Siemens supplies variable-speed drives for gas liquefaction plant in Oman

The Siemens Industrial Solutions and Services Group (I&S) has received an order from GE Oil & Gas Nuovo Pignone, Florence, Italy, to supply variable-speed drives for the Centrifugal Compressors of the new production line of a gas liquefaction plant in the sultanate of Oman. The final customer is the state-owned Oman LNG L.L.C. Co. The order is worth around 5 million EUR and the new production line is to start operating at the end of 2005.

The gas liquefaction plant in Al-Galilah, near the port city of Sur in the Gulf of Oman, operates a total of four turbine-driven compressors, producing up to 6.6 million metric tons of liquid gas per year. The compressors are each equipped with an electric, variable speed "starter-helper" drive. These Siemens systems are for powering-up the liquefaction plant and also for improving output during production. GE O&G Nuovo Pignone is now building a third, identical production line, with which the annual capacity is to be increased to around ten million metric tons. The two compressors of the new production line will also be equipped with Siemens "starter-helper" drives, each with an output of 8.3 megawatts.

Siemens was awarded the contract due to the success experienced with the existing two production lines, which have now been operating for almost three years without problems. For the drives of these production lines, Oman LNG had signed a servicing contract with Siemens as early as 2001. With the help of a remote-diagnostic system, faults can be located and eliminated more quickly. This increases plant availability and reduces the likelihood of expensive production stoppages.