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Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Ltd, known as

GASCO, is part of the ADNOC group and is the

operating company in Abu Dhabi responsible for

processing non-associated gas from standalone

gas reservoirs and associated gas from onshore

oil production. Abu Dhabi ranks fifth in the world

in terms of its gas reserves.

We have played a key role in three interlinked

projects, Habshan-3, Ruwais NGL Train-3

and Habshan-4, which are integral to

GASCO’s multi-billion-dollar gas expansion.

Habshan-4 will process incremental

associated gas resulting from ADNOC’s expansion of its

crude production.

At full capacity the new train will

handle up to 24,400 tpd of natural gas liquids to provide 6,400 tpd of

raw ethane, 6,000 tpd each of propane and butane and 5,800 tpd

of paraffinic naphtha.

Habshan is one of the world’s

largest gas processing plants. The new Habshan-3 facilities have

a processing capacity of1,300 million scfd of condensate-

rich gas to produce 130,000 bpd

of condensate and 11,800 tpdof natural gas liquids.

GASCO’smulti-billion-dollar upstream expansion

Playing a key role inHabshan-3 Ruwais NGL Train-3 Habshan-4

Ruwais NGL Train-3 utilities with new storage and jetty in background.

This article waspublished in FW NewSummer 2010. Formore informationplease contact us [email protected]

© 2013 Foster Wheeler All rights reserved

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A trusted teamOur involvement in the GASCO projects started

in early 2002 when, as PMC, we began the

evaluation of the FEED tenders for the suite of

projects. This was followed by support to the

GASCO team in the management of the FEED

phase and then bidding support and evaluation

of the EPC tenders in Abu Dhabi through much of

2004. We have been project managing the EPC

phases on behalf of GASCO since the start of

2005. All three projects are now at, near, or past

the finishing post.

‘Right first time’A feature of the suite of GASCO projects has been

regular multi-project workshops where project

status and lessons learned have been shared

between the GASCO and PMC teams throughout

the EPC home office phase.

A particular theme has been a focus on ‘right first

time start-up’ (RFTSU). The EPC contractors were

required to develop and implement detailed RFTSU

programmes for a trouble-free start-up. RFTSU is

a proactive methodology where risks and likely

problems, which may later result in commissioning

and start-up problems or delays, are identified and

mitigation action plans put in place.

Habshan-3GASCO’s Habshan complex is one of the world’slargest gas processing plants producing condensate

and natural gas liquids (NGL). Habshan-3 is the

latest phase of the Habshan development to

come on-line.

The Habshan-3 facilities have a processing

capacity of 1,300 million standard cubic feet

per day (scfd) of condensate-rich gas to produce

130,000 barrels per day (bpd) of condensate

and 11,800 tonnes per day (tpd) of NGL.

The two-train facility includes process units

for gas/condensate separation, condensate

stabilisation, gas treating, gas dehydration and

NGL recovery, and condensate and NGL storage,

along with a full complement of utilities. Reservoir

pressure is maintained through the reinjection

(at over 350 bar) of a n equal volume of gas withmake-up gas supplied by the national sales gas

network. The compression facilities required

for this element of the facility consist of eight

compressors each driven by 22MW GE Frame-5

gas turbines.

The NGL from Habshan-3 is pumped to the new

Ruwais third NGL fractionation train via a new

24” pipeline and the condensate is pumped to

the TAKREER refinery in Ruwais. The acid gas

waste stream is sent to the new sulphur recovery

plant that is part o f the Habshan-4 facilities.

Habshan-3 has over 700 major equipment items,

of which 24 are major process compressors, with

all manner of drives: gas turbines, steam turbines,

fixed-speed electric motors and variable-speed

electric motors. There are some very large process

vessels with two 635-tonne de-methanisers and

two 850-tonne high pressure amine absorbers. At

peak, the EPC workforce at site was over 7,000.

The project revenue streams of condensate and

NGL are now flowing to specification with only

plant performance test runs and project close-out

to complete.

KEY: FW’s PMC scope for:

Arabian Gulf

Oman

UAE

Oman

Abu Dhabi

Dubai

Ruwais

Habshan

Asab

GASCORuwais NGL Train-3

New Fractionation TrainNew JettyStorage FacilitiesO&U

GASCOHabshan-4

1 x Gas Compression Train1 x Acid Gas Enrichment2 x Sulphur Recovery1 x Sour Water Stripper1 x Condensate Stabilisation

ADCOHabshan/Bab

Gas Gathering & Injection

GASCO Asab-2

2 x Gas Treatment2 x NGL Recovery1 x NGL PipelineO&U

TAKREERRuwais Expansion

Condensate Storage &Shipping Facilities

GASCOHabshan-3

2 x Condensate Separation/Stabilisation2 x Gas Treatment2 x NGL Recovery4 x Reinjection Trains1 x NGL PipelineO&UCondensate + NGL Storage

“This has been a major project management undertaking for

Foster Wheeler. Our involvement started from the pre-award stage

of the FEED contract and continued right through to start-up.

We are proud to have been associated with this world-class venture.”

Graeme Lang

Project Sponsor and Director, Projects

Foster Wheeler Energy Limited

Habshan-4 acid gas enrichment. Ruwais NGL Train-3 main compressor shelter.

Overview of Habshan-3 facilities.

FEED Phase

FEED & EPC Phases



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Ruwais NGL Train-3The new third processing train is designed to

handle up to 24,400 tpd of NGL produced by the

Habshan-3, Asab-2 and other upstream projects.

The single-train NGL fractionation facility is currently

amongst the largest facilities of its kind in the world.

At full capacity the new train will provide 6,400 tpd

of raw ethane as feedstock to the Borouge-2 facility,

for which Foster Wheeler is also providing PMC

support. The remaining product streams, 6,000 tpd

each of propane and butane and 5,800 tpd of

paraffinic naphtha, will be exported by tanker.

The main process columns were fabricated locally

and the de-ethaniser, weighing in at 1,077 tonnes

and 53 metres tan-to-tan, is, we believe, the largest

vessel ever fabricated within the UAE.

In addition to the fractionation unit where the NGL

is split into its component products, the gaseous

ethane and liquid propane and butane are

sweetened and dried. Product storage has been

significantly expanded with the addition of four new

cryogenic storage tanks plus a new floating-roof tank

for the paraffinic naphtha. There are two additional

marine berths capable of handling tankers up to

125,000m3, providing flexibility and capacity for

future expansion.

The Train-3 facilities have been fully integrated with

the existing plant to enhance reliability and include,

for the first time at Ruwais, a medium-pressure

steam system for reboiler operation. The site

construction labour force peaked at over 7,000, and

a strong focus on safety was diligently maintained.

The main plant performance tests have been

successfully completed and routine marine

operations from the two new berths are ongoing.

Our PMC team is resolving final documentation

issues and is closing out the site.

Habshan-4The objective of the Habshan-4 project is to enable

the facility to process incremental associated gas

resulting from ADNOC’s expansion of its crude oil

production from 1.2 to 1.4 million bpd, increasing

condensate production by 15,000 bpd and sulphur

by 1,600 tpd.

We were initially appointed as project manager

for the FEED phase of this project. This contract

was extended in October 2005 to cover project

management of the EPC phase.

The Habshan-4 facilities are distributed both within

and adjacent to the existing facilities. Low- and

medium-pressure gas compression, condensate

stabilisation, sour water stripping and utilities are at

multiple locations within the existing facilities whilst

feed gas compression, acid gas enrichment and

sulphur recovery are on an adjacent plot.

The many interfaces with the existing plant were

a key feature of the project. In addition to numerous

piping tie-ins, a major upgrade of the existing control

system was undertaken both to improve the operation

of the existing facilities and expand the system to

accommodate the new plant. The requirement to

maintain ongoing operations and minimise shutdowns

presented a significant challenge to the project.

Commissioning is now well advanced and parts

of the Habshan-4 plant have been operational for

several months. The compression train, condensate

stabilisation, acid gas enrichment, sulphur recovery

and most of the utilities are in operation. Much of

the plant is being operated by the client’s operations

personnel under the responsibility of the EPC

contractor, pending completion of test runs and

handover. Acid gas feedstock has been received

from Habshan-3, enabling the acid gas enrichment

unit test run to proceed.

With construction work completed in late 2009, the

PMC team has reduced in size and is focused on final

commissioning and handover activities, which are

expected to complete by the third quarter of 2010.

Rising to the challengeOverall it has been a remarkable achievement

bringing these parallel projects to life from the start

of the FEEDs to production.

The success to date has been a real testament to

the focus of the client and Foster Wheeler team on

managing the plethora of interfaces, within each

project, between projects, and with other related

projects ongoing around the same time.

In addition, the EPC phases spanned very challenging

times for project execution, with a troubled global

economy and very stretched supplier and sub-

contractor markets.

We are proud to be reaching the finish line, having

proved once again that dealing with technical and

logistical complexity is something at which we excel!

Main picture: Ruwais NGL Train-3 butane storage with jetty in background.

Inset: Berth 3 looking west.



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