Honeywell (HON) announced that PETRONAS’ floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility — the first of its kind in the world — is using Honeywell UOP’s Amine Guard FS™ technology, specially adapted for marine applications. The custom-built vessel, called PFLNG SATU, liquefies, stores and offloads liquefied natural gas (LNG). The Amine Guard FS unit is used to remove carbon dioxide from natural gas to prevent freezing as the gas is cooled to a liquid.
This is the first application of the Amine Guard FS technology on an FLNG facility. Honeywell UOP adapted the technology to compensate for vessel motion, thereby ensuring that the system can efficiently remove carbon dioxide from natural gas during all anticipated ocean conditions.
“Natural gas must contain fewer than 50 parts per million of carbon dioxide to be liquefied, and that has been very difficult to achieve in a floating LNG installation until now,” said Rachelle Goebel, vice president and general manager of Honeywell UOP’s Gas Processing and Hydrogen business. “This Amine Guard FS design, modified for sea operations, lowers production risks in FLNG applications, ensuring a more reliable way to produce marine LNG.”
This Amine Guard FS solution provides higher uptime and throughput compared to amine systems that are not designed to operate in rough seas. Honeywell UOP’s solution also lowers operating costs and covers a smaller footprint with lower weight. Honeywell UOP provided a process guarantee, on-site commissioning, and on-going service for the marine Amine Guard FS system.
The PFLNG SATU facility will play a significant role in PETRONAS’ efforts to unlock gas reserves in remote and stranded fields which was once deemed uneconomical to develop and produce. With a crew of 145 people, PFLNG SATU is the first such facility to start operations in the world. It operates in shallow water depths of between 70 meters and 200 meters, with a processing capacity of 1.2 million tons per annum (mpta).
In August, PETRONAS reported that its FLNG has been delivering cargoes since it was commissioned in April, including deliveries to buyers in the Far East. This demonstrates UOP’s ability to adapt a conventional land-based installation to a floating LNG facility.
Amine gas treating — also called “sweetening” — uses aqueous solutions of various amines to remove corrosive “acid gases” such as hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide from natural gas. Without this treatment, natural gas can destroy pipelines, storage containers and equipment.
