(193c) Good Practices for Effectively Managing Process Safety Issues When Replicating a Modular Mid-Scale LNG Design

Modular mid-scale LNG is emerging as one of the potential solutions to meet the needs of the evolving LNG market and global demand for clean energy. It offers a faster and cheaper LNG liquefactions plants than conventional plants. The modular solution offers opportunity to decrease time to market for the clients, as well as lower total installed cost. It also has the flexibility of being installed in different locations and different configurations, in a plug-and-play manner.

When implementing this solution on a project, a reference design is available as a starting point. This can then be modified to meet specific requirements for a certain client. Once the reference design is ‘customized’ and made client-specific, it can then be replicated with the purpose to meet the total plant capacity which in conventional practice, being achieved by a single large-scale plant.

The customized base design can also be replicated with the intention to either be installed in a later phase in same facility for capacity expansion or for installation in other locations or another type of facility. For these cases, the expectation is that there will be minimal efforts in design and procurement during the replication process.

As it is in any other copy job, there is a misconception that all process safety features of the base design can be carried over when arranged differently or installed in another location or in a different type of facility. However, although the inherent process safety hazards associated with the base design may not change for most of the process units, not all process safety features can be copied as other considerations must be accounted for when there is a change in location, environmental conditions, regulatory requirements, or facility general arrangement.

This paper shares practices to effectively manage process safety issues when replicating a modular mid-scale LNG design and is based on recent project experiences. It presents the inherent process safety hazards associated with the base design, discusses the process safety features which are not expected to change and highlights other considerations when the location and/or facility general arrangement is changed.

The paper will also present some good practices on how process safety efforts can be minimized during replication process without compromising quality of the outcome of process safety activities and while maintaining the focus of working towards the goal of providing a compliant and safe design to our clients who will ultimately operate the facility.