Air Products Wins Ichthys LNG Work (Australia)

Air Products said it has signed an agreement with JKC Joint Venture (JV) and INPEX Operations Australia Pty Ltd, for the supply of the liquefaction technology and main cryogenic heat exchangers for two process trains that will produce a total of 8.4 million tons of LNG per year.

Air Products’ LNG heat exchanger technology will operate in Darwin, Australia as part of the Ichthys LNG Project (INPEX 76% Operator; Total 24%), expected to be onstream by the end of 2016.

“This project extends our presence in Australia, which is the most active area in the world right now in LNG project development. If the pace of activity continues, before too long Australia may be able to lay claim to the title of the world’s largest exporter of LNG,” said Jim Solomon, director – LNG at Air Products. “Spurring this growth is the fact that natural gas usage is increasing in importance on a worldwide basis as a source of clean energy. As a result, Air Products is seeing increased project activity globally, and we see the projected growth for LNG continuing over the next decade.”

Under the agreement with JKC and INPEX, Air Products will provide two main cryogenic heat exchangers with a proprietary propane pre-cooled mixed refrigerant process using the SplitMR® machinery configuration to produce the LNG. The LNG units will process natural gas from the substantial reserves located in the Browse Basin offshore Western Australia. The Ichthys LNG Project is a joint venture between INPEX as operator and Total. The project will provide crucial long term energy supply to Japan and other customers.

This is Air Products’ second Australian LNG project announcement in the past year. In 2011, Air Products was selected to supply its proprietary cryogenic coil wound LNG heat exchangers for what is the world’s first sanctioned Floating LNG (FLNG) facility being developed for the Shell Prelude FLNG Project, also to be located in the Browse Basin off the northwest coast of Western Australia. INPEX is a 17.5 percent participant in the Prelude FLNG Project as well.

Air Products is also providing its proprietary LNG process technology and equipment for three process trains producing up to 15 million tons of LNG per annum at the Gorgon Project, currently under construction on Barrow Island off the coast of Western Australia.

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LNG World News Staff, April 24, 2012; Image: INPEX