What is Siemens supplying for a massive petrochemical project in Oman?

Siemens and Dresser-Rand will supply two gas turbine-driven compressor trains and two gas turbine generator packages for the Liwa Plastics Industries Complex, a major petrochemical project in Oman. The natural gas liquids (NGL) extraction plant in Fahud (located approximately 300 kilometres southwest of the capital of Muscat) is part of the industrial complex. The order was placed by the South Korean construction firm GS Engineering & Construction Corporation for the state-run oil refinery and petrochemical provider Orpic, which will run the plant and the industrial complex. The NGL extraction plant is anticipated to go into operation in 2019 to extract valuable liquefied natural gases.

The scope of supply includes four Siemens SGT-700 industrial gas turbines. Two of the gas turbines each drive a barrel-type turbocompressor (STC-SV) for lean gas compression. The lean gas will be routed back to the national natural gas distribution system. The other two gas turbines (each of which drives a generator) will supply electricity to the Fahud NGL plant to extract natural gas liquids and provide waste heat for the NGL extraction process. The extracted NGL from rich gas feed will be transported via a pipeline from Fahud to Sohar. NGL is the feedstock for the petrochemical complex in Sohar. The Liwa Plastics Industries Complex will turn NGL into polyethylene and polypropylene plastics. These are used for products like packaging, suitcases, garden furniture, cars, and computers. This will enable Oman to produce polyethylene for the first time.

Judy Marks (Head of New Equipment Solutions within the Dresser-Rand business, a part of Siemens) commented: “We are proud to assist Oman with such a large and important petrochemical project. With our technology and our project management expertise, we were able to offer our customer the most powerful solution for this application. Our components are aimed at continuously high efficiency and therefore lower operating costs.”

The same type of gas turbine will be used in the plant for both generating electricity and lean gas compression. The SGT-700 gas turbine is especially suitable for these plants, thanks to its fuel flexibility, compact dimensions, and high efficiency.