Stories of Innovation: Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)

Pierre Rullaud, LNG Architect: For the same mass, which substance will take up more space, a liquid or a gas? I’ll be right back with the answer, and more details about LNG, liquefied natural gas.

Welcome to Stories of Innovation, a series of podcasts from TotalEnergies. In each episode, our employees explain how the innovations that have changed the world of energy came to light. Want to find out more? Let's go!

Pierre Rullaud: Liquefied natural gas… When liquefied, it is 600 times more compact than in its gaseous state. So as a liquid, it can be stored and transported far more easily, and that’s how LNG can now be traded across the world. But there’s a twist: that’s not at all what they were trying to do. During the First World War, the liquefaction process was designed to extract the helium present in natural gas to inflate military dirigible balloons. In 1941, a liquefaction plant was built in Cleveland, in the United States. The gas was liquefied to store it until the winter when it would be needed. Three years later, however, one of the tanks ruptured, causing an accident that discouraged any further LNG projects for some years. It was not until 1955 that development was relaunched by a small team. The gas was liquefied in the United States and then transported by LNG carrier to the United Kingdom for regasification. And, today, LNG is a pillar of TotalEnergies’ energy transition strategy.

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