23-02-2017

Compact desalters for largest investment project in Uzbekistan

Frames has completed the fabrication of two desalters that will be installed at the Kandym Gas Processing Plant in Uzbekistan. In August 2015, Frames was awarded by Hyundai Engineering Co. Ltd. to design and supply two desalters. The desalters have an inner diameter of 2.4 metres, tangent-to-tangent length of 2.2 metres and are designed to remove emulsified water and salt from unstabilized condensate. Lowering the salt content is necessary to minimize corrosion and other undesirable effects to downstream equipment.
 
Geert Willemse, Sales Manager at Frames Separation Technologies, is very pleased with the completion of the desalters. “This is Frames’ first reference in Uzbekistan and our second project with Lukoil. Following an intensive kick-off meeting with our valued customers Hyundai Engineering Co. Ltd. and Lukoil, the project was unrolled in line with project needs. Together we have faced a number of challenges, but the excellent cooperation between Frames and Hyundai Engineering Co. Ltd. has enabled us to successfully complete the fabrication and delivery of the two desalters. We have shown that we are reliable partners for a project of this kind.”
 
Jeongwoo Hong, Project Procurement Engineer at Hyundai Engineering Co. Ltd., is very satisfied with the collaboration between both companies. “The communication and project management between Frames and Hyundai Engineering Co. Ltd. went very smoothly. We appreciate Frames’ contribution to this project and we would like to work with them again in future projects.”
 
Over the years, Frames has supplied various desalters for both onshore and offshore applications. “With our recent delivery of the huge desalters (4.3 metres in diameter and 49 metres in length) for the Shaybah project in Saudi Arabia, we showcased our capabilities at the upper range. Thanks to the success of this project, we have been able to do the same on a smaller scale. In addition, Frames was able to prove its competitiveness in compact and high alloys desalters,” says Willemse.
 
The Kandym Gas Processing Plant is to be built in the Kandym gas field, located around 520 km southwest of Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. The field is owned by Russia’s largest privately-owned company, Lukoil, and national oil company Uzbekneftegaz. The facility will have an annual capacity of 8.1 billion cubic metres of gas and will process sour natural gas from the Kandym group of fields located in the Bukhara region of Uzbekistan. The Kandym group of fields consists of six gas condensate fields: Kandym, Kuvachi-Alat, Akkum, Parsankul, Khoji and West Khoji.
 
The construction of the Kandym Gas Processing Plant is Lukoil’s largest investment project in Uzbekistan. The project will create over 2,000 jobs and, during the peak construction period, will employ more than 10,000 workers at various facilities.