- SHI received a Special Award for natural gas liquefaction technology with enhanced safety and efficiency.

Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) announced on April 1 that its natural gas liquefaction system, `SENSE LNG`, received a Special Award at OTC (Offshore Technology Conference) Asia 2026, held on March 31 (local time) at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in Malaysia.

OTC Asia, held biennially since 2014, is an international offshore technology conference that recognizes individuals and companies for their contributions to innovation and leadership in the offshore technology sector.

Natural gas liquefaction systems are core technologies that enable large-scale storage and transportation by liquefying LNG at minus 163°C, reducing its volume to approximately 1/600 of its original size. The market has traditionally been dominated by a few specialized companies in Europe and the United States, including Royal Dutch Shell, Conoco Phillips, and Air Products.

In response, SHI successfully developed its proprietary natural gas liquefaction system, `SENSE`, in 2017 through continuous research and development. The company has since enhanced its performance and validated its technology through more than 1,000 hours of testing, laying the foundation for entry into the global market.

The award-winning `SENSE LNG` features a gas expansion process that uses only single-component refrigerants—nitrogen and methane—and operates entirely in the gaseous phase, improving operational convenience and safety.

In addition, the system integrates the separation process, which removes unnecessary components during liquefaction, with the liquefaction process itself. This simplifies equipment configuration and improves energy efficiency compared to other gas expansion processes.

Samsung Heavy Industries is currently constructing FLNG projects, including ZLNG in Malaysia and Cedar in Canada, and has already launched the Coral FLNG in Mozambique. The company is also on the verge of securing two additional FLNG orders, including a main contract for Coral FLNG and a newbuild contract for Delfin FLNG in the United States, maintaining a dominant competitive position in the FLNG market.

“We plan to maintain a decisive competitive advantage in the FLNG sector, where we already hold a global No. 1 position, by leveraging SENSE LNG,” stated Young-kyu Ahn, Chief Technology Officer (VP) of Samsung Heavy Industries. “We will also expand its application to small-scale onshore LNG production facilities, such as LNG bunkering terminals, to further increase our share in the global LNG value chain market.”