The Conoco Phillips Optimized Cascade ^SM Process incorporates a "gas plant" approach to the facility design. Although in full compliance with NFPA-59A and designed for an operating life in excess of 20 years, a Conoco Phillips Optimized Cascade ^SM Process plant is noteworthy for its simple and straightforward design.

Design efforts target cost-reducing and performance-enhancing improvements to the process. These include reducing the number of vessels and exchangers, balancing power between refrigerant cycles, optimizing compressor staging, and eliminating the need for fuel gas compression. One feature of the Conoco Phillips Optimized Cascade ^SM Process is that the brazed aluminum plate-fin heat exchangers and gas turbine drivers are available from a number of suppliers. This allows competitive forces to help keep the costs of major equipment items low.

Design efforts also focus on minimizing plot space to reduce overall development costs. Attention has been paid to reducing the costs associated with utilities; including gas conditioning, liquefaction, cooling, storage, and loading.

In all plant designs, value improvement practices can be applied to ensure costs are minimized. These practices include design-to-capacity, formal value engineering sessions, and constructability reviews. ConocoPhillips brings its experience as an operator to assist in development efforts, such as process hazards analyses and operability reviews.                                                                                           

ConocoPhillips-Bechtel collaboration demonstrates an "all-in" cost for Atlantic LNG trains 1, 2, and 3 is well below $200/mtpa. The Atlantic facilities exceeded both the guarentee as well as nameplate production.                                                       Click to see a larger graph

Employees watch over the process of LNG being loaded onto a carrier.