Tecno economics of LNG regasification terminal in Port Sudan

Ensaf Ali Alzbair * and Ahmad Elhusun

Department of chemical engineering, Karary University, Sudan.

World Journal of Advanced Engineering Technology and Sciences, 2021, 03(01), 023–033

Publication history: Received on 06 June 2021; revised on 01 August 2021; accepted on 03 August 2021

Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.30574/wjaets.2021.3.1.0052

Abstract
The main objective of this research is to select the appropriate regasification technology for Sudan liquefied natural gas
(LNG) terminal at Portsudan, with a low Operating cost to suit the site climate conditions. Computer simulation software
to design and simulate this technology to relize the optimum conditions which can regasify352169Kg/ hr of LNG is used,
where this quantity per year is the energy demand of Sudan, was calculated by the Port sudan power station.

Standard selection criteria were used to select the most suitable regasification technology. In this regard sea water
vaporizer was found to be the best. Aspen HYSYS 10 was used for the simulation to design and determine the vaporizer
specifications. Average monthly temperature and humidity data were used to run the simulation. Sea water
consumptions in the vaporizer where 79880400 Kg / hr. Design was implemented by using Aspen Exchanger Design
and Rating program, where the optimum design of shell and tube evaporators were obtained.

Keywords: Natural gas; LNG regasification plant; Sea water; shell; Tube vaporizer

1. Introduction
Natural gas is a fossil fuel. This means it originates from the remains of plant and animals that lived many millions of
years ago. These organisms were buried and exposed to heat as a result of being highly compressed underneath
thousands of meters of soil and rock. These forces transformed the once living organisms into natural gas. It is found in
reservoirs beneath the surface of the earth. Large layers of rock trap the natural gas as it tries to float to the surface.
Although the areas where the gas is trapped are referred to as pools, the natural gas molecules are actually held in small
holes and cracks throughout the rock formation [Alberta Energy 1995, About Natural Gas 1995.].

Natural gas is one of the cleanest and most useful forms of energy in our day lives. It is a hydrocarbon, which means it
is made up of compounds of hydrogen and carbon. The simplest hydrocarbon is methan; and other hydrocarbons
include ethane, propane, and butane. Water, oil, sulphur, carbon dioxid, nitrogen, and other impurities may be mixed
with the gas when it comes out of the ground. These impurities are removed before the natural gas is delivered to our
homes and businesses. Natural gas can be found by itself or in association with oil. It is both colorless and odorless and
is in fact amixture of hydrocarbons. The fact that natural gas is combustible and burns more cleanly than some other
energy sources help reinforce its position as one of the most highly used energy sources [ Anon 2015, Encana, 2015].

The liquid form of natural gas reduces the volume significantly, some impure non –methane components have been
removed, It is transportable 1 more ideal way and also storable and can be kept in particular conditions and insulated
tanks in order to be used in the future if immediately is not going to be used. As aconsequence, LNG trade continues to
grow globally and is becoming the choice of countries as a fuel to provide the energy demands.


Corresponding author: Ensaf Ali Alzbair
Department of chemical engineering , Karary University , Sudan.
Copyright © 2021 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0.
 World Journal of Advanced Engineering Technology and Sciences, 2021, 03(01), 023–033

Regasification process is considered one of the most important and heart of the LNG terminal unit, and consumes more
than half of the total operation cost. In that LNG import countries always interested to make process advanced and
economical by doing more studies. Regasification process is process of converting a liquefied natural gas (LNG) at -162C
(-260 F) temperature back to natural gas, where the temperature must be the temperature of send out gas (above 0 C).

There is different type of regasification, where available in world LNG terminal are:

 Open Rack Vaporizers (ORV).

 Submerged Combustion Vaporizers (SCV).
 Ambient Air Vaporizers (AAV).
 Intermediate Fluid Vaporizers (IFV).

Traditionally, base load regasification terminals have used two types of vaporizers: 70 % uses the Open rack Vaporizer
(ORV), 25 % uses the submerged Combustion Vaporizer (SCV) and the remaining 5% uses the Intermediate fluid
vaporizer (IFV). In addition to these vaporizers, other types of vaporizers such as the direct air vaporizers, the Ambient
Air Vaporizers (AAV), have been used in smaller regasification plants and peak shaving facilities. [1]

1.1. Problem statement

Vaporizing the LNG to its gaseous state using thermal energy sources controlled environment and therefor processing
the gas in regasification plant and distributing is being done through different methods in industry. The selection of
shell and tube vaporization unit has been done in order to be simulated and it is considered to be in pre –determined
location to ponder the typical condition in the process.

Objectives
In the LNG terminal project, the regasification process is considered heart of the overall terminal process. The vaporizer
selection is project specific and is typically selected on the basis of different criteria. The vaporizer must carefully the
designed, as it has a major impact on operation costs. The main objective of this research is to select the appropriate
regasification technology, which has a low Operating cost to suit Port sudan site conditions. Thereafter a simulation
software would be used to simulate this technology to design and specify the optimum condition for operation at low
operating cost.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Worldwide natural gas consumption

The worldwide liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade has increased steadily (over 5% per year) since the industry began
with consumption increasing from 113.0 trillion cubic feet in 2010 to 185.0 trillion cubic feet in 2040. [2]

It is the fuel of choice for electric power and industrial sectors in many of the world’s regions. In the reference case, total
world consumption of natural gas for industrial uses increases by an average of 1.5 percent per year through 2040 and
consumption in the electric power sector grows by 2.0 percent per year. The industrial and electric power sectors
together account for 77 percent of the total projected increase in natural gas consumption and together they account
for 74 percent of total natural gas consumption in 2040, up slightly from 73 percent in 2010.[3]

2.2. Sudan energy consumption and plants for new source

As the main source of energy, oil plays major role in the Sudanese economy, where power plants and most industrial
sector depend completely on the refinery fuel product. Gasoline and diesel heart of transportation, and LPG for domestic
consumption, where some produced in refinery and rest imported to satisfy the demand. Now oil production in Sudan
is declining because of natural declines at maturing fields, and suffers severe financial crisis with the eminent demise of
75% of its oil revenues that represented over 90% of its foreign currency after the secession of its southern part after a
constitutional referendum. Sudan has set ambitious goals to increase production continues to fall short of Sudan’s goals
because the demand of energy increased daily, another in 2012 a snapshot of the North Sudan macro – markets indicates
the industrial production is negatively growing. [4]

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2.3. LNG receiving terminal

The receiving terminal is one component of the LNG chain between the gas field and the residential or industrial
consumer. It is a facility atwhich liquefied natural gas is “regasified” (turned back into a gaseous state) after shipment
by sea from the area of production. The receiving terminal can be onshore or offshore. Figure 1-3 shows a simplified
schematic sketch of LNG receiving terminal. The main elementsare:

 Receiving LNG tankers and unloading their cargo.

 Storing LNG in cryogenic tanks to withstand temperatures below - 160°C.
 Regasifying LNG to meet demand.
 Feeding gas into the national transmission network.

Figure 1 LNG Receveing Terminal

3. Material and methods

3.1. Introduction
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is the liquid form of natural gas, the main component of which is methane.

In the liquefied form, at atmospheric pressure, LNG occupies only 1/600th of its volume at gaseous state under normal
temperature and atmospheric pressure and, is therefore more economical to store and transport over long distances.

3.2. LNG properties

LNG is produced by cooling natural gas to -162 °C (-260 °F) through a liquefaction process. Regasified LNG is clean
burning, producing virtually no particulates and less NOx and CO2 than other fossil fuels. Since sulphur is almost entirely
removed in the liquefaction process, combustion of regasified LNG emits negligible amounts of sulphur dioxide. [5] .
LNG is stored at near atmospheric pressure, reducing the storage hazard compared with pressurized fuels (e.g. Liquefied
Petroleum Gas–LPG). By warming LNG it vaporizes to become lighter than air and therefore rises when released. LNG
is non-corrosive and non-toxic. LNG cannot ignite without first being vaporized, mixed with the right amount of air to
result in a mixture of 5 to15% methane in air, and provided with an ignition source. [5]

3.3. Design Detials

3.3.1. Numrical Design Procedure

Design shell and tube exchangers using Kern,s method assuming Over all coefficient ( U ) and determine heat transfer
area ( A ) , start with one shell pass and two tube passes :

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𝑄 = 𝑈𝑜 . 𝐴. ∆𝑇𝑚 .

Q = Heat transfer duty

∆𝑻𝒎 = Mean temperature difference

Caculate tube size taking tube outer diameter (do) to be between 16 to 25 mm assuming 19.065 mm, popular length (L)
=16 ft = 4.8762 m.

𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡𝑢𝑏𝑒 = 𝜋𝑑0 𝐿

𝐸𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎
𝑁𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡𝑢𝑏𝑒𝑠 𝑁𝑡 =
𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑡𝑢𝑏𝑒
1
𝑁𝑡 𝑛1
𝐵𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑙𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑡𝑒𝑟 (𝐷𝑏 ) = 𝑑𝑜 ( )
𝐾1

K1, n1 constant depend on tube pitch, assuming Triangular pitch.

Shell diameter (Ds) = Bundle diameter (Db) + clearance

Tube – side transfer coefficient (hi):-

𝐿𝑁𝐺 𝐹𝑙𝑜𝑤
LNG mass velocity =
𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐹𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎

𝐿𝑁𝐺 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦

LNG velocity =
𝐿𝑁𝐺 𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦

ℎ 𝑖 𝑑𝑖 𝜌 0.14
= 𝑗ℎ . 𝑅𝑒𝑃𝑟0.33 ( )
𝑘𝑓 𝜌𝑤

di =

Kf = LNG thermal conductivity.

Re = Reylonds number = 𝜌 𝑢𝑖 𝑑 / µ .

Pr = prantdil number Cp 𝜇 / Kf

𝜌 = LNG density.

𝜌𝑤 = Water density.

Jh = Heat transfer factor.

shell. Side heat transfer coefficient (ho ) :

Cross Flow area (𝐴𝑠 ) = 𝜋𝐷𝑠 𝑙

Shell side mass velocity Gs of the liner velocity Us: -

𝑊𝑠 𝐺𝑠
𝐺𝑠 = ,𝑢 =
𝐴𝑠 𝑠 𝛿

𝑤𝑠 = fluid flow rate on the shell side,

For water Uw should be between 1.5 -2.5

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1.9 m/s is acceptable.

Shell equivalent diameter (de) (hydraulic diameter):

1.10 2
𝑑𝑒 = (𝜌𝑡 − 0.917𝑑02 )
𝑑0

4200(1.35+0.027)𝑢0.8
ℎ𝑖 = This is direct expression for heat transfer coefficient for water Over all heat transfer coefficient (
𝑑𝑖 0.2
Uo )
𝑑𝑜
1 1 1 𝑑𝑜 (𝐼𝑛( ) 𝑑𝑜 1 𝑑𝑜 1
= + +( 𝑑𝑖
)+ * +( + )
.𝑈𝑂 ℎ𝑜 𝑑ℎ𝑜 2𝑘𝑤 𝑑𝑖. 𝑑𝑖 𝑑𝑖 ℎ𝑖

Where

Uo = over all heat transfer coefficient

ho = heat transfer coefficient of shell
hi = heat transfer coefficient of tube
dho = fouling factor coefficient average of sea water
dhi = fouling factor coefficient of LNG

𝑈𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑒−𝑈 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒
Uo = * 100 =± 30 %
𝑈𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑒

3.3.2. Sumlation design

The simulation considers effect of temperature variation and mass flow of water in regasification process. Aspen Hysys
is a process simulation environment designed to serve many processing industry especially Oil, Gas and Refining. With
Aspen Hysys, one can create rigorous steady state and dynamic state models for plant design, performance monitoring,
troubleshooting, operational improvement, business planning, and asset management.

The following steps are used in developing a steady state simulation model. In general, other software packages also
follow similar approach for building the plant model.

 Selecting the unit set.

 Defining Simulation basis.
 Defining the feed streams.
 Installing and defining the unit operations like preheat exchangers, distillation columns.
 Installing the downstream unit operations.[6]

4. Results and Analysis

4.1. Process description

The LNG extracted from the storage tanks by means of the submerged pumps is pressurized initially to approximately
22 bar by the primary pumps (three in operation plus one in reserve) and, subsequently, to about 85 bar by the
secondary pumps (three in operation plus one in reserve) and is then sent to the vaporizers. Each pump, both primary
and secondary, has a maximum capacity of approximately 352169 kg / hr of LNG The LNG is fed to shell & tube heat
exchanger where it is heated by (LNG inter in tube side and sea water in shell). 352169 kg / hr is divided in two streams
were entered to the first stage heat exchanger to reach stream temperature -71°C, then to second exchanger to reach
stream temperature -41°Cand to the third & fourth one to reach it -16°C till 7°C as all LNG at this condition in gas phase,
the gas at 7°C send to main transmission pipeline for consumer. The cooled sea water flows into a sea where it is pumped
to return back to the shell & tube vaporizer. All the heat exchangers in shell and tube Vaporizer configuration are
developed to have zero pressure drops in both shell and tube sides. There is an assumption of no heat loss in the heat
exchangers which is considered as to be ideal. The simple BFD of the process has been shown below.

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Figure 2 Process Flow diagram of LNG Vaporize

4.2. Economics Estimation

Table 1 Calculation of Total capital investment cost

Component Percent% Amount($)

Direct cost
Total Equipment cost 301480000
Electrical 4 .6 % 60559301
Buildings (including Services) 4.6 % 60559301
Yard Improvements 1 .8 % 23697117
Service Facilities(installed) 13.8 % 181677903
Land 2% 449.278
Total Direct Cost =$ 36,391,510
Indirect Costs
Engineering and Supervision 7.3% 96104977
Construction Expense 9.2 % 121118602
Contractor’s Fee 1.8% 23697117
Contingency 7.3 % 96104977
Working capital 10% from the total capital investment
Total Fixed capital investment=$ 929164118

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Chemical plant are built to make a profit and an estimate of the investment required and the cost of production are
needed before the profitability of a project can be assessed. An acceptable design must present a process that is capable
of operating under conditions which will yield profit .Capital must be allocated for the direct plant expenses such as
those for raw material , labor and equipment . Besides direct expenses many other indirect expenses are also incurred
e.g. a administration, salaries, product distribution cost, cost for interplant communication.

4.3. Cash flow Diagram

A cash flow diagram, such as that shown in Figure below, shows the forecast cumulative netcash flow over the life of a
project. The cash flows are based on the best estimates of investment, operating costs, sales volume, and sales price that
can be made for the project.

Figure 3 Cash flow diagram

4.4. Summary of Cost Estimation

Table 2 Summary of cost estimation

Fixed cost investment $929164118

Working capital $163970138
Total cost investment $1083134256
Deprecation $20098666
Total production cost $733197378
Cost per unit $338
Selling price $600
IRR 43.6%
Pay back 2.3years

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4.5. Numirical design

Table 3 The design calculations are summarized in table below

Shell side fluid Sea Water -

Tube side fluid LNG -
Flowrate for shell side 75916800 Kg/hr
Flowrate for tube side 301667.26 Kg/hr
Fouling factor in shell 0.00065 (W/𝑚2.◦c)^-1
Fouling factor in tube 0.0002 (W/𝑚2.◦c)^-1
Temperature in (shell side) 25 ◦c
Temperature out (shell side) 15 ◦c
Temperature in (tube side) -162 ◦c
Temperature out (tube side) 7 ◦c
Required duty 855696.8 kw
Heat transfer area 33.75 𝑚
2

Tube side heat transfer coefficient 1624.07 W/𝑚2.◦c

Shell side heat transfer coefficient 7822.6 W/𝑚2.◦c
Overall heat transfer coefficient 703.4 W/𝑚2.◦c
Tube Outer diameter 0.02 m
Tube Internal diameter 0.016 m
Tube length 3.657 m
Tube pitch 0.028 m
Number of tubes 156 tubes
Number of shell and the passes 1-shell2-tubepasses

4.6. Simulation Analysis

Figure 4 Effect of sea water Temperature in Natural Gas Temperature

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Figure 5 Effect of sea water mass flow in Natural Gas Temperature

Figure 6 Effect of sea water mass flow in sea water in temperature

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Figure 7 Effect LNG feed pressure in Nutral Gas flow in metering

5. Conclusion
The following are the conclusions drawn from this research work:

 According to standard criteria used to select an optimal regasification technology, the use of Sea water heating
is considered the most desirable, where the intermediate Sea water vaporizer is the best choice between the
other technologies.
 The technology was simulated by Aspen HYSYS 10 simulation, where the effect of average monthly temperature
and humidity variation was studied.
 Aspen Exchanger Design & Rating was used to design eight Shell and Tube heat exchangers, where the optimum
design was obtained, and the was the amount of water is consider in the design.

Compliance with ethical standards

Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my research advisor, Professor: Ahmed Elhassan for his patience, guidance and support over the
course of this research. I will always be indebted to him. He was a constant inspiration, and his assistance and
suggestions were very helpful towards the completion of this work. I would also like to thank the members of my exam
committee, for their efforts in reviewing and evaluating my research.

Disclosure of conflict of interest

About the disclosure of conflict of interest, we don't need to add, because the authors are just one in addition to the also
one of the coauthors.

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References
[1] Michael F, Justine L. Barden, 2013. Energy Information Administration. International Energy Outlook 2013, 5,53
[2] JungHan L, Hochung K, (2005). Design and Construction of LNG Regasification Vessel. In Gastech. Bilbao, Spain,
14 Marchr13. South Korean: Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. Ltd..3.
[3] John Mak, F, (2013). LNG Vaporizer Selection Based on Site Ambient Conditions . In Gas Processors Association
Europe. Edinburgh, 29 September13. Edinburgh: GPA Membership. 14.
[4] Shaw Consultants International, I., 2012. CURACAO CNG- LNG TERMINAL FEASIBILITY STUDY, Netherlands:
World of Solutions.
[5] Durr, C., (2005). LNG IMPORT TERMINALS RECENT DEVELOPMENTS, United Kingdom: M. W. Kellogg Ltd.
[6] Aspen Technology, Inc., 2011. Aspen HYSYS Unit Operations Guide. V7.3 ed. USA: Burlington

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