Energy and economic comparison of five mixed-refrigerant natural gas liquefaction processes

The demand for liquified natural gas grows as it is an energy resource that has more flexible means of transport than non-liquefied gas, and eco-friendly other fossil fuels. This paper focused on comparing five different mixed-refrigerant liquefaction processes to determine which one the most efficient in energetic economic terms four processing scales (20,000 kg/h 2, 4, 8 MTPA feed). Simpler with or two refrigerant cycles (single mixed refrigerant, propane pre-cooled dual refrigerant) complex three (mixed fluid cascade AP-X) were analyzed. All simulated Aspen HYSYS, consumption was optimized by a communication between simulator optimization algorithm based Particle Swarm Optimization coded MATLAB. analysis performed using CAPCOST technique rule six-tenths upscaling. In best-optimized scenario, results show process, AP-X, consumes lowest amount (0.2367 kWh/kg-LNG) while simplest one, single highest value (0.2561 kWh/kg-LNG). analysis, indicate energetically better may not provide higher return even large scales.