Method and apparatus of obtaining natural gas from a maritime deposit
AssigneeSulzer Brothers Limited
InventorCharles Mandrin
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The natural gas which is obtained from a maritime deposit is purified on a platform or ship and is then compressed and cooled while on the platform or ship before being delivered under pressure to a LNG tanker where liquefaction takes place by expansion. An expansion group is disposed on the tanker in order to obtain liquefied natural gas at approximately 1 bar while non-liquified residual gases are returned to the platform or ship via a return line.
Claims13
A method of obtaining natural gas from a maritime deposit, said method comprising the steps of
- obtaining a flow of natural gas from a maritime deposit on board one of a production platform and a production ship;
- purifying the flow of natural gas of at least one of acid, carbon dioxide and water;
- thereafter compressing and cooling the flow of natural gas to a compressed state on board the selected one of the platform and ship;
- subsequently delivering the flow of compressed natural gas to a LNG tanker;
- and
- expanding the flow of compressed natural gas on the tanker to form liquefied natural gas;
- storing the liquefied natural gas on the tanker;
- and
- returning non-liquefied natural gas from the flow of natural gas delivered to the tanker from the tanker to the selected one of the platform and ship.
The combination of
- a platform;
- a production unit on said platform for obtaining natural gas from a flow of crude oil from a maritime deposit;
- means on said platform for purifying the natural gas of at least one of acid, carbon dioxide and water;
- a compression and cooling unit on such platform for compressing and cooling the purified natural gas;
- and
- a high-pressure line for delivering the pressurized natural gas to an LNG tanker.
A system for obtaining natural gas from a maritime deposit, and system comprising
- a platform;
- a production unit on said platform for obtaining natural gas from a flow of crude oil from a maritime deposit;
- means on said platform for purifying the natural gas of at least one of acid, carbon dioxide and water;
- a compression and cooling unit on said platform for compressing and cooling the purified natural gas;
- at least one tanker for storing liquefied natural gas;
- an expansion group on said tanker for receiving and expanding a flow of pressurized natural gas from said compression and cooling unit on said platform to expand the natural gas to form liquefied natural gas while generating non-liquefied residual natural gas;
- and
- at least one compressor on said tanker for compressing the residual gas for return to said platform.
A system for obtaining natural gas from a maritime deposit, and system comprising
- a ship;
- a production unit on said ship for obtaining natural gas from a flow of crude oil from a maritime deposit;
- means on said ship for purifying the natural gas of at least one of acid, carbon dioxide and water;
- a compression and cooling unit on such ship for compressing and cooling the purified natural gas;
- at least one tanker for storing liquefied natural gas;
- an expansion group on said tanker for receiving and expanding a flow of pressurized natural gas from said compression and cooling unit on said ship to expand the natural gas to form liquefied natural gas while generating non-liquefied residual natural gas;
- and
- at least one compressor on said tanker for compressing the residual gas for return to said ship.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.