Flashing liquid expanders for

cryogenic industries
Presented to Petrotech 2010
2nd November 2010, New Delhi, India

Roger Dambach
Simon Hautdidier
Please visit www.cryostar.com
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Reliable criteria for the selection of FLE

Flashing liquid expander (FLE) a new

concept for LNG base load

FLE expansion of LNG (PR from 5 to 45)

FLE expansion of cooling fluid (PR from 3 to 15)

What is flashing?

Flashing occurs due to a rapid expansion of the

liquid below the saturated liquid line

Nucleation reduces metastability

LNG often contains a fraction of Nitrogen
Multi-component fluid will enhance nucleation
Gas inclusions in the liquid act as nuclei for gas
flashing

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Reliable criteria for the selection of FLE

Flashing liquid expander (FLE) not a new concept for ASU

First unit installed in UK in 1985

50 units sold for installation in ASU

Operate with liquid N2 and liquid air

Design pressure 90 bar(g)
Design temperature -196C

3 units with flashing at discharge

Liquid Location Power

(kW)

Air Braddock, 95
Pennsylvania,
USA
Air Izdemir, 65
Turkey

N2 Claymont, 85
Delaware, USA

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Reliable criteria for the selection of FLE

Typical liquid expander installation in a ASU

JT valve

Process
isolation
valve
Quick A height
closing
valve Two- difference
N2 purge outlet phase of 20 40
flow meters is
common

Liquid
turbine
Drain to
installed Pressure Process low
at grade control isolation pressure
valve valve

N2 purge inlet

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Reliable criteria for the selection of FLE

No reason to be
reluctant!

FLE not a critical

equipment
NG
Always installed treatment
in parallel to a expander
Joule Thompson
Flashing
valve (JTV)
liquid
expander
Plant efficiency
benefits are
enormous Ethylene
expander
Oil & gas API 617
turboexpanders
already expander
operating inside
the dome

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Reliable criteria for the selection of FLE

3 different FLE technologies under the loop API 617

expander

Liquid
inlet

Liquid
inlet

Flashing
Liquid outlet
inlet

Flashing
outlet
Flashing
outlet

Multi stage Impulse Single stage

radial inflow wheel radial inflow
FLE FLE FLE

Rh > 0.5 Rh = 0 Rh = 0.5

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Reliable criteria for the selection of FLE

Work contribution of flashed gas in the liquid

The notion of head no longer valid for FLE

Ideal work contribution of flashed gas :

Enthalphy h

hG = his g H L 1

hactual s
hisentropic

hG
wG =
his 3 3
s
s
Entropy s

p stage in _ liq + out _ liq

wG = 1 with liquid =
liquid his 2

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Reliable criteria for the selection of FLE

Ratio of potential work by the flashed gas over isenthalpic work in a FLE
100.0%

Flashing in mass (LNG lean)

90.0%
Work contribution of flashed gas (LNG lean)

Flashing in mass (LNG rich) 80.0%

Work contribution of flashed gas (LNG rich)
70.0%

60.0%

50.0%

40.0%

30.0%

20.0%

Isentropic expansion
10.0%
from 60 bar(a) to 1.25 bar(a)

0.0%
-160 -150 -140 -130 -120 -110 -100 -90 -80
Turbine inlet temperature (C)

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AIChE national meeting Flashing Liquid Expanders

Outlet density as a function of h_isentropic

1000
Ethylene Plants I Ethylene Plants II Gas treatement Plants

Liquid Expanders for LNG Liquid Expanders for IG

Outlet density (kg/m3)

100

10

1
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Isentropic enthalpy difference across a single stage (kJ/kg)
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Reliable criteria for the selection of FLE

Applying a FLE to the ConocoPhillips Optimized Cascade

Process assumptions for high and intermediate stage (acc to Qualls et al, 2004)

High stage Intermediate stage

Pressure at inlet (bara) 40 15
Temperature at inlet (C) -95 -115
Pressure at outlet (bara) 15 5

3 different mass flows

Massflow (kg/s) 47.6 (~ 1.5 mtpa) 115.4 (~ 3.6 mtpa) 164.9 (~ 5.2 mtpa)

2 different LNG compositions

LNG type N2 C1 C2 C3
LNG lean 0.5 mol% 98 mol% 1.5 mol% 0 mol%
LNG rich 0.5 mol% 91.5 mol% 6 mol% 2 mol%

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Reliable criteria for the selection of FLE

HP and IP stage in the Mollier diagram for Lean LNG

Methane
refrigeration
system
according to
HP stage Qualls et al
(2004)

IP stage

~20% mass
flashing at
discharge

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Reliable criteria for the selection of FLE

The impact of process conditions on the work contribution of the flashed gas

80% 10
Flashing in mass at turbine discharge (in %)
Work contribution of flashed gas (in %) 9
70%
Volume ratio (inlet flange to outlet flange)
8
60%
Isentropic efficiency = 80% 7

50%
6

40% 5

4
30%

3
20%
2

10%
1

0% 0
High Pressure High Pressure Interm. Pressure Interm. Pressure
Rich LNG Lean LNG Rich LNG Lean LNG

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Reliable criteria for the selection of FLE

Multistage FLE technology not retained

Liquid
Flashing in multistage radial inflow turbine is
inlet
not recommended

Gas and liquid may disengage when entering

the downstream blade row

High local Mach numbers due to flashing will

have detrimental effects on the efficiency
especially at off-design conditions

High local Mach numbers may lead to

unpredictable flow phenomena in the
serpentine passage

Axial exducer for end flashing maximum

work contribution of the gas estimated at 20%
Flashing
outlet

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AIChE national meeting Flashing Liquid Expanders

Flashing in a single stage liquid expander

Flashing needs to be done in a single Liquid

blade row to avoid flow complications due
inlet
to leading edge separation of the
downstream blade row Approximate inception
of flashing in a
single stage FLE
Swearingen and Schulz (1976) predicted based on conditions
that a radial inflow turbine is the best in Table 3

expander type for FLE applications

Flashing
outlet

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Reliable criteria for the selection of FLE

Optimum wheel diameter for HP stage (Lean LNG)

Design with gearbox & conventional generator OR high speed generator & VFD
500

450
Single stage Utip = 95 115 m/s
400 radial inflow FLE

350
Wheel diameter in mm

300

250
Impulse wheel Utip = 65 80 m/s
FLE
200

150

100 Wheel tip diameter (single stage FLE for high stage)

Outer wheel diameter (impulse wheel FLE for high stage)

50

0
1 2 3
1.5 mtpa 3.6 mtpa 5.2 mtpa
Massflow across the turbine

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Reliable criteria for the selection of FLE

Comparison of relative velocities at rotor stage inlet

100
Relative velocity at wheel inlet (single stage FLE)
90
Relative velocity at mid span (impulse wheel FLE)

80

70 C
Relative velocity (m/s)

Impulse wheel
60 FLE
W
U
50

40

30
C
W
20 Single stage
radial inflow FLE
U
10

0
High Pressure High Pressure Interm. Pressure Interm. Pressure
Rich LNG Lean LNG Rich LNG Lean LNG
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Reliable criteria for the selection of FLE

Cold power extracted from the process fluid for Lean LNG

Single stage
radial inflow
FLE

Impulse wheel
FLE

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Reliable criteria for the selection of FLE

Summary of results

Both single stage and impulse wheel FLE are valid turbine concepts for LNG

Multi stage FLE technology excluded work contribution of flashed gas too high
Upper limit of max work contribution of flashed gas estimated to be 20%

Impulse wheel FLE design yields 3 times higher relative velocities at wheel inlet
Impulse wheel must be titanium, single stage FLE can be aluminium
Risk of phase separation at leading edge
Seperated liquid will migrate to the ps of the impulse blade high friction losses
Risk of phase separation in the downstream piping (froth or annular flow)

Single stage FLE will extract more work from the fluid

Conclusion

Single stage radial inflow FLE is the best performing and most qualified FLE
technology currently available to the LNG industry

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