Russia's Gazprom builds pilot LNG plant using own Gazprom MR technology

MOSCOW. May 31 (Interfax) - Gazprom has built a pilot plant to produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) using its own Gazprom MR (GMR) technology, the Russian gas giant's flagship research center, VNIIGAZ reported.

"A number of important research and development projects were carried out in 2022 that make it possible to increase PJSC Gazprom's technological independence. A pilot plant to produce LNG using the domestic technology Gazprom MR was built at the trial facility," Gazprom VNIIGAZ LLC said in a report.

Gazprom deputy CEO Oleg Aksyutin said earlier in the company's in-house magazine that this project "opens up possibilities for the implementation of Gazprom LNG projects based on its own technology."

The process was developed at Gazprom VNIIGAZ and Gazprom secured the patent for the technology in 2014.

Distinguishing features of the technology is preliminary cooling and liquefaction of gas using a multicomponent cooling agent containing primarily light hydrocarbons; supercooling through a nitrogen gas circuit; and balanced distribution of compressor equipment capacity with the possibility of using generic gas turbine drives.

"The advantages are that the technology is aimed at medium- and large-scale LNG production, and can work in various outside temperatures with maximum energy efficiency. The more energy efficient we are, the more competitive we will be in LNG production," Gazprom VNIIGAZ deputy CEO for development, Leonty Eder said on TV channel Rossiya24.

GMR is an enhanced process worth a mixed cooling agent that has low per-unit energy costs comparable to the most cost effective cycles in the world. The GMR process was developed, optimized and is well suited for liquefying natural gas on a large scale. All of the elements of the process use domestic equipment.