Patent ID: 8381543

Claim:
A process for liquefying a natural gas stream in an LNG facility, said process comprising: (a) separating a first predominantly methane stream into a first lights stream and a first heavies stream in a fuel gas separator; (b) burning a first fuel gas stream comprising at least a portion of said first lights stream in a gas turbine; (c) separating a second predominantly methane stream into a second lights stream and a second heavies stream in said fuel gas separator; and (d) burning a second fuel gas stream comprising at least a portion of said second lights stream in said gas turbine, wherein the difference in Modified Wobbe Index (MWI) between said first and said second lights streams is less than the difference in MWI between said first and said second predominantly methane streams; wherein said first predominantly methane stream and said second predominantly methane stream share a first single conduit into said fuel gas separator, wherein said first lights stream and said second lights stream share a first single conduit from said fuel gas separator, and wherein said first heavies stream and said second heavies stream share a second single conduit from said fuel gas separator, wherein said first predominantly methane stream is delivered directly to said fuel gas separator before entering any chiller and said second predominantly methane stream is delivered to said fuel gas separator after passing through a chiller of a propane refrigeration cycle, a chiller of an ethylene refrigeration cycle, and an economizer of a methane refrigeration cycle, further comprising separating at least a portion of said natural gas stream in a heavies removal zone of said LNG facility, wherein said first predominantly methane stream comprises a fraction of said natural gas stream withdrawn upstream of said heavies removal zone, and wherein said second predominantly methane stream comprises a fraction of said natural gas stream withdrawn downstream of said heavies removal zone.