Siemens Rolls out Micro-LNG in US

Siemens subsidiary Dresser-Rand said January 18 it has commissioned its first micro-LNG system.

The Ten Man facility in Pennsylvania began LNG production in mid-September last year, just four months from contract signing, and has produced 500,000 litres of LNG since start-up. The facility enables operator Frontier Natural Resources to monetise stranded natural gas at Tenaska Resources's Mainesburg field in the Marcellus shale play of Pennsylvania.  

(c) Dresser-Rand

The modular, portable ‘LNGo’ system can be installed in a short period of time. Consisting of four different modules, it can be transported on eight trucks, deployed at the gas field and has a footprint of some 508 m³, roughly the size of a basketball court.

With the increasing use of LNG as a fuel for road trucks in North America, micro-LNG represents one way to monetise stranded gas. Rival technologies such as small-scale gas-to-liquids (GTL) offered by other companies also offers a way to turn natural gas into motor fuel.

Mark Smedley