80 kilometres off the coast of Qatar, Halul Island is the base for 11 large crude oil storage tanks and pumping facilities, as well as power generation and water desalination plants. Ramboll was chosen to be part of plans to expand this complex, by carrying out a detailed design of the crude oil import and export terminal.
Expanding an important facility
Halul Island may cover an area of only 1.5 square kilometres, but it has all the facilities of a major international oil terminal as well as providing accommodation for up to 900 personnel. Operated by Qatar Petroleum, the complex receives crude oil from various offshore sources through subsea pipelines. The oil is kept in large storage tanks until being pumped into crude tankers for transportation – these pumps are driven by electrical speed drivers and gas turbines.
Ramboll has, under an EPIC contract with Doha Petroleum Construction Co. Ltd for Qatar Petroleum, been part of an expansion plan for the facility that aims to increase the reliability of existing crude oil facilities, and upgrade the system for enhanced operational flexibility.
A broad scope of work
This was a multi-disciplinary job for Ramboll focused on the upgrade of crude oil export and import facilities, as well as the installation of remote activated beach landing valves. The broad scope of the work required specialism in many different service areas, including FEED verification, the civil design of control buildings, and transient analysis of existing facilities. Other tasks included:
- Operation and control philosophy
- Technical specifications of electrical and instrumentation equipment
- Pump house adequacy checks
- Pipe supports, piping isometrics, pipe stress analysis