Study on the LNG distribution to mobile power plants utilizing small-scale LNG carriers

Muhammad Arif Budiyanto; Achmad Riadi; I G N Sumanta Buana; Gita Kurnia

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04538

Study on the LNG distribution to mobile power plants utilizing small-scale LNG carriers

Heliyon. 2020 Jul 31;6(7):e04538. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04538. eCollection 2020 Jul.

Authors

Muhammad Arif Budiyanto¹, Achmad Riadi¹, I G N Sumanta Buana², Gita Kurnia³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universitas Indonesia, Kampus Baru UI Depok, Jawa Barat 16424, Indonesia.
² Department of Marine Transportation and Logistics, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Surabaya, Jawa Timur 60111, Indonesia.
³ Department of Logistics Engineering, Universitas Pertamina, Kebayoran Lama, Jakarta 12220, Indonesia.

Abstract

In recent years, the use of small-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) has grown alongside demand from industrial users of natural gas. Small-scale LNG is an alternative to the supply of natural gas to remote areas with a cost-effectiveness challenge. To address this challenge, five mobile power plants located in remote areas with limited depth of water level in western Indonesia are used here as a case study. The objective of this paper is to optimize LNG distribution using small-scale LNG carriers and carry out an economic analysis in this region. The capacitated vehicle routing problem model was used to optimize the maritime routing of a small-scale LNG supply chain. The maximization of the volume cargo with a given LNG vessel capacity set as the objective function was therefore provided with the optimum inventory routing and economic analysis of the transport of LNG. Cluster 1 serves three power plants with a total demand of 966 m³/day and a distance is 913 Nautical Miles, while cluster 2 serves two power plants with a total demand of 690 m³/day and distance of 1,483 Nautical Miles. Economic analysis of the two clusters shows that there is a minimum difference in the margin rate needed to make it worth the investment, which is 3 USD/MMBTU for cluster 1 and 4 USD/MMBTU for cluster 2. Thus, this paper concludes that the cost of LNG transportation depends on the amount of cargo demand and shipping distances.

Keywords: Energy; Energy economics; Energy sustainability; Industrial energy consumption; LNG distribution; Natural resource economics; Route optimization; Small-scale LNG carriers; Urban energy consumption.