Enerflex has successfully installed a pressure reducing metering station within the existing SEAGas Iona Gas Plant located in Port Campbell, Victoria. Gas will be transported from the metering station to the Mortlake Power Station via an 80 km pipeline.

Enerflex began construction of the pressure reducing metering station in December 2009, working to a tight delivery schedule to complete construction in April 2010.

The project

Enerflex’s scope of work on the project included:

• The establishment of site offices and workshop facilities;
• Upgrading the existing site access roads;
• Performing all earthworks and pouring all concrete footings and slabs for the job;
• Fabricating and installing the 350 nominal bore (NB) below-ground tie-in line from the pressure reducing metering station to the main pipeline;
• Fabricating and fitting out four skids in the company’s workshop in Western Australia and transporting the skids to the site with subsequent installation;
• Fitting out the new site control room offsite and transporting it to the project site; and
• Performing all site electrical works.

A pipeline had already been installed to take gas from the Iona Gas Plant to the newly-constructed Mortlake Power Station. Enerflex’s pressure reducing metering station allowed the plant to feed gas into the pipeline from a number of different supply lines.

The station also allows gas to be drawn into the plant as the need arises. Project Manager Mike Roberts says “The facility serves to condition the gas, meter its flow and then regulate the flow in whichever direction is required.”

Careful planning

A range of pipe sizes were used on the project, the largest of which was the 350 NB line, which was approximately 150 m long. Two of the pipeline tie-ins required excavating to a depth of 3.5 m in a reactive clay soil, within a tight compound allowing limited space for excavations.

Enerflex used a planned sequence to ensure that there was no damage to existing work, and excavated by hand around the existing live pipelines.

Installing the skids also posed a challenge for Enerflex due to the site’s difficult access conditions and live brownfield environmental site. Enerflex managed to successfully install the skids, three of which measured approximately 5 m by 12 m, by again using a carefully planned and job hazard analysed sequence to install the skids.

Fabrication of the skids in the Enerflex workshop involved large shop crew sizes, says Mr Roberts. The crew undertook the work over two shifts – working around the clock – due to the urgency and fast track nature of the project.

To minimise skid installation time on site, Enerflex assembled the skids as far as possible in the workshop and performed comprehensive factory acceptance testing before dispatching the skids to the site.

Right in time

The fact that the client needed the facility constructed in the shortest possible time was the biggest challenge on the project, says Mr Roberts. However, Enerflex rose to the challenge.

“We were able to complete site mobilisation less than three weeks after we were awarded the job,” says Mr Roberts. “This was only possible as we are geared up for exactly this type of work.”

On site, the crew size varied depending on the work being performed. The maximum crew number was approximately 20.

Enerflex’s engineering support group also provided invaluable support to the project designers, particularly in the areas of piping material selection, developing complex weld procedures, electrical design and quality acceptance inspection of many major free-issue items.

Impressively, there were no injuries throughout the course of the project. Mr Roberts attributes this to the strong safety culture within Enerflex’s workforce.

“Our site teams are largely made up of experienced and highly competent tradesmen and are led by exceptional supervisors,” says Mr Roberts.

“Company safety systems were closely integrated with those of the client to provide a strong framework for safe operations on site.”

Enerflex prides itself on clean, organised construction sites, says Mr Roberts, which is part of the company’s safety culture and leads to efficient site operations and effective control of works.

Enerflex performed all of the civil, electrical and mechanical works using in-house expertise and personnel.

The civil crew was supplemented by local sub-contractors to assist with bulk earthworks and site preparation – McKinnon Quarries and Civil Ltd and Greencon Ltd. Both provided excellent service, says Mr Roberts.

The project builds on Enerflex’s 30 years of experience designing, fabricating and commissioning gas industry solutions, including processing, compression and pipeline facilities. Having been one of the compression industry’s pioneering companies, Enerflex today specialises in constructing small to medium-sized natural gas processing facilities and compressor stations with capacities of up to 300 million cubic feet per day of gas.

This experience includes current work in Oman with BP, which is generating a number of opportunities in the Middle - East and Asia. It is, however, projects within that Australia still remain the basis of Enerflex’s regional business.