BASF Secures First Floating LNG Project for Gas Treatment Technology

Malaysian oil and gas company PETRONAS's (PFLNG DUA) latest Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) project has selected BASF's OASE® purple solvent for its Acid Gas Removal Unit operation. This marks the world's first FLNG reference for BASF's OASE Gas Treating technology. Together with Japanese engineering partner JGC Corporation, PFLNG DUA was successfully commissioned in February 2021 and completed its Performance Test Campaign in May 2021. The floating LNG facility, designed to extract natural gas from deep-water gas reservoirs at depths of up to 1,500 metres, opens a new supply source for cleaner energy.   OASE purple is an amine-based solution used for removing acid gases such as carbon dioxide (CO₂) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S) from natural gas. Acid gas removal is necessary to prepare the gas for liquefaction and subsequent pipeline transportation. BASF's highly efficient and environmentally friendly technology offers customers flexibility and low capital expenditure (CAPEX). Additionally, the process's low energy demand, combined with the solvent's non-corrosive nature, keeps operating and maintenance costs (OPEX) low. The process also delivers high gas purity and product gas recovery while minimising solvent losses. Andreas Northemann, head of BASF's Gas Treating Business Unit, said: "We are proud to have our first FLNG reference, which is the result of years of research and operates at 100% capacity. We applied our onshore LNG expertise to provide a highly reliable, low-maintenance design that meets our customers' challenging offshore specifications and requirements. We performed motion studies and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations."