Natural gas liquefaction process

Details Natural gas liquefaction process Natural gas liquefaction process

2005-08-04

2009-12-29

Doerrler, William C (Department: 3744)

Refrigeration

Cryogenic treatment of gas or gas mixture

Liquefaction

C062S612000

Reexamination Certificate

active

07637121

ABSTRACT:
Disclosed is a process for liquefying natural gas wherein an available methane-rich feed, i.e., natural gas, at an excess pressure is initially expanded to provide expansion work which may be utilized in a number of novel ways, such as to provide refrigeration in a refrigerant cycle used to cool the feed or in one or more refrigerant cycles used in a liquefaction zone to liquefy the feed, or to generate electrical power for use in the liquefaction process or for export. In one embodiment, the expansion work is obtained by use of an expander/compressor device (turboexpander) which expands the feed to (1) drive the compressor of the device and thereby provide compression for a closed loop propane refrigeration cycle to pre-cool the natural gas stream, and (2) produce an expanded, chilled natural gas feed for a liquefaction process. The production of a chilled natural gas feed to a liquefaction process can either increase the volume of LNG production for a given amount of installed horsepower, or alternatively, can be used to reduce the capital cost and/or operating cost associated with the production of a given amount of LNG.

REFERENCES:
patent: 3348384 (1967-10-01), Harmens
patent: 3440828 (1969-04-01), Pryor et al.
patent: 3548606 (1970-12-01), Kuerston
patent: 3724226 (1973-04-01), Pachaly
patent: 3763658 (1973-10-01), Gaumer et al.
patent: 4065276 (1977-12-01), Nakaya et al.
patent: 4172711 (1979-10-01), Bailey
patent: 4404008 (1983-09-01), Rentier et al.
patent: 4445916 (1984-05-01), Newton
patent: 4445917 (1984-05-01), Chiu
patent: 4504296 (1985-03-01), Newton et al.
patent: 4545795 (1985-10-01), Liu et al.
patent: 4755114 (1988-07-01), Shibayashi et al.
patent: 4755200 (1988-07-01), Liu et al.
patent: 4901533 (1990-02-01), Fan et al.
patent: 4970867 (1990-11-01), Herron et al.
patent: 5473900 (1995-12-01), Low
patent: 5537827 (1996-07-01), Low et al.
patent: 5651269 (1997-07-01), Prevost et al.
patent: 5669234 (1997-09-01), Houser et al.
patent: 5755114 (1998-05-01), Foglietta
patent: 5950453 (1999-09-01), Bowen et al.
patent: 6016665 (2000-01-01), Cole et al.
patent: 6023942 (2000-02-01), Thomas et al.
patent: 6041619 (2000-03-01), Fischer et al.
patent: 6062041 (2000-05-01), Kikkawa et al.
patent: 6119479 (2000-09-01), Roberts et al.
patent: 6125653 (2000-10-01), Shu et al.
patent: 6158240 (2000-12-01), Low et al.
patent: 6248794 (2001-06-01), Gieskes
patent: 6250244 (2001-06-01), Dubar et al.
patent: 6253574 (2001-07-01), Stockmann et al.
patent: 6295833 (2001-10-01), Hoffart et al.
patent: 6694774 (2004-02-01), Rashad et al.
patent: 6751985 (2004-06-01), Kimble et al.
patent: 2003/0005722 (2003-01-01), Wilkinson et al.
patent: 2003/0226373 (2003-12-01), Prible et al.
patent: 2714720 (1995-07-01), None
patent: 2357140 (2001-06-01), None
patent: 2004057252 (2004-07-01), None
patent: 2004088232 (2004-10-01), None
Pruitt, “Mineral Terms—Some Problems In Their Use and Definition,” Rocky Mt. Min. L. Rev. 1, 16 (1966).
Collins et al., “Liquefaction Plant Design in the 1990s”, Hydrocarbon Processing, vol. 74, No. 4, Apr. 1, 1995.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Natural gas liquefaction process does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Natural gas liquefaction process, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Natural gas liquefaction process will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-4072955