air tower technology

Typical LNG regasification facilities utilize boil-off gas (a portion of the LNG) to fire heaters in order to regasify the remaining LNG, thus creating nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. NOx is a compound that has been associated with air pollution. Freeport LNG uses a different, patented, system that is designed to draw heat from the air to regasify the LNG. This process involves the use of towers which are similar to cooling towers that are commonly used in many industries. During summers (and much of the spring and fall) along the Texas Gulf Coast, large amounts of heat can be taken from the air with the proper equipment. Freeport LNG designed a tower that utilizes this ambient air temperature. This technology allows Freeport LNG to operate its plant within the Houston-Galveston non-attainment area since the towers don’t emit NOx at all. During cooler weather, when there’s not enough heat in the air, we convert to heaters similar to other LNG terminals. While it will vary from year-to-year, we expect that the warming tower can be used for up to eight months of a year. In summer, when ozone and NOx levels typically rise in the Houston-Galveston airshed, Freeport LNG’s warming towers won’t contribute to this rise.