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US 5,701,761 AGranted
Method and installation for the liquefaction of natural gas
AssigneeInstitut Francais du Petrole
InventorsIsabelle Prevost, Alexandre Rojey
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AssigneeInstitut Francais du Petrole
InventorsIsabelle Prevost, Alexandre Rojey
Estimating the term…
A pressurized natural gas is liquefied through at least one cooling cycle, in which a mixture of cooling fluids is used, comprising at least the following steps: a) at least some of the said cooling mixture is condensed by compression and cooling, for example, using an external cooling fluid to obtain at least one vapor fraction and one liquid fraction, b) at least some of each of the vapor and liquid fractions is expanded separately to obtain a light fluid M1 comprising mostly a vapor phase and a heavy fluid M2 comprising mostly a liquid phase, c) the fluids M1 and M2 are at least partially mixed to obtain a low-temperature mixture, and d) the natural gas is liquified and undercooled under pressure by a process of heat exchange with the low-temperature mixture produced during step c).
Method of liquefying a pressurised natural gas in at least one cooling cycle using a mixture of cooling fluids, comprising the steps of:
Installation for cooling a fluid, particularly for liquefying a natural gas, using a cooling mixture, comprising a first device for at least partially condensing the cooling mixture, having at least one compressor (K.sub.1) operably connected to at least one condenser (C.sub.1), a separator (S.sub.1) operably connected to an output of the first device for separating a vapour fraction and a liquid fraction resulting from partial condensation in the first device, a first expansion device (T.sub.1) directly connected to a vapour fraction output of the separator (S.sub.1) for directly expanding at least a portion of the vapour fraction, a second expansion device (V.sub.1) operably connected to a liquid fraction output of the separator (S.sub.1) for expanding the liquid fraction, wherein outputs of the first (T.sub.1) and second (V.sub.1) expansion devices are operably connected to provide a mixture of expanded vapour and liquid fractions, and at least one device (E.sub.1) in which the mixture of expanded liquid and vapour fractions is brought into thermal contact with the fluid to be cooled.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.