Poster PO-14

PO-14.1
A SOPHISTICATED, LOW-COST, ENERGY-EFFICIENT,
SMALL-CAPACITY LNG VAPORIZER AND ITS PRACTICAL USE
VAPORISATEUR DE LNG SOPHISTIQUE A FAIBLE CAPACITE
FONCTIONNANT A COUT REDUIT AVEC HAUT RENDEMENT
ENERGETIQUE ET SON APPLICATION PRATIQUE
Masaru Sekiguchi
Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd.
Tokyo, J apan
www.tokyo-gas.co.jp/index_e.html
Hirokazu Mori
Tokyo Gas Engineering Co., Ltd.
Tokyo, J apan
ABSTRACT
Tokyo Gas in collaboration with Tokyo Gas Engineering has succeeded in developing
a completely new kind of compact LNG vaporizer for small-capacity LNG terminals. It
makes optimum use of ambient heat to vaporize LNG for the supply of town gas above
the minimum allowable temperature requirement, even in cold regions. The new
vaporizer costs 20% less to build than previous systems, and enables a massive 70%
reduction in operating costs through considerably reducing reliance on fuel as a heat
source.
LNG vaporizer systems in small-capacity LNG terminals have up to now had hot
water vaporizers for use during winter fitted alongside air fin vaporizers. The requirement
for additional equipment to provide a heat source for the hot water vaporizers also made
each system complex and costly. The new system combines an air fin vaporizer with a hot
air source in one unit. The resulting system is simple, can be used throughout the year
even in cold climates, and is very energy-efficient, and accordingly environment-friendly.
The very first unit was installed at the Tokyo Gas Kofu satellite terminal, where it
demonstrated excellent vaporizer performance. The first unit to be made commercially
available in the J apanese market was operated for over a year by Chubu Gas at its
Hamamatsu satellite terminal, and the units have been adopted for base load operation at a
large number of terminals, including some in cold regions.
RESUME
Tokyo Gas, en collaboration avec Tokyo Gas Engineering, a russi dvelopper un
vaporisateur de GNL compact de type compltement nouveau pour les terminaux de GNL
de faible capacit, ce qui permet lutilisation optimum de chaleur ambiante pour la
vaporisation de GNL en vue de la fourniture de gaz de ville une temprature infrieure
la valeur minimum admissible ou dans des rgions froides. Le cot de construction du
nouveau vaporisateur est infrieur de 20% celui des systmes prcdents, ce qui ralise
une forte rduction du cot dexploitation de 70% en rduisant considrablement la
dpendance du combustible comme source de chaleur.
CONTENTS SESSIONS
Poster PO-14

PO-14.2
J usqu prsent, les systmes de vaporisateur de GNL des terminaux de GNL de faible
capacit utilisaient des vaporisateurs eau chaude pendant lhiver, en les installant juste
ct des vaporisateurs air ailettes. La ncessit dun quipement supplmentaire
destin fournir une source de chaleur pour les vaporisateurs eau chaude rend ainsi
chaque systme complexe et coteux. Le nouveau systme combine le vaporisateur air
ailettes avec la source dair chaud dans un seul bloc. Le systme ainsi obtenu est simple,
capable dutilisation longueur danne et trs efficace sur le plan nergtique, do le
respect de lenvironnement.
Lappareil initial a t install au terminal satellite de Kofu de Tokyo Gas, o il a fait
preuve dexcellentes performances de vaporisation. Le premier appareil rendu
commercialement disponible sur le march japonais a t mis en service durant plus dun
an par Chubu Gas son terminal satellite de Hamamatsu, et les appareils ont t adopts
pour la demande de base dans un grand nombre de terminaux, y compris certains situs
dans les rgions froides.
1. INTRODUCTION
In areas of J apan where the supply of town gas through pipelines is not economically
feasible, LNG is transported by road tankers and other means from receiving terminals to
small-capacity LNG terminals, where the LNG is converted to town gas. There are
currently about 40 small-capacity LNG terminals in J apan, and more are expected to be
built in the future.
At small-capacity LNG terminals, the most common means of vaporizing LNG is to
use natural draft air fin vaporizers. These utilize ambient heat, and thus cost very little to
operate. However due to accumulation of frost on the heat exchange surface, the duration
of continuous operation is limited, making changeover vaporizers essential. Moreover in
colder regions, hot water vaporizers and accompanying hot water generation equipment
are also needed to counter drops in the gas temperature at the exit from the air fin
vaporizer. As a result, the overall vaporizer system flow becomes very complex, making
for high construction costs, and the large amount of fuel required as a heat source for hot
water vaporizers in winter also makes operation very expensive.
To overcome these drawbacks, Tokyo Gas and Tokyo Gas Engineering developed a
new low-cost, energy-efficient vaporizer, known as an HAV (Hot air draft superheater
with Air fin Vaporizer), that incorporates a hot air source into a single unit based on a
conventional air fin vaporizer.
This report introduces HAVs, including the results of test operation of the first unit at
the Tokyo Gas Kofu satellite terminal, and also reports on the operating performance of
the first commercial unit at the Chubu Gas Hamamatsu satellite terminal.
2. CONVENTIONAL LNG VAPORIZERS SYSTEM
2.1. Natural Draft Air Fin Vaporizers
Air fin LNG vaporizers that made the atmosphere as the heat source are mainly being
used in J apan for small-capacity LNG terminals, where the amount of LNG handled is
relatively small.
CONTENTS SESSIONS
Poster PO-14

PO-14.3
An example of the structure of an air fin LNG vaporizer is shown in Fig. 1. This
vaporizer has vertical heat exchanger tubes made from an aluminum alloy, with the fin
and the pipe being formed as a single unit by extrusion molding. The heat exchanger
tubes are connected to the header pipe or the bend pipe. The flow of an air fin LNG
vaporizer is shown in Fig. 2. The vaporizer consists of an evaporation part and a
superheating part. There are two types of natural draft air fin vaporizer. In one, the
evaporation part consists of parallel-connected heat exchanger tubes connected with the
header pipe, and the superheating part consists of serial heat exchanger tubes connected
with the bend pipe. In the other, both the evaporation part and the superheating part
consist of serial-connected heat exchanger tubes connected with the bend pipe.
A natural draft system is a system in which air convection occurs automatically from
top to bottom due to density change of the air cooled by the heat exchange with LNG.
This system is currently used in small-capacity LNG terminals because there is no need
for power to provide a heat source, but its continuous operation time is as short as about 4
hours. Moreover, when the air exchanges heat with the LNG, and its temperature drops,
the moisture in the atmosphere condenses, producing clouds of mist, meaning that
consideration must be given to the surrounding environment.

















Fig. 1 An example of the structure of an air fin LNG vaporizer












Fig. 2 The flow of an air fin LNG vaporizer
Plane view
Elevation view
Cross-section of a tube
Edge view
Heat exchanger tube
Header pipe Bend pipe
Heat exchanger tube
Header pipe
Bend pipe
Vaporizer Superheater
Heat exchanger tube
Bend pipe
Vaporizer Superheater
CONTENTS SESSIONS
Poster PO-14

PO-14.4
2.2. An Example of a System Configuration
The exit gas temperature of an air fin vaporizer does not exceed ambient air
temperature, and usually, because the moisture in the atmosphere freezes on the surface of
heat exchanger tubes and acts as heat resistance, exit gas temperature falls as operation
progresses.
Therefore, when exit gas temperature becomes lower than the minimum use
temperature of the piping material, the taking into account the relation between design air
temperature and design continuation operation time, either a hot water bath vaporizer is
installed alongside the air fin vaporizer, or an afterheater is installed downstream of the
air fin vaporizer.
Especially, in cold districts where the lowest temperature of a day becomes 0C or
less, either the hot water bath vaporizer is installed alongside an air fin vaporizer and used
in winter, or only the hot water bath vaporizer is installed and is used year-round.
The general example of a system configuration with a hot water bath vaporizer
installed alongside an air fin vaporizer is shown in Table 1. When supply capacity 1 t/h is
made into 100%, two air fin vaporizers of 100% capacity are installed, and it operates,
taking turns to stop for defrosting at regular intervals, in order to restrict the exit gas
temperature fall due to frosting on the heat exchanger tube surface. Moreover, the hot
water bath vaporizer of 100% capacity is installed for winter season operation. In order to
supply hot water to the hot water bath vaporizer, incidental facilities such as a hot water
boiler and a hot water pump are also installed.

Table 1 An example of system configuration
Supply capacity 1 t/h
Design pressure 0.97 MPa
Production gas
temperature
over 0C
Configuration

Air fin vap.: 1 t/h x 2 units
Hot water vap.: 1 t/h x 1 unit
Hot water boiler: 400kW x 1 unit
Hot water pump: 7.5kW x 1 unit
Flow



















Air fin
Air fin
LNG Gas
Hot water
Boiler
100%
Capacity:100%
100%
CONTENTS SESSIONS
Poster PO-14

PO-14.5
3. HOT AIR DRAFT SUPERHEATER WITH AIR FIN VAPORIZER (HAV)
3.1 HAV Outline
A hot air draft superheater with air fin vaporizer (HAV) system was newly devised
and developed. The HAV system consists of a vaporizer, superheater, and hot air draft
generator as shown in Fig. 3. After the forced-draft vaporizer makes maximum use of the
ambient atmospheric heat to vaporize the LNG (-162C in its liquid form), an auxiliary
hot air draft is produced in the superheater to boost the temperature of the gas.













3.2 Example of a Design for a New System
The changes during a day of the gas supply requirements determine the system
configuration of the HAV system. In a standard setup, two separate HAV setups are
installed, with each line having capacity equivalent to 50% of the maximum supply. Fig.4
shows the pattern of operation with two lines operated according to the supply required.
An example of how a HAV standard system could be configured is shown in Table 2. The
elevation view and plane view of the HAV system is shown in Fig. 5.
It is basically possible to operate a single line continuously for 24 hours, and even
when weather conditions are severe (ambient temperature below 5C, snow or rain) it can
be run continuously for more than 13 hours. By installing two lines, gas can be produced
continuously according to the amount of supply required.













Fig. 4 Pattern of supply and operation
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
100%
75%
50%
Time
Supply
Line A
operation
Line B
operation
[Hot air draft generator]

Air
Air
Combustor
LNG
NG
[Superheater]
[Fan]
[Vaporizer]
Fig. 3 HAV Outline
CONTENTS SESSIONS
Poster PO-14

PO-14.6
Table 2 Example of configuration of a standard HAV system
Supply capacity 1 t/h
Design pressure 0.97 MPa
Production gas
temperature
over 0C
Configuration

Vaporizer: 0.5 t/h x 2 units
Superheater: 600Nm3/h x 2 units
Hot air generator: 2 units
Flow















Bypass piping (dotted line) connects the inlet piping
from each unit to the outlet piping of the other unit.

















Fig. 5 Elevation view and plane view (1 t/h)

3.3 Features of the New Vaporizer System
(1) Low cost
Compared with systems that combine natural-draft air-fin vaporizers with hot water
vaporizers, the HAV is a simple system that makes the maximum use of ambient
atmospheric heat. Trial calculations were made for the installation of system with 1 t/h
supply capacity in a cold district. This achieves a 20% reduction in construction costs.
The design also produces a remarkable 70% reduction in operating costs, due to requiring
considerably less fuel as a heat source. Moreover, the installation space required for the
A line
B line
LNG
Gas
Capacity:50%
50%
7 .4 m
5 .5 m
4 .0 m
A line
Vaporizer
Superheater
Hot air draft generator
Fan
5 .5 m
2 .8 m
B line
CONTENTS SESSIONS
Poster PO-14

PO-14.7
vaporizer can be 25% smaller, and there is no need for space to install incidental facilities
such as hot water boilers.
(2) Use in cold regions
- Vaporizer: The fan located at the top of the vaporizer draws in large volumes of air,
curbing the accumulation of frost and the resulting reduction in performance this
causes. The vaporizer also features newly redesigned air fin tubes with large
surface areas for heat exchange.
- Superheater: To ensure that the gas absorbs the heat of the hot air draft with
minimum waste, the gas and hot air flow in opposite directions, and tubes with a
large number of circular fins are used.
- Hot air draft generator: When the ambient temperature drops, the temperature of
the hot air draft can be raised to maintain the vaporized town gas above the
minimum allowable temperature requirements for the downstream piping material.
- Defrosting: Defrosting can normally be carried out by forced ventilation using
fans, doing away with the need for sprinkler-based defrosting systems. In
mid-winter, heat from the hot air draft can be used to augment normal defrosting
measures.
- Thanks to the above features, continuous operation where output matches town
gas demand is feasible without incidental facilities such as hot water boilers.
Moreover the HAV system can be used in cold regions where the ambient
temperature drops below 0C in winter.

(3) Calorific value stability of production gas
- Startup: When one line is stopped due to a change in gas demand during today,
overheated gas from the operating line is connected to the stopped line. This setup
prevents calorific value fluctuation on starting because it purges LNG that remains
inside the vaporizer.
- Operation: The superheater structure is arranged so that flow is on the level or
descending in order to prevent fluctuation in calorific value due to retention of
fluid in the system and consequent evaporation of high calorific value components
if non-evaporated LNG enters the superheater.

(4) Mist prevention
- Problems with clouds of mist, arising in conventional air fin vaporizers from
condensation of atmospheric water vapor, are resolved in the HAV by the fan on
top of the vaporizer, which disperses the water vapor before it can condense.

(5) High reliability
- The HAV uses aluminum alloy, well known for its excellent performance and
durability at low temperatures, as the heat exchange material.
- The fan and hot air draft generator are based on general-purpose products, the
durability of which has been proven by performance. We have also established a
speedy maintenance service.

CONTENTS SESSIONS
Poster PO-14

PO-14.8
4. THE TEST OPERATION RESULT OF THE FIRST HAV
The first HAV was installed in Tokyo Gas Kofu satellite terminal (Fig. 6), and test
operation for 15 months proved its outstanding evaporation performance.
The results of testing are compared with the development goals are shown in Table 2.
The tests were carried out under severe weather conditions, such as snowfall, average
temperature 0.4C, and 90% or more average relative humidity. Despite the severe
weather conditions, the plant was successfully operated continuously for 13 hours, and
the fuel gas consumption rate became 0.2%. In addition, the temperature of the
production gas at the end of the test end was 11C, sufficiently exceeding the target value
of 0C, the test was stopped as the fuel gas rate had reached the target value. Here, fuel
gas rate is defined as the amount of fuel gas consumed by the hot air generator to produce
normal temperature gas, divided by the amount of production gas. For the HAV, with fuel
needed in order to superheat the LNG evaporated with atmospheric heat in order to
produce gas of normal temperature, the target value for fuel gas rate was set at 0.2% (1/10
of the rate for a warm water bath vaporizer).



Outline specification
Design pressure 0.97 MPa
Capacity 0.3 t/h
Vaporizer 1 unit
Superheater 1 unit
Hot air generator 1 unit




Fig. 6 HAV at Kofu satellite terminal

Table 2 Development goals and test results
Parameter Development goal Test result
Weather conditions Ambient temperature 0C
Relative humidity 90% min.
Ambient temperature 0.4C
Relative humidity 90% min.
Run length 12 hours 13 hours
Production gas temperature over 0C 11C
Fuel gas rate 0.2% 0.2%

5. OPERATING PERFORMANCE OF COMMERCIAL UNITS
The first commercial unit in J apan (Figure 7) was installed in November 2002 at the
Hamamatsu satellite terminal run by Chubu Gas at Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture.
The HAV is evaluated on the basis of actual operating data, verifying that the
performance targets have been met.
CONTENTS SESSIONS
Poster PO-14

PO-14.9
More than a year has now passed since installation, but the unit is still operating
reliably. The issue of clouds of mist produced when water vapor in the air condenses has
been resolved by fans installed at the top of the vaporizers to disperse the water vapor into
the atmosphere. The calorific value of the manufactured gas is extremely stable, and
operations such as starting up, shutting down, and changing the load are all easy to
accomplish.




Outline specification
Design pressure 0.97 MPa
Capacity 2.0 t/h
Vaporizer
1.0 t/h x 2 units
Superheater
2.0 t/h x 1 units
Hot air generator 1 unit




Fig. 7 HAV at Chubu Gas Hamamatsu satellite terminal

The operating data shown in Figure 8 is an example of energy-saving operation
implemented in December 2002, when air temperature was relatively low, but humidity
was relatively high. Apart from in mid-winter, the HAV system does not use fuel for
superheating. The vaporizer fans and the blower in the hot air draft generator are operated
instead, enabling the vaporizer to be operated in an energy-saving mode. The weather at
the time this data was recorded was rainy, (although the rain stopped in the early evening),
with an average air temperature of 6.3C, and a relative humidity of 80%. This shows
continuous operation for about 14 hours with an LNG flow of 2.0t/h. After operation, the
vaporizer outlet gas temperature had dropped to -9.7C, but the temperature of the
manufactured gas was 4.4C, with air from the blower keeping it above 0C by
superheating. This demonstrates that there is no need at all for fuel for the purposes of
superheating.

CONTENTS SESSIONS
Poster PO-14

PO-14.10












Fig. 8 Data from a commercial unit in operation

6. CLOSING COMMENTS
LNG vaporizers are important components of satellite terminals. By making
maximum use of ambient heat, the newly developed HAV system achieves a considerable
reduction in energy consumption and a corresponding reduction in environmental impact
compared with conventional systems.
Features such as low cost, compactness, the non-generation of mist, and the ability to
function well in cold regions make the HAV an ideal LNG vaporizer for small-capacity
LNG terminals.
Finally, the authors would like to record their thanks to the Chubu Gas and the staff of
its Hamamatsu satellite terminal for making available the precious operating data
resulting from the first use of the HAV system in J apan.
REFERENCES
1) Masaru Sekiguchi, Hirokazu Mori: Current Air Fin LNG Vaporizer, Piping
technology extra number, Sep. 2001, p.62-66.
2) J apan Gas Association: Recommended Practice for LNG Facilities in small
terminals, Aug. 2002, p.99-103.

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CONTENTS SESSIONS