Korea Gas selects Unitel for FEED work on small-scale LNG program

Unitel Technologies has been selected by Korea Gas Technology Corp. (KOGAS-Tech) to conduct the front-end engineering and design (FEED) program to commercialize a creative small-scale LNG business opportunity, officials confirmed on Friday.

Korea Gas (KOGAS) is currently the world’s largest importer of LNG.

“Our objective is to design, build and operate multiple 200-tpd LNG mini-plants that will create a virtual pipeline to supply this product for local transportation fuel and power generation applications," said Chul-Ho Lee, director of the new business technology division at KOGAS-Tech.

The KOGAS-Tech development team is headed by Dr. Hack-Eun (Tony) Kim.

“We want to optimize the refrigerant cycle and the overall thermodynamics of the system,” he said. “At the same time, we are looking for a high level of flexibility and a wide turndown capability to meet changing demand requirements. State-of-the-art automation will help reduce operating costs, but safety will always be our most critical concern.”

Unitel’s principals founded the modern pilot- and demo-plant industry in 1974. Since then, they have successfully completed hundreds of projects and given birth to several other companies and ventures around the world.

Unitel’s relationship with KOGAS is specially recognized in terms of their joint effort to demonstrate and commercialize the KOGAS single-step technology for converting natural gas into dimethyl ether (DME).

“Unitel’s primary mission is to implement process design improvements that will significantly reduce CAPEX and OPEX numbers over current industry standards,” said Dr. Ravi Randhava, president of Unitel. “We have already identified several areas that can be significantly enhanced and intend to file a number of patent applications this year."

KOGAS was incorporated by the Korean government in 1983. As the nation’s sole LNG provider, the company provides energy to the people of Korea. KOGAS currently operates four LNG terminals and a nationwide network that spans over 4,240 kilometers.

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