2. Brief History Of Company and
introduction
๏ต As part of the thrust into diversifying the natural gas sector, and in order to remain
globally competitive, Phoenix Park Gas Processors Limited (PPGPL) was formed in 1989
by NGC, international energy company ConocoPhillips, and Pan West Engineers and
Constructors Inc. PPGPL began operations in 1991.
๏ต Note:
๏ต The electricity sector is fuelled entirely by natural gas. Trinidad Generation Unlimited
power plant, the second combined cycle plant in the country, with a generating capacity of
720MW
๏ต Consider the efficiency and operational costs of all downstream consumers of natural
gas are directly affected by the purity of the gas supplied to them from NGC via PPGPL.
3. Continued
๏ต PPGPLโs ability to process and market fuels derived from natural gas such as propane,
butane and natural gasoline, has positioned Trinidad and Tobago as a major exporter
of natural gas derivatives
5. Process description
๏ต 1) Inlet to Facility: Conditions the gas for the process. Here separators, filters,
coalescers remove free water and condensate from the gas.
๏ต 2) Stabilization: Removes the light ends from the gas so that it can be safely and easily
stored.
๏ต 3) Dehydration System: removes excess water vapour in the gas after the inlet and
before the cryogenic process to prevent the formation of hydrates.
๏ต 4) Cryogenic Facilities: Cools down gas in stages to remove NGLs, condensate and
natural gasoline via chillers, heat exchangers and a turbo expander.
6. Continued
๏ต 5) Fractionation of NGLs: propane is separated from the stream in the depropanizer
and stored into tanks. Butane is separated in the debutanizer, normal butane is stored
into tanks while some of the stream goes to the butane splitter where isobutane is
obtained and stored into tanks
๏ต 6) Products are stored in large specialized and insulated tanks and the sent to two
loading docks where they are loaded onto large ships to be exported to North American,
South American and Caribbean LPG markets.
7. Major equipment
๏ต Inlet separator: Designed to remove undesirable components and to separate the gas
from free liquids like crude oil, hydrocarbon condensate, water and entrained solids.
๏ต Stabilization Tower: Designed to remove the lighter ends from the heavier ends of the
condensate so that it can be easily and safely stored.
๏ต Dehydration System: Designed to remove any free water and liquids from the gas after
the inlet separation to prevent the build-up of hydrates in the expansion cooling process
that follows.
8. continued
๏ต Flaring system: Designed to collect, route and combust all the waste gas streams in a
safe controlled manner
๏ต Plate finned heat exchanger: Made up of layers of corrugated sheets separated by
metal plates to create a series of finned chambers. It is used for cryogenic purposes (due
to the aluminium design) such as natural gas liquefaction in the case of PPGPL.
๏ต Turbo Expander: Refrigerates the gas to a low temperature via heat exchange and
pressure reduction through doing work which causes ethane, propane and butane to
condense out of the gas leaving on a stream of methane gas.
9. continued
๏ต Joule Thomson Valve: This is a valve which is insulated and restricts the flow of natural
gas causing a pressure drop downstream and thus the gas temperature drops to very low
temperatures to allow NGLs to drop out of the gas by condensation
๏ต Coalescer: Two stage filtering system which removes liquids (entrained hydrocarbons
and water) and solids from a natural gas stream
10. HSSE
๏ต PPGPLโs plant utilizes:
๏ท Safety LOP; Layers of protection.
๏ท Safety Instrument Shutdown System (SIS/ Failsafe System takes over in severe
emergency circumstances and systematically brings the entire plant to a stop without
any human intervention)
๏ท PSV (pressure safety valve, to flare)
๏ท Flare System (most important in the plant safety loop)
11. Role of operator
๏ต 1. Normally a basic work day at PPGPL is divided into two, 12 hour shifts continuous 7
days of the week, where shift teams are on a rotation system.
๏ต 2. Each shift utilizes a team of 8 plant operators, where 4 operators are stationed at
the main control room of the facility, while the other 4 operators routinely inspect and
record real time plant and equipment conditions as requested, directed by the control
room operators.
๏ต 3. All operational events and data in relation to the plant; equipment status, operator
actions, alarms and product sample test results are automatically saved on a dedicated
network system and can be accessed by staff at any time.
12. conclusion
๏ต The role of Phoenix Park Gas Processors Limited greatly impacts the operational costs
of downstream natural gas consumers and is indeed a key asset to the positive
development and growth of the countryโs manufacturing and energy sector, while
supplying high purity LNG,s to export markets.
