Queensland Curtis Liquefied Natural Gas Project Reaches Another Milestone

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Perth, Australia)--An important milestone for Queensland's liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry was reached this month, when a 900-tonne steel dome was raised to the top of a liquefied natural gas tank that is part of the Queensland Curtin liquefied natural gas (QCLNG) project.

The roof was elevated inside the QCLNG project's 38-metre-high tank on Curtis Island, near the city of Gladstone. At 79 meters in diameter, the dome is wider than a rugby league pitch and was raised using mechanical fans that slowly increased the pressure inside the tank to a level equivalent to that found inside an inflated party balloon.

A team of engineers was on hand to monitor the slow and steady process of the three-hour lift. Once the lifting process was complete, welders attached the roof to a steel ring that is embedded in the concrete tank walls.

In order to keep the gas liquefied at minus 162 degrees Celsius, the tank will be insulated and lined with nickel steel. The roof will be covered with concrete.

QCLNG Project Director Mitch Ingram said that a second tank was at an advanced stage of construction.

"The roof lift is not only a remarkable engineering feat, requiring precision and exceptional teamwork, but signals that our project is well on the way to producing its first LNG in 2014," Ingram said.

"First gas is expected to be delivered to the LNG plant around the end of the year to enable the start of commissioning."

Queensland Curtis LNG is on track to be the world's first project to turn coal seam gas into liquefied natural gas. The project, which has been under construction since 2010, involves dozens of communities, hundreds of businesses and thousands of people drawn from around Queensland, the rest of Australia and internationally. It is also one of Australia's largest capital infrastructure projects, involving $20.4 billion (AUS$19.7 billion) of investment from 2010-14.

Coal seam gas will be transported from QGC's processing facilities in southern Queensland to a liquefaction plant on Curtis Island. Once completed, the plant will comprise two LNG production units known as "trains," each able to produce more than 4 million tonnes of LNG per year; two storage tanks, which are each able to hold about 140,000 cubic meters of LNG; a marine facility for passenger and equipment transportation between the mainland and Curtis Island; and marine loading facilities for LNG cargoes.

Progress on the LNG plant continues, with 49 of 80 modules initially required having now left Thailand, 24 of which have been delivered to Curtis Island.

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