Natural gas is easily liquefied using a combination of moderate compression and conventional chilling. Depending on composition, the density of such pressurized-liquefied natural gas (P-LNG) will range between 360 to 400 kg/m3. The lowest input energy combination is around 90 Bar pressure at -50 C.
As the required temperature is not cryogenic, the gas does not have to be ‘stripped’ to 50 ppm as does conventional LNG. Some dehydration of the gas may be required.
To chill 10 MT of natural gas from 20 C down to -50 C within a one-hour loading time will require approximately 120 tons of refrigeration. Using our proprietary process, a commissioned liquefaction and loading train is calculated to cost approximately $4 million (CAN), and will be able to load 19 ITMs per day.
The energy required to produce and load 10 MT of P-LNG into an ITM will range from 300 to 350 kW. Including the cost of an operator, the OPEX cost to load will be $110 to $120 per ITM.
The amortized CAPEX cost of the liquefaction and loading train will be around $40 per ITM. Thus, the total cost to load an ITM with 10 MT of P-LNG will range between $150 to $160.
With approximately 450 MMBtu in an ITM, the total cost to liquefy and load is expected to be less than $0.40/MMBtu. The current cost to liquefy natural gas as conventional LNG is around $4.00/MMBtu (CAN).
