Liquefied natural gas plant with ethylene independent heavies recovery system

摘要

This invention relates to a process and apparatus for liquefying natural gas. In another aspect, the invention concerns a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility employing an ethylene independent heavies recovery system. In an embodiment of the present invention, a method for liquefaction of natural gas includes: cooling a portion of a natural gas feed stream to produce a cooled natural gas feed stream; combining the cooled natural gas feed stream with a compressed reflux stream to form a combined natural gas stream; separating the combined natural gas stream into a first lights stream and a first heavies stream; expanding the first lights stream to form an expanded first lights stream; and compressing the reflux stream into a compressed reflux stream.