Integrated nitrogen removal in the production of liquefied natural gas using dedicated reinjection circuit

1. A method for producing a nitrogen-depleted LNG product, the method comprising:

(a) passing a natural gas feed stream through a main heat exchanger to cool the natural gas feed stream and liquefy all or a portion of said natural gas feed stream, thereby producing a first LNG stream;

(b) withdrawing the first LNG stream from the main heat exchanger;

(c) (i) expanding and partially vaporizing the first LNG stream and introducing said expanded and vaporized first LNG stream into a distillation column to separate the expanded and vaporized first LNG stream into vapor and liquid phases;

(c) (ii) forming a second LNG stream from bottoms liquid withdrawn from the distillation column;

(c) (iii) expanding, partially vaporizing and then separating the second LNG stream in an LNG storage tank to form a nitrogen-depleted LNG product and a recycle stream composed of nitrogen-enriched natural gas vapor;

(d) compressing the recycle stream to form a compressed recycle stream;

(e) passing the compressed recycle stream through the main heat exchanger, separately from and in parallel with the natural gas feed stream, to cool the compressed recycle stream and at least partially liquefy all or a portion thereof, thereby producing a first at least partially liquefied nitrogen-enriched natural gas stream;

(f) withdrawing the first at least partially liquefied nitrogen-enriched natural gas stream from the main heat exchanger; and

(g) expanding and partially vaporizing the first at least partially liquefied nitrogen-enriched natural gas stream to form an expanded and vaporized nitrogen-enriched natural gas stream, introducing said expanded and vaporized nitrogen-enriched natural gas stream into the distillation column to separate the expanded and vaporized nitrogen-enriched natural gas stream into vapor and liquid phases, and forming the nitrogen-rich vapor product from overhead vapor withdrawn from the distillation column;

wherein the first LNG stream is introduced into the distillation column at a location below the location at which the first at least partially liquefied nitrogen-enriched natural gas steam is introduced into the column, and wherein refrigeration for the main heat exchanger is provided by a closed loop refrigeration system, refrigerant circulated by the closed loop refrigeration system passing through and being warmed in the main heat exchanger.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first LNG stream is introduced into the bottom of the distillation column.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first at least partially liquefied nitrogen-enriched natural gas stream is introduced into the top of the distillation column.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the main heat exchanger comprises a warm end into which the natural gas feed stream and compressed recycle stream are introduced in parallel, and a cold end from which the first LNG stream and first at least partially liquefied nitrogen-enriched natural gas stream are withdrawn in parallel.

5. An apparatus for producing a nitrogen-depleted LNG product, the apparatus comprising:

a main heat exchanger having cooling passages for receiving a natural gas feed stream and passing the natural gas feed stream through the heat exchanger to cool the natural gas feed stream and liquefy all or a portion of the natural gas feed stream so as to produce a first LNG stream, and for receiving a compressed recycle stream composed of nitrogen-enriched natural gas vapor and passing the compressed recycle stream through the heat exchanger to cool and at least partially liquefy the compressed recycle stream so as to produce a first at least partially liquefied nitrogen-enriched natural gas stream, wherein said cooling passages are arranged so as to pass the compressed recycle stream through the heat exchanger separately from and in parallel with the natural gas feed stream;

a refrigeration system for supplying refrigerant to the main heat exchanger for cooling the cooling passages;

a first separation system, in fluid flow communication with the main heat exchanger, for receiving, expanding, partially vaporizing and separating the first at least partially liquefied nitrogen-enriched natural gas stream to form a nitrogen-rich vapor product, and for receiving, expanding, partially vaporizing and separating the first LNG stream to form a second LNG stream, whereby the first separation system comprises an expansion device for expanding and partially vaporizing the first at least partially liquefied nitrogen-enriched natural gas stream, an expansion device for expanding and partially vaporizing the first LNG stream, and a distillation column for separating the first at least partially liquefied nitrogen-enriched natural gas stream and the first LNG stream into vapor and liquid phases, whereby the first LNG stream is introduced into the distillation column at a location below the location at which the first at least partially liquefied nitrogen-enriched natural gas stream is introduced into the column, the nitrogen-rich vapor product being formed from overhead vapor withdrawn from the distillation column and the second LNG stream being formed from bottoms liquid withdrawn from the distillation column;

a second separation system, in fluid flow communication with the first separation system, for receiving, expanding, partially vaporizing and separating the second LNG stream to form a nitrogen-depleted LNG product and a recycle stream composed of nitrogen-enriched natural gas vapor;

a compressor, in fluid flow communication with the second separation system and the main heat exchanger, for receiving the recycle stream, compressing the recycle stream to form the compressed recycle stream, and returning the compressed recycle stream to the main heat exchanger; wherein the refrigeration system is a closed loop refrigeration system, and the second separation system comprises an expansion device and an LNG tank.