Petronas chooses Air Products’ LNG technology for PFLNG 2

Air Products, the global leader in liquefied natural gas technology and equipment, has announced the signing of an agreement with JGC Corporation to provide its proprietary LNG technology, equipment and process license for PETRONAS’ second floating LNG project (PFLNG 2) to be located off the coast of Malaysia.

Air Products’ equipment and technology will be vital in the production of 1.5 million tons per year of LNG, targeted for onstream in 2018, for project owner Petroliam Nasional Berhad, the national oil and gas company of Malaysia. Air Products’ LNG technology has been selected for all three off-shore FLNG projects announced and in construction around the world to date.

“In our LNG history as a company we have always tried to stay ahead of trends in the market and we are pleased that we have been selected for PETRONAS’ second FLNG project, as well as the other two global off-shore LNG projects thus far that have been announced.

“The PFLNG 2 project, much like PETRONAS’ first floating LNG (PFLNG 1) project, is an important one in the effort to monetize significant off-shore natural gas reserves that would otherwise be unreachable. We are pleased our technology was again selected as the solution to this effort,” said Bill Kennington, major account manager – LNG with Air Products.

“In a project of this complexity, I trust that we have the best expertise from around the world to think of innovative solutions and game changing ideas to harness the best of engineering, design, and manufacturing equipment to ensure safety, quality, as well as a technically and commercially viable project,” said Datuk Abdullah Karim, vice president and venture director of LNG Projects – Domestic, PETRONAS.

PFLNG 2, which will be drawing natural gas from the Rotan Field in the South China Sea, offshore Sabah, Malaysia, will use Air Products’ AP-NTM LNG Process and Equipment. Air Products will manufacture this proprietary equipment including coil wound heat exchangers and compressor-expanders at facilities in the United States, and the economizer cold boxes in Tanjung Langsat, Malaysia. The proprietary equipment will be shipped from the Air Products manufacturing facilities for assembly into modules and then installed on the PFLNG 2 vessel.

The AP-NTM LNG process is the most efficient of all nitrogen recycle LNG processes in the industry, and is ideally suited for small scale FLNG applications. It is the same technology that was selected for the earlier announced PETRONAS PFLNG 1 Project, which is currently under construction in South Korea. The use of the AP-NTM LNG Process and Equipment for FLNG builds on the successful implementation of the nitrogen recycle section of Air Products’ AP-X® LNG Process and Equipment, which have been operating reliably for nearly five years in Qatar. The AP-NTM LNG Process and Equipment can be configured in an all-nitrogen recycle process for a single train at a nominal 1.5 million tons per annum, or it can be boosted in capacity with the addition of pre-cooling.

Air Products has a long relationship with PETRONAS. Beyond the PFLNG 1 project, Air Products has also supplied LNG technology and equipment to PETRONAS’ land-based Bintulu, Malaysia LNG facility for multiple LNG trains, with the first train becoming operational in 1983.

“With two FLNG projects underway, PETRONAS is showing itself to be a leader in what is a state-of-the-art method for off-shore natural gas liquefaction. We have an existing working relationship with PETRONAS dating back over three decades and are pleased to be continually building our ties with PETRONAS in support of these very exciting projects and market developments,” said Jim Solomon, director – LNG with Air Products.

In addition to the two PETRONAS FLNG projects, Air Products’ coil wound heat exchangers were selected for Shell’s Prelude floating LNG project under construction and slated for the Browse Basin off the northwest coast of Western Australia.

A majority of the total worldwide LNG is produced with Air Products’ technology. Air Products has now designed, manufactured, and exported more than 100 coil wound heat exchangers for LNG projects around the globe over the last four decades. In January 2014 Air Products dedicated a second United States LNG manufacturing facility in Port Manatee, Florida. The new facility, when combined with the existing Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania LNG manufacturing facility, doubles the company’s manufacturing capacity for its proprietary and world-leading technology to both meet increasing customer demand, and specifically for the manufacture of larger LNG heat exchangers.