Gas liquifaction unit of minimum dimensions

[Timothy S.]

TL;DR

What type of gas liquifaction units has the least dimensions and mass?

What type of operated gas liquifaction units has (things being equal) the least dimensions, mass and is easiest to transport?

Thank you

 

[berkeman]

What kind of volume of gas do you need to produce with this installation? What is the application?

https://www.rtgastreat.com/natural-gas-liquefaction-skid-product/

 

[Flyboy]

Also, what gas(es) are you looking to liquify? Because something like propane is going to have very different requirements than, say, methane.

 

[Timothy S.]

Also, what gas(es) are you looking to liquify? Because something like propane is going to have very different requirements than, say, methane.

I am speaking of methane

 

[Timothy S.]

What kind of volume of gas do you need to produce with this installation? What is the application?

View attachment 358912
https://www.rtgastreat.com/natural-gas-liquefaction-skid-product/

My theoretical installation needs to produce ~5 kg of liquid methane per second to rapidly fill a large fuel tank

 

[Flyboy]

That’s… a lot.

You’re talking industrial scale for 5kg/s flow rate.

 

[phyzguy]

So 5kg/s is 432 tons per day (TPD). This link shows a 280 TPD plant that was for sale. It doesn't say what it cost, but I suspect many millions of $

 

[MontufarServidone]

Turboexpander-based liquefaction units generally offer the least dimensions and mass for their capacity, making them compact and relatively easier to transport, especially at small to mid-scale. For ultra-portable systems, Joule-Thomson (JT) coolers and mixed-refrigerant systems are also contenders due to their simplicity and compact design, though with lower efficiency.