LARGE CAPACITY LNG TRAINS

摘要

The capacity of natural gas liquefaction trains has increased from about one million metric tonnes per annum in the 70's to about five million tonnes today. This five fold increase is the result of the efforts made by the LNG industry to reduce the liquefaction costs through economies of scale. rnToday this quest seems to have reached its limits as the size of several key equipment cannot readily be increased. rnDespite these limitations, means have been identified to achieve even larger LNG trains capacity, in the range of eight to nine million metric tonnes per annum, with minimum concession to technical risk. rnThese solutions are being engineered to provide a technically robust way to further develop the Qatar North Field. All components of the LNG train have been reviewed : acid gas removal, sulphur recovery, dehydration, liquefaction process, refrigeration and liquefaction equipment (compressors, turbines and heat exchangers), NGL extraction, nitrogen removal. LNG shipping aspects have also been studied but are not presented in this paper.rnIndications on the economies of scale that can still be achieved will be provided