DOHA: Qatargas delegates presented papers on a wide range of topics at the 9th International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC).
Presenting a paper on “Qatargas Environmental Projects: Past and Present” during a panel session Sheikh Khalid bin Abdulla Al Thani, Qatargas Chief Operating Officer – Engineering & Ventures, shared insights into some of the major projects Qatargas has recently completed and that are currently under development in the context of improving energy efficiency and minimising environmental impact in alignment with the goals set by the Qatar National Vision 2030.
He noted that these projects included a world class Jetty Boil-off Gas (JBOG) Recovery Facility, which was completed in October 2014 and is now fully operational. It was built safely, spending over 22 million man-hours with no lost time incidents. More than 2,500 people from Qatargas, its contractors, subcontractors and vendors worked in Ras Laffan City port area. The project has resulted in a 90 percent reduction in flaring at the six LNG loading berths at Ras Laffan Port, saving 0.63 million tonnes per year of LNG.
This amount of gas is capable of powering over 300,000 homes per year and represents a saving of almost one trillion cubic feet of gas for the State of Qatar over a period of 30 years — a significant reduction in the Country’s carbon footprint.
Sheikh Khalid bin Abdulla listed Qatargas’ flare reduction projects, an area the company invests in heavily with the objective of achieving a flaring target of less than 0.3 per cent of the sweet gas produced.
Qatargas has completed several projects related to flare optimisation initiatives such as the Purge Reduction Project. With the development of improved operating procedures, the company has reduced flaring by more than 50 percent and is currently progressing several other flare reduction initiatives to realise the target reduction to below 6,000 mmscf (million standard cubic feet) per year by 2017.
He also highlighted the waste water reduction projects of Qatargas noting that this is another focus area for the Company and by which, it is aiming to achieve Zero Liquid Discharge to the Sea. To improve Energy efficiency, he said, one of the key ongoing projects is the QG1 Waste Heat Recovery Project which envisages conversion of the existing gas turbine generators into a cogeneration plant thereby having a positive impact on the CO2 and NOx emissions by improving the overall fuel utilisation efficiency.
The bulk of other Qatargas presentations in the conference were about the technical innovations and challenges related to offshore gas reservoir and production. Among them, a paper titled ‘A Premier Qatargas Process to Optimise and Integrate Gas Production from North Field Reservoir’ discussed the need for a structured approach to create optimised planning and refining the processes and tools with expert stakeholder inputs to optimise and integrate gas production.
The Peninsula
