Liquefied Natural Gas - Liquefaction Technology

Liquefaction Technology

Currently there are 4 Liquefaction processes available:

1. C3MR (sometimes referred to as APCI): designed by Air Products & Chemicals, Incorporation.
2. Cascade: designed by ConocoPhillips.
3. Shell DMR
4. Linde

It is expected that by the end of 2012, there will be 100 liquefaction trains on stream with total capacity of 297.2 MMTPA.

The majority of these trains use either APCI or Cascade technology for the liquefaction process. The other processes, used in a small minority of some liquefaction plants, include Shell's DMR technology and the Linde technology. These processes are less important than the APCI or Cascade processes.

APCI technology is the most used liquefaction process in LNG plants: out of 100 liquefaction trains on-stream or under-construction, 86 trains, with a total capacity of 243 MMTPA have been designed based on the APCI process: the second most used is the Philips Cascade process which is used in 10 trains with a total capacity of 36.16 MMTPA. The Shell DMR process has been used in 3 trains with total capacity of 13.9 MMTPA; and, finally, the Linde/Statoil process is used only in the Snohvit 4.2 MMTPA single train.

Floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facilities float above an offshore gas field, and produce, liquefy, store and transfer LNG (and potentially LPG and condensate) at sea before carriers ship it directly to markets. The first FLNG facility is now in development by Shell, due for completion in around 2017.