The last of 24 giant heavy paraffin synthesis reactors has been installed at the Pearl GTL project at Ras Laffan.
The lifting into place of the final 1,200 tonne reactor was another step towards the completion of construction on the Pearl gas-to-liquids project, jointly developed by Qatar Petroleum and Shell.
Construction is expected to be complete around end-2010 with project ramp-up then taking about 12 months.
Heavy paraffin synthesis reactors are the core of the process of turning natural gas into high quality liquid transport fuels, baseoils for lubricants, and chemical feedstock.
Inside each reactor are thousands of tubes, long enough in total to stretch from Qatar to Japan if laid end-to-end. Hydrogen and carbon monoxide are passed over a proprietary Shell catalyst in the tubes and converted into long chain waxy molecules and water. The long chain waxy molecules are then piped to another area of the plant to be made into GTL products, while the water is treated and used in the plant as feedwater for steam generation.
The reactors were made in Germany, Italy and the UAE before being shipped to Qatar. Each reactor has been lifted carefully into place by a huge 1,600 tonne ‘Mammoet’, the ‘largest’ crane in Qatar. Combined, the 24 reactors weigh the same as over 9,200 Toyota Landcruisers.
More than 2mn freight tonnes of materials have already been shipped to the Pearl GTL site. Most of this material was delivered through a new quay built by Pearl GTL in Ras Laffan Harbour. This quay has allowed the importation of GTL material, including all 24 Heavy Paraffin Synthesis reactors, without the need to disrupt traffic outside Ras Laffan Industrial City.
Shell’s executive vice president (Qatar) Andy Brown said: “Much work remains to be done, but the installation of the last Heavy Paraffin Synthesis reactor is an important milestone in the construction of Pearl GTL. Shipping enormous pieces of equipment around the world and installing them with millimetre precision in a busy construction site is a considerable feat of engineering. I salute the team that has achieved this, on schedule and, most importantly, safely.”
Shell has been researching the GTL process for more than 30 years and has around 1,100 patents in heavy paraffin synthesis alone. The catalyst inside the heavy paraffin synthesis reactors has a very large surface area, which maximises the efficiency of the chemical reaction. The surface area of the catalyst in the heavy paraffin synthesis reactors when filled will be equivalent to 18 times the size of the State of Qatar.
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