Configurations and methods for offshore LNG regasification and heating value conditioning
First Claim
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1. A method of providing a natural gas product, comprising:
- providing vaporized supercritical LNG at a temperature of −
20°
F. to 20°
F. to an LNG processing unit;
expanding the vaporized LNG in the LNG processing unit, and using refrigeration content of the expanded vaporized LNG to provide cooling to a first and second recompressor discharge stream and a reflux condenser to condense C2 components from a deethanizer overhead product and to thereby completely convert the expanded vaporized LNG into a heated LNG vapor stream;
splitting the heated LNG vapor stream into a first and second vapor portion;
condensing the first vapor portion to form a reflux stream for a demethanizer, wherein the reflux stream has a temperature sufficient for recovery of at least C2 components, and turbo-expanding the second vapor portion and feeding the expanded second vapor portion to the demethanizer; and
producing a demethanizer overhead product, and feeding a demethanizer bottom product to the deethanizer.
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Abstract
Contemplated plant configurations and methods employ a vaporized and supercritical LNG stream at an intermediate temperature that is expanded, wherein refrigeration content of the expanded LNG is used to chill one or more recompressor feed streams and to condense a demethanizer reflux. One portion of the so warmed and expanded LNG is condensed and fed to the demethanizer as reflux, while the other portion is expanded and fed to the demethanizer as feed stream. Most preferably, the demethanizer overhead is combined with a portion of the vaporized and supercritical LNG stream to form a pipeline product.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of providing a natural gas product, comprising:
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providing vaporized supercritical LNG at a temperature of −
20°
F. to 20°
F. to an LNG processing unit;expanding the vaporized LNG in the LNG processing unit, and using refrigeration content of the expanded vaporized LNG to provide cooling to a first and second recompressor discharge stream and a reflux condenser to condense C2 components from a deethanizer overhead product and to thereby completely convert the expanded vaporized LNG into a heated LNG vapor stream; splitting the heated LNG vapor stream into a first and second vapor portion; condensing the first vapor portion to form a reflux stream for a demethanizer, wherein the reflux stream has a temperature sufficient for recovery of at least C2 components, and turbo-expanding the second vapor portion and feeding the expanded second vapor portion to the demethanizer; and producing a demethanizer overhead product, and feeding a demethanizer bottom product to the deethanizer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A gas treatment plant comprising:
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an LNG vaporizer that is configured to provide vaporized supercritical LNG at a temperature of −
20°
F. to 20°
F.;an expander that is coupled to the vaporizer and configured to expand the vaporized LNG to thereby form a chilled expanded LNG stream; a first, second, and third heat exchanger configured to provide cooling to a first and second recompressor discharge stream and a reflux condenser of a deethanizer, respectively, wherein the reflux condenser is configured to condense ethane in a deethanizer overhead product, and wherein the first, second, and third heat exchangers are configured to use refrigeration content of the chilled expanded LNG stream and to thereby completely convert the expanded vaporized LNG into a heated LNG vapor stream; a fourth heat exchanger that is configured to condense a first portion of the heated LNG vapor stream, and a demethanizer that is configured to receive the condensed first portion as a reflux and that is further configured to provide a demethanizer overhead product; and a turbo-expander that is configured to expand a second portion of the heated LNG vapor stream to thereby form a demethanizer feed. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification