| abstract |
A method for cooling natural gas with a refrigerant, one non-limiting embodiment which includes: (A) compressing and cooling the refrigerant to a first pressure to form a compressed refrigerant; (B) splitting the compressed refrigerant into a first stream and a second stream both at the first pressure, wherein the second stream comprises more of the compressed refrigerant than the first stream; (C) cooling the first stream to form a cooled first stream; (D) expanding the cooled first stream to a first expansion pressure to form an expanded first stream; (E) compressing the second stream to a second pressure higher than the first pressure, forming a higher pressure second stream; (F) cooling the higher pressure second stream to form a cooled second stream; (G) expanding the cooled second stream to a second expansion pressure to form an expanded second stream; and, (H) Cooling the natural gas with the expanded first stream and expanded second stream, forming a cooled natural gas stream. |