Download - CB&I

Qatar Projects: Building the Largest LPG Tanks
in the Middle East
In Qatar, looks can be deceiving. Although this small Middle
Eastern country has a population of less than a million and
a land area of only 11,437 square kilometers, it contains the
third largest natural gas reserves (910 trillion cubic feet)
and the largest non-associated gas field in the world. In
recent years, the country has emerged as a major exporter
of liquefied natural gas (LNG), exporting more than 1 million
barrels per day of liquids in 2004. And in 2006, the country will
add one more asset to its growing oil and gas infrastructure
– the largest liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanks ever built in
the Middle East.
In March 2006 - CB&I was awarded a lump-sum turnkey contract
valued in excess of US$150 million to engineer and construct
multiple tanks for the storage of LPG and gas condensate. The
project is located in Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar.
The new tanks will provide common LPG and gas condensate
storage in Ras Laffan Industrial City which will be jointly owned
and used by multiple LPG producing entities. The additional
storage is needed to accommodate increased capacity within
Qatar to produce and process natural gas and its marketable
components.
CB&I’s work scope encompasses the engineering, procurement,
fabrication and construction of two double-wall steel
full containment LPG tanks, 14 floating roof tanks for gas
condensate storage and one caustic storage tank. CB&I also will
be responsible for the foundations, as well as piping, electrical
and instrumentation.
This latest award builds on CB&I’s previous work in Ras Laffan
Industrial City. The LPG tanks will be among the largest the
Company has built in the Middle East, a region that continues to
offer significant opportunities for natural gas-related projects.
Following the award in March 2006, CB&I will continue its
presence in Ras Laffan for most of the next three years.
CB&I team is currently working on the engineering and has
already bought most of the plate steel. Geotechnical work is
now well under way with site grading and foundations to start
soon.
The company is nearing completion of four double-wall steel
full containment LPG tanks that are being built at a nearby site
in Qatar.
Brian Goedken
Worsley Alumina: Debottlenecking and
Expanding Production
CB&I is set to complete its portion of the $300 million Worsley
Alumina DCP expansion. Worley Alumina is a mining and
processing operation, which mines bauxite in the Darling
Ranges southeast of Perth. The bauxite is then transported
on a 51km conveyor belt to be refined at a plant near Collie,
Western Australia.
The refinery originally started production in 1984 with an
output of 1 million tonnes a year. A number of upgrades over
the years, including one major expansion involving CB&I in
1997/2000, have seen the capacity of the plant steadily rise.
The current expansion will increase alumina production to 3.5
million tonnes a year through a number of debottlenecking
process changes within the refinery and the conveyor system
The CB&I portion of the Worsley refinery expansion was
broken down into nine work packages. The basis for all the
packages was the installation of new piping, structural steel
and mechanical equipment required for debottlenecking the
process. Notable work packages included:
•
•
•
•
•
•
The design and construction of a new 2,330m 3 Desilicator
tank .
Upgrade Liquor Purification – including the 16m horizontal
extension of an existing 20m 5-story building and the
installation of new disk filter with associated piping.
Modified Precipitation Process Train 1 & 2 – including the
installation of 2 new piping trains over 2 existing banks of
process tanks.
Train 3 Additional Precipitators – including the design
and construction of 3 new 4,230m 3 Precipitator tanks plus
associated agitators, platforms and piping train.
Classification Section Upgrade - including the installation
of a new cyclone cluster, 4 new platforms, piping and
mechanical equipment.
Coarse Seed Filtration – including the installation of 1
new and the relocation of 2 existing 400kW pumps plus
the installation of new suction piping while maintaining
continuous pumping.
ASIA & AUSTRALIA
Broadly speaking debottlenecking involves removing existing
process piping and equipment and replacing it with a new
more efficient process. This in itself created huge challenges,
as it required CB&I to work in and around the existing plant.
Each debottlenecking system requires a tie-in to the existing
process at two points and the installation of new piping and/
or equipment between these points. 584 tie-ins have been
completed, ranging in difficulty from the simple rerouting of
a pipe to the installation of a new weir and overflow pipe in an
existing tank. All work required an individual risk assessment
for each tie-in and a corporate safety review for any work
outside CB&I’s guidelines.
One aspect that has made this project a standout success in
Australia has been the safety performance. In excess of 450,000
labor hours have been worked by CB&I at Worsley without a
lost time injury. This is what every project team strives for, but it
is especially outstanding considering all of the risks associated
with working in a brownfield site.
To help combat the risks associated with brownfield work
CB&I implemented a behavior based observation system and
further developed its job observation program to ensure all
employee and supervision involvement. CB&I’s dedication paid
off, not only with its people going home safe every night, but
with recognition from the customer shown by CB&I receiving
Contractor of the Month four times, and numerous individual
awards being presented to employees and staff members. In
May 2006 CB&I won the “Contractor of the Project” award from
the customer.
Kim Paddick & Mark Hulbert
10
11