Qatargas picks GE technology to lower emissions
The oil and gas division of GE has signed a contract with Qatargas to supply advanced combustion technology that will reduce gas turbine emissions at the Qatargas 1 Utility complex to meet new regulations from the Qatari Ministry of Environment.
The deal was announced by GE on Tuesday at the 20th World Petroleum Congress in Doha.
GE will provide its Dry Low NOx (DLN) 1.0 combustion system designed to achieve low emissions levels of 25 parts per million (ppm) for nitrogen oxide, it said.
The technology will be used to upgrade six GE Frame 6B gas turbines that are providing the power for three onshore LNG trains at the Qatargas 1 site in Ras Laffan Industry City, 70 kilometers from Doha.
Qatargas, which pioneered the LNG industry in Qatar, today is the largest LNG producing company in the world, with a capacity of 42 million tpy.
Qatargas also is a trend-setter in environmental responsibility and was the first company in Qatar to establish an ambient air quality program, which helped to set the agenda for future controls on air emissions for all Ras Laffan industries.
“At the core of our environmental commitment is our objective to reduce emissions to the lowest practical levels,” said Alae Sadic Al Hassan, Qatargas’ acting chief operating officer for ventures and engineering. “After evaluating a variety of solutions, we determined that GE’s DLN combustion system offered the optimum solution to achieve the required emission levels.
James Baldwin, environmental manager for Qatargas, added: “Qatargas is focused on reducing our emissions footprint and energy use to the lowest practical levels and aims to be a strong pacesetter within the LNG industry in this regard. “
The installation of GE’s DLN systems will begin in February of 2012, with the sixth and final unit completed by of the second half of 2013. Equipment for the project will be provided from GE facilities in Greenville, South Carolina and Florence, Italy.
“The new contract demonstrates GE’S capability to handle complex projects, by offering engineering, materials, testing and field services on a turnkey basis,” said Rami Qasem, CEO for GE Oil & Gas in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey region (MENAT).
“We are committed to providing the best technology available to help customers driving green initiatives such as Qatargas meet their ongoing environmental challenges,” he added.
GE’s DLN combustion system upgrades are directed toward ensuring compliance with strict environmental regulations and business and environmental needs for reduced emissions, eliminating the need for diluent injection or selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems which are harder to maintain and have additional safety issues to manage, according to the company.
The system is a certified GE Ecomagination product for its ability to measurably improve both customer environmental and operating performance, the company said.
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