Main Automation Contractor on a Gas Extraction Facility

In Lake Kivu on the border between the Republic of Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo, some 300 km³ of dissolved carbon dioxide and 50 – 60 km³ of methane gas is accumulated and trapped at significant depth in the lake.

The customer was setting up a barge based gas extraction facility and an export pipeline from the barge to the shore. The barge contained the bulk of the equipment that will lift, separate, and process the gas dissolved in the deep waters off Lake Kivu. The current location for the offshore facilities is approximately 13 km from the shore in 365 meters of water. INTECH was called in for:

1. Engineering,Design and Supply of Process Control System (PCS)
2. Engineering, Design and Supply of Emergency Shutdown System (ESD)
3. Engineering, Design and Supply of Fire & Gas System (F&G)
4. Process Instrumentation & Documentation
5. Third party data integration with PCS system
6. Construction and Project Management services

INTECH based on its rich oil & gas domain knowledge, technological expertise and its vendor neutral approach to system design choose hardware that was best fit for customer needs & requirements. The system delivered was designed keeping in view the specific international safety, compliance and operational excellence standards specific to a gas processing facility. The hardware selected included:

1. Process Control System – Allen Bradley ControlLogix
2. Emergency Shut Down (ESD) and Fire &Gas system – HIMA based SIL – 3 certified
3. Fire &Gas system – NFPA 72 Compliant Design
4. HMI and Historian system – Allen Bradley with backup recovery server
5. Process Instrumentation package and Fire &Gas detectors
6. Wireless communication on VHF link
7. Public Address and General Alarm (PAGA)
8. Uninterrupted Power Supply System

INTECH enables oil & gas facilities to optimally deploy and maintain automation solutions resulting in enhanced productivity, reliability, safety, compliance, and flexibility of the assets and the enterprise. INTECH has completed over 100 major upstream Oil & Gas automation projects for the top ten Exploration and Production companies globally. INTECH design philosophy is based on a vendor neutral, best fit automation solution approach to ensure safe, efficient and compliant operations.