Thermodynamic, Economic and Environmental Analyses of Ammonia-Based Mixed Refrigerant for Liquefied Natural Gas Pre-Cooling Cycle

dc.contributor.authorSoujoudi, Ray
dc.contributor.authorManteufel, Randall
dc.date.accessioned2021-08-26T13:28:42Z
dc.date.available2021-08-26T13:28:42Z
dc.date.issued2021-07-27
dc.date.updated2021-08-26T13:28:43Z
dc.description.abstractAnalyzing the entire liquefaction cycle, using a large temperature span with many degrees of freedom, may not always result in a practical solution. The objective of this paper is to investigate the feasibility of using an environmentally friendly refrigerant compound, ammonia, in the mixed refrigerant (MR) for the liquefied natural gas (LNG) pre-cooling cycle through thermodynamic performance, economic analyses and environmental impact. Fifteen cases studies within three major mixed refrigerants groups of MR-1, MR-2 and MR-3 were developed by adding ammonia to various molar compositions of lighter and heavier hydrocarbons. The thermodynamic analysis shows increasing ammonia’s concentrations in the mixed refrigerant by 10% had the largest enhancement on coefficient of performance (COP) of MR-1 by 0.67 and decreased the specific energy consumption of the pre-cooling cycle by 128 kJ/kg compared to the base case. Economic analyses revealed that the mixed refrigerant MR-1, with ammonia, methane, ethane and propane, benefited the most from higher concentration of ammonia in the mixed refrigerant, which resulted in both lower annual capital and operational costs by $2.52 MM and $3.67 MM, respectively. Lastly, reducing the methane concentration in MR and replacing it with ammonia, decreased the amount of refrigerant leakage through compressor’s seals and reduced the global warming potential index (GWPI) of mixed refrigerant up to 24.3%.
dc.description.departmentMechanical Engineering
dc.identifierdoi: 10.3390/pr9081298
dc.identifier.citationProcesses 9 (8): 1298 (2021)
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12588/673
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 United States
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectliquefied natural gas (LNG)
dc.subjectpre-cooling
dc.subjectammonia
dc.subjectexergy
dc.subjectcost
dc.subjectglobal warming potential index (GWPI)
dc.subjectrefrigerant leakage
dc.titleThermodynamic, Economic and Environmental Analyses of Ammonia-Based Mixed Refrigerant for Liquefied Natural Gas Pre-Cooling Cycle
dc.typeArticle

Files

Original bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
processes-09-01298-v3.pdf
Size:
9.06 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format

License bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
0 B
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description: