Energy Improvements Save LNG Plant Over USD 70 Million/Year

A liquified natural gas (LNG) plant in South East Asia with eight trains needed to move towards a “manage for margin” approach due to the reduction in global oil prices. Energy efficiency, the plants largest controllable operating cost became a concern.

The Challenge

Their goal was to increase profits by reducing their energy costs and improving their yields. Only a structured methodology and tools that consider the interactions will achieve improvement in the production margin.

Solution

KBC applied a structured margin optimization methodology, considering process energy and reliability interactions. The consultants performed a sitewide energy review of all eight trains using Best Technology benchmarking and gap analysis. They identified more than 100 profit improvement opportunities.

By using Petro-SIM^® simulation software, KBC and the client team worked together to build a digital twin of the first train. KBC developed a complex-wide roadmap to outline constraints and manage uncertainty around gas feed composition changes and site expansion plans.

The Results

The operator increased profits by 73 million/year.