Oil & Gas / Floating LNG 89
A SEA CHANGE FOR LNG CONCEPTS
by Tim Eastwood and Jorge Arizmendi-Sánchez, Costain Energy and Process
LNG is an energy source THERE IS AN increasing demand for Liquefied
Natural Gas (LNG) in many parts of the world,
that can compete on yet recent expansion in import capacity,
particularly in the USA, Western Europe,
both price and supply. India and China, has not been matched by
Due to constraints additional production capacity.
associated with onshore Large, near shore gas reserves are required to
LNG facilities, floating make onshore LNG facilities economically
viable. Limited suitable locations, steel costs
facilities are growing in and an unavailability of skilled personnel for
engineering and construction have escalated
appeal, making stranded the cost of onshore LNG plants. Additionally,
gas fields economically many of the locations under consideration
have been deemed too technically or
viable and giving politically challenging, leading to
operators a further postponement of final investment decisions.
opportunity to redeploy Offshore floating LNG production (FLNG)
could overcome many of the difficulties
the facility to other associated with onshore LNG projects,
reserve bases. But with providing a feasible alternative for the
economical development of remote offshore
this groundbreaking gas fields. Adapting onshore oil production
concept comes the technology for offshore operation has
already been demonstrated on well over a
challenges of putting hundred Floating Production, Storage and
Offloading (FPSO) units.
LNG technology at sea
FLNG has a significant potential to exploit
and monetise stranded gas reserves and
Above: The FLEX LNG Producer. Picture courtesy natural gas found in association with oil.
of FLEX LNG and Samsung Heavy Industries. There are several hundred offshore natural
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gas fields with adequate reserves to support
a FLNG facility with production capacity of
1-2 mtpa for ten years or more. Plants of this
capacity can be easily accommodated within
the available deck space of a conventional
hull. For higher LNG production capacities,
the size of the process topside modules could
lead to larger vessels than conventional today.
The major infrastructure required for
onshore LNG plants, including gas pipeline
to shore, jetty, single or full containment
concrete LNG storage tanks and site
preparation, is not needed for FLNG.
This results in lower investment costs and
a shorter project schedule. An additional
advantage of FLNG is the fact that the
units can be redeployed to a new field as
production declines.
MARINISATION OF LNG TECHNOLOGY
Process technology for FLNG facilities
needs to be highly efficient, proven and
reliable to minimise costs and technological
risks. The process has to be robust to
changes in feed gas and ambient conditions,
be extremely safe and meet stringent
environmental criteria. Allowable space is
a fraction of what is available onshore,
and optimal design will focus on minimising
footprint and weight. Equipment needs to
be robust to vessel movement and be aligned
with offshore specifications.
90 Oil & Gas / Floating LNG
A significant challenge in the design and
construction of FLNG units is the successful
integration of the topsides (processing plant
and major utilities) with the hull and vessel
systems. Naval architects play a key role in
coordinating offshore design practice and
LNG plant design to ensure optimal
integration of the FLNG unit.
FLNG projects bring many opportunities for
skilled engineering companies and
technology suppliers to develop solutions
that meet these requirements.
GAS RECEPTION AND PRE-TREATMENT
Conventional process technologies can be
used for gas reception (including slug
catcher, liquids separation, filtration and
condensate stabilisation) and pre-treatment
(including acid gas removal, dehydration
and mercury removal), paying attention in
equipment design to account for ship motion.
For example, process performance of tall
columns in the acid gas removal system can
be analysed using tools such as Computational
Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to ensure appropriate
design of column internals.
LIQUEFACTION PROCESS
Turbo-expander technology is widely used for
liquefaction of industrial gases and proven
for liquefaction of natural gas in peak shave
LNG plants. These refrigeration cycles
operate by compressing and work-expanding
a gaseous fluid, typically nitrogen, at high
isentropic efficiency to generate refrigeration.
In FLNG evaluations in the late 1980s,
Costain advocated a dual turbo-expander
refrigeration cycle liquefaction process with
the second turbo-expander operating over a
lower temperature range, giving improved
efficiency. Today, there is consensus that the
dual turbo-expander cycle is the technology
of choice for FLNG at capacities of 1-2 mtpa.
Turbo-expander with Active Magnetic Bearings Picture courtesy of Mafi-Trench Company
GAS PRE-TREATMENT AND LIQUEFACTION PROCESS
Compared to other liquefaction processes
typically considered for larger onshore LNG
facilities, for example, cascade or mixed
refrigerant, turbo-expander technology is
highly appropriate for FLNG, due to:
F Inherent safety, avoiding use and storage of
large amounts of hydrocarbon refrigerants
F Insensitivity to vessel motion as the
refrigerant is gaseous
F Rapid start-up and shutdown in a safe
and controlled manner
F Small number of equipment items with
a low footprint and weight
F Flexibility to changes in feed gas conditions.
Furthermore, turbo-expander liquefaction
technology lends itself to modular design
and fabrication due to the size of the
equipment and the relatively low number of
equipment items. Modularisation provides
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opportunities for capital cost savings and
high quality fabrication. Fabrication of the
vessel and the topside modules can be
performed in parallel, reducing time to full
LNG production by many months.
LIQUEFACTION CYCLE MACHINERY
Refrigeration cycle compressors can either be
driven directly by gas turbines or by electric
motors. Technical challenges exist for both
options, but direct drive is considered by
many as the preferred option as it eliminates
electric generators, variable speed drives and
electric motors, which add to footprint and
weight and introduce losses in efficiency.
As refrigeration cycle machinery is a major
contributor to footprint, weight and cost,
consideration of aero-derivative gas turbines
can provide significant benefits in terms of
plant size and cost reductions for a given
plant capacity. Additionally, aero-derivative
gas turbines have a higher thermal efficiency,
are more reliable and require a reduced
maintenance downtime compared with their
industrial counterparts. Power output of gas
turbines in hot, tropical climates can be
increased by up to 30% by chilling the inlet
air with a mechanical refrigeration package
utilising ‘low ozone depletion’ refrigerants
or with absorption refrigeration based on
waste heat.
Radial inflow turbo-expanders used in the
refrigeration cycle exhibit high reliability
with minimal maintenance requirements.
FLNG uses conventional operating parameters,
and as frame sizes are at the higher end of
the manufacturer’s range, efficiencies are very
high. Active magnetic bearings are widely used
for turbo-expanders to minimise footprint and
weight compared with oil bearing systems.
A liquid expander can be used rather
than a valve to let down LNG product to
storage pressure. This increases production
capacity, with the extracted energy used
to generate electricity.
 Oil & Gas / Floating LNG 91

IN FOCUS: PRELUDE FLOATING LNG – SHELL

for 25 years, producing

3.6 mtpa LNG, 1.3 mtpa
condensate and 400,000 tpa
liquefied petroleum gas.
When fully ballasted, the
FLNG facility weighs around
600,000 tonnes. Capital cost
for the vessel is estimated at
around US$5.5 billion, while
the full life cycle project
costs are expected to hit
US$9.5bn.

Shell is the operator and

100% equity holder of
the WA-371-P permit,
containing the Prelude and
Concerto fields. The Prelude
FLNG project is now
undergoing the FEED study,
which is being conducted by
with the Technip-Samsung
Heavy Industries consortium.
Shell also signed a master
agreement with the
consortium for the design,
Last October, Shell announced plans to develop its Prelude and construction and installation of multiple FLNG facilities over a
Concerto gas discoveries, located in the Browse Basin off the period of up to 15 years.
northwest coast of Western Australia, using a floating liquefied
natural gas (FLNG) platform. The final investment decision is expected in early 2011 and the
vessel is expected to be operational in 2016. In a draft environmental
FLNG technology has the potential to unlock some of Australia’s impact statement released last October (2009), Shell stated that a
‘stranded’ gas reserves that have previously been considered development drilling programme would begin in 2013 to drill
uneconomic to develop because of their small size or distance eight production wells, which will be tied back to manifolds and
from shore. Prelude, for example, is a relatively small field holding connected to the FLNG vessel through four flowlines.
2-3 tcf of gas. The FLNG vessel eliminates the need for an
offshore platform, a pipeline to shore, a jetty and dredging, Shell’s commitment to move forward at Prelude has intensified
thus reducing costs and environmental impact. the race to build the world’s first FLNG project. Companies including
Brazil’s Petrobras, Japan’s Inpex, Malaysia’s Petronas, PTTEP of
The double-hulled FLNG vessel, set to be the world’s biggest Thailand, France’s GDF Suez and Flex LNG are proposing FLNG
ship at 480 metres by about 75 metres, is intended to operate ventures, some aiming for start-up before 2016.

LIQUEFACTION HEAT EXCHANGERS
Aluminium plate-fin heat exchangers (PFHE)
are conventional in cryogenic natural gas
processing onshore and are ideal for floating
liquefaction, being light, compact and
highly efficient for multi-stream duties.
Multiple PFHE cores can be accommodated
in cold box modules providing insulation
and weatherproofing.
Spiral-wound heat exchangers, conventional
and proven in large-scale onshore LNG
plants, can be considered as an alternative.
They are robust to thermal stresses, but their
application may be limited due to increased
height, footprint and weight.
PROCESS HEATING AND COOLING
Waste heat available from the gas turbines
exceeds process requirements, so waste heat
recovery is the most cost-effective and
thermally efficient solution for process
heating required for pre-treatment facilities.
A FLNG unit needs significantly more
cooling water than an oil-processing FPSO.
A closed-loop cooling water circuit using
compact heat exchangers can provide
efficient cooling at very small temperature
driving forces. Such a system requires a
fraction of the space and weight
requirements of conventional open-loop
systems with direct cooling against seawater
in shell and tube heat exchangers.
STORAGE AND OFFLOADING
Advances in offshore LNG storage and
transfer have been essential to the viability
of FLNG. Storage tanks on a FLNG facility
are filled over a number of days, so they
must be robust to sloshing loads when
partially filled. The main LNG storage system
licensors now have designs qualified to
withstand sloshing effects, including
prismatic designs that minimise the impact
on the available deck area.
Systems for side-by-side LNG transfer using
articulated loading arms and cryogenic
hoses are now commercially available.
As side-by-side loading is feasible only in
calm seas, technology suppliers are now
actively developing stern loading systems
that allow transfer in harsher environmental
conditions.
SAFETY AND PLANT LAYOUT
An excellent safety record has been enjoyed
both by onshore LNG plants and by the
LNG carrier fleet. FLNG introduces more
stringent requirements due to the congested
nature of the plant, storage and personnel
areas. Several classification societies have
developed requirements for FLNG facilities
and will act as a ‘design authority’ in
developing safety assessments. No obstacles
have been identified for the safe design of a
FLNG facility using nitrogen as refrigerant,
with Quantitative Risk Assessments
showing lower risk than many onshore
LNG plants.
Offshore LNG production provides a
competitive alternative to onshore production
at a time of LNG shortage. Equipment that
provides a safe, simple, flexible and robust
solution, with low footprint and weight is
best suited to a FLNG facility.

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