Download Liquefied natural gas

Liquefied natural gas
Natural gas is the cleanest burning
fossil fuel. It produces significantly less
greenhouse gas emissions and pollutants than
coal or oil.
Key facts
• Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is colourless, odourless,
lighter than water and, if spilled, will evaporate quickly.
• If spilled, LNG will not pollute land or water resources.
• Electricity produced from LNG generates 40–60%
less CO2 than electricity produced from coal.
• Every tonne of LNG used to generate electricity averts
the emission of up to 4 tonnes of CO2 when compared
with traditional coal-fired electricity generation.
Natural gas
Natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbons consisting mainly of
methane. It may also contain small amounts of ethane, propane
and butane.
Propane and butane are extracted from the gas to produce
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) which is used for cooking,
heating and fuel for transport and industry.
Natural gas is one of the cleanest fossil fuel.
The LNG supply chain
Bringing LNG to the consumer requires a significant investment
and is a technological challenge. There are four major stages in
the LNG supply chain:
1. Production – extracting and transporting gas from the field.
2. Liquefaction – treating then converting the natural gas into
a liquid state by cooling.
3.Shipping – transporting LNG to market using specially designed ships.
4.Regasification – converting the LNG back into gaseous
form before delivering it to customers, e.g. power
generation plants and home users through gas pipeline
systems.
Ichthys Project — Fact Sheet
Converting natural gas to LNG
LNG and the environment
LNG is natural gas that has been treated and cooled to a liquid
form for ease of storage and transport over long distances.
Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel available. It
has the lowest carbon emissions of any fossil fuel. Electricity
produced from LNG generates 40–60% less CO2 than electricity
produced from coal. Every tonne of LNG used to generate
electricity averts the emission of up to 4 tonnes of CO2 when
compared with traditional coal-fired electricity generation.
Converting gas into LNG involves removing components from
the gas stream and then cryogenically cooling the natural gas
through an LNG processing train to minus 161°C, at which point
it condenses into a liquid. During this process, known as
liquefaction, the gas volume is reduced to about 1/600th of its
original volume. This is like reducing a basketball to the size of
a marble.
Storage and transportation
On land, LNG is stored at low pressure in specially engineered
and constructed storage tanks. Each has a special nickel-steel
inner tank and
a concrete outer tank. The space between the walls is filled
with a thick layer of special insulating material.
Transportation of LNG by marine tankers has a long record
of safe operation. In more than 50 years of shipping history,
LNG carriers have travelled more than 200 million kilometres
without a major incident (see endnote). This is evidence of the
safe design and operation of LNG tankers which are specifically
designed to prevent releases.
If spilled, LNG will not pollute land or water resources. It is
colourless, odourless, lighter than water and evaporates quickly.
There are well-established safety and security measures in
place to minimise the potential for unauthorised access or
interference with any aspect of the LNG supply chain. Measures
include the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code,
perimeter fencing and detection, security patrols, exclusion
zones and electronic monitoring systems. These all work
together to minimise the potential for unauthorised access or
interference with any aspect of the LNG supply chain.
Endnote
Centre for Liquefied Natural Gas 2008
www.lngfacts.org/about-lng/carrier-safety.asp
LNG is shipped at low pressure in purpose-built double-hulled
tankers. It is stored in special containment systems within the
inner hull (see the cross section of a dome tanker below).
Dome tanker cross-section
INPEX
Level 22, 100 St Georges Tce
Perth WA 6000
Level 8, Mitchell Centre
59 Mitchell Street
Darwin NT 0800
Phone: 1800 705 010
Email: [email protected]
www.inpex.com.au
The Ichthys Project is operated
by INPEX in joint venture with
Total E&P Australia
C025-AG-FST-0003_0
Ichthys Project — Fact Sheet