Stranded natural gas is sometimes liquefied and sent to other countries
that can use the gas in a transport ship. Conventional receiving terminals
use large cryogenic storage tanks to hold the liquefied natural gas (LNG)
after it has been offloaded from the ship. The present invention
eliminates the need for the conventional cryogenic storage tanks and
instead uses uncompensated salt caverns to store the product. The present
invention can use a special heat exchanger, referred to as a Bishop
Process heat exchanger, to warm the LNG prior to storage in the salt
caverns or the invention can use conventional vaporizing systems some of
which may be reinforced and strengthened to accommodate higher operating
pressures. In one embodiment, the LNG is pumped to higher pressures and
converted to dense phase natural gas prior to being transferred into the
heat exchanger and the uncompensated salt caverns.
