Case Study on SMALL-Scale LNG Facility Expansion

With the influx of natural gas production throughout the United States, the small-scale LNG market is growing at a rapid pace.  One option to take advantage of the growing small scale market is the expansion of an existing LNG facility.  There are many existing LNG facilities in the United States which may be able to expand and utilize their existing equipment and infrastructure. 

Expansion of an existing facility will start with an evaluation of potential market opportunities to understand what volume of LNG production might be needed to fulfill those opportunities, an evaluation of the existing equipment to identify which components can potentially be re-used, an identification of what facility components would need to be replaced or expanded, and an identification of jurisdiction for the facilities associated with the expansion.  Once these aspects are analyzed, preliminary feasibility studies can begin which evaluate liquefaction technology and capacity options, preliminary engineering details, additional safety considerations associated with an expansion and a preliminary siting analysis based on the selected technology and capacity.

This paper presents a case study on the expansion of an existing small scale LNG facility and describes the process for an efficient project evaluation and design.  This paper will address what needs to be evaluated during the project feasibility stage, typical obstacles encountered by similar projects, and an overall framework for successful project development to ensure the proper evaluations are performed to get the project off the ground and hit critical project milestones.