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18 The GreaTer GorGon fields off The coasT of ausTralia conTain enouGh Gas To supply a ciTy of one million people for 800 years. LNG cooLiNG experts As a market leader in industrial air cooling, <strong>GEA</strong> Heat Exchangers plays a major role in the LNG sector, supplying air coolers to pipelines and liquefaction plants around the world. For example, in the US the BG/Trunkline LNG plant in Lake Charles, Louisiana showcases how <strong>GEA</strong> cooling technology can be applied in the transportation and regasification of LNG. Because these coolers use ambient air temperatures to regasify the liquid gas, they help to reduce costs as well as the environmental impact.
om 1918 until the 1960s the ship ss Gorgon and its replacement, the mV Gorgon, carried passengers and cargo between singapore and perth in australia. at the time these vessels played an important role in the development of australia’s north-west coast. Today their name is linked to a group of subterranean natural gas fields that will help fuel the economy of the whole country for the next 40 years. developing the gas fields, including building the associated infrastructure and a liquid natural gas (lnG) plant, is known as the Gorgon project. and, just like its mythological namesake, it’s a monster. not only is this the largest resources project in australia’s history, it’s also the biggest single investment of its kind in the world. The name Gorgon comes from the Greek word ‘gorgos’, meaning ‘terrible’ or ‘dreadful’. in Greek mythology the Gorgons were three terrifying sisters, with poisonous snakes for hair, who turned anyone who met their gaze into stone. over the centuries people carved Gorgon images on buildings and objects as a way of warding off evil. considering the potential perils of sailing on the high seas, this is probably how the ss Gorgon got its name. as if to continue this theme of repelling threats, the ship’s crew even named a potentially hazardous reef off australia’s coast the ‘Gorgon patch’. it’s actually from this reef that the Gorgon project gets its name. The Gorgon gas field was discovered in 1981 and further exploration revealed ten more fields. collectively known as the Greater Gorgon area, these 11 fields contain some 40 trillion cubic feet of gas – enough to supply energy to a city populated by one million people for 800 years. The pipelines linking the gas fields to Barrow island will be installed at between 1,000 and 1,400 meters below sea level. at these depths they will be exposed to freezing temperatures, resulting in condensation in the pipes. salt water and corrosion also prevent pipelines from running smoothly. in these circumstances it’s usual to inject mono-ethylene glycol (meG) into the pipes. as Joint venture The Gorgon project is a joint venture involving the australian subsidiaries of six major energy companies. Together they are investing eur 30 billion. from 2014 the project is expected to process 15 million tonnes of lnG a year for export. it will also supply 300 terajoules of domestic gas a day to Western australia and create thousands of jobs. well as being an antifreeze meG also absorbs salt water and corrosive particles. however, as the meG absorbs these damaging substances, its quality deteriorates. Unwanted substances Gea mechanical equipment is supplying the answer to this problem in the shape of three direct-drive Wsd 200 separators. The contract was awarded by aker solutions, the company responsible for gas processing lines for the Gorgon project. The machines, due to be commissioned at the end of 2012, will effectively remove unwanted substances located 130 kilometers off australia’s northwest coast, the Greater Gorgon fields lie on a continental shelf at depths ranging from 200 to 1,400 meters. The gas will be piped to a processing factory on Barrow island, the nearest landmass, situated 70 kilometers from the mainland. here it will be cooled into a liquid state before being pumped to a four-kilometer-long loading jetty. from there giant tankers will transport the lnG to international markets. Gas for the domestic market will be piped direct to the mainland. from the meG, such as rust particles and salt crystals. as an added precaution, the separators are tightly sealed and nitrogen purged to prevent the meG from coming into contact with oxygen, while the super duplex steel centrifuge bowls are corrosionresistant. The separators, which are of the space-saving direct-drive design, are supplied in a plug-and-play style complete unit. a further separator will be installed to process the meG for the neighboring Jansz field. according to the website of one of the energy joint venture partners, the global net impact of using Gorgon lnG “will result in about 45 million tonnes less greenhouse gas emissions, when comparing against coal”. The equivalent would be reducing the number of vehicles on australia’s roads by two thirds. The Gorgon joint venture is keeping its own house in order by capturing co 2 and storing it underground. This will reduce the project’s co 2 emissions by up to 40 per cent. in addition, a strict quarantine regime has been established to protect Barrow island’s class a nature reserve status. as the cleanest burning fossil fuel natural gas balances the need for energy with environmental considerations. The international energy agency predicts that, by 2030, global demand for natural gas will have grown by more than 67 per cent. But in asia-pacific that figure could be as high as 150 per cent. The Gorgon project is in a prime location for meeting the needs of its neighbors. it would seem that, from shipping to gas resources, the name Gorgon will forever be linked with australia’s economic success rather than snake-haired monsters. GENERATE MAGAZINE ISSUE 15 19
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