Unlocking sour power

The ink has dried on the landmark joint venture contract between ADNOC and ConocoPhillips, and this year will see battle really commence for the major EPC and technology contracts to bring the region’s most ambitious, and technically challenging sour gas field on stream. With billions of dollars worth of business up for grabs, Abu Dhabi’s natural gas projects, including the broader Integrated Gas Development (IGD) project has made the Emirate the hottest ticket for upstream firms in the Middle East. Indeed, as the sun sets on the largest of Qatar’s colossal gas undertakings, so it rises over Abu Dhabi’s.

Chief amongst these developments is the upcoming Shah Field development plan. With gas so rich in H2S and CO2, the field was once deemed both too difficult and too costly to ever be a viable energy project, especially in a land awash with oil. However, as the economic development of the UAE has outstripped all but the most optimistic of predictions, the pressing need to fuel that growth has become the prime motivator for tackling the challenges head-on. Simply put, the gas locked in the sour Shah and Bab Fields is the key to unlocking Abu Dhabi’s economic vision.

However, the field comes with many challenges, chief amongst them the issue of safety, or more broadly, HSE when dealing with H2S. Equally pressing are the technical issues that come with recovering and processing gas so corrosive.

Tackling these issues head on is the region’s leading technical conference targeted right at addressing those core challenges.

This year’s Sour Oil & Gas Advanced Technology conference and exhibition kicks off on March 28th and runs through April 1st. Given the timely nature of such a dominant issue the event has been inundated with interest from the world’s leading innovators of sour hydrocarbons and sulphur handling says conference director, Nick Coles. “The interest in this year’s SOGAT event is evident from the fact that we received over 50 offers of papers from which the Advisory Committee have selected the programmes for the 6th International SOGAT Conference and the 4th International CO2 Forum.”

Additionally, there will be four workshops covering Amine Treating, Acid Gas Injection, Sulphur Recovery, Processing & Handling and the critical issues surrounding Contingency Planning for Major H2S Emergencies.

“To date we have 23 exhibitors coming to Abu Dhabi from all corners of the globe. The workshops, conference and exhibition elements combined will make this year’s SOGAT the biggest yet,” reveals Coles.

The Contingency Planning workshop will be led by David Jackson of Scott Health & Safety’s regional headquarters, based in Abu Dhabi.

“I’m very excited about SOGAT because it is an opportunity for us to meet face to face with the guys who will be working right on the edge and engaging with upstream sour gas projects. It’s an area of safety that is so critical to get right because quite simply if you don’t, people die,.” says Jackson.

The words may be strong, but not without warrant. Although relatively few in number, deaths in recent years that have hit the oil and gas industry across the Middle East, with the exception of helicopter transport disasters, have nearly all been linked to H2S safety issues.

H2S is particularly dangerous to work around, because even a small leak can prove fatal. When inhaled, if the concentration is sufficient, then that’s essentially game over. “At Scott Health & Safety we place education, training and re-education at the top of our priority list for the region, because in many instances you have to ask why? We aren’t talking about rookies; these are often people who have been working with sour gas for decades. Is it complacency? If it is it must be addressed because with H2S there are no second chances. You can even have all the best equipment in the world in place, but without adequate and regular training there will be accidents,” says Jackson.

Scott has worked closely with its industry partners to ensure its units are able to handle H2S conditions. “As manufacturers we have to be attuned to what an H2S rich environment demands of equipment. The gas is corrosive, as well as being quite a sticky gas, so we have to make sure the composites which we manufacture our units out of do not corrode under H2S exposure. Maintaining that equipment after it has been used in a hazardous environment is critical too, and that’s an issue we cover extensively in training.”

Jackson is confident the strong project pipeline coming through Abu Dhabi, as well as ongoing work and contract awards from Saudi Arabia will see the oil and gas service companies reap a better year in the region after a painful contraction in 2009.

“I think that a lot of the storms that hit the industry in the last year have been painful, but also delivered some important lessons that have been learnt from. I would imagine that a lot of the spending that was held off in 2009 will come back on in 2010. Also, a lot of the smaller firms which sprang up to capitalise on the booming market have probably gone now and it’s the established players who are around and ready to serve the industry again.”

SOGAT 2010

Event: Sour Oil and Gas Advanced Technology
Location: Hilton Hotel, Abu Dhabi (Corniche)
Workshops: 28th – 29th March
Conferences: 30th March – 1st April
Web: www.sogat.org

Top Picks – March 30th

WASIT GAS PLANT:

New sour gas developments in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Aramco has identified the development of Arabiyah and Hasbah non-associated gas fields as the most economic alternative to meet the additional sales gas demand required from 2014 onward. This new Wasit Gas Plant (WGP) project will provide grass roots facilities for gas sweetening, dehydration, acid gas enrichment, sulphur recovery, sulphur handling and storage, sales gas delivery, electrical and non electrical utilities, and industrial support facilities to process 2 500 MMSCFD of non-associated sour gas.

Processing Arabiyah and Hasbah gas is expected to produce 1 700 MMSCFD of sales gas and 4 200 MTD of sulphur. This paper will present different process options considered during preliminary process selection phase and discuss the most economical process configuration selected with emphasis on sulphur plant recovery efficiency optimization.

Presented by: Ismail A. Alami, Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia

LESSONS LEARNED DURING COMMISSIONING AND STARTUP OF AGR & SRU IN QG II TRAINS 4 & 5

During 2009 Qatargas started up the two largest LNG trains in the world, each having a capacity of 7.8 MTPA. This paper will provide an overview of the start-up experience and key lessons learned such as modifying the degreasing procedure for cleaning the AGR, AGE, and Selexol solvent systems, modifying the tube bundles of the AGR & AGE regenerator overhead condensers, change in trim air purge’s flow logic to process air nozzle in Claus burner to avoid sulphur fire, increasing the recycle gas flow to the Claus tail gas line to prevent overheating the Claus tail gas burner nozzle, change in ignition logic for pilot burners in SRU’s Incinerator to enable successful firing of the pilots and modification of the sulphur trap sight port vents to prevent H2S leakage.

Presented by: Rajesh Shetty, Qatargas, Qatar

SHAH SULPHUR PIPELINE DEVELOPMENT: Challenges and choices

The Shah Gas Development Project faces the challenge of transporting 10 000 tonnes of elemental sulphur per day from the Main Plant in the large dunes 140 km southeast of Abu Dhabi City to a new sulphur terminal in Ruwais. Presented in this paper is the unique combination of engineering design, material selection and construction methodology that will lead to a successful Shah liquid sulphur transportation project using a hot water jacketed pipeline.

Presented by: Nick Lenstra, WorleyParsons, Canada and, Ken Lunsford, Abu Dhabi Gas Development Co. UAE