Gas Processors Association Europe

David Weeks, M.W. Kellogg, UK

As supplies of natural gas from the North Sea continue to dwindle, the UK Government is seeking to maintain energy security by diversifying the energy mix and the sources of supply.  As part of this drive, two new LNG import terminals, Dragon LNG and South Hook, are being constructed in West Wales for the reception, storage and gasification of LNG. The need to flexibly design these terminals for a range of LNG compositions means that some received LNGs may not meet the UK gas specifications without ‘spiking’ or ‘ballasting’ with inert gas.
This paper investigates which current UK gas specifications determine the need for nitrogen spiking and, more importantly, which specifications govern the required quantity of inert gas.