Technical Characteristics and Development Trend of Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger Applied in Floating Liquefied Natural Gas

Abstract

The printed circuit heat exchanger with high efficiency and good compactness and reliability presents potential application in the floating liquefied natural gas platform. This paper offers a review on technical characteristics and development trend of the printed circuit heat exchanger applied in floating liquefied natural gas, including the development state of printed circuit heat exchangers, the application state of printed circuit heat exchangers in floating liquefied natural gas, and the key issues for potential application of printed circuit heat exchangers in floating liquefied natural gas. Firstly, the existing research results of heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of printed circuit heat exchangers with various flow channels are analyzed, and the correlations of the heat transfer coefficients and the pressure drop of these flow channels are summarized. Then, the application state of printed circuit heat exchangers in floating liquefied natural gas is introduced, and the functions of printed circuit heat exchangers used in the existing floating liquefied natural gas facilities are analyzed. Finally, the key issues for applying printed circuit heat exchangers in floating liquefied natural gas, including the structure design criteria, influence mechanism of sloshing conditions on performance, and methods of suppressing the adverse effects of sloshing conditions, are proposed. It is indicated that the present studies focus on the effect of single sloshing motion on the thermal–hydraulic performances of printed circuit heat exchangers, but few attention has been paid onto the coupling effects of multiple sloshing motions which conform more closely to the actual operation conditions of printed circuit heat exchangers in floating liquefied natural gas. Thus, the future work should aim at the influence mechanisms and structure optimizations in terms of thermal–hydraulic performance under multiple sloshing conditions.

Particle Swarm-Assisted Artificial Neural Networks for Making Liquefied Natural Gas Processes Feasible Under Varying Feed Conditions

“…Many offshore NG reserves have already been fully developed; their NG reserves are stored in the liquefied state to satisfy the global clean energy demand (Mohammad et al, 2021). Hence, new untapped NG reserves are entering the main trade loop also through the liquefaction approach (Xie et al, 2022). Figure 1 shows the growth trend of the LNG trade volume from 2005 to 2019 (Shell LNG outlook, 2019).…”

Investigation of hydrodynamic and thermodynamic processes in the liquefied natural gas transportation and regasification system

“…One of his research aspects investigated that flow separation and recirculation at corners limited heat transfer and increased the pressure drop (Fan & Yeom, 2021). Strobel and Mortean (2022) concluded their research that the structure of the heat exchanger influences the pressure drop of each channel and then influences the distribution of gas-liquid mixture among multiple channels (Xie et al, 2022). The pressure drop of the fluid of a single channel includes the pressure drop when entering the channel from the inlet header, the pressure drops along the channel, and the pressure drop loss when entering the outlet header from the channel (Xie et al, 2022).…”

“…Strobel and Mortean (2022) concluded their research that the structure of the heat exchanger influences the pressure drop of each channel and then influences the distribution of gas-liquid mixture among multiple channels (Xie et al, 2022). The pressure drop of the fluid of a single channel includes the pressure drop when entering the channel from the inlet header, the pressure drops along the channel, and the pressure drop loss when entering the outlet header from the channel (Xie et al, 2022). Cai et al (2022) have developed a correlation for frictional drop and heat transfer coefficient of the methane-ethane mixture due to the different properties of pure methane (the correlations are fitted under 6-9 MPa).…”