FIELD: gas industry.
SUBSTANCE: invention relates to systems and methods to create and store a liquid phase mixture of natural gas absorbed in light-hydrocarbon solvents under temperatures and pressures that facilitate improved volumetric ratios of stored natural gas as compared to CNG and PLNG at same temperatures and pressures of less than 80° to about -120 °F (-62.2 °C to -84.4 °C) and from about 300 psig to about 900 psig (2.07-6.2 MPa, manometric). Preferred solvents include ethane, propane and butane, and natural gas liquid (NGL) and liquid pressurised gas (LPG) solvents.
EFFECT: systems and methods for receiving (11, 13) raw production or semi-conditioned natural gas, conditioning gas, producing (14) a liquid phase mixture of natural gas absorbed in a light-hydrocarbon solvent, and transporting (16) mixture to a market where pipeline quality gas or fractionated products are delivered in a manner utilising less energy than CNG, PLNG or LNG systems with better cargo-mass to containment-mass ratio for natural gas component than CNG systems.
48 cl, 25 dwg, 3 tbl
