1DEVELOPMENT OF A THERMOACOUSTIC NATURAL GAS LIQUEFIER

AIChE shall not be responsible for statements or opinions contained in papers printed in its publications Praxair, in conjunction with the Los Alamos National Laboratory, is developing a new technology, thermoacoustic heat engines and refrigerators, for liquefaction of natural gas. This is the only technology capable of producing refrigeration power at cryogenic temperatures with no moving parts. A prototype, with a projected natural gas liquefaction capacity of 500 gallons/day, has been built and tested. The power source is a natural gas burner. Systems will be developed with liquefaction capacities up to 10,000 to 20,000 gallons per day. The technology, the development project, accomplishments and applications are discussed