Maritime Reporter, June, 1977

<BODY> <div> D-4000 Diisseldorf 30, Federal Re- public of Germany; or its U.S. representative, German American Chamber of Commerce, Nikolaus Gentzen, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10019, or Louis L. Phannenstiel, LNG-5 Exhibition Committee, Air Products & Chem- icals, Inc., P.O. Box 538, Allen- town, Pa. 18105. Technical Program for LNG-5 Monday, August 29, 1977 Session I: The Role of LNG in World Energy Supply. Session chairmen: Chr. Brecht, Federal Republic of Germany; G.D. Cara- meros, U.S.A.; A. Kazi-Tani, Al- geria, and A. Centeno, Spain. 1. "The Prospects of LNG Ex- port and its Limitations," by T. Mossadeghi, National Iranian Gas Co., Teheran, Iran. The large-scale export of LNG is specifically dependent on its economic viability. This holds above all for the costs of lique- fying and transport. The pros- pects of reducing these costs are negligible, although minimal im- provements in liquefying plant and carrier vessels appear pos- sible. 2. "The Future Market for LNG in the United States," by C.G. Gambs, Ford, Bacon & Davis Inc., New York, U.S.A. The future LNG market in the U.S. will develop within the frame- work of a balance of manifold in- fluences, namely, politics, the economy, problems of trade bal- ance, the assurance of supplies and other factors. The artificial market that has developed as a result of prices that were too low and which, among other things, has led to an unwarrantably high demand for natural gas, might be expected to disappear if the prices for natural gas become ad- justed to the general level of overall energy prices. In the com- ing 10 to 25 years, the U.S. will be in a position to accept further quantities of LNG if they are offered at economically viable terms. 3. "LNG Situation in Europe," by M.G. Bonfiglioli, SNAM, Italy; M.G. Centeno, ENAGAS, Spain; M. Pilloy, Gaz de France, and P. Soille, Distrigaz, Belgium. In 1964, supplies of LNG from Algeria to Europe began on a commercial scale. Today, Britain, France, Italy and Spain receive 8.4 thousand million cubic meters of natural gas annually in the form of LNG from Algeria and Libya. As a result of new agree- ments between Algeria, Belgium and France, this quantity will rise to 21.5 thousand million cubic meters annually by 1980. The structures of supply and con- sumption of LNG are discussed. 4. "A Review of Current LNG Ship Technology — and an At- tempt to Rationalise," by R.C. Ffooks, Conch Methane, London, England. There are now close on 25 dif- ferent conceptions for LNG ships. In some cases operational experi- ence is available, in other cases not. After making an effort to achieve an objective comparison of all the systems, pointers which would lead to greater rationaliza- tion are sought. 5. "Energy Policy in Japan and the Role of LNG," by Dr. Seiichi Hirakawa, Professor at Tokyo University, and Shigero Kusano, Tokyo Gas Corporation Ltd. As a consequence of the 1973 oil crisis, which led to a big dis- ruption within the Japanese econ- omy, a new energy policy with heavy emphasis on nuclear energy and increased imports of LNG was adopted. In 1974, natural gas consumption including LNG im- ports did not even amount to 2 percent of total energy consump- tion. By 1985, LNG imports are expected to increase to 42 million tons. The background of this pol- icy, the prospects for future LNG projects and the role of the Jap- anese LNG and gas industries are discussed. 6. "Alternatives to LNG," by B. Hunsaker, El Paso LNG Co., Houston, U.S.A. Although there are alternatives to LNG supplies, none of them would appear to be satisfactory in the immediate future in terms of price, quantities, temporal avail- ability and environmental com- patibility. Increased coal consump- tion is environmentally a bad thing; the use of coal for substi- tute gas production has been de- layed; electricity as a substitute source of energy from coal is, against this, too costly. There are also many obstacles standing in the way of the development of nuclear energy, geothermal en- ergy, oil shale production and solar energy. 7. "World LNG Trade: Present Status and Long Term Prospects," by M.W.H. Peebles, Shell Inter- national Gas Ltd., London, U.K. The present status of LNG trade and the long-term pros- pects are discussed against the background of earlier LNG con- ferences. To these belong eco- nomic and other influencing fac- tors which have a bearing on the development of LNG trade, and which even serve to hinder and delay. The future development of prices and the availability of LNG vessels in relation to the tonnage needed are also examined. Tuesday, August 30, 1977 Session II: LNG Technology and its Economic Implications. Session chairmen: A.W. Mellen, U.S.A.; M. Grenier, France; G.G. Haselden, Great Britain, and W. Forg, Federal Republic of Ger- many. 1. "The Brunei Liquefied Na- tural Gas Plant," by A.J.W. Ploum, Brunei LNG Ltd., Brunei. In 1968, Shell took over the management of the Brunei Jap- anese project. The project was completed in time. The first tank- ers were loaded in November 1972. Construction and operation costs remain within the bounds envis- aged. The planning and the orga- nization during construction are described and improvements noted. 2. "The First Years of Opera- tion of Skikda LNG Plant with a Discussion of Mercury Corrosion of Aluminium Cryogenic Ex- changers," by B. Khenat and T. Hasni, Sonatrach, Algeria. The plant is entering its fifth year of operation. This serves as an occasion for reporting on the most important operational fail- ures and contractual problems between owner and builder and also on the staff employment. The main operational disruptions dealt with concern the cryogenic ex- changers and damage caused by mercury. The efficiency of the plant as a whole, as well as its most vital parts, such as compres- sors, cryogenic exchangers and LNG storage reservoirs, are dis- cussed. 3. "Operational Flexibility of LNG Plants using the Propane Precooled Multicomponent Refrig- erant, MCR Process," by N. Chat- terjee, L.S. Gaumer and J.M. Geist, Air Products, U.S.A. For various reasons, plants do not work in practice in the con- ditions their designers intended. A well-conceived layout of the plant, both in whole and in part, becomes evidenced when a flexible mode of operation shows itself to be capable of ironing out discrep- ancies. The MRC process enables the cryogenic exchanger to oper- ate through a wide range of con- ditions, and at the same time maintain a high degree of effici- ency in the plant as a whole. The important variables which permit this flexibility are the composition of the refrigerant, its pressure upstream and downstream, the compressor, its flow rate and the propane pressures. On a basis of thermodynamic considerations, efficiency is compared to that of conventional systems. 4. "LNG Peak Shaving Plant, Maasvlakte," by P.H. Bijl and P.N. Vet, Nederlandse Gasunie, Groningen, NL. This plant is unique inasmuch as it processes two liquid prod- ucts from Groningen natural gas, LNG and nitrogen. In designing the preliminary scrubbing plant, the mercury problem received spe- cial attention. Eighty-five percent of energy requirements are pro- vided by an expansion turbine in which the natural gas is expanded before being used in a powerplant. Additional details, such as stor- age reservoirs, evaporators and their capacity are dealt with. 5. "LNG Plants on Floating Structures—Intermediate Report on an Extensive Test Programme," by E. Berger, Linde AG, Munich, West Germany. The results of an extended test program with floating processing plant are reported on. This in- cludes experimental investigations into the behavior of rectifying columns when influenced by move- ment from simulated waves, mod- el tests on structures in seawater tanks and experiments with in- sulated LNG pipelines consisting of inner and outer corrugated tubes. Semisubmerged bearer- platforms are very suitable. They have very good floating stability, due to the fact that their buoy- ancy cells are not subjected to the forces of the waves. 6. "Denitrogenation Plant at Clenze," by F. Schlemm and H. Kaast, B.E.B. Betriebsfuhrungs- ges. mbH, Hanover, West Ger- many. In a newly opened-up area east of Hanover, natural gas with a nitrogen content of 60 percent and industrially extractable he- lium content has been discovered. Since this gas could not be made use of as it is, a denitrogenation plant started its trial operation in August 1976. Separation is by way of a cryogenic process. For economic reasons, the originally planned extraction of helium was scrapped. Special precautions were called for in order to remove un- desirable substances such as car- bon dioxide, water, mercury and higher hydrocarbons. The plant is very largely automated. Expe- rience up to now leads to hopes that the plant will operate smooth- ly in the future. 7. "Development and Opera- tional Experience of LNG Under- ground Storage Tanks," by Y. Ishimasa, J. Umemura, A. Fujita and others, Osaka Gas Co., Osaka, Japan. In designing a large under- ground LNG storage tank, the problems normally concern the effects of low temperatures on the surrounding soil conditions. To solve these, laboratory investiga- tions and model tests are made. However, in the case of large reservoirs the latter fail to pro- vide adequate information, for which reason a program of data measurement and recording was evolved for an LNG reservoir be- gun in 1972 and completed in 1975. The report covers measure- ment data, for example soil pres- sure, the behavior of iron and concrete, water pressure and tem- peratures. Seismic and boil-off gas measurements are also dealt with. 8. "Studies of the Storage of LNG in Salt Cavities," by H.G. Haddenhorst and K. Schwier, West Germany. The differences in the geological prerequisites for the storage of LNG in salt cavities and other subterranean reservoirs are ex- amined. Of importance to the vi- ability of this type of reservoir is the behavior of the ground when subjected to changes in pressure and temperature. The resulting mechanical stresses lead to fissures that influence the boil- off rate. The first in situ experi- (continued on page 14) June 15, 1977 13 </div> <span id="lblContents"></span> <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.digitalwavepublishing.com/" title="Digital Magazine">Digital Wave Publishing</a> </BODY>