The 12th of June 2015 and the 30th of June 2016, the Centre of Thermodynamics of Processes (CTP), common research Centre of Mines ParisTech – PSL Research University and ARMINES, organized respectively the first and second edition of the seminar “Cryogenic processes for the purification of CO2-rich natural gas and LNG production”.
The main purpose of the first edition was to promote and bolster discussions between companies and academic institutions for emphasizing the needs in terms of research for the design and optimization of cryogenic processes in the context of sour and CO2-rich natural gas treating.
In this occasion, academic and industrial institutions presented progresses and innovative approaches conceived to face the need of profitably resorting to high CO2-content reserves in response to the increasing demand of natural gas.
The appreciation conveyed by seminar participants (among which Engie, Total, ExxonMobil and TechnipFMC) motivated the organization of the second edition attended by companies (Air Liquide, Engie, Total, Linde, Tecnimont, TechnipFMC, Amec Foster Wheeler) and academic members.
The topic of the 2016 edition remained unchanged seeing the growth of the LNG technology as illustrated at the beginning of the seminar by the Head of Scientific and Technical Information Department of the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIF/IIR).
In addition to that, the presentation of CTP of MINES ParisTech/ARMINES stressed the need of mastering the crystallization of heavy components in LNG and cryogenic separation processes to avoid energy/efficiency losses and safety risks.
The discussions that followed the presentations resulted in the proposal of a Joint Industry Project “Evaluation of the crystallization risk in LNG production” edited and launched by CTP, and published on the IIF/IIR website. The aim of the JIP is combining experimental and modeling activities to obtain a precise model to identify the limits of the solubility of impurities in natural gas at low temperatures.
