LNG-FPSO plant benefits from turboexpander compressors

Atlas Copco has won a multi-million-dollar contract to supply six turboexpander compressors for a new type of application related to liquefied natural gas (LNG). The customer, Norway-based KANFA Aragon AS, part of the Sevan Marine Group, will use the equipment for the world's first floating natural gas liquefaction plant.

Installed aboard a so-called M-flex storage vessel, the six turboexpander compressors will be a driving force at the plant, used to produce the low-temperature nitrogen necessary in the liquefaction process. The order was won in the fourth quarter of 2008 by Atlas Copco's Gas and Process division (through Mafi-Trench Company).

Ronnie Leten, the Business Area President for Atlas Copco Compressor Technique, comments: "This project is evidence of our position as a global leader in LNG applications, with a unique ability to serve customers for any application in this growing market. The contract also shows that our acquisition of Mafi-Trench in 2007 is already paying great dividends."

LNG-FPSO (floating production, storage and offloading) is an emerging application in offshore gas processing, designed to process and store natural gas extracted from a nearby offshore site until it can be offloaded to an LNG tanker. The first site is expected to be off the coast of Nigeria.

Operating at full capacity, the vessel can treat and liquefy 1.7million tons of gas each year, thereby helping to meet the world's rising demand for natural gas.