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Fluor to provide engineering and design for Dow chemical plant expansion
MARKET PROSPECTS Although not the lowest bidder on a capital cost basis, Aquatech says it was awarded the project because it had the most competitive overall lifecycle cost. The desalination project, valued at more than US$82 million, is scheduled to be operational in late 2013.
Dow Water opens global water technology centre in Spain
D
ow Water & Process Solutions has officially opened the Global Water Technology Development Center at the Dow facilities in Tarragona, Spain. The state-of-the-art centre, which is designed to accelerate the commercialisation of Dow’s water technologies, was funded through a US$15 million Dow investment, along with grant subsidies from Spain’s Ministry of Science and Innovation. “This centre represents a significant investment for Dow. It’s a one-of-a-kind facility staffed with leading industry experts to meet one of the world’s most pressing needs – clean water,” said Ian Barbour, general manager, Dow Water & Process Solutions. “The central location is ideal to support our customers in the region and gives us access to the wide variety of water sources, including waste water and seawater, to support product development and performance testing in real world conditions.” Initial research efforts will focus on improving the quality of desalinated water; minimising costs and reducing energy consumption; extending the useful life of membranes; and increasing efficiency of materials.
CARBON CAPTURE
Funding secured for Canadian CO2 storage project
S
hell has signed agreements with the Governments of Alberta and Canada for C$865 million in funding for its Quest Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Project in Canada. The Quest Project will capture and per4
Pump Industry Analyst
manently store deep underground more than one million tonnes of CO2 per year from Shell’s Scotford Upgrader near Edmonton, Alberta, which processes heavy oil from the Athabasca oil sands. “Quest would be the first application of CCS technology for an oil sands upgrading operation,” said John Abbott, Shell’s executive vice president of Heavy Oil. “Not only would it allow us to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of our oil sands operation here in Alberta, but it will contribute to the global knowledge that will help to get other CCS projects up and running more quickly.” With CO2 injection planned for 2015, the Quest Project would join a handful of CCS projects around the world that are injecting CO2 at a commercial scale. The Quest Project is being advanced on behalf of the AOSP, a joint venture among Shell Canada (60%) Chevron Canada Ltd (20%) and Marathon Oil Canada Corp (20%).
POWER GENERATION
Generation mPower signs letter of intent for small modular reactors
G
eneration mPower LLC (GmP), a majority-owned subsidiary of Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear Energy Inc, has signed a letter of intent with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) that defines the project plans and associated conditions for designing, licencing and constructing up to six B&W mPower small modular reactors (SMRs) at TVA’s Clinch River site in Roane County, Tennessee, USA. The project is expected to include joint development and pursuit of a construction permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The project would also include engineering, procurement and construction activities leading to receipt of an operating license from the NRC, assuming certain preconditions are met. GmP is a company formed by affiliates of B&W and Bechtel Power Corp to design, license and build the world’s first commercially viable Generation III++ small modular nuclear power plant based on B&W mPower SMR technology. GmP remains on track to deploy the first B&W mPower reactor by 2020 at TVA’s
Clinch River site. The B&W mPower Integrated System Test facility in Virginia is expected to begin a three-year project later this summer to collect data to verify the reactor design and safety performance in support of licensing activities. TVA plans to submit a Construction Permit Application to the NRC in 2012, and GmP plans to submit a Design Certification Application to the NRC in 2013.
OIL & GAS
Foster Wheeler wins Gas-to-Liquids feasibility study
A
subsidiary of Foster Wheeler’s Global Engineering and Construction Group is undertaking the technical portion of a feasibility study for a planned gas-to-liquids facility in Canada, on behalf of the Sasol/Talisman Energy partnership. The facility would convert shale gas to GTL naphtha, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas using Sasol’s GTL technology. As well as the technical work on the feasibility study, Foster Wheeler will also develop a cost estimate to allow Sasol and Talisman Energy to assess the economic viability of the planned facility, with a decision expected in the second half of 2012. The technical portion of the feasibility study is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2011.
CHEMICALS
Fluor to provide engineering and design for Dow chemical plant expansion
T
he Dow Chemical Co has selected Fluor Corp to provide basic engineering and design services on its propane dehydrogenation (PDH) expansion project in Freeport, Texas, USA. The basic engineering will be executed in Fluor’s Houston, Texas office with support from the company’s office in Manila, the Philippines. Once construction is complete, the facility will produce polymer-grade propylene.
June 2011
Dow Water opens global water technology centre in Spain
D
ow Water & Process Solutions has officially opened the Global Water Technology Development Center at the Dow facilities in Tarragona, Spain. The state-of-the-art centre, which is designed to accelerate the commercialisation of Dow’s water technologies, was funded through a US$15 million Dow investment, along with grant subsidies from Spain’s Ministry of Science and Innovation. “This centre represents a significant investment for Dow. It’s a one-of-a-kind facility staffed with leading industry experts to meet one of the world’s most pressing needs – clean water,” said Ian Barbour, general manager, Dow Water & Process Solutions. “The central location is ideal to support our customers in the region and gives us access to the wide variety of water sources, including waste water and seawater, to support product development and performance testing in real world conditions.” Initial research efforts will focus on improving the quality of desalinated water; minimising costs and reducing energy consumption; extending the useful life of membranes; and increasing efficiency of materials.
CARBON CAPTURE
Funding secured for Canadian CO2 storage project
S
hell has signed agreements with the Governments of Alberta and Canada for C$865 million in funding for its Quest Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Project in Canada. The Quest Project will capture and per4
Pump Industry Analyst
manently store deep underground more than one million tonnes of CO2 per year from Shell’s Scotford Upgrader near Edmonton, Alberta, which processes heavy oil from the Athabasca oil sands. “Quest would be the first application of CCS technology for an oil sands upgrading operation,” said John Abbott, Shell’s executive vice president of Heavy Oil. “Not only would it allow us to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of our oil sands operation here in Alberta, but it will contribute to the global knowledge that will help to get other CCS projects up and running more quickly.” With CO2 injection planned for 2015, the Quest Project would join a handful of CCS projects around the world that are injecting CO2 at a commercial scale. The Quest Project is being advanced on behalf of the AOSP, a joint venture among Shell Canada (60%) Chevron Canada Ltd (20%) and Marathon Oil Canada Corp (20%).
POWER GENERATION
Generation mPower signs letter of intent for small modular reactors
G
eneration mPower LLC (GmP), a majority-owned subsidiary of Babcock & Wilcox Nuclear Energy Inc, has signed a letter of intent with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) that defines the project plans and associated conditions for designing, licencing and constructing up to six B&W mPower small modular reactors (SMRs) at TVA’s Clinch River site in Roane County, Tennessee, USA. The project is expected to include joint development and pursuit of a construction permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The project would also include engineering, procurement and construction activities leading to receipt of an operating license from the NRC, assuming certain preconditions are met. GmP is a company formed by affiliates of B&W and Bechtel Power Corp to design, license and build the world’s first commercially viable Generation III++ small modular nuclear power plant based on B&W mPower SMR technology. GmP remains on track to deploy the first B&W mPower reactor by 2020 at TVA’s
Clinch River site. The B&W mPower Integrated System Test facility in Virginia is expected to begin a three-year project later this summer to collect data to verify the reactor design and safety performance in support of licensing activities. TVA plans to submit a Construction Permit Application to the NRC in 2012, and GmP plans to submit a Design Certification Application to the NRC in 2013.
OIL & GAS
Foster Wheeler wins Gas-to-Liquids feasibility study
A
subsidiary of Foster Wheeler’s Global Engineering and Construction Group is undertaking the technical portion of a feasibility study for a planned gas-to-liquids facility in Canada, on behalf of the Sasol/Talisman Energy partnership. The facility would convert shale gas to GTL naphtha, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas using Sasol’s GTL technology. As well as the technical work on the feasibility study, Foster Wheeler will also develop a cost estimate to allow Sasol and Talisman Energy to assess the economic viability of the planned facility, with a decision expected in the second half of 2012. The technical portion of the feasibility study is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2011.
CHEMICALS
Fluor to provide engineering and design for Dow chemical plant expansion
T
he Dow Chemical Co has selected Fluor Corp to provide basic engineering and design services on its propane dehydrogenation (PDH) expansion project in Freeport, Texas, USA. The basic engineering will be executed in Fluor’s Houston, Texas office with support from the company’s office in Manila, the Philippines. Once construction is complete, the facility will produce polymer-grade propylene.
June 2011