Dr. Songgang Qiu
Professor, West Virginia University, USA
Title: The use of Stirling convertors in the transportation and storage of natural gas
Biography
Biography: Dr. Songgang Qiu
Abstract
To store, transport or use large quantities of natural gas, it is generally cryogenically cooled and liquefied at the temperature around 110 K. After the natural gas has been liquefied, boil-off can occur during transportation. This gas increases the pressure within the container is and usually vented into the atmosphere. This not only gives a significant pollution to the environment (Methane is the second most prevalent greenhouse gas) but it is also a loss of revenue. Venting boil-off gas can be a serious operational cost. A novel method of preventing this loss of an irreplaceable resource is to use Stirling Cryogenics as a means of re-liquefying the boil-off gas (BOG). Given their compact size and reliability, multiple units could be employed to handle various quantities of boil-off gas forming a flexible and redundant system. Additionally, Stirling cryo-coolers have been used in cryogenic applications for several decades. In addition to boil-off gas during transportation and storage, another waste of natural gas occurs as gas flaring at petroleum refineries, natural gas processing plants as well as an oil and gas production sites where excess gas is simply burnt due to a lack of means to capture and store the natural gas. Stirling Cryogenics is a cost-effective means of liquifying the wasted gas again vastly reducing the emission of a fuel refinery. This paper presents a new Stirling Cryogenics system that can be made at very low cost and has very high efficiency in comparison to traditional liquefication means.