Air Products announced today that it has been awarded the contract to supply four end flash coil wound heat exchangers (CWHE) for the North Field East LNG Project in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar.
One of the end flash CWHE’s will be used with each of the four AP-X® LNG Process trains previously announced and already being built by Air Products for Chiyoda Corporation and Technip Energies, who are constructing the LNG process trains for QatarEnergy.
The joint venture between Chiyoda Corporation and Technip Energies was awarded the major EPCC contract (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning) in February 2021 by QatarEnergy for the onshore facilities of the North Field East Project. The EPCC contract covers the delivery of four mega LNG trains, each with a capacity to produce eight million tons per annum (MTPA) of LNG, and associated utility and offsite facilities. The start-up of the first North Field East AP-X® LNG train is planned for the end of 2025.
Air Products’ end flash CWHE technology was developed based on proven plant operating experience and technological innovation. It provides the safest, most robust and reliable heat exchanger for deployment in this demanding thermal cycling service, compared to alternative heat exchanger designs. The unique modular design of these end flash CWHEs provides for a compact installation, which enables the recovery of flash gas refrigeration and the production of additional LNG. Having been installed and operating for over 30 years at other LNG facilities worldwide, this will be the first time Air Products’ end flash CWHEs will be installed in Qatar.
“The supply of these end flash units to the largest LNG producer in the world is a great achievement for our team, and other projects are now considering this technology for their LNG plants. The units are a great complement to the AP-X® LNG process by helping to maximize LNG production capacity and efficency. We believe this order demonstrates QatarEnergy’s confidence in Air Products’ robust and reliable coil wound heat exchanger technology,” said Dr. John Palamara, Air Products’ General Manager – LNG. “These new units continue Air Products’ strong commitment to supply the latest LNG technology and equipment to QatarEnergy and build upon the existing 14 LNG trains already operating at the Ras Laffan location, all using Air Products’ AP-C3MRTM and AP-X® LNG technologies.”
These modularized coil wound end flash units offer several benefits, including a smaller footprint, simpler piping arrangement and mechanical support structure, and this proprietary technology works with any Air Products’ liquefaction process.
Air Products will build the end flash CWHEs at its Port Manatee, Florida manufacturing facility. Air Products opened its Port Manatee facility in January 2014 and completed a 60 percent expansion in October 2019 to meet the needs of the ever-growing LNG industry. In October 2018, Air Products dedicated a new LNG equipment test facility, which enables Air Products to improve the reliability and yield produced from its LNG equipment, and to design and test new equipment.
