Two Laby® Compressors for LNG Import Facility in the UK


Burckhardt Compression will deliver two Labys® to Dragon LNG Limited for their LNG import facility at Milford Haven, UK.

Burckhardt Compression recorded an order from Whessoe - Volker Stevin, to deliver two Labys® - labyrinth piston compressors - for the LNG import facility in the UK.
The Laby® has a unique ultra-low maintenance piston sealing design and is therefore the ideal solution for boil-off gas applications. The gastight casing reduces gas emission and losses to the environment to zero.

Delivery of the compressors will take place in the second half of 2006. Laby® compressors are used for liquid gas transport and storage as well as in the chemical and petrochemical industries. Labys® compress bone-dry, dirty, abrasive and other gases with no contamination and without oil, with a discharge pressure up to 300 bar (4350 psi), flow up to 11'000 Nm3/h (6500 scfm) and shaft power up to 2100 kW (2800 HP). Laby® compressors are extremely reliable machines with unexcelled availability, combining high performance with a unique cooling system. Burckhardt Compression's Laby® easily manages the compression of LNG boil-off gas at suction temperatures down to minus 160 °C (250 °F). The compressors will be used to re-liquefy boil-off gas which forms during LNG unloading of the LNG carriers and to maintain the LNG storage temperature at minus 162 °C.

Natural gas is cooled in a large refrigeration system to minus 162 °C (260 °F), at either the point of origin (gas production field) or the point of departure (LNG off loads terminal).

LNG is formed by cooling natural gas to very low temperatures (minus 162 °C (260 °F)) at which point the gas condenses into a liquid, commonly referred to as Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). By liquefying, it is possible to reduce the bulk or volume of the gas by a factor of about 600, thus enabling large amounts to be transported over great distances by tanker. During transport the LNG is carried in specially insulated tanks at atmospheric pressure. On land, LNG is stored at nominally atmospheric pressure in large insulated tanks that are designed to minimize any heat ingress. Before the LNG can be exported to the gas transmission network it must be pressurized to network pressure (up to 94 bar g) and converted back to natural gas; this is accomplished by heating the LNG in a series of submerged combustion vaporizers. After regasification, the gas is sent through a metering station before entering the network as natural gas.

Burckhardt Compression AG CH-8404 Winterthur, Switzerland Tel. +41 (0)52 262 55 00 Fax +41 (0)52 262 00 51

Further inquiries: Lucy Heller Tel. +41 (0)52 262 57 09 Fax +41 (0)52 262 03 48
lucy.heller@burckhardtcompression.com
www.burckhardtcompression.com

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