Liquefied natural gas
BG Group’s Elba Island regasification plant in Georgia, United States.
Liquefied natural gas, also known as LNG, is natural gas that has been cooled to about -162ºC until it becomes a liquid so it can be easily transported and stored.
Liquefied natural gas is odourless, colourless, non-corrosive, non-toxic and is not transported and stored under high pressure.
Over the years liquefaction has earned a reputation as a safe and efficient technology for transporting the world’s vast reserves of natural gas to where they are needed.
History and characteristics
The first liquefaction plant was constructed in the United States in 1912 and liquefied natural gas has been shipped commercially around the world since 1959.
The Queensland Curtis LNG Project will source coal seam gas from the Surat Basin and transport it via an underground pipeline to the proposed liquefaction plant on Curtis Island, near Gladstone.
There, impurities in the gas, such as carbon dioxide, will be removed and the gas cooled to about -162ºC, using the same principles that work in household refrigerators or air-conditioning units.
At this temperature, the natural gas liquefies and takes up 1/600th of its original volume. That’s equivalent to reducing a 30cm-diametre beach ball to a ping pong ball.
As a liquid, the gas can be transported safely and economically at near atmospheric pressure in large vessels.
When liquefied natural gas is returned to ambient temperature, it becomes the same natural gas used to cook meals, warm homes, and power cars, buses and power stations.
Australia began exporting liquefied natural gas from the North West Shelf Project in 1989.
Since then, Australian operators have compiled an exemplary record, safely completing more than 2,600 shipments to customers around the world.
Global trade
In 2007, the global trade in liquefied natural gas increased 7.6% to 171 million tonnes a year. It is forecast that by 2015 global demand will rise to 400 million tonnes a year, or 14% of total gas consumption.
As of January 2009, 19 nations were importing liquefied natural gas with major buyers including Japan, South Korea, China, Spain, the United States, Taiwan and India. The leading exporters include Australia, the Middle East, Indonesia, Algeria, Egypt, Trinidad and Tobago, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Malaysia.
