TRINIDAD TRIPLES ITS LNG CAPACITY ― THE ENGINEERING CHALLENGES AND LESSONS LEARNED

摘要

Work is well underway to triple the capacity of Trinidad's LNG industry. Key decisions to proceed with the plant expansion were made in 1999, the same year as first LNG production. The owners, contractors, and government entities faced the challenge of making this expansion move quickly and equitably on all sides. There is certainly a race-to-market competition for LNG in the Atlantic basin. The speed of this major investment decision surprised almost all interested parties. The market, once identified, required an additional 3+ million tonnes per year in 2002 and another 3+ million tonnes soon thereafter. The engineering challenges in maintaining a low unit cost for LNG and still moving quickly to more than triple the size of this facility are discussed . Lessons learned from Train 1 are incorporated. Little pre-investment was done with the construction of Train 1. Trains 2 and 3 were originally expected to be duplicates of Train 1. However, the development of the upgraded Frame 5D gas turbine provided an opportunity for increased capacity with less incremental cost . Train 1 was "designed to capacity" and therefore the fifteen percent additional power provided by the 5D design created numerous production bottlenecks that had to be overcome quickly and for little added cost. Geotechnical conditions for the expansion presented a new challenge. For Train 3 and the new LNG Tank locations, land reclamation and soil improvement were required to establish ground and a good working platform. With the fast track schedule dictated for the expansion, the project team worked diligently to come up with a land reclamation plan and ground improvement technology that will support the aggressive construction schedule. Trinidad Trainl LNG project demonstrated the economic viability of a single train LNG export plant - the approval of the new Trinidad LNG expansion project will achieve a new standard of lower cost per ton of LNG.