Gas Land Inc STARRT Card

During commissioning activities it is very critical that one has a strong strategy to implement decisions and to make sure that everything is covered before making those decisions.

The STARRT Card approach (Safety Task Analysis Risk Reduction Talk) enables the operator to take a step back and re-evaluate the task and the steps that would be required to accomplish it.

Gas Land's STARRT Card attempts to capture all the critical stages of any task and measures different levels of risks involved in performing those tasks. 

A typical STARRT Card would have the following sections.

• Hazard Identification
• Hazard Control Measures
• PPE/Safety 
• Permits
• Pre-Work Considerations 
• Impacting Factors
• List of Tasks to be performed 
• Steps required to perform the task

Nitrogen Usage in LNG Plants

Nitrogen is used for a wide variety of applications in the oil and gas industry. In LNG plants Nitrogen forms a critical part of the utility system without which operations would come to a standstill. Some of the main uses of Nitrogen in LNG plant are as follows:

• Blanketing of Tanks
• Purging of Cold Boxes
• Back-up purge for Flare Systems
• Refrigeration Compressor Seal Gas
• Boil off Gas Compressor Seal Gas
• Process Pump Seal Gas
• Loading Arms Purging and Draining

LNG Process Chain

Natural Gas consists entirely of methane, typically LNG is 85 to 95 plus percent methane along with a few percent ethane, and even less propane and butane with traces of Nitrogen. This exact composition varies according to the source of feed gas and the processing technology applied. To obtain LNG and delivering it to the end user consists of a series of steps as listed below.

Exploration & Production

Typically, when oil is produced you also produce some gas. Depending on the type of reservoirs the amount of gas produced can vary drastically. Also, the use of smart engineering techniques such as hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling can be crucial especially when it comes to producing from complex shale plays such as in the US. 

Liquefaction

Once this Natural Gas is produced through Exploration it becomes the feed gas to the Liquefaction or LNG Plant. In this facility, the feed gas is treated and processed to form Liquefied Natural Gas. The facility can almost be thought of as a big refrigeration unit where the entering feed gas is processed and condensed to its liquid form. This enables storage and transportation of the chilled fuel more viable.

Shipping

Once LNG is produced and stored at the facility. LNG carriers or vessels are loaded with LNG to carry it to its destination.

Storage and Regasification

At the destination, the LNG carrier would transfer LNG at the receiving terminal where it would be transformed to its gaseous state and delivered to users.

Membrane Nitrogen Generators

In Oil and gas facilities the operation of the system may vary from the intended design due to the following reasons.

1. Change in Operation Philosophy 

2. Startup or Commissioning Phase

3. Underestimation or Overestimation of required Nitrogen 

This is crucial to be aware of as each project and client, depending on the application can have different requirements at different phases of the project.

Membrane Nitrogen Generators use membrane separators to produce Nitrogen from Air. A typical membrane separator contains thousands of fibers that are bundled and encased at both ends. The fiber selectively permeates Oxygen, Water vapor and other impurities while allowing Nitrogen to flow through.Like any other process there are governing principles from which you could maximize the most from these systems.

For instance, there are three key parameters to consider in order to understand the Nitrogen flow  that can be produced from the System, these are Pressure, Temperature and Purity. These variables will dictate the Nitrogen that can be produced. Additionally, sizing of the package will be based on the flow rate of Nitrogen required, Operating Conditions and various other customers requirements.

Membrane Nitrogen Generators are highly reliable, flexible in their operation, require minimal maintenance and have no moving parts.

Gas Land Inc Highlights

Gas Land supplied Three (3) Nitrogen Generation Systems for Sabine Pass LNG – which was the only operational LNG Plant for export in the lower 48 states as of 2016. The facility started exporting the chilled fuel in February 2016. Since then it has shipped 40 cargoes produced from Two Liquefaction Trains with most of them landing in Latin America followed by Africa, Asia, and Europe. Gas Land's Systems are also used in major LNG Plants in Australia. The table below provides a list of our Australian installations.

Gas Land is proud that our systems are an essential component to the LNG Industry, which are part of the biggest LNG Plants in the world. By end of 2017, the total LNG produced by these Plants would be 37.9 MTPA, which accounts for 47% of the LNG produced from Australia.

Wheatstone Commissioning

Gas Land successfully commissioned the Nitrogen Generator System for Wheatstone LNG on 31st October 2016. Gas Land is proud to be an integral component of such a massive project which is set to redefine Australia's reputation as a LNG superpower. 

The produced Nitrogen will be used for various applications such as blanketing of tanks, purging of cold boxes, compressor seal gas, and more importantly, purging of loading arms during shipping. 

In addition to the Nitrogen Generator, Gas Land supplied the Liquid Nitrogen Back Up System for this project. The Liquid Nitrogen System consists of two Liquid Nitrogen Tanks, Pressure Building Coils, Ambient Air Vaporizers and an Economizer Circuit. Each tank can hold up to 94,000 US gallons of Liquid Nitrogen. These are the biggest tanks that Gas Land has ever built to date.