Proceedings Of The Marine

FALL 2015

Proceedings magazine is a communication tool for the Coast Guard's Marine Safety & Security Council. Each quarterly magazine focuses on a specific theme of interest to the marine industry.

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30 Proceedings Fall 2015 www.uscg.mil/proceedings Throughout history, civilizations have developed technolo- gies to meet the energy demands of an ever-increasing popu- lation. By the early 1800s, U.S. energy commodity providers used the railways and steam-powered vessels to transport coal and oil. As the demand for gaseous fuels began to rise in the 20 th century, providers introduced pipeline infrastruc- ture, which distributed gas to users over relatively short distances. Today, liquefaction of various gaseous fuels, including natural gas and petroleum gas, allows options for economical transportation and storage. Gaseous Fuels Gas is found in naturally occurring pockets of conventional gas, coal bed methane, shale gas, and tight gas, or may also be captured as a byproduct of the oil refning process. Natural gas is the most common gaseous fuel, and is typi- cally comprised primarily of methane and ethane, with some amounts of heavier hydrocarbons such as propane and butane. Natural gas remains in its gaseous state when it is transported in pipelines but is liquefed for storage and transport to distant markets. At the destination, the liquefied natural gas (LNG) is regasifed and delivered to users via a pipeline distribution system. More than 110 natural gas liquefaction facilities are operating in the United States alone, which have processed approximately 24 trillion cubic feet of LNG, and U.S. end users consumed more than 26 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in 2013. Generally heavier petroleum gases such as propane, eth- ane, and butane are liquefed at the source and stored in their liquefed state until ready for use. Once liquefed, the petroleum gases are then referred to as liquefed petroleum gas or LPG. Why Should We Liquefy? Liquefed fuels occupy only a fraction of the volume required by their gaseous coun- terparts. This reduction results in signif- cantly smaller storage vessels and allows for affordable transportation. For example, the volume of natural gas is decreased by 600 times when it is condensed into LNG. LNG carriers then transport it cost-effec- tively to markets around the world. We can think of this method as a "virtual pipeline" to transport gas from its source to end users. With increasing availability of shale gas in the United States, a large number of liquefaction facilities are being planned as onshore and foating near-shore applications. Safety Liquefaction facilities do exhibit some inherent hazards, since all hydrocarbons are fammable, so intentional hydrocarbon Liquefying Natural Gas Liquefaction uses and advantages. by Ms. JEnniFEr sEittEr Process Engineer Black & Veatch Mr. JAvid tAlib Floating LNG Program Manager Black & Veatch Liquefed Gas Production, Transportation, and Use PRICO ® liquefaction process diagram. Graphic courtesy of Black & Veatch. PRICO ® Liquefaction Process

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