Small-scale Liquefied Natural Gas Research Articles

Techno-economic and supply chain model of a small-scale LNG for BMPP in Sambelia

Abstract This paper addresses a method for creating the supply chain model of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to a barge-mounted power plant (BMPP) of 30 MW in Sambelia. This paper conducts the supply chain using a landing craft tank (LCT) ship as the LNG carrier, equipped with a specific principal dimension, and an ISO tank as the LNG storage facility. The use of LCT has the advantage of being able to sail in coastal areas and can be converted using existing ships. This comprehensive techno-economic assessment consists of calculating the LNG demands for the BMPP, the arrangement of ISO containerized tank stacking in the LCT, and identifying the LNG terminal facilities. Moreover, the research points for a future LNG economy are highlighted; cost-effective production and utilization solutions for enhancing the feasibility of LNG. The Landing Craft Tank (LCT), a vessel with a load capacity of 32 container tanks (20 ft) and a volume of 20.38 m3, distributes LNG to BMPP Sambelia. The economic analysis of LNG distribution patterns from Benoa LNG Terminal to BMPP 30 MW Sambelia, using LCT ships with FSRU (Floating Storage and Regasification Unit) receiver terminals, reveals that at a margin of $2.2, the most optimal option has an IRR of 11.6%, a payback period of 5.7, and an ROI of 17.41%.

МЕТОДЫ ФИНАНСИРОВАНИЯ СТРОИТЕЛЬСТВА МАЛОТОННАЖНОГО ПРОИЗВОДСТВА СЖИЖЕННОГО ПРИРОДНОГО ГАЗА. СРАВНИТЕЛЬНЫЙ АНАЛИЗ ПРОЕКТНОГО И КОРПОРАТИВНОГО ФИНАНСИРОВАНИЯ

Currently, there is a need to finance the construction of small-scale LNG production for the strategically important direction of gasification of the country, the development of the domestic economy by increasing the efficiency of households, the opportunity to diversify natural gas supplies, localize and develop the technological industry for the construction of liquefied natural gas (LNG) complexes. In a scientific study, using the example of the construction of small-scale LNG, an assessment was made of existing mechanisms and financing tools in Russian practice, problems and risks of the industry were identified, methods and instruments of financing, investment models taking into account budget financing, conditions for attracting and directions for using financing methods at the present stage, A comparative analysis of the most popular types of financing, project and corporate, is considered.

Techno-economic analysis of natural gas distribution using a small-scale liquefied natural gas carrier

The design of the gas distribution for small-demand power plants located on remote islands is logistically challenging. The use of small-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels can be an option for these logistic problems. This paper aims to conduct a techno-economic analysis of using small-scale LNG vessels for gas distribution to the power plants that are spread across different islands. Route optimisation has been conducted using the capacitated vehicle routing problem method. The ship’s principal dimensions were determined using the aspect ratio from a linear regression of existing small-scale LNG vessels. As a case study, the gas demands for a gas power plant in eastern Indonesia were analysed into four distribution clusters. The results of the techno-economic analysis showed that the four distribution clusters have different characteristics regarding the LNG requirements, location characteristics and ship specifications. The capacity of small-scale LNG vessels feasible in terms of technical aspects varies from 2500, 5000, to > 10,000 m3 with variations in the ship speed depending on the location of the power plants. The amount of cargo requested and the shipping distance was affected to the cost of LNG transportation. The economic assessment proposes that the feasible investment by considering small-scale LNG cargo distribution, from the case study shows that with a ship capacity of 5000 m3 feasible margin rate is ≥ 3 USD/metric million British thermal units with an internal rate of return of 10% and estimated payback period is less than 15 years.

LNG Type C, Cylindrical Weight Design Limitation Based on Shipbuiding Facilities

Supporting climate change mitigation and sustainable energy due to its ability to reduce CO2, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) considered as promising alternative fuel. In a particular small market with LNG demand between 2,500 m3 to 7,500 m3, utilization of LNG type-C, cylindrical tanks are compatible to use in small-scale LNG carrier. In order to overcome these challenges, Indonesian industry need to design the tank’s volume and weight requirements.while also taking into account the capabilities of the shipbuilding facilities. The weight of the tank, which comprises the weight of the outer tank and dished end, are the decision variable in the approach for weight estimation analysis, which carried by using using extrapolation to search optimum diameter and length of the tank The objective function is maximization of the tank capacity. The capability of the lifting equipment in the shipyard is the limitation used in this paper. This research data is based on the shipyard capability of PT. PAL Indonesia, PT. Dok dan Perkapalan Kodja Bahari (Persero), PT. Industri Kapal Indonesia, and PT. Batamec Shipyard. Result obtained that maximum volume of 5,663.369 m3 LNG type C, weight about 450.671 tons with maximum crane lifting capacity in shipyard are 500 tons

CO2 precooled dual phase expander refrigeration cycles for offshore and small-scale LNG production: Energy, exergy, and economic evaluation

Small-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) processes have gained considerable attention owing to the development of offshore natural gas (NG) reserves. Low energy efficiency and high process costs are the major challenges associated with small-scale LNG processes. In this study, to reduce energy consumption and improve process economics, a dual-phase expander-based process assisted by carbon dioxide (CO2) precooling has been proposed. Three proposed cases were developed using two precooling refrigerants (propane (C3) and CO2) and dual-phase expander-based liquefaction cycles utilizing a mixture of high-boiling (ethane (C2) and propane (C3)) and low-boiling refrigerant (nitrogen (N2)). These processes were optimized with the multivariate Coggins algorithm to exploit the energy-saving opportunities. The results show that proposed case II (using CO2 in precooling and C2/N2 in liquefaction) is the most energy-efficient, with a specific energy consumption of 0.3790 kWh/kgNG. Proposed case II is 1.73% and 16.6% more energy-efficient than proposed cases I and III, respectively. The exergy analysis results show that proposed case II has the lowest exergy destruction, while the economic evaluation shows the lowest capital investment ($44.4 MM) compared to the other proposed cases. These results show the superior performance of case II among the proposed cases.

Evaluation of small-scale liquefied natural gas (SSLNG) processes: advanced exergoeconomic analysis

Evaluation of small-scale liquefied natural gas (SSLNG) processes: advanced exergoeconomic analysis

Performance-based design of LNG container on small-scale LNG carrier through multi-objective optimization

Small-scale liquefied natural gas (SSLNG) carrier has drawn an increasing investment attention because of its flexible carrier capacity. However, the cargo loss and cold energy waste due to the evaporation from LNG container on SSLNG carrier are significant, which should be cut down as much as possible. In many cases, the evaporation of LNG is inhibited through the specified optimal strategies, but the influences of these strategies on economic cost and environmental impact are disregarded. In addition, these strategies are generally added to the project after that the initial design of LNG container has already been drawn up, which are not flexible and adaptable. Based on the aforementioned challenges, a novel MOPSO based optimal design methodology for LNG container is proposed, which specifies the energetic, economic and environmental (3E) performances of LNG container as objective functions. Moreover, aiming to deal with the complex geometric relationship between SSLNG carrier and LNG containers, the refined heat transfer models of LNG containers are constructed, and the constraint conditions are set according to the requirements of ship performance. The effectiveness of proposed methodology is demonstrated by its application to the two different types of LNG containers in the case study. The optimal results reveal that it is possible to optimize the energy consumption, economic cost as well as environmental impact of LNG containers, simultaneously. The proposed multi-objective optimization methodology provides a useful tool for the optimal LNG container geometry determination on SSLNG carrier.

Small-scale LNG supply chain optimization for LNG bunkering in Turkey

LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) provides a viable option to comply with emission control measures as an alternative marine fuel. Supply chain optimization is critical for LNG bunkering development in the maritime context as it requires high capital-expenditure. This study proposes a model for optimizing the ship-to-ship LNG bunkering supply chain. The related problem is defined as a Multiple Period Maritime Fleet Size and Routing Problem. The proposed mathematical model has been solved for various demand scenarios obtained by multiple regression and forecasting as a case study of ship-to-ship LNG bunker deliveries in Turkey. The model presents an optimal solution as a tactical and strategic decision-making tool, finds the number and size of the LNG bunker barges and the optimum allocation of the barges and the distribution network within a ship-to-ship bunkering framework. Moreover, it provides a commercial framework for shipowners and suppliers by determining the breakeven point for investment decisions.

Design and Cost Multi-Objective Optimization of Small-Scale LNG Carriers using the Value Engineering Approach

Nowadays, liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers are the main merchant fleets for the transport of natural gas for energy. The large LNG carrier has a more efficient freight cost (approximately 7.8 USD/MMBTU) than a small-scale LNG carrier (SSLNGC; approx. 12,8 USD/MMBTU). Another method must be introduced to make SSLNGCs more cost-efficient. As such, this work conducted an experiment to improve the design of SSLNGCs via design and cost optimization by combining a value engineering approach and multi-objective optimization to decrease hull resistance and lower construction material costs by adjusting the ship dimension ratio. By improving the conceptual design and using semi-integrated numerical simulations, the final result showed improvements in SSLNGCs by decreasing the hull shell area by 1.57% to reduce the construction material needed and total ship resistance by 8.3%.

Small-scale LNG projects: Theoretical framework for interaction between stakeholders

Currently, there is a beginning of liquefied natural gas (LNG) market transformation, which is deepening global supply chains through the growth of the number of small-scale projects. The main driver of this transformation was the creation of large-scale LNG hubs, which did not meet expectations for improving the efficiency of gas distribution systems (like in Europe). This has led to an understanding of the need of increasing flexibility and decentralization of gas supply projects, which is almost impossible to implement with traditional large and medium scale facilities. Increasing decentralization leads to a change in the role and composition of stakeholders, and, consequently, determines new algorithms and schemes for their interaction, which are poorly described in the scientific literature. This paper systematizes information about the specifics of such project implementation, defines a list of key stakeholders, their area of responsibility and area of interests. Proposed conceptual model of interaction between stakeholders has shown a significant dependence of small-scale projects on regional economic and infrastructure conditions, as well as on the availability of multiple distributed points of gas consumption.

Stakeholders and Risks in Liquified Natural Gas Bunkering Projects: The Hidden Link

The importance of stakeholders’ analysis for the effective management of risks in any business sector has been widely recognized and depicted in International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards. This kind of analysis is even more necessary in businesses and organizations dealing with significant technological and market changes, such as the provision and usage of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as a marine fuel. In the LNG bunkering industry, several methods have been proposed to support risk management. However, they all suffer from an important drawback: they guide risk management mainly to the identification, analysis, and control of potential accidental events within a health and safety or a technical reliability analysis framework, failing to structure the correlation of risks with the actual actors, i.e., the numerous stakeholders whose decisions may influence directly or indirectly the organization’s objectives. This paper presents a method to systematically analyze the role of stakeholders and their ability to pose threats and/or opportunities to an organization. The proposed approach employs the Social Network Analysis (SNA) methodology to model and analyze stakeholder interests, interactions, and relationships that are important to the organization’s objectives. The method is applied in a small-scale LNG bunkering project at a Greek port.

Assessment of Lng Fire Scenarios on Board of Lng-fuelled Ships

Decarbonization represent one of the main challenges of the maritime transport sector for the near future. As recent international environmental regulations have set more stringent emission limits, the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as alternative ship fuel has proven to be a viable and less-polluting solution, compared to conventional oil-based fuels. However, LNG is a highly flammable substance and safety aspects need to be assessed thoroughly, especially for its use on board passenger ships.Two different gas engine concepts are typically used for ship propulsion: Low-Pressure Dual Fuel (LPDF) and High-Pressure Dual Fuel (HPDF) engines. Regardless of the gas engine technology, the fuel gas supply system process equipment is located inside a specific enclosed space, the fuel preparation room (FPR), that can be sited below deck. Given this background, this study aims to investigate the consequences of LNG pool fires occurring inside a confined space, assessing the influence of different operating conditions. Credible loss of containment events were identified to define the characteristics of LNG pools. Furthermore, LNG pool fires were simulated using the fire dynamic simulator (FDS) to estimate the radiation heat flux received by the process equipment installed inside the FPR and to assess the possibility of experiencing accident escalation on board. To evaluate the effect of forced mechanical ventilation of the FPR, two different cases were modelled: one assuming the standard functioning of the ventilation system, while the other one considered a halted air supply inside the FPR with a working exhaust system only. The outcomes of this study provide useful data for the consequence estimation of small-scale LNG pool fires occurring inside enclosed spaces, also addressing the possibility of accident escalation on board LNG-fuelled ships.

Analysis of project organization specifics in small-scale LNG production

Gas industry plays an important role in the global energy sector, and in the coming decades amountsof natural gas production will only increase. One of the fastest growing trends in gas industry is the production of liquefiednatural gas (LNG), which is associated with the necessity to organize flexible systems of gas supply to the regions,remote from gas extraction sites. Industrial structure of LNG production includes projects, belonging to several different groups depending to their scale, in particular, small-scale production (SSLNG), cumulative production capacityof which is approximately 10 % from the industry-wide one. Economic aspects of implementing such projects remainunderexplored, which does not allow to draw objective conclusions regarding the prospects of their implementationin particular regions.This paper contains a review of publications, devoted to SSLNG project studies, aimed at identifying specifics oftheir organization compared to projects of greater scale. The results demonstrate that the majority of internationalcompanies classify projects as SSLNG, if their annual production capacity is below 0.5 million tonnes per annum.Specific capital costs, as well as implementation timelines of such projects, are several times lower than those of projects with greater production capacity, which reduces their risks and minimizes barriers to market entry. Furthermore,SSLNG is the most decentralized subsector in gas industry, aiming to cover the market due to a growing numberof projects, not their specific production capacity. These specific features define significant prospects of SSLNGdevelopment in Russia, both in the context of energy supply to remote regions and diversification of export deliveries.

A theoretical framework for economic assessment of small-scale LNG projects

The production of small-scale liquefied natural gas (SLNG) is a promising area of the gas industry, which allows to solve the problem of energy carriers distribution between end users. This differs SLNG from medium- and large-scale projects that concentrate LNG in hubs. The implementation of SLNG projects assumes the creation of an extensive network that allows covering vast territories that are not covered by centralized gas supply networks, rather than the development of single production capacities. In this paper, we propose a theoretical framework that allows to assess the attractiveness of SLNG networks development not only in terms of direct, but also indirect effects, which differ depending on the composition of project stakeholders, as well as on the stage of technological chain. The essence of term “flexibility” in relation to LNG projects has also been clarified.

Design of Small LNG Supply Chain by Multi-Period Optimization

A mathematical model for the design of small-scale supply chains for liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been developed. It considers the maritime delivery of LNG from supply ports to satellite terminals and land-based transports from the terminals to consumers on or off the coast. Both tactical and strategic aspects in the supply chain design are addressed by optimizing the maritime routing of a heterogeneous fleet of ships, truck connections, and the locations of the satellite terminals. The objective is to minimize the overall cost, including operation and investment costs for the selected time horizon. The model is expressed as a mixed-integer linear programming problem, applying a multi-period formulation to determine optimal storage sizes and inventory at the satellite terminals. Two case studies illustrate the model, where optimal LNG supply chains for a region with sparsely distributed island (without land transports) and a coastal region at a gulf (with both sea and land transports) are designed. The model is demonstrated to be a flexible tool suited for the initial design and feasibility analysis of small-scale LNG supply chains.

Study on the LNG distribution to mobile power plants utilizing small-scale LNG carriers

In recent years, the use of small-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) has grown alongside demand from industrial users of natural gas. Small-scale LNG is an alternative to the supply of natural gas to remote areas with a cost-effectiveness challenge. To address this challenge, five mobile power plants located in remote areas with limited depth of water level in western Indonesia are used here as a case study. The objective of this paper is to optimize LNG distribution using small-scale LNG carriers and carry out an economic analysis in this region. The capacitated vehicle routing problem model was used to optimize the maritime routing of a small-scale LNG supply chain. The maximization of the volume cargo with a given LNG vessel capacity set as the objective function was therefore provided with the optimum inventory routing and economic analysis of the transport of LNG. Cluster 1 serves three power plants with a total demand of 966 m3/day and a distance is 913 Nautical Miles, while cluster 2 serves two power plants with a total demand of 690 m3/day and distance of 1,483 Nautical Miles. Economic analysis of the two clusters shows that there is a minimum difference in the margin rate needed to make it worth the investment, which is 3 USD/MMBTU for cluster 1 and 4 USD/MMBTU for cluster 2. Thus, this paper concludes that the cost of LNG transportation depends on the amount of cargo demand and shipping distances.

Optimal Sizing of Small Scale Liquefied Natural Gas Storage using Numerical Cascade Pinch Analysis

Increasing demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the inaccessible area through pipeline has provided a solid platform for the emergence of new small scale LNG (ssLNG). The key challenges related to the ssLNG business are relatively expensive supply chain due to the diseconomy of small scale and meeting the security of supply and demand with limited supply alternatives available. Nevertheless, the market has increasingly become the preferred delivery method for natural gas (NG) because LNG can be produced at remote locations and distributed to end-users conveniently. To date, extensive works with a variety of objectives have been developed in an attempt to optimise the ssLNG supply chain in terms of conversion, transportation, and utilisation yet an optimal synthesis of LNG for small scale market has not been adequately investigated. The activity of loading and unloading of LNG in supply port terminals needs sufficient capacity of LNG storage tank. Designing an adequate capacity is necessary in order to secure reliable supplies of LNG as well as to offset fluctuations in the supply and demand of LNG. This work aims to ease industrial planner to design an optimal capacity of ssLNG storage by implementing a well established numerical cascade approach based on Pinch Analysis technique and proposed a new numerical approach of small scale LNG-Storage Cascade Analysis (ssLNG-SCA). Based on the proposed tool, the minimum amount of LNG supply for operation has been reduced from 2,100 m3 to 1,400 m3 due to the stored amount of excess LNG supply (700 m3) during start-up with the existence of ssLNG storage tank. The developed ssLNG-SCA in this work shows a significantly reduced storage capacity from 24,000 m3 to 6,300 m3 thus eliminate the need to provide for a larger and higher price of LNG storage tank. The storage offers delivery of NG to virtual trading hubs to meet end-user demand which inaccessible to the high-pressure pipeline.

Overall Performance Evaluation of Small Scale LNG Production Processes

The liquefied natural gas (LNG) is considered a viable solution to replace oil-based engines (common in heavy-duty truck and naval industry) reducing the environmental impact in the transport sector. Since liquefaction plants represent energy intensive processes, the best configurations/operation assessment is of primary importance. In this paper, a novel general procedure for the thermodynamic design and optimization, engineering design and off-design evaluation for small-scale LNG production systems is presented. The procedure can be used for the complete design and performance evaluation of plug & play facilities at filling stations for vehicles/boats, with the contemporary benefits of reducing pollutant emission in the city/port area and operating as electrical storage, coupled with renewable generators. Furthermore, the procedure has been applied to a case study (ferry boat operating at the main canal in the port of Ravenna, Italy), evaluating the optimal size for the integrated wind plant by minimizing the electricity introduction into the grid. The obtained results show 78 kW as optimal wind size, allowing the LNG plant to operate 187 h/year in design and 4720 h/year in off-design conditions, with electricity surplus around 33 MWh/year. A prototype will be installed to reduce pollutant emissions and test this technology as a storage option for renewable sources.

Numerical simulation of small-scale pool fires of LNG

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been largely indicated as a promising alternative solution for the transportation and storage of natural gas. In the case of accidental release on the ground, a pool fire scenario may occur. Despite the relevance of this accident, due to its likelihood and potential to trigger domino effects, accurate analyses addressing the characterization of pool fires of LNG are still missing.In this work, the fire dynamic simulator (FDS) has been adopted for the evaluation of the effects of the released amount of fuel and its composition (methane, ethane, and propane), on the thermal and chemical properties of small-scale LNG pool fire. More specifically, the heat release rate, the burning rate, the flame height, and thermal radiation, at different initial conditions, have been evaluated for pool having diameter smaller than 10 m. Safety distances have been calculated for all the investigated conditions, as well.Results have also been compared with data and correlations retrieved from the current literature. The equation of Thomas seems to work properly for the definition of the height over diameter ratio of the LNG pool fire for all the mixture and the investigated diameters.The addition of ethane and propane significantly affects the obtained results, especially in terms of radiative thermal radiation peaks, thus indicating the inadequacy of the commonly adopted assumption of pure methane as single, surrogate species for the LNG mixture.

Optimal selection of two-phase tube-side heat transfer model for small-scale LNG spiral wound heat exchanger

Small-scale devices of liquefied natural gas (LNG) have been widely applied in the natural gas industries, especially for stranded gas production. As the key equipment of LNG plants, the performance of the spiral wound heat exchanger (SWHE) influences operating costs, reliability and safety of the whole system. In order to obtain the accurate two-phase tube-side heat transfer model for small-scale LNG SWHE and analyze its thermal performance, an experimental device of dual mixed refrigeration (DMR) is constructed. A multi-phase multi- -stream calculation code for SWHE is developed to solve the energy balance equations among tube-side feed gas, tube-side refrigerant and shell-side refrigerant, based on experimental results and thermal property calculation. The results show that the homogeneous flow model can be applied to two-phase tube-side heat transfer calculation of feed gas and Bell and Ghaly?s model and Shah?s model can be both applied to the mixed refrigerant. The relative errors between the results of the experiment and program are all within the range of ?12%.