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Technology
The concept of liquefying gases began with British chemist Michael Faraday in the 1800s. In 1873, Karl van Linde, a German engineer, built a working compression refrigerator for natural gas. A first-generation liquified natural gas plant was built in West Virginia in 1912. In 1941, liquified natural gas was first stored in insulated tanks at normal atmospheric pressure at a plant in Cleveland, Ohio.
Because the liquified form of natural gas is only 1/614th the volume of natural gas, it is commercially and economically feasible to transport by ship or store in large volumes only as a liquid. Natural gas in its original form is transported via pipelines. Before commercial shipping of liquified natural gas, only countries and regions with pipeline access to the gas could utilize the resource.
Gas will be delivered to the Floridian Natural Gas Storage facility via existing pipelines coming from Gulf Coast producing states. Then, to change natural gas into a liquid for storage, the gas will be refrigerated to a temperature of minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit, the point at which gas turns into liquid. As a liquid, natural gas is clear and about half as dense as water.
The liquid will then be pumped into a specialized insulated storage tank where it is stored at atmospheric pressure. The tank acts like a large Thermos bottle, keeping the gas cold enough to remain in the liquid form. Any gas that warms above the -260 degrees is automatically re-refrigerated and returned to a liquid state.
The storage tank is designed with an inner tank of Nickel-Steel, a layer of insulation, another steel tank which is surrounded by a concrete shell and a steel roof. The robust design makes the tank very, very difficult to breach. Should a breach somehow occur, a dike surrounding the tank will contain any liquid natural gas releases. And, since methane is lighter than air, any spill would evaporate, rise and dissipate.
When the gas is ready to be returned to the pipeline, it is gradually warmed until it returns to its original gaseous state and then is sent back through the existing pipeline grid.
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