An Interactive 5-Day Training Course
LNG Plant Process and Operations
Practical training on LNG plant process and operations
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Duration
5 Days
Price
$ 4,000
Starting From
06 Dec 2027
LNG Plant Process and Operations
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LNG Plant Process and Operations - SF-LNGPO-PEA27
| Code | Date | Time | Duration | Location | Currency | Early Bird Fee Per Person |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SF-LNGPO-PEA27 | 06 - 10 Dec 2027 | 10 AM CST | 5 Days - 4 Hours / Day |
Online |
USD |
4000 |
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LNG Plant Process and Operations
This training covers LNG plant process and operations from feed gas reception to cargo loading. It works through gas treating for cryogenic service, mercury and heavy hydrocarbon removal, liquefaction cycle configurations and refrigeration systems, cryogenic heat exchangers and rotating equipment, LNG storage and boil-off gas handling, loading systems, plant operations and efficiency, and the process safety requirements specific to cryogenic hydrocarbon facilities.
Description
An LNG plant reduces natural gas to a liquid at atmospheric pressure and around minus one hundred and sixty degrees Celsius, which reduces its volume by a factor of roughly six hundred and makes intercontinental transport possible. Achieving that requires removing every component that would freeze at cryogenic temperature, generating and managing very large refrigeration duties, operating heat exchangers with extremely close temperature approaches, and handling a liquid that boils continuously and behaves in ways that create hazards not present elsewhere in the industry.
This training covers the plant as a process. Feed gas treating is developed first, covering acid gas removal, dehydration to very low water content, mercury removal to protect aluminium exchangers, and heavy hydrocarbon removal to prevent freezing. Liquefaction is then covered through the principal cycle families, including single and dual mixed refrigerant, propane pre-cooled mixed refrigerant, cascade and nitrogen expander cycles, with their configuration, efficiency and selection drivers. Refrigerant systems, compression trains, drivers and cryogenic heat exchangers follow. Storage is covered through tank types, containment philosophy, rollover, stratification and boil-off gas management. Loading systems, plant operations, efficiency and production optimisation are then addressed, and the training closes with the process safety topics specific to LNG: cryogenic exposure, rapid phase transition, vapour cloud behaviour and containment.
Freezing components are the reason LNG feed gas treating is so demanding. Carbon dioxide freezes at cryogenic conditions and must be reduced to around fifty parts per million. Water must be removed to single-digit parts per million. Mercury attacks aluminium exchanger cores through amalgamation and has caused catastrophic exchanger failures, so it is removed to sub-nanogram levels. Heavy hydrocarbons, particularly benzene and heavier aromatics, freeze and must be removed upstream of the cold section. Each of these requirements is far tighter than pipeline specification, and each depends on a treating unit operating correctly and continuously.
Liquefaction efficiency drives plant economics. The refrigeration duty required to liquefy natural gas is large, and the power consumed by the refrigerant compressors dominates plant energy use and emissions. Cycle selection, refrigerant composition, heat exchanger approach temperatures, ambient conditions and machine efficiency all affect specific power consumption, and small percentage improvements translate into substantial annual value at plant scale.
Storage introduces phenomena that do not occur elsewhere. LNG of different densities loaded into the same tank can stratify into layers that eventually invert, releasing large volumes of vapour in a rollover event capable of overpressuring the tank. Boil-off gas is generated continuously by heat ingress and must be recovered, recompressed and used as fuel or reliquefied. Tank containment philosophy, single, double and full containment, determines what happens if the inner tank fails.
Finally, the safety profile is distinctive. LNG is not toxic and does not burn as a liquid, but a spill produces intense cold that embrittles carbon steel, generates a dense vapour cloud that travels along the ground until it warms, and can produce rapid phase transition when it contacts water. Personnel exposure to cryogenic liquid and cold vapour is an immediate hazard. These characteristics shape material selection, spill containment, detection and emergency response throughout the plant.
By the end of this training, participants will be able to:
- Describe the complete LNG process chain from feed gas reception through liquefaction and storage to loading
- Specify feed gas treating requirements including acid gas removal, dehydration, mercury removal and heavy hydrocarbon removal
- Compare liquefaction cycle configurations and evaluate them against capacity, efficiency, ambient conditions and complexity
- Explain refrigerant system design, composition management and refrigerant make-up requirements
- Describe cryogenic heat exchanger types, their approach temperatures and their failure modes
- Specify LNG storage tank containment types and explain rollover, stratification and their prevention
- Design boil-off gas handling including recovery, compression, fuel use and reliquefaction
- Analyse plant efficiency, specific power consumption and production optimisation opportunities
- Apply LNG-specific process safety requirements including cryogenic exposure, spill behaviour and containment
The training follows the gas through the plant in process order, so that each unit is understood in terms of what it must deliver to the one downstream. Treating specifications, refrigeration duties, cycle efficiencies, exchanger approach temperatures, boil-off rates and storage behaviour are worked through numerically. Liquefaction cycle configurations are compared using process flow diagrams and performance data. Storage, loading and safety topics are supported by equipment drawings and by documented LNG industry incidents, including exchanger failures and rollover events, examined for the operating or design cause.
Organisations sending participants to this training will:
- Improve LNG plant availability and production through better understanding of the process chain
- Reduce the risk of cryogenic exchanger damage from mercury, freezing components and maldistribution
- Improve energy efficiency and reduce specific power consumption and associated emissions
- Reduce boil-off losses and improve gas recovery through better boil-off management
- Strengthen process safety practice around cryogenic hazards and storage operations
- Build internal technical capability for LNG operations and project support
Participants will:
- Understand every unit in an LNG plant and its role in the chain
- Explain why each treating specification exists and what happens when it is missed
- Compare liquefaction technologies on a technical basis
- Recognise the operating conditions that threaten cryogenic equipment
- Understand LNG storage behaviour and the phenomena unique to it
- Build capability in a sector with continuing global project and operations activity
- Process and facilities engineers working in or moving into LNG
- Operations engineers, supervisors and panel operators at LNG plants
- Gas processing engineers extending into liquefaction
- Project engineers on LNG developments
- Maintenance and reliability engineers supporting cryogenic and rotating equipment
- Terminal, storage and marine operations personnel
- Process safety practitioners covering LNG facilities
Module 1 - LNG Value Chain and Plant Overview
- LNG value chain: production, liquefaction, shipping, regasification
- Plant configuration and train concept
- Typical LNG plant block flow and unit sequence
- Feed gas composition variability and its consequences
- LNG product specification: heating value, Wobbe index, nitrogen, sulphur
- Plant capacity, train size and economies of scale
- Onshore, floating and small scale LNG configurations
- Regasification terminals and their process in outline
- Key drivers of LNG plant cost and efficiency
Module 2 - Feed Gas Reception and Acid Gas Removal
- Feed gas reception, metering and inlet facilities
- Slug catching, condensate removal and inlet separation
- Acid gas removal requirements for cryogenic service
- Carbon dioxide specification and the freezing constraint
- Amine unit configuration for LNG service
- Solvent selection for deep carbon dioxide removal
- Hydrogen sulphide and sulphur species removal
- Acid gas disposal: sulphur recovery, incineration, reinjection
- Amine unit operating problems in LNG service
- Carbon dioxide slip control and monitoring
Module 3 - Dehydration, Mercury and Heavy Hydrocarbon Removal
- Water specification for cryogenic service
- Molecular sieve dehydration design and cycle operation
- Regeneration gas system and its integration
- Bed life, fouling and changeout planning
- Mercury: sources, forms and the aluminium amalgamation hazard
- Mercury removal beds, adsorbent selection and monitoring
- Mercury measurement at trace levels
- Heavy hydrocarbon removal: scrub column, adsorption and their configuration
- Benzene and aromatic freezing risk
- Nitrogen removal requirements and methods
- Consequences of specification breakthrough on the cold section
Module 4 - Liquefaction Cycles
- Refrigeration and liquefaction thermodynamic fundamentals
- Cooling curve, temperature approach and thermodynamic efficiency
- Pure refrigerant cascade cycles
- Single mixed refrigerant cycles
- Propane pre-cooled mixed refrigerant configuration
- Dual mixed refrigerant cycles
- Nitrogen expander cycles and their applications
- Cycle selection against capacity, ambient conditions, feed composition and complexity
- Specific power consumption comparison between cycles
- Ambient temperature effects and seasonal capacity variation
- Floating LNG liquefaction considerations
Module 5 - Refrigerant Systems and Compression
- Mixed refrigerant composition and its optimisation
- Refrigerant make-up, storage and composition control
- Refrigerant separation, accumulation and inventory management
- Compressor trains: configuration, staging and intercooling
- Compressor drivers: gas turbine, electric motor, steam turbine
- Driver selection, starting and helper motor arrangements
- Compressor performance, surge protection and control
- Refrigerant condensers and air or water cooling
- Compression train reliability and its production consequence
- Refrigerant system operating problems and their diagnosis
Module 6 - Cryogenic Heat Exchangers and Equipment
- Spiral wound heat exchangers: construction and operation
- Brazed aluminium plate fin exchangers: construction and limitations
- Temperature approach, thermal stress and ramp rate limits
- Flow distribution and maldistribution effects
- Mercury attack, freezing and mechanical damage mechanisms
- Cold box construction, insulation and nitrogen purging
- Cryogenic valves, piping and materials selection
- Insulation systems for cryogenic service
- Cryogenic pumps: in-tank, in-line and their operation
- Expanders and hydraulic turbines in liquefaction service
- Cryogenic equipment inspection and integrity
Module 7 - LNG Storage
- Tank containment types: single, double, full containment, membrane
- Tank construction: inner tank, outer tank, insulation, base heating
- Materials for cryogenic storage and their selection
- Tank instrumentation: level, temperature, density profiling
- Filling arrangements: top fill, bottom fill and density management
- Stratification mechanism and its detection
- Rollover: mechanism, consequence, prevention and response
- Heat ingress and boil-off rate determination
- Tank pressure control and relief provision
- Tank cooldown, commissioning and warm-up
- In-tank pump operation and maintenance
- Storage tank inspection and integrity
Module 8 - Boil-Off Gas and Fuel Systems
- Boil-off gas sources: heat ingress, flash, loading displacement, pump work
- Boil-off rate calculation and variation
- Boil-off gas compression and handling
- End flash gas recovery and nitrogen rejection
- Fuel gas system integration and demand balancing
- Reliquefaction options and their economics
- Boil-off during loading and vapour return
- Flaring of boil-off gas and its avoidance
- Nitrogen content control in LNG product
- Boil-off management during shutdown and holding
Module 9 - Loading, Shipping Interface and Product Handling
- Jetty and berth configuration
- Loading arms, their design and emergency release systems
- Loading rate, pressure and vapour return requirements
- Ship-shore link, ESD interface and safety checklists
- Ship compatibility, mooring and berthing management
- Cooldown of loading lines and arms
- Cargo measurement, custody transfer and energy determination
- LNG sampling and composition analysis
- Cargo documentation and quality certification
- Loading operations planning and scheduling
- Marine and jetty safety management
Module 10 - Plant Operations, Efficiency and Optimisation
- Normal operation, control philosophy and operating envelope
- Train start-up, cooldown and shutdown sequences
- Warm and cold restart procedures
- Turndown operation and its constraints
- Production optimisation: refrigerant composition, pressure levels, machine loading
- Ambient condition management and seasonal operation
- Specific power consumption monitoring and improvement
- Availability, reliability and turnaround planning
- Common LNG plant operating problems and their diagnosis
- Performance monitoring and benchmarking
- Emissions, flaring reduction and decarbonisation options
Module 11 - LNG Process Safety
- LNG hazards: cryogenic exposure, asphyxiation, flammability
- LNG spill behaviour, pool spreading and vaporisation
- Vapour cloud formation, dispersion and ignition
- Rapid phase transition and its conditions
- Rollover as a process safety event
- Brittle fracture of carbon steel from cryogenic exposure
- Spill containment, trenches, impoundment and drainage
- Cryogenic and low temperature detection systems
- Fire and gas detection in LNG facilities
- Firefighting media for LNG fires and their limitations
- Emergency response and evacuation planning
- LNG industry incidents and the lessons drawn from them
Upon successful completion of this training course, delegates will be awarded an official Certificate of Completion issued by the Petroleum Engineers Association (PEA), an ISO 9001:2015 certified training organization. The certificate carries 10 Credits and formally records the total learning hours completed.
Each certificate is signed by the Course Facilitator and the CEO of the Petroleum Engineers Association, and serves as verifiable proof of professional training that delegates can present to employers and professional bodies worldwide.
This course is led by an LNG process and operations specialist with more than 20 years in the oil and gas industry, built on treating, liquefying, storing and loading natural gas at cryogenic conditions.
He currently holds LNG plant operations leadership responsibility with a major operator managing liquefaction and export terminal assets, covering feed gas treating, liquefaction cycle performance and cryogenic equipment integrity — the disciplines that keep LNG plants running safely at extreme conditions. Earlier in his career he served as a process engineer on major LNG developments, leading start-up and commissioning work on liquefaction trains and storage systems on some of the industry's most technically demanding cryogenic facilities. Across two decades he has taken several LNG plants from commissioning through to stable, optimised operation.
That operating background shapes how he teaches. Delegates learn not only how LNG plants are designed to work, but how they behave in practice — where mercury and heavy hydrocarbon removal systems actually fail, why liquefaction cycles lose efficiency, what causes boil-off management issues in storage tanks, how cryogenic exchangers and equipment respond under upset conditions, and how engineering and operations teams manage LNG-specific process safety together. Every module is anchored in real plant data, operating decisions and lessons from cryogenic operations.
His subject coverage spans the full LNG value chain: feed gas treating and mercury removal, liquefaction cycle selection and refrigeration systems, cryogenic exchangers and equipment, storage tanks and boil-off management, loading systems, plant operations and efficiency, and LNG-specific process safety.
He has delivered LNG plant process and operations training for many years across the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia, working with mixed groups of engineers, operators and technical staff at every level of experience. He is an active contributor to industry forums on LNG technology and operations.
His approach is practical, discussion-led and grounded in real cryogenic plant operations — not the textbook.
Frequently Asked Questions
All course bookings made through PEA are strictly non-refundable. By registering for a course, you acknowledge and accept that all fees are payable in full and are not subject to refund under any circumstances, including changes in personal or professional commitments or partial attendance.
PEA reserves the right to make reasonable adjustments to course content, trainers, or schedules where necessary, without entitling delegates to a refund. Comprehensive details of each course — including objectives, target audience, and content — are clearly outlined before enrolment, and it is the responsibility of the delegate to ensure the course's suitability prior to booking.
For any inquiries related to cancellations or bookings, please contact our support team, who will be happy to assist you.
