IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v170y2019icp557-568.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

LNG cold energy utilization: Prospects and challenges

Author

Listed:
  • He, Tianbiao
  • Chong, Zheng Rong
  • Zheng, Junjie
  • Ju, Yonglin
  • Linga, Praveen

Abstract

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is widely used in many countries around the world primarily as a mode of transport for natural gas. However, massive amount of energy (around 830 kJ/kg of LNG) is wasted during the regasification process in the LNG regasification terminals. Therefore, the technologies to utilize the LNG cold energy have received significant attention over recent decades. In this paper, we review various studies on the current LNG cold energy utilization systems, including power generation, air separation, desalination, cryogenic carbon dioxide capture, and NGL recovery. Utilizing LNG cold energy on such systems can improve the energetic and exergetic efficiencies significantly. Furthermore, several potential applications to utilize LNG cold energy in the future are proposed and discussed to broaden the perspectives of the researchers in the community. Among these potential applications, recovering LNG cold energy on cold chain for food transportation, data center cooling and hydrate based desalination are very promising. Finally, the limitations and challenges to be addressed for LNG cold energy utilization are discussed in detail.

Suggested Citation

  • He, Tianbiao & Chong, Zheng Rong & Zheng, Junjie & Ju, Yonglin & Linga, Praveen, 2019. "LNG cold energy utilization: Prospects and challenges," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 557-568.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:170:y:2019:i:c:p:557-568
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2018.12.170
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544218325441
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2018.12.170?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Oró, E. & de Gracia, A. & Castell, A. & Farid, M.M. & Cabeza, L.F., 2012. "Review on phase change materials (PCMs) for cold thermal energy storage applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 513-533.
    2. Szargut, Jan & Szczygiel, Ireneusz, 2009. "Utilization of the cryogenic exergy of liquid natural gas (LNG) for the production of electricity," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 827-837.
    3. Tsatsaronis, G. & Morosuk, T., 2010. "Advanced exergetic analysis of a novel system for generating electricity and vaporizing liquefied natural gas," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 820-829.
    4. Wang, Xiaolin & Dennis, Mike & Hou, Liangzhuo, 2014. "Clathrate hydrate technology for cold storage in air conditioning systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 34-51.
    5. Lin, Wensheng & Zhang, Na & Gu, Anzhong, 2010. "LNG (liquefied natural gas): A necessary part in China's future energy infrastructure," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 4383-4391.
    6. Morosuk, T. & Tsatsaronis, G., 2011. "Comparative evaluation of LNG – based cogeneration systems using advanced exergetic analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 3771-3778.
    7. Kumar, Satish & Kwon, Hyouk-Tae & Choi, Kwang-Ho & Lim, Wonsub & Cho, Jae Hyun & Tak, Kyungjae & Moon, Il, 2011. "LNG: An eco-friendly cryogenic fuel for sustainable development," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(12), pages 4264-4273.
    8. Beatrice Castellani & Elena Morini & Mirko Filipponi & Andrea Nicolini & Massimo Palombo & Franco Cotana & Federico Rossi, 2014. "Clathrate Hydrates for Thermal Energy Storage in Buildings: Overview of Proper Hydrate-Forming Compounds," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(10), pages 1-15, September.
    9. Miyazaki, T & Kang, Y.T & Akisawa, A & Kashiwagi, T, 2000. "A combined power cycle using refuse incineration and LNG cold energy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 25(7), pages 639-655.
    10. Dong, Hui & Zhao, Liang & Zhang, Songyuan & Wang, Aihua & Cai, Jiuju, 2013. "Using cryogenic exergy of liquefied natural gas for electricity production with the Stirling cycle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 10-18.
    11. Kim, T.S & Ro, S.T, 2000. "Power augmentation of combined cycle power plants using cold energy of liquefied natural gas," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 25(9), pages 841-856.
    12. Liu, Yanni & Guo, Kaihua, 2011. "A novel cryogenic power cycle for LNG cold energy recovery," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 2828-2833.
    13. Kaneko, Kenichi & Ohtani, Kiyoshi & Tsujikawa, Yoshiharu & Fujii, Shoichi, 2004. "Utilization of the cryogenic exergy of LNG by a mirror gas-turbine," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 79(4), pages 355-369, December.
    14. Romero Gómez, M. & Ferreiro Garcia, R. & Romero Gómez, J. & Carbia Carril, J., 2014. "Review of thermal cycles exploiting the exergy of liquefied natural gas in the regasification process," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 781-795.
    15. Zhang, Guoqiang & Zheng, Jiongzhi & Yang, Yongping & Liu, Wenyi, 2016. "A novel LNG cryogenic energy utilization method for inlet air cooling to improve the performance of combined cycle," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 638-649.
    16. Kanbur, Baris Burak & Xiang, Liming & Dubey, Swapnil & Choo, Fook Hoong & Duan, Fei, 2017. "Thermoeconomic and environmental assessments of a combined cycle for the small scale LNG cold utilization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 1148-1162.
    17. Sun, Zhixin & Lai, Jianpeng & Wang, Shujia & Wang, Tielong, 2018. "Thermodynamic optimization and comparative study of different ORC configurations utilizing the exergies of LNG and low grade heat of different temperatures," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 688-700.
    18. Zhang, Na & Lior, Noam & Liu, Meng & Han, Wei, 2010. "COOLCEP (cool clean efficient power): A novel CO2-capturing oxy-fuel power system with LNG (liquefied natural gas) coldness energy utilization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 1200-1210.
    19. Zhang, P. & Ma, Z.W., 2012. "An overview of fundamental studies and applications of phase change material slurries to secondary loop refrigeration and air conditioning systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(7), pages 5021-5058.
    20. Mehrpooya, Mehdi & Moftakhari Sharifzadeh, Mohammad Mehdi & Rosen, Marc A., 2015. "Optimum design and exergy analysis of a novel cryogenic air separation process with LNG (liquefied natural gas) cold energy utilization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(P2), pages 2047-2069.
    21. Lee, Inkyu & Park, Jinwoo & Moon, Il, 2017. "Conceptual design and exergy analysis of combined cryogenic energy storage and LNG regasification processes: Cold and power integration," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(P1), pages 106-115.
    22. Gómez, Manuel Romero & Garcia, Ramón Ferreiro & Gómez, Javier Romero & Carril, José Carbia, 2014. "Thermodynamic analysis of a Brayton cycle and Rankine cycle arranged in series exploiting the cold exergy of LNG (liquefied natural gas)," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 927-937.
    23. Choi, In-Hwan & Lee, Sangick & Seo, Yutaek & Chang, Daejun, 2013. "Analysis and optimization of cascade Rankine cycle for liquefied natural gas cold energy recovery," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 179-195.
    24. Xia, Guanghui & Sun, Qingxuan & Cao, Xu & Wang, Jiangfeng & Yu, Yizhao & Wang, Laisheng, 2014. "Thermodynamic analysis and optimization of a solar-powered transcritical CO2 (carbon dioxide) power cycle for reverse osmosis desalination based on the recovery of cryogenic energy of LNG (liquefied n," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 643-653.
    25. Querol, E. & Gonzalez-Regueral, B. & García-Torrent, J. & Ramos, Alberto, 2011. "Available power generation cycles to be coupled with the liquid natural gas (LNG) vaporization process in a Spanish LNG terminal," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(7), pages 2382-2390, July.
    26. Wang, Jiangfeng & Yan, Zhequan & Wang, Man & Dai, Yiping, 2013. "Thermodynamic analysis and optimization of an ammonia-water power system with LNG (liquefied natural gas) as its heat sink," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 513-522.
    27. Song, Yuhui & Wang, Jiangfeng & Dai, Yiping & Zhou, Enmin, 2012. "Thermodynamic analysis of a transcritical CO2 power cycle driven by solar energy with liquified natural gas as its heat sink," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 194-203.
    28. Zhao, Liang & Dong, Hui & Tang, Jiajun & Cai, Jiuju, 2016. "Cold energy utilization of liquefied natural gas for capturing carbon dioxide in the flue gas from the magnesite processing industry," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 45-56.
    29. He, Tianbiao & Nair, Sajitha K. & Babu, Ponnivalavan & Linga, Praveen & Karimi, Iftekhar A., 2018. "A novel conceptual design of hydrate based desalination (HyDesal) process by utilizing LNG cold energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 13-24.
    30. Zhang, Na & Lior, Noam, 2006. "A novel near-zero CO2 emission thermal cycle with LNG cryogenic exergy utilization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(10), pages 1666-1679.
    31. Hisazumi, Y. & Yamasaki, Y. & Sugiyama, S., 1998. "Proposal for a high efficiency LNG power-generation system utilizing waste heat from the combined cycle," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 60(3), pages 169-182, July.
    32. La Rocca, Vincenzo, 2011. "Cold recovery during regasification of LNG part two: Applications in an Agro Food Industry and a Hypermarket," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 4897-4908.
    33. Kanbur, Baris Burak & Xiang, Liming & Dubey, Swapnil & Choo, Fook Hoong & Duan, Fei, 2017. "Cold utilization systems of LNG: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1171-1188.
    34. Zhang, P. & Ma, Z.W. & Wang, R.Z., 2010. "An overview of phase change material slurries: MPCS and CHS," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 598-614, February.
    35. Zhai, X.Q. & Wang, X.L. & Wang, T. & Wang, R.Z., 2013. "A review on phase change cold storage in air-conditioning system: Materials and applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 108-120.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kanbur, Baris Burak & Xiang, Liming & Dubey, Swapnil & Choo, Fook Hoong & Duan, Fei, 2017. "Cold utilization systems of LNG: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1171-1188.
    2. Romero Gómez, M. & Ferreiro Garcia, R. & Romero Gómez, J. & Carbia Carril, J., 2014. "Review of thermal cycles exploiting the exergy of liquefied natural gas in the regasification process," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 781-795.
    3. Sun, Heng & Zhu, Hongmei & Liu, Feng & Ding, He, 2014. "Simulation and optimization of a novel Rankine power cycle for recovering cold energy from liquefied natural gas using a mixed working fluid," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 317-324.
    4. Kanbur, Baris Burak & Xiang, Liming & Dubey, Swapnil & Choo, Fook Hoong & Duan, Fei, 2017. "Thermoeconomic and environmental assessments of a combined cycle for the small scale LNG cold utilization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 1148-1162.
    5. Zhao, Liang & Dong, Hui & Tang, Jiajun & Cai, Jiuju, 2016. "Cold energy utilization of liquefied natural gas for capturing carbon dioxide in the flue gas from the magnesite processing industry," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 45-56.
    6. Badami, Marco & Bruno, Juan Carlos & Coronas, Alberto & Fambri, Gabriele, 2018. "Analysis of different combined cycles and working fluids for LNG exergy recovery during regasification," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 373-384.
    7. Romero Gómez, Manuel & Romero Gómez, Javier & López-González, Luis M. & López-Ochoa, Luis M., 2016. "Thermodynamic analysis of a novel power plant with LNG (liquefied natural gas) cold exergy exploitation and CO2 capture," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 32-44.
    8. Kanbur, Baris Burak & Xiang, Liming & Dubey, Swapnil & Choo, Fook Hoong & Duan, Fei, 2017. "Thermoeconomic assessment of a micro cogeneration system with LNG cold utilization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 171-184.
    9. Sun, Zhixin & Xu, Fuquan & Wang, Shujia & Lai, Jianpeng & Lin, Kui, 2017. "Comparative study of Rankine cycle configurations utilizing LNG cold energy under different NG distribution pressures," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 380-393.
    10. Kanbur, Baris Burak & Xiang, Liming & Dubey, Swapnil & Choo, Fook Hoong & Duan, Fei, 2018. "Finite sum based thermoeconomic and sustainable analyses of the small scale LNG cold utilized power generation systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 944-961.
    11. Tomków, Łukasz & Cholewiński, Maciej, 2015. "Improvement of the LNG (liquid natural gas) regasification efficiency by utilizing the cold exergy with a coupled absorption – ORC (organic Rankine cycle)," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 645-653.
    12. Hou, Mingyu & Wu, Zhanghua & Yu, Guoyao & Hu, Jianying & Luo, Ercang, 2018. "A thermoacoustic Stirling electrical generator for cold exergy recovery of liquefied nature gas," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C), pages 389-396.
    13. Wang, Xiu & Zhao, Liang & Zhang, Lihui & Zhang, Menghui & Dong, Hui, 2019. "A novel combined system for LNG cold energy utilization to capture carbon dioxide in the flue gas from the magnesite processing industry," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    14. He, Tianbiao & Nair, Sajitha K. & Babu, Ponnivalavan & Linga, Praveen & Karimi, Iftekhar A., 2018. "A novel conceptual design of hydrate based desalination (HyDesal) process by utilizing LNG cold energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 13-24.
    15. Li, Yongyi & Liu, Yujia & Zhang, Guoqiang & Yang, Yongping, 2020. "Thermodynamic analysis of a novel combined cooling and power system utilizing liquefied natural gas (LNG) cryogenic energy and low-temperature waste heat," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    16. Choi, In-Hwan & Lee, Sangick & Seo, Yutaek & Chang, Daejun, 2013. "Analysis and optimization of cascade Rankine cycle for liquefied natural gas cold energy recovery," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 179-195.
    17. García, Ramón Ferreiro & Carril, Jose Carbia & Gomez, Javier Romero & Gomez, Manuel Romero, 2016. "Combined cascaded Rankine and direct expander based power units using LNG (liquefied natural gas) cold as heat sink in LNG regasification," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 16-24.
    18. Tian, Zhen & Qi, Zhixin & Gan, Wanlong & Tian, Molin & Gao, Wenzhong, 2022. "A novel negative carbon-emission, cooling, and power generation system based on combined LNG regasification and waste heat recovery: Energy, exergy, economic, environmental (4E) evaluations," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    19. Choi, Hong Wone & Na, Sun-Ik & Hong, Sung Bin & Chung, Yoong & Kim, Dong Kyu & Kim, Min Soo, 2021. "Optimal design of organic Rankine cycle recovering LNG cold energy with finite heat exchanger size," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    20. Fahmy, M.F.M. & Nabih, H.I. & El-Rasoul, T.A., 2015. "Optimization and comparative analysis of LNG regasification processes," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 371-385.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:170:y:2019:i:c:p:557-568. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.