Natural gas liquefaction plants with cooling capacities of approximately 100 kW are facilitating the development of a distributed LNG infrastructure. To be economically viable, liquefiers of this scale must be able to operate on a variety of feed gases while offering relatively low capital costs, short delivery time, and good performance. This paper opens with a discussion of a natural gas liquefier design focusing on the refrigeration system. Linde, cascade, mixed refrigerant, and modified‐Brayton cycle refrigeration systems are then discussed in context of the overall plant design. Next, a detailed comparison of the modified‐Brayton and mixed refrigerant cycles is made including cycle selection’s impact on main system components like the recuperative heat exchanger and compressors. In most cases, a reverse‐Brayton or a mixed refrigerant cycle refrigerator is the best‐suited available technology for local liquefaction. The mixed refrigerant cycle liquefier offers the potential of better real performance ...