Review of natural gas liquefaction processes/ Pregled procesa ukapljivanja prirodnog plina

Prirodni plin se od izvora do potrosaca najcesce transportira visokotlacnim plinovodima. Kada je udaljenost izmedu mjesta proizvodnje i potrosnje veca od 4000 km, a i zbog diversifikacije dobavnih pravaca prirodnog plina, sve se vise primjenjuje ukapljivanje prirodnog plina i njegov transport brodovima. Konacan izbor procesa za ukapljivanje prirodnog plina ovisiti ce o varijablama projekta, stupnju razvoja novih ili poboljsanja postojecih procesa i raspolozivosti potrebne opreme. U radu su prikazani procesi koji se danas primjenjuju za ukapljivanje prirodnog plina i njihova zastupljenost u praksi. High pressure pipelines are the most common way of natural gas transport from a gas field to a processing plant and further to consumers. In case when the distance between natural gas production and consumption regions is more than 4000 kilometers, and due to necessity of natural gas supply diversification, gas liquefaction and its transport by ships is being applied. The final choice of liquefaction process depends on the project variables, the development level of new or upgrading of already existing processes and available equipment. Current natural gas liquefaction processes and their usage in practice are shown in this paper. Kljucne rijeci: prirodni plin, proces ukapljivanja, rashladno sredstvo Key words: natural gas, liquefaction process, refrigerant