Mustang Engineering and Wood Group awarded US Patent

Mustang Engineering, a wholly owned subsidiary of international energy services company John Wood Group PLC, and Wood Group, have been awarded U.S. patent 715 5917 for a proprietary process to convert liquefied natural gas (LNG) into natural gas, according to Oilonline. This technology, marketed as the LNG Smart Air Vaporization (SAV) process, uses a closed-loop intermediate fluid circulating through fin-fan heat exchangers to extract heat from ambient air to vaporize LNG from its cryogenic state at - 260°F back to pipeline temperatures for transporting and storage. When compared with the more traditional submerged combustion vaporization technique, the SAV technology provides major reductions in fugitive air emissions (up to 100% under certain ambient conditions), and substantially lowers facility operating costs (through significantly reduced fuel gas usage). SAV also does not use seawater, thereby eliminating any negative impact on marine life in environmentally sensitive areas. The SAV process is currently being installed as the primary vaporization process at Trunkline LNG Company’s Infrastructure Enhancement Project in Lake Charles, Louisiana, utilizing the existing Submerged Combustion Vaporizers (SCVs) as a backup heat source. The project, currently in the detail engineering phase, is on schedule to be commissioned in the 3rd quarter of 2008. Source: OilOnline