Study on Boil-off Gas (BOG) Minimization and Recovery Strategies from Actual Baseload LNG Export Terminal: Towards Sustainable LNG Chains

Abstract

Boil-off Gas (BOG) generated at the liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal causes negative economic and environmental impacts. Thus, the objective of this study is to develop and evaluate various handling schemes to minimize and/or recover the generated BOG from an actual baseload LNG export terminal with a capacity of 554 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD) of natural gas feed. The following three main scenarios were assessed: JBOG re-liquefaction, LNG sub-cooling, and lean fuel gas (LFG) reflux. For the LNG subcooling, two sub-cases were considered; standalone subcooling before LNG storage and subcooling in the prevailing liquefaction cycle. Steady-state models for these scenarios were simulated using Aspen Plus® based on a shortcut approach to quickly evaluate the proposed scenarios and determine the promising options that should be considered for further rigorous analysis. Results indicated that the flow of attainable excess LNG is 0.07, 0.03, and 0.022 million metric tons per annum (MTA) for the standalone LNG sub-cooling, LNG sub-cooling in the main cryogenic heat exchanger (MCHE), and both LFG-refluxing and jetty boil-off gas (JBOG) liquefaction, respectively. This in turn results in a profit of 24.58, 12.24, 8.14, and 7.63 million $/year for the LNG price of 7$ per Metric Million British Thermal Unit (MMBtu) of LNG.