Methane Liquefaction
Liquefaction systems change the state of methane from gaseous to Liquefied Natural Gas, reducing the volume of the gas and facilitating the transportation thereof. Our micro-liquefaction systems allow both on-site LNG production directly from the pipeline and conversion into LNG of the associated gas (APG), transforming wasteful gas-flaring into a resource.
As occurs with biomethane, the Ecospray proprietary liquefaction process works without using any cooling media (no nitrogen – no mixed refrigerant).
- Faster installation and startup thanks to pre-assembly (fully mounted on skid) and testing in Ecospray workshop
- Standard module sizes: 1, 1.5, 2 MMSCFD
- Low energy consumption (< 1 kWh/kgLNG) and high reliability components
- Wide range of LNG output temperatures/ pressures (subcooling available), std: -150÷-155°C @ 3÷4 bar
- Fully automated and remotely operated for maintenance and supervision
- Plant modularity allows incremental LNG production, partial redundancy and significantly reduces local construction.
- Heavy hydrocarbons (HHC) separation module available
- Special upstream modules for pollutant treatments (i.e. Hg, H2S etc.)
- Easily movable configuration (for associated gas in shale oil wells or coal methane beds)
The liquefaction process consists of the compression and expansion of methane: once the polishing phase is complete, the methane is compressed to up to 100+ bar and pre-cooled by a chiller. The stream is then separated into two flows: the main one passes through a heat exchanger, which is deeply cooled by the second one, which undergoes a pressure drop by means of a JT valve. Depending on plant size, 2 or 3 stages are applied: the last JT adjusts the final temperature and pressure before the storage tank, while all the secondary flows are recirculated.
