Tengizchevroil (TCO) has recently started field construction for its sour gas injection and second generation project (SGI/SGP) to increase production and to establish state-of-the-art technologies for gas injection in Kazakhstan.

SGI/SGP is TCO's next major production expansion. It is expected to be online by early 2007 and to increase oil production from 13mt/y to 25mt/y. Well construction scope for SGI/SGP includes 39 producers and eight injectors.
Major new surface facilities include a field production gathering system, the main SGP process plant, the SGI compressor plant and new product export infrastructure that includes gas export pipeline, added crude storage, LPG storage and sulphur forming.
New infrastructure being created to allow safe and efficient construction includes a 6500 bed construction camp, a new rail line spur and a new road between the construction camp and SGP construction site.
Parsons Fluor Daniel (PFD) is working on behalf of TCO as the prime contractor for engineering, procurement, and construction management of the facilities portion of SGI/SGP. PFD holds the majority of subcontracts and purchase orders for this project and is a joint venture between Parsons Energy and Chemicals and Fluor Daniel.
Following a very successful initial expansion project in 2000, where Able supplied radar level gauges for the refinery itself, the company is now involved in this further development.
Having been awarded contracts for supply of gas and liquid clamp-on ultrasonic flowmeters, nuclear level instrumentation and a framework agreement for the supply of radar and guided wave radar level transmitters, the company will be supporting not only the refinery itself, but also utilities measurement management for the whole support village.
The level transmitter framework agreement allows for a myriad of gauge combinations, permitting the on-going specification of instruments against agreed costs with options for antenna sizes, exotic wetted materials, flange sizes and ratings. Associated hardware such as stilling wells are included, of which Able have extensive experience in fabrication, gauge assembly and testing.
Supply of equipment from within this framework has already commenced and current expectation is that a total of 135 radar and GWR instruments will be required.
RF admittance level transmitters have been added to the framework to offer the capability of fulfilling applications not suitable for radar or GWR technology.

Harsh conditions

Due to the harsh environmental conditions at site in Kazakhstan, the instruments must be capable of operation and approved for use in hazardous areas in ambient temperatures ranging from -36°C to 44°C.
The radar installations follow a two-wire, loop powered and intrinsically safe philosophy and will be employed in areas ranging from oil and gas and sulphur recovery to underground liquefied gas storage and utilities.
Clamp-on flowmeters from Able were selected as these are completely non-invasive and virtually maintenance free.
Project requirements dictated that pressure losses were to be kept to a minimum and applications critical to the process meant that the meters must be maintained without shutdown.
A major concern for the project was the reliability of the clamp-on transducer mounting assemblies. Able proposed its Rigilok mounting system which has been developed specifically for remote installations in harsh environmental conditions.
By providing secure transducer location and fully enclosed covers for complete environmental and physical protection, it negates any concerns with regard to the permanent nature of surface mount technology.
The wide beam ultrasound transmission chosen by PFD provides the user with many unique benefits. Wide beam transducers are frequency matched to pipe sonic properties to maintain operation under aerated/wet conditions and permit accurate operation over a wide range of flow rates and fluid properties. Automatic zeroing eliminates the effects of drift by automatically and continuously correcting for the drift-causing factors.
To compliment the flowmeters, Able is also supplying a fully integrated ethernet system to allow remote interrogation, diagnostic analysis and configuration of the flowmeters.
The varied nucleonic level gauging measurement requirements, which include interface control on separator vessels and foam detection on flash drums, necessitate the use of a broad range of techniques. These encompass nucleonic continuous, single point level and a complete vessel density profiling.
The instrumentation company has applied its high sensitivity detector/low source activity approach to the project, which is highlighted by the use of novel flexible fibre optic transmitters to contour cylindrical vessels and point scintillators to provide optimum speed of response for critical shutdown duties. This selection of equipment combines cutting edge nucleonic gauging technology with the ability to operate reliably in the harsh environmental conditions at site in Kazakhstan.
The measurement philosophy dictates that control and shutdown systems use independent detectors and an internal source where interface, large diameter or thick walled vessels were concerned or where problems with access existed.