RETROFITTING AN LNG PLANT TO MAXIMIZE NGL RECOVERY

Abstract

Natural gas is considered one of the highly consumed energy sources due to its clean properties. Liquefied Natural Gas is a highly feasible way to transport NG overseas; however, this method is a highly energy-intensive process. Furthermore, Natural Gas Liquid (NGL) is one of the valuable by-products of the LNG plant. Due to the increasing prices of crude oil, there is a high incentive to increase the recovery of NGL. This paper aims to retrofit LNG plant to maximize the recovery of NGL. We proposed two retrofitting scenarios to increase the recovery of NGL while maintaining the RVP of 9.4 psi in the base case and the two scenarios. Our solutions resulted in an additional 100 and 120 barrels per day for the first and second cases, respectively. These barrels of NGL are worth around 3.4 M$ per year. We also achieved a decrease in energy requirement in the fractionation unit in the cold section. Furthermore, a cash flow analysis resulted in NPV of 23 M$, and 28 M$, for the first and second cases, respectively.