Liquifying natural gas requires a process that lowers the temperature of this gas to around -260 degrees F (-160 degrees C). The Main Cryogenic Heat Exchanger (MCHE) is the primary piece of equipment responsible for the necessary cooling; therefore, it is widely recognized as the ‘Heart’ of the LNG facility.

The valves responsible for controlling the flows must be rugged, reliable, and able to handle the temperatures and pressures involved in this extremely challenging process. The Joule-Thomson (JT) effect is leveraged throughout all the primary LNG liquefaction processes to achieve cooling of the feed gas or the refrigerant streams.

JT control valves reduce the pressure of the fluid significantly and induce the desired cooling. Because of the elevated pressure drop, the control valve can experience excessive noise levels if not addressed properly. It also experiences very low process temperatures and must be capable of precise throttling down to full cryogenic temperatures.

Reid Youngdahl joins me in this 30-minute podcast to discuss how we helped a major LNG producer overcome key production challenges by implementing Fisher JT Valves. Listen as we dive into the successful installation and the impactful results achieved in their operations.

Give the podcast a listen and visit the Valves, Actuators and Regulators for the Entire LNG Value Chain section on Emerson.com for more on the products and solutions to drive reliable and efficient LNG production.

Also, visit the LNG Success Podcast page to listen to other podcasts in this series.

Transcript

Jim: Hi, everyone, I’m Jim Cahill with another “Emerson Automation Experts” podcast. Today, we’ll open a four-part series by exploring the role of control technologies in helping drive efficient and reliable LNG production performance. Emerson’s valves, regulators, and actuators empower the entire LNG value chain, from liquefaction to the transport and terminal of LNG, and from project startup and commissioning to long-term facility operations and maintenance. Emerson’s Reid Youngdahl joins me to discuss a great success story in which a Fisher JT control valve improved the performance of the main cryogenic heat exchanger at an LNG plant in Europe. Welcome, Reid.

Reid: Hi, Jim. Thanks for having me.

Jim: Hey, it’s great having you here on the podcast. Let’s begin. Can you share your background and path to your current role here at Emerson?

Reid: Sure. Yeah. So, I’ve been with Emerson for 11 years now. All that’s been within our flow controls Fisher organization, primarily Fisher control valves, and that’s been located here in our global headquarters up here at Marshalltown, Iowa. So, my current role is a valve technical specialist. So, I have the privilege to provide global support for our products. We’re kind of broken up into industry groups to kind of provide better support to our end users. So, primarily, my applications are severe service support for the oil and gas industry with an emphasis on specializing in LNG. So, whether that’s working with EPCs, doing sizing selection, consultation on large projects, or that could be supporting troubleshooting valves out in the field. And then, through that process, through the years, I have had the opportunity to work on a lot of these critical JT valves that we’ll be talking about today, Jim.

Jim: Well, that’s a great background there. And yeah, I would think LNG with cryogenic temperatures is severe service. So, I look forward to our discussion. Now, where are some of our isolation and control technologies found in LNG?

Reid: Yeah. Kind of like how you opened up, Jim. You know, a lot of the Emerson final control brands and products, can be found throughout the full LNG value chain, whether that’s honestly taking gas out of the ground to liquefying it, to shipping it, and regasifying it. So, likely, if you’re walking through an LNG facility, you’re likely to come across some Emerson final control equipment, whether that be Fisher control valves, whether it be isolation valves, or even pressure relief valves. So, we do have an extensive global install base. Not going to stay here and list everything outright. But even starting here in North America, places such as Cove Point, Rio Grande, Golden Pass, Port Arthur, Venture Global, even the Energía Costa Azul, so, a lot that have already been built, like Cameron and Cove Point, and a lot of things that are in the process of being built and constructed, as well as overseas. We have an extensive overseas install base. Some notable ones would be QatarEnergy LNG, the big mega trains, extensive experience in there, and whether that be even remote locations such as, like, a BP Tangguh facility. So, a lot of shapes and sizes in terms of the LNG capacity that we have experience in. And honestly, not only just onshore, but floating as well. So, things such as Shell Prelude FLNG. So, not everything, but just a few things to know.

Jim: Well, that sounds like it’s basically spread all over the globe with some of our final control products. That’s great. I wanted to ask you about a fascinating case study where an LNG producer implemented a Fisher JT control valve to improve the performance of a main cryogenic heat exchanger, or I guess the acronym MCHE, at an LNG plant in Europe. What challenges were the LNG plant facing, and what specific applications were being affected?

Reid: Sure. Yeah, we were contacted from our local sales office over there, and I think it’s just good to… I kind of like to take a step back, too, and just remember that, even though it’s often overlooked, these JT valves around the main cryogenic heat exchanger, are really, if you talk to other LNG end users, are the most important valves in their whole facility. So, often overlooked, but it’s the truth. And a lot of that is because, these are directly coupled to that main cryogenic heat exchanger. And that heat exchanger is kind of the heart of the facility. That’s where you’re making your LNG, right? So, these valves are controlling the flow, controlling this cooling kind of going on in there. So, if those JT valves aren’t operating well, the whole facility feels it and knows it. So, that was the case for this end user. Since startup, they were experiencing issues really largely resulting around just not getting the control they needed. You know, there was a lot of inherent friction and deadband in those larger control valves, right? These are larger, 14-inch, 16-inch globe valves, cryogenic valves, class 600.

So, a lot of built-up friction in there. So, they just weren’t able to hit the small step changes they need to really be able to optimize that process. So, they were running things sub-optimally. They had to keep this thing in manual mode versus auto mode, right? Automatic. So, this is a 24/7 type of application. This isn’t like a batch process. Once you turn this thing on, this thing’s going. So, that’s 24/7 operator intervention, and just, yeah, you got to detune the system and sub optimally run it. So, they were just experiencing some issues there. You know, and when I say deadband, I mean that’s kind of a control valve terminology we use in terms of, like, what is the actual smallest step change I can give this valve or final control element and actually see some change in flow or movement, right? So, at what percent can I give it to actually see that plugged stem move and actually get some flow out of it? So, typically, we say like less than a 1% deadband plus hysteresis value is good for a control valve, but these are just very unique applications where if you really want this heat exchanger to be run optimally and really be aggressive, they w...