Spanish design company Tecnicas Reunidas (part of Initec Plantas Industriales group of companies) approached Farrat with a view to providing both products and specialist engineering consultancy support as a part of the overall $3.5 billion Engineering, Procurement and Construction project – Sahil & Shah Full Field Development Project for Oil and Gas.
The client had never had to consider vibration control so the design was very closely monitored and controlled due to the critical requirements of the equipment.
There were some key questions posed by the design process. A series of compressors were to be constructed on Desert sand of roughly 5 metres depth meaning that vibration had to be minimised in order to prevent the installation sinking. Further challenges came in the form of high temperature operating conditions and the complex load distribution of off-centre rotating equipment such as the large electric motor and associated compressor equipment skid.
The compressors needed to be located 3.7 metres above ground level to meet up with the pipelines and were being installed in a location subject to an ambient temperature of 58ûC within an open shelter. We were also required to advise on management of the installation process being undertaken by unskilled labour and in a remote location in the middle of the desert 200km south of Abu Dhabi.
