Analytical Instrumentation & Environmental Monitoring


Process analyser for LNG peak shaving

September 2022 Analytical Instrumentation & Environmental Monitoring

At peak shaving facilities, natural gas is liquefied and stored on site, ready to be gasified and delivered to the grid when peak demand occurs. (Peak shaving refers to the practice of levelling out peaks in electricity use by industrial and commercial power consumers). One major concern is incident benzene, which readily freezes in liquefaction and destroys storage equipment. The contaminant poses additional environmental dangers, primarily the fact that benzene is carcinogenic. Online monitoring of benzene is therefore required.

With a freezing point of 5,5°C, benzene readily solidifies at the cold temperatures required for liquefaction of natural gas. Frozen benzene has widely deleterious effects on liquefaction machinery and storage tanks, obliging serious maintenance. To prevent this situation, LNG (liquid natural gas) producers remove benzene from the natural gas prior to liquefaction. The expense of benzene removal can be all for naught without a reliable method of validating the benzene level in the cleaned natural gas, and ensuring that removal is successful.

Applied Analytics’ OMA-300 process analyser system continuously monitors benzene concentration in the natural gas after the benzene removal stage. This provides constant verification that the cleaning process is functioning properly and that there will be no freezing issues in the liquefaction stage. When benzene levels above threshold are detected, the stream can automatically be diverted from the liquefaction process.

Incorporating OMA benzene analysis into a natural gas liquefaction operation reduces costs in various ways. Maintenance events due to frozen benzene are virtually eliminated by diverting high-benzene streams from liquefaction. Additionally, the assurance of clean feed gas allows the LNG plant to run at much colder temperatures and much greater efficiency. Savings on power costs from running the benzene removal system at the minimum power required, as regulated by the OMA feedback loop, are proven to be significant.

The OMA system is calibrated on standard samples (known concentrations) of benzene in order to learn the distinctive absorbance curve of benzene and produce an excellent correlation between curve height and chemical concentration.

System benefits:

• Continuously measures benzene concentration using dispersive UV-Vis absorbance spectroscopy.

• Totally solid-state build with no moving parts – modern design for low maintenance.

• Ultra-safe fibre-optic design with dedicated sample flow cell – no toxic/corrosive sample fluid in analyser enclosure.


Credit(s)



Share this article:
Share via emailShare via LinkedInPrint this page

Further reading:

WearCheck Water wins accreditation for microbiological testing
Wearcheck Analytical Instrumentation & Environmental Monitoring
WearCheck Water’s Johannesburg laboratory was recently awarded ISO/IEC17025 accreditation for Total Coliforms and E.coli Testing after a rigorous audit process, adding to the company’s extensive list of certifications, and reinforcing the laboratory’s adherence to national and international work quality standards.

Read more...
Advancing process weighing and weighbridge automation
Analytical Instrumentation & Environmental Monitoring
Sasco Africa, a leader in industrial weighing solutions, is showcasing its latest innovations in process weighing and weighbridge automation.

Read more...
Analysis solutions for total organic carbon
Analytical Instrumentation & Environmental Monitoring
Prepare for the future of water quality monitoring with Hach’s industry-leading total organic carbon (TOC) analysis solutions.

Read more...
Liquid density analyser
Sensoquad Analytical Instrumentation & Environmental Monitoring
The SensoTech LiquiSonic system measures the density or concentration of a liquid by calculating using the sonic velocity to give output in real-time.

Read more...
Oxygen measurement in beverages
Analytical Instrumentation & Environmental Monitoring
[Sponsored] Anton Paar offers a complete range of oxygen measurement instruments for total package oxygen (TPO) measurements, at-line quality control (QC), and in-process monitoring. These instruments help beverage manufacturers achieve accurate, reliable oxygen control at every stage of production.

Read more...
Temperature, humidity and barometric pressure transmitter
Senseca Analytical Instrumentation & Environmental Monitoring
Senseca’s environmental temperature, relative humidity and barometric pressure transmitter, ENVIROsense has all three measurement criteria available in one device.

Read more...
Analysers achieve OIML R140/MID accuracy class A certification
Analytical Instrumentation & Environmental Monitoring
Qmicro by Sensirion has received the OIML R140/MID accuracy class A certificate No. TC12537 for its DynamiQ-X GC analysers for the analysis of natural gas and natural gas blended with hydrogen.

Read more...
Sustainable water management
Wearcheck Analytical Instrumentation & Environmental Monitoring
Water sustainability is critical for the future wellbeing of people, land and marine ecosystems, and socio-economic development. WearCheck Water provides a range of water analysis techniques to determine water quality for various sectors, including mining, agriculture, domestic and the healthcare industry.”

Read more...
Biofilm monitoring system
Instek Control Analytical Instrumentation & Environmental Monitoring
Alvim, through Instek Controls, provides innovative, high-tech solutions for biofilm and biofouling monitoring in industrial plants.

Read more...
WearCheck Water earns AdBlue/DEF analysis accreditation
Wearcheck Analytical Instrumentation & Environmental Monitoring
WearCheck Water recently became the first laboratory in Africa to be officially ISO17025 accredited to test AdBlue diesel exhaust fluid by the South African National Accreditation System.

Read more...