Production • Processing • Handling
First floating liquefied natural gas project
From the world’s first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project, to improved Brazilian output and successful Indonesian pilots, there is major investment in new production technology around the world. Eugene McCarthy reports.
Desde el primer proyecto de plataforma flotante de gas natural licuado (FLNG), a la mejora de la producción brasileña y los exitosos pilotos indonesios, hay una mayor inversión en nuevas tecnologías de producción en todo el mundo, informa Eugene McCarthy.
Vom ersten FLNG-Projekt (floating liquefied natural gas) der Welt über besseren Ertrag in Brasilien bis hin zu erfolgreichen Pilotprojekten in Indonesien werden auf der ganzen Welt große Investitionen in neue Produktionstechnologien getätigt. Eugene McCarthy berichtet.
I
n what the company describes as an important step, Shell has laid the keel for Prelude FLNG, the world’s first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project. When complete, Prelude is expected to be the largest offshore floating facility ever built. Te hull will now be assembled in the dry dock, before the turret and the topsides are fitted at Samsung Heavy Industries’ Geoje shipyard in South Korea. “Tis is a key milestone in Prelude’s
story,” said Rob Kretzers, Shell executive vice president projects. “Innovative thinking and leading edge technology, as well as hard work from those at Shell and our partners, have helped us reach this significant point in construction. Prelude’s size and scale is unprecedented and I look forward to seeing this enormous structure take shape. Shell is pioneering FLNG which has the potential to revolutionise the way natural gas resources are developed”. FLNG will allow Shell to produce natural gas at sea, turn it into liquefied natural gas and then transfer it directly
to the ships that will transport it to customers. It will open up new opportunities for countries looking to develop their gas resources and bring more natural gas to market. Large steel sections known as blocks that will form the hull are being manufactured in the Geoje shipyard, with more than 1600 already complete. One section can be the size of a large house. Te 93-metre high turret mooring system is under construction in Dubai and will be transported to Geoje in five parts. Te turret will run vertically through one end of the facility and will be anchored to the seabed by four groups of mooring lines. It will allow the facility to rotate with the direction of the wind. Once complete, the 600,000 tonnes facility will be almost half a kilometre in length (Fig. 1). It will be moored and hooked up to the undersea infrastructure, around 475 km north-east of Broome, Western Australia. Despite its huge dimensions, the facility is only one-quarter the size of an
Fig. 1. Once complete, the 600,000 tonne Prelude FLNG facility will be almost half a kilometre in length.
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