of the cargo. The
consequences of this could be that a pending STS may need
to commence at tank pressures significantly above
100bmbarg, leading also indirectly to loss of cargo.

Table 1. 4-stage turbo compressor typical design data and operating performance on DFDE FSRU.

Design feed pressure 1.03 barA (i.e., 20 to 30 mbarg) for equipment design and performance calculations

Operating cases for 4-stage turbo compressor run within design range on DFDE LNGC

Equipment design cases / performance ranges Case 1 Case 2 Case 3 Case 4 Case 5 Case 6

Highest Nominal Warmer Low Minimum Minimum

Medium in all cases is boil-off gas (BOG)
flow design BOG suction flow flow

Inlet (feed) pressure (barA) 1.03 1.03 1.03 1.03 1.01 1.03

Feed BOG density (kg/m3) 1.18 1.18 1.11 0.28 0.83 0.28

Discharge pressure (barA) 6.5 6.5 6.5 5.0 6.0 5.0

Inlet temperature (ºC) -91 -90 -80 -35 -15 +40

Discharge temperature (ºC) +45 +45 +45 +45 +45 +45

Volume flow (m3/h) 4750 4430 4550 1790 1840 1810

Mass flow as % of nominal flow (1.03 barA) 107 100 103 40 42 41

Mass flow (kg/h) 5588 5242 5070 500 1523 500

Shaft power used (kW) 567 539 514 253 304 254

Operating conditions for 4-stage turbo compressor encountered on high MARVS FSRU

Feed BOG density at 1.3 barA (300 mbarg) (kg/m3) 1.41 1.41 1.33 1.08 0.99 0.82

Mass flow (kg/h) at 1.3 barA Inlet pressure 6693 6243 6070 1928 1826 1478

Mass flow as % of nominal flow (1.3 barA) 128 119 116 37 35 28

Feed BOG density at 1.6 barA (600 mbarg) (kg/m3) 1.74 1.74 1.65 1.33 1.22 1.01

Mass flow (kg/h) at 1.6 barA inlet pressure 8260 7703 7487 2376 2250 1820

Mass flow as % of nominal flow (1.6 barA) 158 147 143 45 43 35

Shaft power used kW at 1.3 and 1.6 barA High High High Normal Normal Normal

Anti-surge protection of LDC activated adding mass

Yes Yes Yes Yes: but low recirculation
flow by recirculation

62 November 2017
 Low-duty compressor
configuration on DFDE FSRU
The LDC for DFDE is usually a 2-stage or 4-stage high-speed
turbo-compressor with an in-built anti-surge protection
system. The anti-surge protection system assures a minimum
flow through every stage of the compressor. Anti-surge is
achieved via recirculation valves that are opened by controls
when low-flow conditions occur in any of the stages. There
may be more than one anti-surge valve that is responsible
for a certain compressor’s protection.
In order to prevent surging, each compressor stage
requires a minimum safe volumetric flow irrespective of the
mass flow. It is this requirement that is causing the
problem on DFDE FSRU once tank pressures rise above
230b– 250 mbarg (i.e. above the designed boil-off gas (BOG)
feed pressure range). The typical turbo-compressor is
designed to receive ‘lightly pre-compressed’ boil-off vapour
that is compressed further and sent to the recondenser. The
recondenser is typically configured to run on a specified
base mass throughput. If the recondenser is configured to
run on say 5.5 tph mass of boil-off vapour that means that
less flow would pass through the LDC when tank pressure
is high, and more flow would pass through the LDC when
tank pressure is below 230 mbarg (Table 1). When higher
tank pressures prevail, the anti-surge valves remain open,
causing recirculation of boil-off gas even at high LDC
discharge flows of 70 – 100% of the nominal rate. This
does not happen when feed gas pressures are at or below
250 mbarg. Eventually, the first anti-surge valve becomes
wide open to enable recirculation of a large mass of vapour
Image courtesy of Seaspan Ferries Corporation
FortisBC uses the FortisBC name and logo under license from Fortis Inc. (17-062.2 08/2017)
to assure safe flow through the LDC (Figure 1). Typically,
the LDC installed are 4-stage LDC, but even with 2-stage
LDC the recirculation valve eventually opens when
subjected to such conditions.
This situation results in increased loading of the LDC
motor, as it must compress not only the discharge flow from
the LDC, but also the volume that is re-circulated. Thus, the
motor-rated power of the LDC motor can be reached at only
70 – 80% of the rated-mass discharge flow (i.e. mass flow of
BOG the recondenser). In such circumstances, the
overpressure valve (i.e. the discharge line protection) might
also open. The overpressure valve discharges hot/expanded
vapour (+45ºC) back into the LNG cargo tanks, from where it
was taken at much lower temperatures (i.e. less than -100ºC).
Consequently, it returns a much larger volume of vapour to
the cargo tank(s) and additionally increases tank pressures
by ‘packing’ vapour in.
This situation becomes a more serious problem at the
end of a STS when the FSRU has very limited vapour space
in its cargo tanks, which can become rapidly ‘packed’ by the
LDC returned vapour. The Variable Diffuser Vanes (VDV; flaps
designed to regulate flow and discharge through the LDC)
cannot handle this efficiently and are usually maintained at
their minimum open position at all times at high tank
pressures whatever the LDC discharge flow rate. From a
safety perspective, this situation is unlikely to be critical or
result in risk of immediate damage to the equipment, as the
LDC motor protection control should trip the LDC to avoid
damage to motor, as a result of anti-surge protection system
operating.
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Figure 1. Comparisons of DFDE FSRU LDC conditions and outcomes operating
at lower pressures (within design range, left side) and at higher pressures (above
design range, right side). Normal-performance values for LDC are shown in
green text; reduced-performance values for LDC are shown in red text.
Figure 2. Introduction of a BOG feed pressure reduction valve to
reduce suction pressure immediately upstream of the LDC suction
piping network (solution no. 4) for higher-pressure FSRU cargo
tanks.
The authors are unaware of any reports of equipment
damage due to LDC run in such situations. However, running
the LDC electric motor for long periods at its full nominal
current rating, would involve increased heating of the
motors coils, which is likely to increase the risk of a reduced proposed solution no. 4 potentially viable, cost effective and
life expectancy for the equipment. Apart from such concerns
for the equipment the main consequence of this inefficiency
is minor, periodic cargo loss and emissions. Such losses
would likely occur during specific high-pressure tank
operations (e.g. STS, or rollover) when BOG flow from LDC to
recondenser is restricted. In rare cases, losses are
compounded when another LDC is connected to the DFDE
and GCU equipment, and that LDC experiences similar
constraints limiting the amount of gas that can be burnt in
the GCU, and does not therefore assist in optimum tank
pressure management (e.g. Figure 1, right side).
Alternative solutions to improve
LDC performance
There are several proposed approaches worth considering
that could solve the LDC performance problem described
64 November 2017
for DFDE FSRU with high MARVS. These
potential solutions are quite distinct in
terms of their complexity, costs and benefits.
Four such proposed solutions are:
1. Tuning of the anti-surge valves by
their manufacturers is one option, but this
typically proves to be ineffective as the
LDC is designed for a specific low range
of BOG feed pressures, which is severely
exceeded on FSRU with 700 mbarg MARVS
tanks.
2. Re-designing the LDC for a specific
higher range of inlet pressures is another
option, but this involves significant effort,
design complexity to accommodate a
wider range of pressures and cost to solve
a relatively minor issue. Consequently
cost-benefit analysis is not favourable for
such an approach, particularly when the cost
of retrofitting a modified LDC to an existing
FSRU is taken into account.
3. Installing variable frequency drives (similar to the
LDCs used with steam turbines) instead of a fixed speed
electric motor. This solution is likely quite expensive and
unreasonable for this issue.
4. Introducing a feed BOG pressure reduction valve
to reduce suction pressure immediately upstream of the
LDC supply piping network. By reducing pressure to the
operating range of the LDC has the potential to solve the
problem at low cost and be easy to retrofit. This solution
is therefore explored further and described in more
detail (Figure 2).
Many observations have confirmed that LDCs on
DFDE FSRU return to normal operating performance only
when LNG storage tank pressures are below
200 –b230bmbarg (i.e. within the original LDC design
operating range). Also, LDC controllers are not usually
directly linked to the prevailing LNG storage tank
pressure values. This implies that LDC on DFDE FSRU
would likely perform normally if they could ‘feel’ a lower
inlet pressure at the first-stage, even though LNG tank
pressures were significantly higher. Taking these
observations and configurations into account, makes
easy to retrofit. The magnitude of the problem resolved by
instigating such a solution is illustrated in Table 2.
If it is possible to adjust inlet pressure to the LDC to its
‘as-designed’ range without the involvement of the actual
LNG tank pressure in the LDC control system, the LDC should
run consistently as if tank pressure was always below
200 mbarg. The practice of reducing suction pressure
immediately before a compressor already exists on semi-
pressurised and fully-pressurised LPG carriers and, in that
case, is achieved by deploying a suction throttle valve (i.e.
inlet pressure reduction valve).
Solution no. 4 could be easily developed by
manufacturers and FSRU companies to adapt LDC designed
for low-pressure LNGC service to higher pressure DFDE FSRU
(less than or equal to 700Mbarg MARVS) service (Figure 3). It
would require only a minor investment and changes to flow
systems, involving a simple logic controller, to operate the
‘throttle valve’ for reducing BOG suction pressure to the LDC
design-range value.
To develop the solution no. 4 concept further, the
pressure-reducing throttle valve would not necessary need
to be installed immediately upstream of every DFDE LDC.
The typical arrangement of piping on LNGC or FSRU in the
cargo machinery room are essentially the same. Vapour is
brought into this room by a common vapour-header system
and is introduced into a demister, separator (or mist
separator), which is essentially a small tank where possible
droplets of LNG accumulate and are prevented from
damaging downstream boil-off handling equipment. A
manual shut-off valve (for maintenance) is typically located Figure 3. Typical schematic of the vapour line links between
just upstream of the demister/separator. By replacing this the LNG cargo tanks and the cargo machinery room involving
valve with a pneumatic, pressure-control type valve it the mist separator and the low-duty compressors. Replacement
would be possible to effectively manage pressure reduction of a manually-operated maintenance valve by a pneumatic
between the vapour-header system and the piping leading pressure control valve does not interfere with the configuration
of the LDCs or the functionality of its safety system or any
to all the boil-off gas (BOG) handling equipment, including
piping arrangement in machinery room. It also requires only
the LDC for DFDE (Figure 3). The integrated automated minor modifications that can be fitted by ship’s crew without
system (IAS) controls for this valve need to be set to select the need for welding, i.e., the addition of control air lines, bolted-
the lowest suction pressure (i.e. low select logic) among type flange fittings and electric cables.
the LDC (i.e. the two or three LDC that are typically
involved in the system). Every LDC typically has different
suction pressure values due to piping configurations and problem is resolved by placing a single ‘throttle’ valve with a
because they can potentially be run at different discharge simple controller logic that does not interface with the
rates. turbo-compressor’s own control logic (i.e. this ‘throttle’ valve
The solution no. 4 approach, as described, is simple, remains independent from LDC, and the LDC operates
because it does not make any changes to the prevailing independently of the ‘throttle’ valve; the throttle valve
design of the LDC or its controls (Figure 3). The entire merely assures the correct suction pressure to LDC).
 Safety considerations over several minutes. The valve should be inhibited from
The following safety and operational efficiency issues should responding rapidly to changing tank pressure conditions
be considered when implementing solution no. 4: where it is safe to do so; it is more effective if it adapts to
changing conditions slowly. This tuning approach is safe
1. The turbo-compressors will be upset by any sudden in the context of typical FSRU operations as LNG tank
changes in suction pressure caused by pressure reduction pressures rarely drop rapidly due to the thermodynamic
(throttle) valve. Consequently, it is important to tune the characteristics of LNG and its associated vapour. In normal
pressure reduction valve in order to establish smooth feed gas send-out operations pressure tends to drift downwards
flow and appropriately regulated conditions. This can be gradually over time rather than abruptly. On the other hand,
achieved easily because the LDC do not require very precise in the case of sudden increases in LNG tank pressure (e.g.
suction pressure, but rather a stable pressure maintained during rollovers), if the ‘throttle’ valve is too slow to reduce
BOG feed pressure, this is unlikely
to cause a problem for the LDC.
Table 2. Potential negative outcome of LDC feed BOG pressure operating above
designed range and positive impact of installing pressure-reduction valve by reducing Indeed, for short periods of time
BOG flaring (saved 24.6 t of BOG costs equating to approximately US$9000 if sold). the activation of the anti-surge
protection systems of the LDC
Case 1 - Observed FSRU 700 operation without pressure-reduction valve: LDC for
recondenser running at reduced flow due to high load on motor effectively alleviates such short
term problems. All LDC are tuned to
Ship-to- react safely for cases of consumers’
BOG to Actual FSRU
Time points in BOG to ship LNG Feed BOG
7-hour period
engine
recondenser
BOG to flare
transfer
cargo tank
pressure trips and usually LDC remain
room pressure
rate running safely at ‘full recirculation’
when consumers are lost and/or
Hours t/h t/h t/h m3/h mbarg mbarg
gas send-out is suddenly curtailed.
A sudden fall in tank pressure,
13:00 2.8 1.9 3.5 4951 468 428
that would potentially cause
14:00 2.8 2.0 7.0 4979 455 415 problems for the LDC is therefore
not possible; and any sudden
15:00 2.8 2.0 9.0 5033 391 351 increase in tank pressure would
be safely handled by LDC’s in-built
16:00 2.8 2.0 6.3 4974 384 344
protections, beyond the ‘throttle’
17:00 2.8 2.0 6.0 4963 382 342 valve, that would then take control.
2. The pressure-reduction
18:00 2.8 2.0 8.0 4904 431 391
(throttle) valve should be fitted
19:00 2.8 2.0 2.9 4533 485 445 with mechanical limit to avoid
the valve from fully closing
Total BOG in Note: Inlet feed pressure to LDC for any reason or during
approximately 1.40 barA
7-hour period =
19.6 13.9 42.7 malfunctions. It is safer to tune
76.2t, consisting (design: 1.03 barA)
of (t): the valve to always be open at
Regasification rate = 530 mmscf/day
a minimum necessary level.
Case 2 : Estimated outcome of LDC run on FSRU 700 within feed BOG pressure design range
with pressure-reduction valve operating Conclusion
Ship-to- FSRU with high MARVS tanks are
BOG to Actual FSRU Reduced
Time points in
engine
BOG to
BOG to flare
ship LNG
cargo tank feed BOG relatively new designs that have
7-hour period recondenser transfer
room
rate
pressure pressure been built and commissioned over
the past few years. Such vessels
Hours t/h t/h t/h m3/h mbarg mbarg
have generally evolved from
13:00 2.8 5.5 2.6 4951 468 100
longer established LNGC designs.
Therefore, it is not surprising
14:00 2.8 5.5 2.6 4979 455 100 that some operational efficiency
problems should be experienced
15:00 2.8 5.5 2.6 5033 391 100
with certain DFDE LDC equipment
16:00 2.8 5.5 2.6 4974 384 100 configurations operated at high
tank pressures that are beyond
17:00 2.8 5.5 2.6 4963 382 100 their design range. The simple
solution presented here of
18:00 2.8 5.5 2.6 4904 431 100
installing a single, carefully-tuned
19:00 2.8 5.5 2.6 4533 485 100 pressure-reduction valve upstream
of the LDC suction piping is an
Total BOG in Note: inlet feed pressure to LDC example of how operational
7-hour period = approximately 1.10 barA
19.6 38.5 18.1 efficiency may be improved and
76.2t, consisting (design: 1.03 barA)
of (t): cargo losses reduced on FSRU with
regasification rate = 530 mmscf/day
high-pressure MARVS.

66 November 2017
 Keeping amine in

THE TREATING SYSTEM

Ralph H. Weiland, Optimized Gas Treating, Inc., USA, looks
at how to prevent amine losses in gas treatment systems.

he majority of gas treatment solvents contain at least one

T amine. So-called specialty solvents usually have two, and

sometimes even three, amines. Of particular interest to the
LNG industry are the piperazine-promoted N-methyldiethanolamine
(MDEA) solvents used for deep CO2 removal from gas before the
gas is dried and liquefied. All amines used as solvents in gas

67
 treating are volatile. This is especially the case with
piperazine, which has a higher volatility than any
of the other commonly-used gas treating amine
components. Piperazine is also costlier than MDEA,
the amine with which it is almost always formulated.
Being fairly volatile, its volatility is of particular
concern.
Solvent can be lost from the treating system in
several different ways, including the following:
z Volatilisation.
z Entrainment as a spray, droplets, mist or foam
from towers into various product gas streams.
z Physical leaks from glands and seals.
z Spillage and piping misalignments.
The amine constituents themselves can also
thermally decompose, and can convert to non-viable
species by reacting irreversibly with acid contaminants.
Solvent losses by the first two paths can be
largely prevented by water washing the exiting gas
streams (losses through leaks and spills, of course, are
another matter and are usually maintenance and
housekeeping issues). The two amines in
piperazine-MDEA mixtures are at quite different
concentrations, and they have rather different
volatilities, so they should experience quite different
rates of vapourisation. Because of this, failure to
recover and retain the components in
piperazine-activated solvents will almost certainly
result in a blend composition that drifts substantially
over time. It is noted that thermal decomposition may
occur at different rates for different amines, and this
too can contribute to a drifting blend composition. In
this article, the efficacy of water washes and how they
are carried out is examined using a specific example.
Where to wash and with
what?
Amine treating takes place in a closed circuit using an
absorber, a solvent regenerator, possibly a small flash
Figure 1. Typical amine treating flowsheet.
68 November 2017
gas treating column, and ancillary equipment, such as
pumps, heat exchangers, and a flash tank. Received
wisdom is to use a stripped solvent that is 5 – 15ºC
hotter than the sour gas entering the absorber. This
goes some way towards preventing condensation of
high boiling hydrocarbons into the solvent, which
may result in foaming with all of its accompanying
problems. Another less discussed reason for using
a solvent hotter than the gas is to ensure there is a
small water loss from the system rather than a water
gain. Water, of course, must be kept in balance in the
solvent circuit and it is often a lot easier to add water
back to the system than it is to remove it (without at
the same time perhaps removing expensive amine).
So, there are at least a couple of good reasons for
keeping the lean solvent hotter than the raw gas
entering the absorber.
Potential amine losses just from vapourisation
alone into the gas being treated may not be trivial.
For example, without taking solvent recovery
measures, in a plant producing 200 million ft3/d of
treated gas at 46ºC using a solvent with
46 wt% MDEA and 4.3 wt% piperazine the annual
amine vapourisation loss is many tonnes of MDEA and
several tens of tonnes of piperazine. The cost to
replace this evapourated amine is approximately
US$450 000, of which by far the majority is for
piperazine. Not only is piperazine a costlier chemical
than MDEA, but it is also more volatile and, despite it
being at a lower concentration, its losses are also
quite a bit higher than MDEA. In piperazine-activated
MDEA systems, water washing of product gases is
almost always done. In fact, it should be considered
mandatory when piperazine is a solvent component. A
further concern with specialty solvents is that a
drifting blend composition will lead to poorer treating
performance over time. Piperazine is highly reactive
towards CO2 and is responsible to taking a raw gas to
the less than 50 ppmv CO2 benchmark. Being
nonreactive towards CO2, MDEA is responsible only for
bulk CO2 removal. If piperazine continues to disappear
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 from the solvent, performance will drift into the
region where treating specifications cannot be met.
Costs are incurred by losses having to be made up.
However, the significant economic consequences of
lost solvent and off-specification gas can be easily
avoided by water washing all product gases.
Figure 1 shows a typical amine treating flow
sheet. Water washing the acid gas produced in the
regenerator is rather straightforward. It is quite
common for there to be a few reflux trays at the top
of this column, fed by the reflux produced in the
overhead condenser. This makes getting amines down
to parts per billion in the acid gas quite
straightforward, although using reflux trays is not
always necessary. The need for reflux trays depends
on specifics of the operating conditions, particularly
the stripper overhead temperature, and sometimes the
condenser alone is sufficient to produce less than
1 ppb amine in the acid gas. The ProTreat® simulator
provides solid guidance as to how many reflux trays
(if any) are needed to achieve a given level of
recovery.
Recovering amines from the treated gas can be
done with two or three wash trays at the top of the
absorber and using either fresh makeup water or, if
inadequate makeup water is available, by
withdrawing part of the condensed water from the
regenerator reflux drum and feeding it to the
uppermost tray.
Absorber wash trays are commonly bubble cap
type because a well-designed bubble cap tray can
operate without weeping even at the extremely low
liquid loads (flowrate per unit of tray active area)
typical of water washes. However, at these very low
liquid loads (extremely low liquid-to-vapour flowrate
ratios), the quality of gas-liquid contacting may be
poor. Contacting can be improved by recirculating
wash liquid at much higher flowrates, adding fresh
wash water, and allowing enough of the wash liquid
to enter the absorption section from the bottom wash
tray to maintain level control on a small wash-liquid
holdup drum in the wash circuit. Lean amine is fed to
the absorber immediately below the wash section.
This scheme is shown in Figure 1.
It may or may not be worthwhile to wash flash gas
from the reabsorber. This column is usually packed
and is quite short. It recovers acid gases from flashed
hydrocarbon before the flashed gas is discharged,
possibly to be used as fuel gas. If simulation shows
sufficient economic benefit from recovering amine
from this unit, a short packed section fed with makeup
water will work well.
Case study
By way of example, in the absence of absorber wash
trays, the treated gas in the case described above
contains 2.2 ppmv MDEA and 9.1 ppmv piperazine.
A simple wash using two bubble cap trays with
25 gal./min. of water reduces these values to less
than 1 ppbv and 20 ppbv for MDEA and piperazine,
respectively. However, in this particular case, this
much water flow exceeds the makeup needs for the
70 November 2017
unit as a whole. Therefore, 50% of the condensate
from the overhead condenser was withdrawn and
circulated back to the top wash tray in the absorber.
The condensate is 0.3 wt% MDEA and 0.013 wt%
piperazine. Two wash trays with this condensate as
wash liquid is simulated to produce a treated gas with
130 ppbv MDEA and 8 ppbv piperazine. Vapour
pressure losses now amount to under US$100/year. If
the wash trays were to require higher circulation rates
for satisfactory hydraulic performance, amine losses
would go up because the recirculating wash fluid
would then be higher in amine concentration.
Nevertheless, losses would still be significantly
reduced. Note, however, that adding makeup water to
a high flowrate recirculation will be less effective
than washing with water alone because the added
water will tend to be lost in a sea of recirculation.
In this particular example, the acid gas from the
regenerator was already at the parts per trillion level
for both amines even without reflux trays in the
regenerator. In this case, there is nothing to be gained
from adding a refluxing section. However, such is not
always the case, and sometimes amine losses with the
acid gas can be substantial. In the present case, the
gas going overhead from the regenerator was only
76ºC, quite cold by gas treating standards.
Temperatures of 110 – 120ºC are more usual, in which
situation the amine concentrations might be high
enough to make the inclusion of reflux trays in the
regenerator worthwhile.
Whether to water (or condensate) wash varies a
great deal from case to case, and only a reliable
simulation can help make the right decision. However,
failing to wash product gases can result in costly
amine losses from the unit. Such losses are easy to
prevent.
Entrainment and foaming losses have not been
discussed because simulation tools do not usually
address these hard-to-quantify issues. Packed columns
do not usually exhibit large entrainment rates into the
overhead vapour space, but near the top of their
operating range, trays usually do. A common (albeit
arbitrary) definition of tray flood, for example, is
10 wt% entrainment of liquid into the gas. Towers are
almost always fitted with mesh pads or some other
form of de-entraining device; nevertheless, some
solvent will still escape with the treated gas. If the
uppermost part of the column uses wash trays, any
entrained liquid will be predominantly water with
only a trace of amine, whereas, without water
washing, the entrained solvent is full-strength solvent.
Wash trays help to cut down solvent losses that result
from entrainment.
If the solvent has a foaming tendency, water
washing reduces the amine content of the solution in
the water wash section which tends both to decrease
solution viscosity and increase solution surface
tension. These collectively help to reduce the foaming
tendency. A water wash will also tend to reduce and
collapse the foam as it is carried up into the top of
the tower. Again, water washing can help retain
solvent in the system.
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02, 27, 31,

Black & Veatch OFC & 35 LNG Industry
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Braemar Engineering 23 Matrix Service IFC

Chart 09 Neuman & Esser OBC

ConocoPhillips 13 OLT Offshore 45

Corban Energy Group 15 ONS 59

CWC World Gas Conference IBC Posidonia 69

European Gas Conference 71 Quadax Valves 65

FortisBC 63 SIAD Macchine 53

International Registries 41 Zwick Armaturen 04

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 EMERGING

15FACTS ...ON LNG

MARKETS
FSRU’s are the
most popular 15 LNG markets have opened
infrastructure POLAND received recently and 10 more could
for new LNG
open up in the next decade
its first non-Russian
markets LNG shipment from
the US in June 2017 As of end of March
2017, Mexico
accounted for 18 OF
Mexico has
THE 90 CARGOES
three existing Pakistan is set to double its
that left CHENIERE’S
regasification 600 million ft3/d import SABINE PASS LNG
plants and five rate when its second terminal EXPORT TERMINAL
more in the becomes operational next year
planning stages More than 90% of
Singapore’s electricity
In September 2017 is generated using
GHANA signed a LNG imported natural gas
Egypt’s natural gas deal with Gazprom,
production rose to about
5.1 billion ft3/d in 2017 from
adding 1000 MW to POLAND
4.4 billion ft3/d in 2016
its power supply and CONSUMES
saving over
16 BILLION M3
US$1 BILLION
OF GAS A YEAR
OF THE 230 TPY OF GROWTH
INDONESIA IS EXPECTED IN GLOBAL LNG
When the AL-ZOUR
DEMAND BETWEEN 2015
LNG import terminal EXPECTED TO
AND 2030, AS MUCH AS
BECOME A NET
project in Kuwait 60% MIGHT COME FROM
IMPORTER BY 2020 THESE RECENT AND LIKELY
is completed in
EMERGING LNG MARKETS
2020 it will have a
liquefication capacity PUERTO RICO lacks
any indigenous gas Within 5 – 6 years Argentina
of 30 BILLION M3/D hopes to free itself from
reserves and relies on
LNG import dependency by
imported fossil fuels to
boosting domestic production
meet its energy needs
72 November 2017
 86 YEARS OF BRINGING THE
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