Study on Energy Consumption for Natural Gas Liquefaction

The main purpose of this work is to optimize natural gas liquefaction process by reducing energy consumption. At first, a rigorous simulation of natural gas liquefaction is conducted. Based on the simulation results, the refrigerants and natural gas thermodynamic states along with whole process are analyzed in order to find out the direction in which the energy consumption could be reduced and what parameters could to be adjusted. Using thermodynamic analysis results, an optimized simulation is successfully undertaken, and the results before and after optimization are compared to validate previous analysis. Moreover, traditional natural gas liquefaction process performance analysis methods, like cooling curve and Coefficient of Performance (COP), are also used to confirm this thermodynamic analysis methodology is practical and useful.