(183e) Optimization of Ambient Air Vaporization Processes

In order to comply with the LNG industry's requirements for minimizing life cycle costs, many vaporization processes have been proposed and developed. However, the selection of a feasible LNG vaporization scheme is often constrained by economic justification and/or site-specific environmental issues, such as air emissions (NOx, CO, CO2, etc) and the impact of seawater effluent on the ecosystem.

This paper presents the development of ambient air-heated vaporizers: natural draft vaporizer and forced draft ambient air vaporizer. Air emissions of this process are compared with that of conventional Submerged Combustion Vaporizers based on Best Available Control Technology. Technical features and economic advantages of each vaporization process are addressed. This paper also discusses the optimization methodology of vaporization processes.