• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.33-44
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• 2012

In this study, the optimal operating conditions for the dual mixed refrigerant(DMR) cycle were determined by considering the power efficiency. The DMR cycle consists of compressors, heat exchangers, seawater coolers, valves, phase separators, tees, and common headers, and the operating conditions include the equipment's flow rate, pressure, temperature, and refrigerant composition per flow. First, a mathematical model of the DMR cycle was formulated in this study by referring to the results of a past study that formulated a mathematical model of the single mixed refrigerant(SMR) cycle, which consists of compressors, heat exchangers, seawater coolers, and valves, and by considering as well the tees, phase separators, and common headers. Finally, in this study, the optimal operating conditions from the formulated mathematical model was obtained using a hybrid optimization method that consists of the genetic algorithm(GA) and sequential quadratic programming(SQP). Moreover, the required power at the obtained conditions was decreased by 1.4% compared with the corresponding value from the past relevant study of Venkatarathnam.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.68-78
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• 2012

A layout of an LNG FPSO should be elaborately determined as compared with that of an onshore plant because many topside process systems are installed on the limited area; the deck of the LNG FPSO. Especially, the layout should be made as multi-deck, not single-deck and have a minimum area. In this study, a multi-floor layout for the liquefaction process, the dual mixed refrigerant(DMR) cycle, of LNG FPSO was determined by using the optimization technique. For this, an optimization problem for the multi-floor layout was mathematically formulated. The problem consists of 589 design variables representing the positions of topside process systems, 125 equality constraints and 2,315 inequality constraints representing limitations on the layout of them, and an objective function representing the total layout cost. To solve the problem, a hybrid optimization method that consists of the genetic algorithm(GA) and sequential quadratic programming(SQP) was used in this study. As a result, we can obtain a multi-floor layout for the liquefaction process of the LNG FPSO which satisfies all constraints related to limitations on the layout.