Company News 2016
• October 2016 - Alduco Engineering Services provided loading arm inspection services to EGLNG in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
EG LNG (also known as Punta Europa LNG) is a liquefied natural gas (LNG) company that operates an LNG terminal and plant at Malabo, the capital city of Equatorial Guinea located on Bioko Island. The LNG plant began operation in 2007 and the first cargo of LNG was delivered on 24 May 2007. The plant's train (liquefaction and purification facility) 1 has a capacity of 3.4 million metric tonnes per annum. Several systems are in places such as feed gas metering, liquefaction, refrigeration, ethylene storage, boil off gas compression, product transfer to storage and LNG product metering. The EG LNG plant utilizes the ConocoPhillips Optimized Cascade (SM) Process.
LNG, the fuel for future, is a cryogenic liquid which is usually loaded at any temperature below -159 degree Celsius. Normal steel loading arms or rubber flexible hoses cannot withstand such cryogenic temperatures. Thus, these are usually made of expensive special low temperature alloy which has a very good thermal expansion and contraction properties.The main reason the LNG facility uses loading arms is their flexibility accommodating any movement/trim/list of the vessel during loading/discharging. These loading arms are always hydraulically operated and are fitted with emergency release couplings and emergency release system.
Alduco Engineering Services was required to carryout non-invasive like acoustic emission testing on low speed bearing to company’s three LNG loading arm’s pivot bearings (3 bearings per loading arm, total 9 bearings), analyze the data obtained, interpret the bearing current condition and forecast bearing remaining life, all the testing was done in the field at marine jetty.
Alduco Engineering Services was able to complete the project successfully and on time.
