Beruflich Dokumente
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Energy
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Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history:
Received 3 July 2007
Received in revised form
7 December 2008
Accepted 24 April 2009
Available online 30 June 2009
This paper presents an overview of the LNG industry in China, covering LNG plants, receiving terminals,
transportation, and applications. Small and medium scale LNG plants with different liquefaction
processes have already been built or are being built. Chinas rst two LNG receiving terminals have been
put into operation in Guangdong and Fujian, another one is being built in Shanghai, and more are being
planned. China is now able to manufacture LNG road tanks and containers. The construction of the rst
two LNG carriers has been completed. LNG satellite stations have been built, and LNG vehicles have been
manufactured. LNG related regulations and standards are being established. The prospects of LNG in
China are also discussed in this paper. Interesting topics such as small-scale liqueers, LNG cold energy
utilization, coal bed methane liquefaction, LNG plant on board (FPSO oating production, storage, and
off-loading), and LNG price are introduced and analyzed. To meet the increasing demand for natural gas,
China needs to build about 10 large LNG receiving terminals, and to import LNG at the level of more than
20 bcm (billion cubic metre) per year by 2020.
2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
LNG
Natural gas
Liquefaction plant
Receiving terminal
Prospect
1. Introduction
With the rapid economic development in Mainland China, its
demand for energy supply is also increasing at the rate of more than
10% per year. China relies heavily on its coal supply, although natural
gas consumption has been growing quickly in recent years. According
to the data in Table 1, which is drawn from BPs statistical review [1],
the total fossil fuel consumption in China was 1491.1 Mtoe (million
ton oil equivalent) in 2006. The proportions of coal, oil, and natural gas
were 73.2%, 23.5%, and 3.3%, respectively. Meanwhile, natural gas
accounted for 26.9% of the world fossil fuel consumption.
Natural gas is a kind of clean and efcient energy resource. To
ensure a cleaner future, China has realized the importance of
utilizing more natural gas. China has relatively abundant reserves
of natural gas. The reserves/production ratio of natural gas was 41.8
in 2006, compared to that of oil of 12.1, a very low ratio. Yet, China
still needs more natural gas to fulll its energy requirement.
According to an estimation [2], the natural gas consumption will
reach 100 bcm (billion cubic metre) and 200 bcm in 2010 and 2020,
respectively, but the production will only reach 80 bcm and
120 bcm, respectively. This means that about 20% and 40%,
respectively, of the consumption will be imported.
Besides, importation through pipelines from Russia and some
from the Central Asian countries, natural gas can also be imported
in liqueed form known as liqueed natural gas (LNG). Well puried and condensed, LNG is easily transported across the sea. Also
from BPs statistical review [1], 28.2% of the international natural
gas trade movement was in the form of LNG in 2006. Assuming the
same proportion for Chinas import, 5.6 bcm and 22.6 bcm natural
gas will have to be imported as LNG in 2010 and 2020, respectively.
Considering the capacity of an LNG terminal is 3 Mt/a, it would
mean at least ten receiving terminals need to be built by 2020.
The arrival of the rst LNG carrier at Shenzhen Dapeng LNG
terminal on June 2006 marked a new era in Chinas energy supply
history. It was the rst time that natural gas was imported into
China, and the day its rst LNG receiving terminal was put into
operation.
Every aspect of the LNG chain in China has developed signicantly over the last few years. By far, several natural gas liquefaction
plants, LNG receiving terminals, and LNG satellite stations have
been built or are being built. More are being planned. Several LNG
fueling stations and LNG-red power plants have also been built.
Several LNG-fueled buses are running. Many LNG road tankers and
containers have been manufactured. Two LNG carriers have been
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Table 1
Summary of fossil fuels in China and the world [1].
Oil
Production (Mt)
Consumption (Mt)
R/P ratio
China
World total
Coal
China
World total
Natural gas
China
World total
2200
164,500
Proved reserves (Mt)
114,500
909,064
Proved reserves (bcm)
2450
181,460
183.7
3914.1
Production (Mtoe)
1212.3
3079.7
Production (Mtoe)
52.7
2586.4
349.8
3889.8
Consumption (Mtoe)
1091.3
3090.1
Consumption (Mtoe)
50.0
2574.9
12.1
40.5
R/P ratio
48
147
R/P ratio
41.8
63.3
Fig. 1. CII cycle for the Shanghai LNG plant: 1 - fractionation column, 2 - cold box,
3 - compressor (low pressure stage), 4 - compressor (high-pressure stage), 58 - liquid
vapor separator, 911 - throttling valve, 12, 13 - cooler.
Fig. 2. Cascade cycle for the Zhongyuan LNG plant: 1 - separator, 2 - lter, 3 - CO2
removing unit, 4 - water removing unit, 5, 6 - propane heat exchanger, 7, 11, 14 - throttling
valve, 8, 12, 15 - NG separator, 9 - ethylene heat exchanger, 10, 13 - natural gas heat
exchanger, 16 - LNG tank.
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Table 2
Summary of LNG plants in China.
Project
Location
Type
East sea
Zhongyuan
Guanghui
Hairan
Beihai
Erdos
Dazhou
Zhuhai
Shanghai
Henan
Xinjiang
Hainan
Guangxi
Inner Mongolia
Sichuan
Guangdong
Peak-shaving
Base load
Base load
Base load
Base load
Base load
Base load
Base load
1.0 105
1.5 105
1.5 106
1.5 105
1.5 105
6.0 105
6.0 105
6.0 105
Built
Built
Built
Built
Built
Under construction
Under construction
Under construction
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Table 3
Summary of LNG receiving terminals in China.
Province
Location
Capacity (Mt/a)
Main owner(s)
Operation
Status
Liaoning
Hebei
Tianjian
Shandong
Jiangu
Shanghai
Zhejiang
Fujian
Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangxi
Hainan
Dalian
Tangshan
Tianjin port
Qingdao
Rudong
Yangshan port
Ningbo
Putian
Shenzhen
Zhuhai
Beihai
Wenchang
3.5
3.5
CNPC
CNPC
Sinopec
Sinopec
CNPC
Shenergy/CNOOC
CNOOC
CNOOC
CNOOC/BP
GDYD/CNOOC
CNPC
CNOOC
2011
2012
3.3
3
3
3
2.6
3.7
3.4
After 2010
2011
2009
After 2010
2008
2006
2012
Note: CNPC China National Petroleum Corporation, Sinopec China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, CNOOC China National Offshore Oil Corporation,
GDYD Guangdong Yudean Group Co. Ltd.
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the LNG evaporation process, the CO2 condensation and cycle heat
sink are at temperatures much lower than ambient. In addition,
the combustion-generated CO2 is separated from the main
working uid without additional energy consumption. This cycle
has both high power generation efciency and extremely low
environmental impact.
Funded by Statoil, the University of Pennsylvania, Institute of
Engineering Thermophysics of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and
Shanghai Jiao Tong University are working to improve the abovementioned cycle. The research aims to analyze the possibility of
building such a power plant at Shanghai LNG terminal.
3.3. Liquefaction of coal bed methane
On one hand, China has the third largest coal bed methane
(CBM) resources in the world. The total reserves are about
36,000 bcm, almost the same quantity as its natural gas reserve. On
the other hand, CBM explosions cause 7080% of the coalmine
accidents in China. In addition, coal-related methane emissions do
great harm to the environment, because methane is a powerful
greenhouse gas with a greenhouse warming potential (GWP) of 21.
Recovery of CBM has vital importance not only for energy utilization, but also for safety and environment protection.
3.4. LNG-FPSO
Much natural gas reserves are under the sea. In 2003, the
production of offshore natural gas reached 685.6 bcm, a quarter of
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