Study of Operation of Cost Items in LNG Plant

Due to the increasing demand for natural gas in the world today, transportation of
natural gas from different parts of the world has become a necessity. Liquefying the
natural gas provides a safer and cheaper alternative for transportation and also
increases its storage capabilities. However, it has been accounting for the highest
operating cost if compared to the other chain of the industry. Hence liquefaction
process has been a key area that constantly in need for development so as to save
cost and increase LNG plant capacity through production, which these are, also the
objectives to this research.
The scopes of studies for this project cover the development of LNG technologies,
the cost items that affects the overall cost consumption of the plant, the operating
parameters in liquefaction process, equipments' efficiency and also the process lineup.
The methodology of this project covers two areas. which are research and
stimulation. Research covers the study and collections of information regarding the
LNG industry and its development, while stimulation that reflects the process flow of
liquefaction will be done in HYSYS. Through HYSYS, comparison can be done
from the varies schemes stimulated to obtain the most optimum process output.
The flowsheet selected for simulation will be utilising the technology of APCI
C3MR as basis. For the study in the power consumption of the plant, the focus lies in
the propane refrigerant system where its composition will be manipulated to obtain
the temperature output and power required by the compressor. Based on the power
obtained, the cost can be calculated to obtain the cheapest operating cost.
Nevertheless, further studies and in depth understanding on the fundamentals of
liquefaction process is still required in order to develop innovative methods to further
increase the capacity, efficiency and consequently the production of LNG in a LNG
plant. The enhancement method can be in terms of process and machinery integration
advancements.