Compressed air solutions help convert CSG into LNG

Compressed air solutions specialist Sullair Australia has secured a landmark contract to provide 23 compressor packages - including ancillary equipment - for Australian coal seam gas producer QGC. The contract involves the staged delivery of compressed air and nitrogen solutions between November 2012 and September 2013 and forms an integral part of QGC’s Queensland Curtis Liquefied Natural Gas (QCLNG) Project.

QGC is focused on developing its reserves of coal seam gas into more carbon-efficient liquefied natural gas, for both domestic and international supply. The company’s QCLNG Project is one of Australia’s largest current capital infrastructure projects and one that will generate significant economic benefits for Queensland and Australia. The project scope involves expanding QGC’s coal seam gas production from the Surat and Bowen basins in Queensland, the construction of a 540 km, one-metre-diameter natural gas pipeline network linking the gas fields to Gladstone, plus the development of a natural gas liquefaction plant on Curtis Island.

QGC's central processing plant.

According to Sullair Australia Business Development Manager Peter Laws, the order placed with Sullair by QGC is among the largest compressed air contracts ever placed in Australia.

“This compressed air and nitrogen generation project is larger than all other similar LNG upstream projects in Queensland combined, and the equipment scope is the most extensive I have seen for a single project in my 40 years in the industry,” he said. “Our solutions will be used within the ‘upstream’ project which covers the pipelines, gas-gathering systems, gas treatment and compression facilities.”

With the award of this contract representing 85% local spend, it underlines QGC’s commitment to providing full, fair and reasonable opportunity to capable local suppliers. Sullair Australia will be supplying 38 of its renowned variable output control VOC45 units to provide high-quality instrument air for flow, temperature, pressure and gas-composition monitoring equipment throughout the field compression stations plus nitrogen for the flare header purge. The company is also supplying 12 VOC110 compressors for instrument air and nitrogen gas generation to deliver blanket, equipment and flare-header purge for the large pipeline compressors in the central processing plants. In addition to the compressors, Sullair Australia is also providing all necessary ancillary equipment, including driers, pressure vessels, filters, chillers, heat exchangers and nitrogen generators.

Sullair Australia will be supplying 38 VOC45 and 12 VOC90/VOC110 compressors for instrument air and nitrogen gas generation.

“Sullair is one of the few compressor companies that can deliver a fully skidded package to meet the exact specifications of this project,” said Laws. “We were able to offer the right technology for the application, and the solution we have engineered is very much tailored to QGC’s specific requirements.”

Sullair Australia has benefited from working with QGC over recent years, providing instrument air packages for the company’s domestic gas operations. This existing relationship has served to demonstrate the quality of Sullair products and resources, plus the company’s ability to reliably supply parts and servicing.

“This is an extremely important contract for Sullair,” said Laws. “It validates our expertise in the engineered package market and highlights the strengths of the solutions we can bring to the gas processing industry.

“We look forward to working with QGC to deliver these compressor packages safely and on schedule.”