(66b) Advanced Technology Horizon of FLNG

A steep increase in offshore gas fields requires the development of new processes that should be able to operate economically and satisfactorily even for the non-conventional environments. The stranded gas is a significant portion of the offshore gas reserves. The LNG FPSO is introduced to develop the stranded gas fields which have been considered as uneconomical in the past. The installation needs gas purification and liquefaction process which are completely new in the offshore industry though they are proven technology in the onshore LNG facilities.

During the conceptual design of such a new process, the selection of the best among the candidates is a formidable task due to the intrinsic features of offshore plants which are characterized by being safety-critical and subject to varying operating conditions. A lot of creative efforts have been expended to establish LNG FPSO technologies to market ready status. The finally chosen processes should be superior to the others with both performance and reliability.

The paper presents advanced design features developed by HHI and Linde for materialization of FLNG as a market dynamic driver.