Mechanical engineering group EnerMech has been awarded multi-million dollar contracts for the air drying and nitrogen purging of all six gas storage tanks at Queensland’s Curtis Island LNG developments in Australia.
Three LNG process plants are currently under construction, with Train 1 commissioning phases now complete at one of the plants and well underway at the other two.
The three plants, located off the coast of Gladstone on Curtis Island, are part of AUD$ 70 billion upstream and downstream facilities projects which will provide 8% of the world’s global LNG production and annually produce 24.5 million metric tons of LNG converted from coal seam gas.
EnerMech has been engaged by Bechtel to provide pre-engineering, supervision, labour and equipment for the air drying and nitrogen purging of the LNG storage tanks on the three projects, namely Queensland Curtis LNG, Australia Pacific LNG and GLNG.
Tank capacities range between 140,000 m3 and 160,000 m3 of LNG – which is stored at -161degrees Celsius – and is roughly the equivalent volume of 56 Olympic-size swimming pools per tank.
In addition to the air drying and nitrogen purging, EnerMech has now been engaged by Bechtel to undertake pre-commissioning work across the three Curtis Island projects, with services including lube oil flushing, chemical cleaning, nitrogen purging and pressure testing, high pressure water jetting, painting and blasting, rope access, valve testing and repair, and blowing and drying.
EnerMech Australia’s general manager, Niall Conlon, hailed the contract wins as a significant milestone in strengthening the company’s reputation in Australia and providing an entry for the potential of EnerMech to execute similar scopes globally.
He said: “EnerMech’s credentials for working on large-scale LNG projects in Australia is well established and we hope to replicate this success on other global LNG projects which are under construction.
“Our long-standing reputation in pipeline and process pre-commissioning work was a strong factor in initially engaging with Bechtel and winning the contract for the first two tanks, which led on to successfully tendering for the other contracts.
“Having local expertise available, together with a modern equipment fleet, was a strong advantage and our technical know-how in piston flow processes to achieve less than 5% oxygen content in the tank post-purging was key to securing the work.
“It is EnerMech’s unique ability to provide a one-stop-shop for multiple pre-commissioning services, and as a single entity we can source multiple projects, leading to time and cost savings, together with increased reliability of service delivery.”
EnerMech has Australia’s largest fleet of nitrogen equipment, including both liquid and membrane technology, which provides flexibility for all types of nitrogen purging and pressure testing work, regardless of the remoteness of the location.
EnerMech chief executive officer, Doug Duguid, said: “The Australian LNG market is a major focus as we grow our international footprint and the significant investment of $AUD 35 million we have made in the last three years in facilities, manpower and equipment, gives us a competitive advantage over other providers.”
UK-headquartered EnerMech employs approximately 525 staff in Australia, operating from seven bases located in Brisbane, Chinchilla, Gladstone, Darwin, Melbourne, Perth and Sale.