Four Laby® Compressors for LNG Terminal Expansion in the UK
24 May 2006 16:25
Burckhardt Compression has received an order for four Laby® compressors to be delivered to Isle of Grain, Kent, UK, for the LNG receiving terminal phase II expansion project.
Burckhardt Compression recorded an order from CB&I to deliver four Labys® (labyrinth piston compressors) for the second phase expansion of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal at the Isle of Grain, Kent, UK. Burckhardt Compression (UK) Ltd. has taken a major role in securing the order. The responsible contractor for this plant is CB&I, a global specialty engineering, procurement and construction company. The facility is owned and operated by Grain LNG Ltd., a subsidiary of National Grid Transco plc.
The Laby® has a unique ultra-low maintenance piston sealing design and is therefore the ideal solution for boil-off gas applications. The gastight casing reduces gas emission and losses to the environment to zero. For any LNG applications the Laby® is the compressor to be used, since it designed to easily manage these specific requirements.
Delivery of the first two compressors will take place in January 2007; the other two will be delivered in February 2007. The plant was originally commissioned in 1982 as an LNG peak shaving plant. In the first phase of the new project, the facility was converted to an LNG import and regasification terminal with an initial capacity of 3.3 million tons of LNG per year. The second phase of the project, for which CB&I has complete engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) responsibility, will increase the terminal's capacity to 9.8 million tons per year, which equates to some 12 percent of the United Kingdom's annual natural gas demand. The project is scheduled to be completed in late 2008.
Laby® compressors are used for liquid gas transport and storage as well as in the chemical and petrochemical industries. Labys® compress bone-dry, dirty, abrasive and other gases with no contamination and without oil, with a discharge pressure up to 300 bar (4350 psi), flow up to 11'000 Nm3/h (6500 scfm) and shaft power up to 2200 kW (3000 HP). Laby® compressors are extremely reliable machines with unexcelled availability, combining high performance with a unique cooling system. Burckhardt Compression's Laby® easily manages the compression of LNG boil-off gas at suction temperatures down to minus 160 °C (250 F). The compressors will be used to re-liquefy boil-off gas which forms during LNG unloading of the LNG carriers and to maintain the LNG storage temperature at minus 162 °C.
What is LNG?
Liquefied natural gas, or LNG, is natural gas that has been super cooled to -260 °F (-162 °C). At that temperature, natural gas condenses into a liquid at atmospheric pressure. When in liquid form, natural gas takes up to 600 times less space than in its gaseous state, which makes it feasible to transport over long distances.
For more information on this company:
Burckhardt Compression - Reciprocating Compressors
Copyright 2007SPG Media Limited a subsidiary of SPG Media Group PLC
