Topsides equipment, operating flexibility key floating LNG design

Use of a large-scale floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant is an economical alternative to an onshore plant for producing from an offshore field. Mobil Technology Co., Dallas, has advanced a design for such a plant that is technically feasible, economical, safe, and reliable. Presented were descriptions of the general design basis, hull modeling and testing, topsides and storage layouts, and LNG offloading. But such a design also presents challenges for designing topsides equipment in an offshore environment and for including flexibility and safety. These are covered in this second article. Mobil`s floating LNG plant design calls for a square concrete barge with a moon-pool in the center. It is designed to produce 6 million tons/year of LNG with up to 55,000 b/d of condensate from 1 bcfd of raw feed gas.