The Queensland Curtis LNG Project has marked another milestone with delivery of the biggest component of its liquefied natural gas plant on Curtis Island near Gladstone.
The propane chiller unit, which is essential to the refrigeration process for the world’s first LNG plant based on coal seam gas, arrived at the QCLNG site today.
The unit weighs 2500 tonnes – as much as the shaft of the Sydney Tower – is almost as long as an Olympic swimming pool at 44 metres, is 31 metres wide and stands 29 metres, or 10 storeys.
Queensland Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Jeff Seeney joined QGC Managing Director Derek Fisher on Curtis Island today to watch the module end its 8000km voyage from manufacturing yards in Thailand.
Mr Fisher said that arrival of the module marked the safe and successful completion of an exemplary engineering and logistical feat.
“Significant milestones such as this clearly demonstrate that in the third calendar year of construction of QCLNG we remain on schedule for first LNG in 2014,” Mr Fisher said.
“At year’s end we will have received all 80 modular LNG processing packages for our first two production units, or trains.
“Successes such as today are a testament to expertise and collaboration throughout the project, which is well advanced towards being the first LNG project to source its gas from coal seams.”
The unit, which will be installed over coming weeks, will help to cool natural gas to minus 162 degrees Celsius, at which point the gas becomes a liquid and is reduced to 1/600th of its gaseous volume, making it easier to store and transport by ship.
All of the modules for the first of QGC’s two production trains and for supporting infrastructure to the main facilities have now arrived on Curtis Island or are en route.
More than 154,000 tonnes of material and equipment have been shipped to Curtis Island and more than 146,000 tonnes have been unloaded on site.
About 2000 people are working on the QCLNG Project on Curtis Island where construction of the plant’s two LNG storage tanks and jetties is under way.
View a high-res video of the module’s arrival here .
[mappress] LNG World News Staff, April 03, 2013; Image: QGC