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WNIP SEPT OCT 19.5 DIGITAL

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24<br />

<strong>19.5</strong><br />

Accurate measurements for process control and product<br />

quality of LNG<br />

Natural gas is sourced from<br />

various gas fields and offers a<br />

major leap towards a renewablebased<br />

energy future.<br />

Colourless, odourless and nontoxic,<br />

it is the cleanest-burning<br />

hydrocarbon on the market today,<br />

with global demand on the rise.<br />

It is used for both heat and<br />

power, and the automotive market<br />

has also embraced it to keep<br />

vehicles on the road.<br />

The majority of natural gas is<br />

transported in gaseous form via<br />

onshore or offshore gas pipelines.<br />

For stranded gas reserves where<br />

there is little or no local demand,<br />

or for long transport distances –<br />

more than 1000km offshore or less<br />

than 3000km onshore - it becomes<br />

more economical to liquefy the<br />

natural gas prior to transportation,<br />

especially as it ensures safe and<br />

easy storage to its various locations.<br />

In addition, due to the nearly<br />

600-fold reduction in volume for<br />

liquid natural gas (LNG) versus<br />

natural gas, LNG is often the<br />

preferred method for local storage.<br />

Continuous uninterrupted<br />

operation – the gas pre-treatment,<br />

dehydration, and liquefaction<br />

process trains – is essential to<br />

ensure on-time LNG loading and<br />

shipment.<br />

In addition, processing feed<br />

gas to remove contaminants is<br />

critical to the operation of LNG<br />

plants. Raw natural gas from<br />

different geological formations<br />

contains varying amounts of acid<br />

gases (H2S and CO2).<br />

These<br />

contaminants<br />

must be removed from LNG<br />

feed gas to prevent CO2<br />

from freezing at cryogenic<br />

processing temperatures and<br />

H2S from exceeding gas quality<br />

specifications.<br />

Once LNG has been liquefied<br />

and stored in tanks, it is ready for<br />

transport to other markets, usually<br />

via LNG carrier. These custody<br />

transfers from the storage tank<br />

to the ship, or from the ship at a<br />

receiving terminal, often involve<br />

millions of rands of product in a<br />

single shipment.<br />

As such, it is essential that<br />

both the deliverer and recipient of<br />

the LNG know exactly how much<br />

energy has been transacted, and<br />

an uncertainty of as little as one<br />

percent in energy transferred can<br />

cost the buyer or seller dearly. The<br />

compositional measurements<br />

of natural gas in gaseous and<br />

liquefied states, and of mixed<br />

refrigerants, help LNG plants<br />

operate efficiently and determine<br />

the energy value of LNG. According<br />

to the Group International des<br />

Importateurs de Gaz Naturel<br />

Liquéfié (GIIGNL), a key factor<br />

in determining proper energy<br />

transfer is the measurement of<br />

gross calorific value (GCV), which is<br />

calculated from LNG composition.<br />

For traditional GC-vaporiser<br />

systems, it is essential to eliminate<br />

partial and pre-vaporisation for all<br />

LNG flow rates of the LNG sample,<br />

which requires careful installation<br />

and proper maintenance to ensure<br />

good insulation and no hot spots<br />

in the sample vaporisation and<br />

transport paths.<br />

In addition, the GIIGNL<br />

states that LNG must be sampled<br />

during stable flow of LNG. Data<br />

collected during flow variations<br />

and interruptions is not used<br />

in the calculation of the energy<br />

transferred, and can result in a<br />

significant amount of LNG being<br />

transferred without known GCV.<br />

Laser spectroscopy analysers<br />

from SpectraSensors have the<br />

technology to perform critical<br />

measurements throughout<br />

the LNG value chain - from pretreatment<br />

and liquefaction<br />

through to custody transfer and<br />

regasification to support on-time<br />

shipments. Its tuneable diode<br />

laser absorption spectroscopy<br />

analysers (TDLAS) monitor H2O,<br />

H2S and CO2 concentrations in<br />

natural gas as the gas undergoes<br />

treatment to remove and control<br />

these contaminants prior to<br />

liquefaction.<br />

Furthermore, SpectraSensors<br />

Raman Optograf LNG analysers<br />

perform on-line composition<br />

measurements of feed gas, LNG<br />

as a cryogenic liquid, mixed<br />

refrigerant, and gas following LNG<br />

regasification.<br />

A unique feature of the<br />

Optograf LNG analyser is that<br />

it measures the composition<br />

of LNG in the cryogenic liquid<br />

state, resulting faster update<br />

times because it does not<br />

require any vaporisation, sample<br />

conditioning, or sample transport.<br />

The Optograf LNG analyser is<br />

essentially immune to LNG flow<br />

variations, and so can provide a<br />

more complete measurement<br />

of the GCV of the entire shipload.<br />

Maintenance is also significantly<br />

lower with the Optograf LNG<br />

analyser, since there is no moving<br />

parts and no insulation to degrade.<br />

LNG that has been delivered<br />

to an import terminal may be<br />

however too rich or too lean to<br />

meet local pipeline specifications<br />

of the downstream markets to<br />

which the gas will be delivered.<br />

There are several ways to modify<br />

the CV of the natural gas. The CV can<br />

be reduced by adding N2 or CO2,<br />

or by selectively removing C3/C4<br />

components from the sample.<br />

The CV can be increased by<br />

mixing with liquefied petroleum<br />

gas (LPG) or natural gas liquids<br />

(NGL). And, in some cases, LNG with<br />

different CVs can be blended to<br />

achieve target quality.<br />

Measurement of the CV of<br />

the final mixture is essential to<br />

confirming that the product<br />

quality meets local regulations to<br />

avoid significant tariffs. The Wobbe<br />

Index (WI), which is calculated from<br />

the gas composition, is the most<br />

widely accepted measure of gas<br />

quality and interchangeability.<br />

The Optograf LNG analyser<br />

provides<br />

composition<br />

measurement of the LNG, WI,<br />

and simultaneously provides the<br />

concentration of nitrogen, which<br />

can be used to ensure that nitrogen<br />

levels do not exceed pipeline<br />

specifications.<br />

WI modification of natural<br />

gas at import terminals is often<br />

measured with a Process GC. Prior<br />

to analysis, the LNG sample must<br />

be vaporised.<br />

Poor repeatability in<br />

vaporisation leads to large<br />

variations in WI, adding<br />

uncertainty to the ballasting<br />

process. In addition, vaporisation<br />

and sample transport lag time,<br />

coupled with typical Process<br />

GC update times of four to five<br />

minutes, means that this approach<br />

provides only sporadic updates<br />

during ballasting, increasing the<br />

likelihood of overshooting the WI<br />

target, and incurring additional<br />

cost.<br />

Because the Optograf LNG<br />

analyser is able to measure the<br />

sample in the cryogenic liquid,<br />

response times are much faster and<br />

repeatability is much higher than<br />

with legacy GC/ vaporiser systems.<br />

As demand grows, LNG export<br />

facilities will need to handle<br />

natural gas feeds of varying quality<br />

from multiple sources, and so<br />

adjust refrigerant composition<br />

to ensure the lowest energy<br />

consumption during liquefaction.<br />

In addition, these plants will need<br />

to dynamically compensate for<br />

refrigerant losses with makeup<br />

refrigerant. The technology<br />

from SpectraSensors measures<br />

both natural gas and make-up<br />

refrigerant composition in both<br />

the gas and liquid phases, so plant<br />

operators can measure the quality<br />

of the feed gas and thus adjust their<br />

make-up refrigerant for optimum<br />

plant operating efficiency.<br />

carmine.canale@<br />

za.endress.com

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