LNG Process

Liquefied natural gas, or LNG, is the liquid form of natural gas.

It is a clear, colourless, odourless, clean burning fuel. It is taken out of the ground as natural gas, and becomes a liquid when it is cooled to -162 degrees Celsius.

The cooling process reduces the volume of natural gas by more than 600 times – which makes it easier and safer to store and transport.

The LNG Process

LNG arrives at Saint John LNG’s jetty in specially designed double hulled ships.

There are four unloading arms to transfer LNG from the ship – two arms for offloading liquid, one arm for vapour and one dual purpose vapour or liquid arm. The arms provide a flexible connection to the LNG tankers to accommodate the wide range of tidal movements in the Bay of Fundy, as each ship goes through at least one tide cycle during offloading.

After the unloading arms are securely connected, the ship begins pumping LNG through the arms, into the piping system at the terminal, leading to one of three large LNG storage tanks. Depending on the size of the ship, the entire unloading process takes approximately 24-36 hours.

The LNG is stored in one of three LNG storage tanks that are insulated to keep the LNG cold and contained until it is regasified.

Each tank is capable of holding
3.3 billion cubic feet (BCF) of natural gas.

The tanks consist of an inner shell of 9% nickel steel, an inner layer of insulation and an external outer shell of concrete. The roof is made of reinforced concrete with a carbon steel liner.

Through a process called regasification, the LNG is warmed in a highly controlled environment until it returns to its original gaseous state as natural gas.

LNG is pumped from the storage tanks to the process area and is regasified and sent into the pipeline to be transported through underground pipelines and distributed to customers who use it for cooking, home heating, generating electrical power and many other everyday uses.