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US 8,381,544 B2Granted
Method for liquefaction of natural gas
AssigneeKellogg Brown & Root LLC
InventorDavid A. Coyle
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of altering the heating value of a liquefied natural gas by adding higher heating value components is disclosed. A portion of the liquefied natural gas is used to cool the higher heating value component stream prior to combining the higher heating value components with the liquefied natural gas to obtain a combined stream having a heating value greater than the liquefied natural gas.
Claims22
A method of altering the heating value of a liquefied natural gas stream comprising:
- providing a first liquefied hydrocarbon composed of at least 90 wt % methane, having a temperature of about −150° C. or less and having a first heating value, in a first storage vessel;
- providing a second liquefied hydrocarbon composed primarily of one or more of ethane, propane, and butane, or mixtures thereof;
- providing a first stream of the first liquefied hydrocarbon from the first storage vessel;
- diverting a first portion of the first stream and compressing it to form a compressed first stream;
- passing the compressed first stream through the cold side of a first heat exchanger to obtain a heated first stream;
- decompressing the heated first stream in a first liquid expander to obtain a decompressed first stream;
- returning the decompressed first stream back to the first storage vessel;
- providing a second stream of the second liquefied hydrocarbon;
- compressing the second stream to form a compressed second stream having a temperature from about −40° C. to about −160° C.;
- passing the compressed second stream having a temperature from about −40° C. to about −160° C. through the warm side of the first heat exchanger to cool the compressed second stream to obtain a cooled second stream;
- combining a first portion of the cooled second stream with a second portion of the first stream to obtain an third stream having a second heating value greater than the first heating value of the first liquefied hydrocarbon.
8 more elements
A method of modifying the heating value of a liquefied natural gas stream comprising:
- providing LNG composed of at least 90 wt % methane, and having a first heating value in a first storage vessel;
- providing LPG composed primarily of one or more of ethane, propane, and butane, or mixtures thereof;
- passing a first stream of the LNG through a first heat exchanger to provide cooling energy and a warmed first stream of the LNG;
- passing a stream of the LPG having a temperature from about −40° C. to about −160° C. through the first heat exchanger to obtain a cooled stream of the LPG;
- providing a second stream of the LNG;
- blending a first portion of the cooled stream of the LPG with the second stream of the LNG to obtain a third stream containing LNG and containing increased content of LPG and thus having a heating value greater than the first heating value of the LNG.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.