Techno-Economic Analysis of LNG Boil-Off Gas Treatment: A Case Study of LNG Terminal in Indonesia

Abstract

A receiving terminal in Indonesia have operated a Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) to process LNG and produce gas for a power plant. In order to expand the market, the LNG stream flowing from FSU to FRU will be divided to the future unit onshore. Due to cryogenic condition, the generated LNG Boil-off Gas (BOG) cannot be avoided. This paper presents technical and economic analysis to consider the treatment for LNG BOG generated from the future unit. There will be five options, such as Option-1a; generated BOG from future unit is delivered to the existing BOG pipe in FSRU, Option-1b; half of generated BOG is delivered to the existing BOG pipe and half of the rest is used as own consumption fuel, Option-2a; generated BOG is delivered to LNG vaporizer output stream, Option-2b; half of generated BOG is delivered to LNG vaporizer output stream and half of the rest is used as own consumption fuel, Option-3; generated BOG is used as own consumption fuel. The calculated BOG generation is 3.7 MMSCFD with different economic value depend on the case option. Both of Option-1a and Option-3 give the highest internal rate of return which is 31.34% with 2.55 years of payback period. The most sensitive parameter for all options are gas sales price and LNG purchase price. Therefore, company must consider the decision of gas sales and purchase price thoroughly.

Keywords: liquified natural gas, boil-off gas, compressed natural gas, receiving terminal, regasification, techno-economic, floating storage unit, floating regasification unit.