US-based Air Products said Tuesday it has won a contract from Qatargas to provide its liquefaction tech and equipment for the nation’s giant LNG expansion project.
Qatragas’ parent company Qatar Petroleum launched the first phase of the North Field expansion project earlier this year.
This phase will increase Qatar’s LNG production capacity from 77 to 110 million tonnes per annum.
The development includes the addition of four giant liquefaction units at the existing LNG export complex in Ras Laffan.
Each of the new trains will have a production capacity of 7.8 mtpa receiving gas from the offshore North Field.
Qatar expects to launch these mega trains in 2025, taking back its position as the world’s number one LNG producer.
Under the new deal, Air Products will supply its proprietary AP-X liquefaction technology, the largest LNG trains in the world.
“These immense AP-X units have a process production capacity that is 50 percent larger than any other LNG train in operation,” said Samir J. Serhan, chief operating officer at Air Products.
The US company did not reveal the value of the deal.
Air Products has previosly supplied key equipment and technology for all of Qatar’s 14 existing LNG trains in Ras Laffan.
The company’s equipment provided with the AP-X technology includes main cryogenic heat exchangers and subcooling heat exchangers.
The equipment also includes Rotoflow turbomachinery companders and nitrogen economizer cold boxes.
Air Products will build the AP-X LNG heat exchangers at its Port Manatee, Florida manufacturing facility.
Typically, an LNG heat exchanger can be as large as over 15 feet (5 meters) in diameter and 180 feet (55 meters) long. A finished unit can weigh as much as 500 tons.
