US Patent for OSMR Technology
Liquefied Natural Gas Limited informed that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has allowed a patent application related to the Company’s core LNG processing design.
The Company expects a granted Patent to be issued in several weeks to protect its primary invention being a Method and System for Production of Liquid Natural Gas. The Company’s Managing Director and CEO, Mr Maurice Brand, said “We are very pleased that the Company’s primary invention will be shortly further protected in the United States to support the Company’s Magnolia LNG Project in Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA and other
potential opportunities that have been identified in the USA.”
The Company now has Patent protection in all three key markets within which it is currently planning to build, own and operate LNG projects, namely:
• Magnolia LNG Project in Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA (export of 8 mtpa);
• Bear Head LNG Project in Richmond County, Nova Scotia, Canada (export of 8 mtpa withpotential for future expansion; and
• Australia (Gladstone Fisherman’s Landing LNG Project in Queensland, Australia export of 3 mtpa with potential for future expansion).
Company Chief Technical Officer, Paul Bridgwood, the originator of the OSMR® (Optimized Single Mixed Refrigerant) natural gas liquefaction process, said that the OSMR® technology is based on a proven simple single mixed refrigerant system, with the addition of conventional combined heat and power recovery, coupled with ammonia refrigeration technology to significantly enhance the plant performance in terms of LNG output and overall plant efficiency.
Mr Brand confirmed that “the benefits of using the OSMR® technology combined with the Company’s development and modular construction philosophy, result in an LNG plant cost substantially lower than that of competing technologies on the basis of capital cost per tonne per annum of capacity ($/tpa).
“In addition, based on an overall plant energy use efficiency, OSMR® can be up to 30% better than other technologies (i.e. 30% less carbon emissions) resulting in a material cost advantage.”