LNG FAQ’s

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas that has been reduced to a liquid state, through a process of cooling. LNG can be transported by LNG ships or trucks. LNG is used as a fuel in industrial production, heavy road transport and maritime transport, among others.

LNG is created by transforming natural gas into a liquid state, by cooling it to -161oC (-259F). The process reduces it to 1/600th of its original un-liquefied volume and to half the weight of water.

At normal atmospheric pressure, natural gas remains in liquid form if its temperature does not exceed -163°C. This is why well-insulated containers are needed for its storage and transport.

In liquefaction, the density of natural gas increases so that it is almost 600 times the normal density. This enables the cost-effective transport of natural gas outside gas networks. Vaporised LNG can also be fed into a gas pipeline. One tonne of LNG corresponds to about 1,400 cubic metres of gaseous natural gas.

LNG produces 40% less carbon dioxide (CO2) than coal and 30% less than oil1, which makes it the cleanest of the fossil fuels.

Because we want affordable energy; we want our energy supply to be secure; and, we want to drive down our carbon emissions to net zero.

Stored LNG warms up due to a heat leak, and some of the liquid consequently turns into a gas called boil-off gas (BoG). This gas must be removed from the tanks in order to control the pressure and temperature. The formation of boil-off gas is affected by factors such as the insulation of the tank, outside temperature and the volume of LNG stored.

a. Compressed natural gas (CNG) is gas that has been physically stored in cylinders at very high pressures around 250 bar & has 100 times as much energy as the same volume of uncompressed gas and can be stored at room temperature.

b. Liquefied natural gas, as mentioned, is chilled and liquefied gas held at very cold temperatures. Although LNG comes with storage and transport challenges, it is much more energy dense than compressed natural gas, and about 600 times more energy dense than CNG.

The largest confirmed natural gas reserves are located in Russia, Iran, and Qatar. Other significant deposits can be found in the USA, Saudi Arabia, and Turkmenistan. However, exploration efforts are ongoing, and new reserves may be discovered in various parts of the world