With the help of SPX, one of newest LNG (liquid natural gas) terminal projects is relying on Mother Nature to provide cooling for its gas production process.
Located in Freeport, Texas, USA (70 miles south of Houston on Quintana Island), the LNG terminal is equipped with an air tower developed by SPX Cooling Technologies that features 12 side-mounted, 10-meter fiberglass fans.
The Power of Natural Heat
The tower uses naturally occurring warm air to heat water that circulates through a series of heat exchangers, and helps convert the LNG from liquid into a gas.
Before this technology was available, U.S. LNG facility operators had to use the natural gas they were storing and transporting as the heat source to reconvert LNG from its liquid form to gas.
The cold-water return from the LNG heat exchangers is then recirculated back to the heating tower to start the process again. The fans themselves project cold air toward the beach (in hot weather this will be a form of outside air conditioning).