Contracts & Projects: March 2011

Foster Wheeler has been awarded a contract by Cynar Plc to provide basic process engineering design services for a 6ktpa plant to convert non-recyclable waste plastics into liquid fuels, primarily diesel. The plant in Portlaoise, Ireland, will use Cynar’s pyrolysis technology, supplemented with FW’s refining knowledge to produce liquid fuels. The basic design package is expected to be completed during Q1/11.

Total E&P UK has selected GE Oil & Gas to supply drilling and production equipment for the expansion of the Elgin Franklin gas field in the North Sea. GE is supplying surface wellhead and flow control equipment that can operate at well pressures of 15,000lb/in2 and temperatures of 232 degrees C, as well as field service installation, training and maintenance services.

Westmill Foods has selected Spidex Software’s Mainsaver CMMS maintenance management software .Westmill is one of the largest providers of flour, rice, spices, sauces, oils and noodles to the ethnic wholesale, foodservice, manufacturing and retail sectors. With three UK manufacturing sites, its brands include Amoy and Patak’s.

AES Kilroot coal-, oil- and biomass-fuelled power station in N. Ireland has recently installed a Naiad copperas saturator with Verder Dura pumps to accommodate copperas crystal and generate dilute ferrous sulphate solution for dosing. Read more

Siemens Water Technologies is providing Hydro Recovery LP with a wastewater treatment system to treat natural gas hydraulic fracturing wastewater from Marcellus Shale drilling as well as produced water from operating wells in Tioga and surrounding counties in northeastern Pennsylvania. Read more

Babcock is to supply environmental monitoring services to the Harwell and Winfrith nuclear licensed sites. Under a three-year contract, with two one-year extension options, Babcock’s Nuclear Environmental Laboratory, near Whitehaven, Cumbria, will provide services to ensure that Research Sites Restoration Ltd meets UK regulatory requirements for operation of the sites. This will include sampling soil, vegetation, milk, fish, rainwater, river water, liquid effluents, and air samples.

Saudi Aramco Lubricating Oil Refining Co. (Luberef) has awarded KBR a contract to implement its proprietary solvent deasphalting (SDA) technology ROSE, for Luberef’s Yanbu refinery expansion project in Saudi Arabia. KBR will provide technology licensing and basic engineering services to revamp and almost double the capacity of Luberef’s existing propane deasphalting unit, which currently uses conventional SDA technology. The revamp will increase the production of brightstock and by-products.

SPX Corp. has entered into a $20m contract to replace moisture separator reheaters for the Biblis nuclear power plant A, operated by RWE Power. SPX’s Balcke-Duerr business is to manufacture and install the components. The Biblis plant, 13km north of the city of Worms, has two pressurised water reactor units with a total electrical capacity of about 2,500 MW.

Solvay is to increase its SOLEF production capacity by 50% to meet 10%+ growth in demand for the polyvinylidene fluoride. The Euro26m expansion at its Tavaux plant, France, will become operational in H2/12. The speciality polymer is used in oil & gas extraction, lithium-ion batteries, photovoltaics, semiconductor manufacturing and in water purification membranes.

Australia Pacific LNG Pty Ltd and Sinopec. have agreed a deal for the supply of up to 4,300ktpa of LNG for 20 years and for Sinopec to take a 15% stake in Australia Pacific LNG: reducing both ConocoPhillips’ and Origin Energy’s holdings to 42.5%. Australia Pacific LNG’s project includes the development of large coal seam gas resources in the Surat and Bowen Basins over a 30-year period, a 450km transmission pipeline, and a multi-train LNG facility on Curtis Island, near Gladstone.

KM LNG Operating General Partnership, part of Apache Corp., has awarded KBR a FEED contract for the Kitimat LNG development near Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada. KM LNG is the operator of the development, with it co-owns with a subsidiary of EOG Resources. The Kitimat LNG facility is expected to be a fully electric-driven LNG plant, and will include LNG process facilities, associated infrastructure, administration and marine facilities.

Saudi Aramco has signed up Foster Wheeler and its consortium partners comprising A. Al-Saihati, A. Fattani & O. Al-Othman Consulting Engineering Co., and Saudi Consolidated Engineering Co./Khatib & Alami to provide services under its general engineering services plus (GES+) initiative. Over five years, plus possible extensions, they will provide services including pre-FEED, FEED, detailed design and procurement services for onshore/offshore oil and gas, refining, petchem, and associated infrastructure projects in Saudi Arabia.

John Crabbie & Co. has upgraded its facilities to increase production capacity for alcoholic ginger beer. The company, based in Broxburn, West Lothian, added nine new storage tanks with a capacity of 54,000 litres each, as well as level measurement equipment, from Vega, for each new vessel. Read more

The UK’s Office of Fair Trading has decided not to refer Wood Group’s proposed acquisition of PSN to the Competition Commission. Wood Group said it, therefore, expects completion of the acquisition to take place towards the end of April.

Process modeling company Lanner Group has completed a project for Gazprom as it prepares to execute Phase 1 of the Shtokman LNG project in the Russian Arctic region – with partners Total and Statoil. Lanner’s simulation model was tailored to allow Gazprom to assess the challenges of the location as well as complex upstream and supply chain performance requirements.

Denmark-based personal care products maker Urtekram International A/S has installed a Batch Formula mixing system from GEA Liquid Processing. The Batch Formula system is designed to achieve an optimal emulsification and homogenous product. The powder is dispersed in the liquid by means of a vacuum, so that froth formation and air in the product is reduced to a minimum. Read more

ABB has completed a low voltage AC drive refurbishment programme at the UPM Shotton Paper recycled fibre (RCF) plant (RCF): failures of drives from three suppliers previously accounted for over 5% of downtime at the facility. Read more

RWE Dea UK has announced the successful drilling of an appraisal well 42/13a-6 in the Breagh Field in the North Sea. RWE Dea is operator of the Breagh field with a 70% interest, the remaining 30% being held by Sterling Resources Ltd. The well was drilled to 8624 feet and preliminary analyses indicated 62 feet of net gas bearing sands. Good formation permeability, comparable with the other tested wells in the Breagh field, was confirmed using wireline multi-probe testing.

Saudi Aramco has awarded a general engineering services (GES+) contract to a bidding group led by Mustang Al-Hejailan Engineering, a Wood Group company. It establishes a long-term framework for the supply of engineering, procurement and construction management services to support the execution of onshore and offshore oil & gas projects in Saudi Arabia. The contract is for five years, plus three one-year extension options.

Total UK Ltd has appointed Fisher German to manage its 230km petroleum pipeline, which runs from Immingham to the Buncefield Fuel Depot and from Colnbrook to Heathrow Airport. The surveyor’s utilities and infrastructure dept., based in Ashby de la Zouch, has taken over full land management and emergency response management of the underground pipeline. The three years contract includes full maintenance and management of the line, including overhead helicopter patrols.

Alcoa has finalised a deal with ORKLA ASA to acquire full ownership of the technology associated with the carbothermic aluminum production process, previously jointly owned by the companies. Now in the R&D phase, the carbothermic aluminum production process could potentially produce aluminum and other metals at a lower cost, It is said to allow reduced conversion costs, lower energy requirements, and lower emissions at a lower capital cost than traditional smelting.

Thames Water has installed two EZstrip pumps from NOV Mono at its Bicester sewage treatment works. The plant’s previous pumps, which transferred primary settled sewage sludge from four primary settlement tanks to a duty stand-by, were prone to blockages, causing significant down time for the Oxfordshire plant. The new pumps can be fully stripped down and maintained in place in just 30 minutes.

Under a deal with Novatek, the largest independent gas producer in Russia, Total will become the main international partner on the Yamal LNG project with a 20% share; Novatek holding a 51% interest. Total will take a 12.08% stake in Novatek, rising to 19.40% within 36 months. The project will develop the South Tambey field in the arctic Yamal peninsula. The field resources are estimated at 44trn cubic feet of gas, allowing production of over 15m tons of LNG a year. Total (20%) will have access to reserves of about 800m barrels of oil equivalent within the licence duration.

PTG Heavy Industries of Yorkshire has designed and manufactured two Binns & Berry lathes for producing the critical components for the world’s largest mining shovels, each capable of loading a 500-ton dump truck in just three minutes. The machines have now been installed in the US and China, and feature multi-axes, heavy-duty milling and drilling, a massive thread and $50k forging. Each can replace a lathe, horizontal boring machine and a milling machine previously used to make the parts, the largest of which weighs 11 tons.

Oman Refineries and Petrochemical Co. has awarded CB&I a contract worth over $40m for the FEED and project management services for the Sohar Refinery Expansion Project in Oman. The project will increase the capacity of the existing Sohar refinery from 116k to 187k barrels per stream day by installing various clean fuels units, as well as increasing capacity and debottlenecking existing units in the refinery.

Aker Solutions has been selected as one of two remaining players for the delivery competition of the Browse LNG development. The FEED will commence immediately and the EPCI tender will be submitted mid-2011 with expected contract award end 2011. Operated by Woodside, the development seeks to process gas and condensate from three fields off the Western Australian coast and is a JV comprising Woodside, BHP Billiton, BP, Chevron and Shell.

Engineering support services group Redhall has teamed up with French company ACPP to form a JV to support major skill demands for the forthcoming UK nuclear new build programme. The ACPP-Redhall JV will focus on the design, manufacture and installation of the stainless steel pond liners, tanks and sumps required for nuclear new builds. It’s role will also encompass any additional scope requirements for both the UK and overseas nuclear markets.

Foster Wheeler has won a contract with Zakum Development Co. (ZADCO) for an availability and reliability study relating to an expansion of the Zirku oil processing facilities in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The facilities comprise three oil processing trains and one train on stand-by. FW will conduct site surveys, identify a range of potential expansion options and debottlenecking initiatives, and perform availability and reliability studies to derive a master plan for the facilities.

Emerson is replacing gas and steam turbine controls, as well as balance of plant controls at the Felipe Carrillo Puerto power plant in Valladolid, Mexico. The 220-MW, 2x1 combined-cycle plant is owned by Comisíon Federal de Electricidad. The plant’s existing Siemens controls had been in use since the plant startup in the early 1990s. Read more

Noble Energy Inc. has received an approved permit to resume drilling at the Santiago prospect in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The US clearance marks the restart of well operations, which were suspended in June 2010 as a result of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico drilling moratorium. Read more

OEG Offshore has netted over £1m in contract wins, including delivering a local electrical room to Maersk for its Janice platform in the North Sea, three specialist workshop units for GE Hydril, for use in Perth, Australia, and a specialist engineering cabin to Oil Tech for use in West Africa. It is also to deliver an ROV control cabin to Sub Atlantic, and two A60-rated cabins for Baker Italy and Baker Atlas, and a VSD module each to NOV and Schlumberger.

Xstrata-Nickel has installed two sub-surface B&W Samson feeders, from UK-based B&W Mechanical Handling Ltd, to intake mine tailings at its Nickel Rim South mine site in the Sudbury Basin, northern Ontario. Read more

Centrica Energy Upstream has awarded Subsea 7 SA a $60m engineering, procurement, installation and commissioning contract for the flowlines and subsea works on the Ensign Project, about 18km NW of the Audrey ’A’ platform in the UK sector of the North Sea. The project involves 24km of 10” gas and 2” methanol pipelines - connecting the new un-manned Ensign satellite platform with the existing subsea pipelines at the Audrey ’A’ platform. Engineering, project management and procurement work is underway at Subsea 7’s Aberdeen office. Installation is due in Q3/11.

Amiad Filtration Systems has completed testing of a new water filtration system at Israel-based petrochemicals producer Carmel Olefins Ltd, and it is now fully operational. Based on proprietary disc filtration technology developed by Arkal Filtration Systems, which Amiad acquired in 2010, the system provides full stream filtration for the plant’s cooling water tower system.

Centrica plc, the parent company of British Gas, has signed a three-year contract with Qatargas for the delivery of 2400ktpa of LNG to the UK Isle of Grain facility – enough to meet about 10% of UK annual residential gas demand. In 2010, Qatar supplied 15% of the UK’s total gas demand. By 2025, LNG could account for around 50% of the UK’s total gas supply.

Cheshire-based cheesemaker Joseph Heler Cheese has installed two new custom-designed cooling towers, made by Carter Environmental Engineers of Birmingham, UK. The units replaced two problematic old cooling towers at the Joseph Heler creamery in Hatherton near Nantwich. Read more

Invensys PLC said it has earned support of Russia’s Non-commercial Partnership “Innovations in Power Industry” (NP INVEL), which assists in the introduction of advanced technologies and engineering solutions at power enterprises in Russia and abroad. The partnership, it added, is as an opportunity to raise the level of Russian power industry engineering support. Invensys claims its technologies can increase reliability and safety of the Russian power system, and support the adoption of a ’smart grid’ principle.

KLH Australia-Browse Joint Venture, a joint venture between KBR, Leighton Contractors and John Holland, has been awarded a FEED contract by Woodside for the company’s Browse LNG development in Western Australia. The JV will provide lump sum FEED services for the development of three 4,000ktpa LNG trains, associated infrastructure, accommodation and marine facilities.

BP aims to sell its interests in a number of operated oil and gas fields in the UK by the end of 2011.The assets involved are the Wytch Farm onshore oilfield in Dorset and all of BP’s operated gas fields in the Southern North Sea, including associated pipeline infrastructure and the Dimlington terminal.

Sharecat Solutions has won four contractstotalling $10M by two of the energy industry ’majors’. Sharecat will support three offshore oil and gas projects in the UK sector of the North Sea and one in the Mediterranean area, using its ’project information capture’ software and services to improve the quality and visibility of project information for parties in the oil & gas supply chain.

Spirax Sarco is to install three Babcock Wanson steam generators into a new central boiler house at its Cheltenham site. Spirax Sarco is investing over £25m in its manufacturing facilities, including adding a steam-raising plant for general site services and for R&D. The boiler is to provide up to five tonnes of steam per hour at 60 bar pressure. A further specialist version will provide 1000 kg/h of steam at 110 bar.

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. has signed with the Saudi Industrial Investment Group and Arabian Chevron Phillips Petrochemical Co. Ltd to provide engineering, procurement and construction management services for a polyamide 6,6 manufacturing plant and a number of polymer conversion projects in Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia. The plant is expected to be based on technology licensed from a leading producer of polyamide 6,6

UK printing company Polestar has entered into a 5-year agreement outsourcing its MRO procurement and stores management activity at their five largest sites in the UK to ERIKS. The new contract covers areas such as 5S stores management techniques, technical innovations, inventory reduction and critical spares sharing.

Metso has agreed with Vantaan Energia to deliver a turbine control system to Lang steam turbine of the Martinlaakso power plant in Vantaa, Finland. This will be operational in September, replacing an old control system in a Lang turbine. The delivery also covers changes to the turbine hydraulics as well as vibration protection. An option for Metso’s condition monitoring application is included in the agreement. The turbine controller will be integrated with the existing Metso DNA automation system.

Invensys is to supply ts Triconex critical control, Foxboro I/A Series DCS and HMI systems to the China Nuclear PowerEngineering Co. Ltd (CNPE) Fujian Fuqing Nuclear Power Plant, units 3 and 4 – two 1,000MW nuclear power units being built in Fujian province, China. This is Invensys’ third contract with CNPE, following deals in 2008 and 2010 for several large-scale safety and non-safety DCS systems. The vendor’s technology now being installed at eight nuclear power units under construction in China.

WEG Germany has won a major contract from Outotec for a total of 21 MV motors, including slip ring types up to 5200kW, 24 WEG transformers, six liquid rheostat starters, and project management to install and commission the package. The equipment is for the world’s largest sulphuric acid production facility, currently under construction at Ras Az Zawr, Saudia Arabia. Total investment in the facility, which includes three 13.5kt/day SA plants, is around $240m.

Fluor Corp. has won a FEED contract from Woodside for the Browse LNG development, in the Browse Basin about 425
km north of Broome off the western coast of Australia. Fluor will be responsible for FEED services for the offshore central gas
processing facility including the steel jackets, a compression platform and a utilities accommodation platform. Fluor has teamed with McDermott Int. Inc. to design the steel jackets and float-over installation.

Wood Group’s J P Kenny has been awarded a contract to perform detailed design for Amberjack Pipeline Co. LLC’s Jack/St. Malo deepwater oil export pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico. Amberjack Pipeline is a JV between Chevron Pipe Line Co. and Shell Pipeline Co. LP. Chevron Pipe Line will construct and operate this pipeline for Amberjack.The one-year contract follows J P Kennys completion of the FEED for the project.

ExxonMobil Iraq Ltd has awarded Fluor Corp. an early works programme contract for the West Qurna (Phase I) field near Basra, Iraq. The engineering, procurement, construction and management contract is a reimbursable continuing services agreement for oil field and related infrastructure development with an expected duration of three years. Fluor will book
the undisclosed contract value in each quarter as the work is released.

Shell has received an offer from Essar Energy to buy its 272,000 barrel-per-day Stanlow refinery and associated local marketing businesses in the UK for a total expected consideration of some $1.3 billion. Read more

AMEC has won an engineering, procurement and construction management contract with Compañía Minera del Pacífico SA, for its $574m Cerro Negro Norte iron ore project near Copiapó, Chile. AMEC will help develop the 27kt per day operation. When completed, the mine will produce 4,000ktpa of iron ore concentrate over a 19-year period. Commissioning is due to start in Q1/13. AMEC will execute the project from its Santiago operation.

Infra-red systems from Heraeus Noblelight are being used at in a vinyl flooring production line at the Maidstone factory of Tarkett Ltd. The installation has helped improve controllability and production flexibility of the line. Read more

Babcock has won four contracts, together worth £86m, to supply radiometric services support at Sellafield. Under three 12-year contracts, it is to provide nuclear material assay maintenance delivery and support; maintenance delivery and workshop repairs for installed and portable radiological protection instrumentation; and calibration and repair of maintenance and test equipment. The fourth covers technical and consultancy support for ad-hoc specialist measurements, over four years.

BP is to increase PTA) production capacity at the BP Zhuhai Chemical Co. Ltd - its JV with Zhuhai Port Co. Ltd - site in Guangdong Province, China, and is to build a world-scale PTA plant at the same site. The planned debottleneck will increase capacity by over 200ktpa from its second unit (Z2), making the total PTA capacity at Zhuhai some 1,700ktpa. Read more

By April 2011, KSB will deliver a total of 44 process pumps as well as various auxiliary systems and frequency inverters for a coal gasification plant in India. KSB’s scope of supply also includes the relevant ancillary systems such as frequency inverters and soft starter controls. The new plant built in the countryside in the east Indian state of Orissa will use the synthesis gas obtained from the gasification process to produce pig iron. Read more

Alfa Laval has received an SEK50m order for a complete solution to a vegetable oil plant in India, for delivery in 2011. The project is India’s first complete, integrated edible oil complex, for refining different types of crude oils - from sunflower and soya bean - into high quality oils. The order includes Alfa Laval’s separators, mixers and heat exchangers.

State Nuclear Power Engineering Corp. (SNPEC) has recently awarded Emerson Process Management a multi-million dollar purchase order for critical Fisher control valves to be used in Westinghouse AP1000 pressurized water reactors at both the Sanmen 2 and Haiyang 2 nuclear power plants in China. These are among the first major valve orders to be placed by SNPEC for these AP1000 projects. The valves will be used for applications in the plants’ nuclear islands and in their passive residual heat removal system.

Atlas Copco has acquired Cirmac International BV, which specialises in biogas upgrading systems for the renewable energy industry and also supplies gas treatment systems for applications within oil, gas and chemical processes. Complementing Atlas Copco’s existing portfolio of high-pressure compressor solutions and nitrogen generation equipment, Cirmac’s product offerings will further support the company’s expansion in these areas in the UK.

Total is selling its 48.83% share in CEPSA – Spain’s No. 2 oil company – to IPIC, which is wholly owned by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and a 47.06% stakeholder of CEPSA. The Euro3.7bn deal is linked to an IPIC takeover bid for CEPSA, which has a refining capacity of 528k bpd, about 1,750 service stations in Spain and Portugal and a hydrocarbons production of about 55,000bpd. CEPSA also operates in Petrochemicals, gas distribution and power. Total and IPIC also agreed to develop projects of common interest in the upstream oil and gas sectors.

Rio Tinto Alcan will invest $37m to improve the electrode department at the Sebree aluminium smelter in Kentucky. The project will include installation of a new bake furnace for the fabrication of anode blocks for the smelter’s potlines. The anode bake furnace will be utilised to “bake” 1600 pound green anodes that are used in the aluminium smelting process.

Six Cameron Jiskoot CoJetix sampling systems have been ordered for installation at the new Iraqi Al-Basra Oil Terminal. The terminal, currently under construction in the Persian Gulf, will enable Iraq’s oil export capacity to be boosted by 2.7 million barrels per day. The systems are being supplied as fully integrated packages, and will be delivered to the metering systems contractor who will integrate the packages within the custody transfer metering systems for onward delivery to Iraq.

Tokamak Solutions, a fusion research company based at Culham Innovation Centre, Oxfordshire, has secured £170k of equity investment from investors including the Rainbow Seed Fund, Oxford Instruments plc and Oxford Early Investments network. The company is developing a novel fusion neutron source - a super compact tokamak - and the funding will enable completion of the design. Tokamak Solutions has also been awarded a Euro110k contract from ITER.

Two regulated-speed compressors from CompAir have helped Astrum, a Stanhope, UK-based steel components manufacturer, to cut its compressed air energy costs by more than a half and increase productivity at its foundry in County Durham. Astrum was able to benefit from an interest-free loan from the Carbon Trust to fund the installation, thanks to the high energy efficiency of its new compressed air system.

Tetra Pak CPS has integrated a new single strength apple juice road tanker intake, bulk storage and distribution network at the Headcorn, Kent site of Johnsons Juices – Europe’s largest freshly squeezed juice manufacturer. Read more

Taim Weser has been chosen by LLX, part of the EBX group, to design, manufacture, supply and implement transport systems and iron ore stockyard machinery for the new project of the Brazilian group, the port known as the “Superporto Sudeste”, a modern port terminal in the Sepetiba Bay, at Itaguaí, 80 km from Rio de Janeiro. TW’s order includes supplying a complete conveyor belt system and four combined stacker/reclaimer machines.

Alstom UK Ltd, Drax Power Ltd and National Grid have applied for partial EU funding for a new stand-alone, 426MW gross, oxy-fired carbon capture and storage (CCS) demo project at Drax’s site at Selby, Yorkshire. As part of the project, National Grid, with an offshore partner will develop a transportation system out to the southern North Sea where the CO2 will be stored – in-line with its plans to develop a cluster of CCS projects in the Humber area.

Wood Group is selling its well support division to GE for $2.8bn. The sale, together with the recently announced acquisition of PSN, is in line with Wood Group’s focus on its core engineering and operations & maintenance activities in its engineering & production facilities and gas turbine services divisions. GE’s oil & gas unit, meanwhile, is seeking to enhance its equipment and solutions portflio.

Cranfield University, in association with the European Regional Development Fund, OASIS Network and the East of England Development Agency, is inviting companies to the launch of a new supply chain initiative for the provision of goods and services into an new renewable energy programme in the east of England. Cranfield is developing pilot and test facilities specifically addressing the biofuel production from microalgae. Read more

Foster Wheeler has been awarded an engineering design contract for a copper concentrator plant in Chile for the Chilean Copper Corp. (CODELCO), as part of the improvement project for the El Teniente Concentrator. During Q2/11, FW will provide front-end conceptual engineering (including optimisation trade-offs, 3D model designs and a Capex estimate) for modifications to the mineral ore feeding system for the SAG-1 and SAG-2 mills; improvement of the molybdenum processing plant; increased production of soluble copper; and improvements to the environmental protection at the tailings distribution system.

Metso has won a Euro30m order to supply a gasifier for Göteborg Energi AB´s GoBiGas20MW project. The gasification demo plant will be operational in early 2013, producing biogas by gasification of biofuels and waste from forestry. Sited at the existing premises of Rya Värmecentral in Gothenburg, Sweden. The commercial scale plant will have a capacity of about 100 MW biogas, operating 8 000 hrs/year. Metso’s gasification solution is based on licensed technology for indirect gasification developed by Austrian company REPOTEC.

British Sugar and Air Liquide are on track with plans to establish a new carbon dioxide recovery and liquefaction plant at British Sugar’s Wissington factory. The unit, which is scheduled for commissioning in the summer of 2011, will recover up to 70ktpa of CO2 from natural fermentation processes and improve the Wissington plant’s greenhouse gas rating.

Metso is to supply an energy automation system to the new 50MW biomass CHP plant being built by RWE npower renewables in Markinch, Fife, Scotland. The design, supply, installation, construction and commissioning for the plant is provided by Aker Solutions. Metso will deliver a metsoDNA single architecture control system for the plant consisting of a 155 MWth circulating fluidised bed (CFB) boiler, a steam turbine plant and a fuel handling plant. The new power boiler will also be supplied by Metso.

Invensys has implemented its InFusion Enterprise Control System (ECS) at ExxonMobil Lubricants & Specialties Co’s lubricants plant in Beaumont, Texas. The ECS will help manage the operating facility, controlling major processes and integrating the existing SAP enterprise resource planning, batch process and final packaging and shipping systems. It will apply the principles of real-time process automation across the manufacturing enterprise.

KBR has been awarded a contract by the ministry of mines, industry and energy of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea to provide a Conceptual Study and associated Project Management Services for the development of a low complexity, modular 20,000 barrel per day (BPD) refinery at Mbini in the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, West Africa.

Metso is to supply combustion management systems for the reduction of emissions at the 225MW Jaworzno III power plant in southern Poland. The project will be carried out in co-operation with Fortum Power and Heat Oy, Power Solutions, which is responsible for the modernisation of six coal-fired boilers at the plant. The project is the largest of its kind ever in Poland that aims at climate change mitigation through the reduction of nitrogen oxides (NOx). Delivery scope includes an advanced Process Control (APC) solution running on the metsoDNA CR automation and information platform to optimise the combustion process efficiently in real time.

GE Intelligent Platforms’ Proficy Workflow work process management solution has been chosen by S3 Development Corp. of Nashua, New Hampshire, as the foundation for an intelligent control room management solution for its natural gas and hazardous liquids customers. The solution will be piloted at three East Coast natural gas utilities, starting in Q1/11. The move is in response to new US safety standards for companies transporting hazardous liquids and gases by pipeline

Metso is to supply automation to a 40MW cogeneration plant being built in the Artenius Sines petrochemical industrial park in Portugal. The scope includes a metsoDNA distributed control system featuring an integrated trend, event archive and reporting system. The turnkey delivery also covers system engineering, factory acceptance tests, commissioning as well as training for the operation and maintenance teams.

Petrovis LLC, the largest petroleum provider in Mongolia, is to use Honeywell technology at a newly constructed fuel depot near the capital, Ulaanbaatar. Honeywell’s Experion Process Knowledge System, OneWireless and Digital Video Manager are to help maintain operational efficiency and safety standards at the Petrovis terminal, while a Honeywell Enraf tank gauging system is to control, measure and monitor tank farms; fire alarm and gas detection system to improve safety and security.

Chronos BTH has won an order from a Mexican flour mill to supply two process weighers offering data collection and automated stock reconciliation features. The APW units also feature a three-point ATEX compliant loadcell weighing system. They will each be fitted with 170-litre capacity weigh hoppers and two position infeed catchgates. One will be used for controlling grain being fed onto the Mill, whilst the second APW will be used for monitoring flour outputs.

Babcock has been awarded a framework contract by Magnox Ltd for the retrieval and processing of both wet and solid intermediate level radioactive waste across all the Magnox sites in the UK. Babcock will supply equipment and technical support as an integrated solution to specific project requirements, retrieve and process various waste streams for storage in self-shielding waste containers for final disposal. 

KBR has been awarded a contract by Saudi Aramco to provide FEED and project management services (PMS) for its grassroots Jazan refinery, an anticipated 400k barrels/day facility in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. KBR’s remit is to develop the process design, layout, integration and optimisation of the facility, develop equipment and material specifications, prepare EPC bid packages and develop an estimate for the construction of the refinery.

Foster Wheeler has been awarded a feasibility study contract by Karnalyte Resources Inc. for the Wynyard Carnallite Potash project in Saskatchewan, Canada. The study will consider initial production of 500ktpa and expansion of the facility to 2,000ktpa within five to six years. The Wynyard facility is expected to recover high purity potassium chloride from potash ore deposits. The potassium chloride will be used to produce potash fertiliser.

For the Wynyard Carnallite Potash project, Foster Wheeler will coordinate preparation of the overall environmental impact statement, which will advance concurrently with the feasibility study. GeoEngineers Inc. will perform environmental and geotechnical engineering services for the study. ERCOSPLAN Ing. Geotechnik of Erfurt Germany will perform mining engineering services for the underground mining portion of the study.

Lonza Biotec sro, a Czech Republic-based supplier to the global pharma, healthcare and life science industries, has invested in a multi-product manufacturing facility that increases its fermentation capacities by 50%. The combined production management and weighing system, for this facility is controlled by a web-based Pilot MES/WDS from Felten in Germany.

Energy company Local Generation has started building its first anaerobic digestion (AD) plant in March, Cambridgeshire. The plant will transform 30,000 tonnes of both packaged and unpackaged food waste each year into clean, green energy and will be fully operational later in 2011.

Process engineers at AkzoNobel’s Birmingham coatings facility have chosen EKATO agitators to reduce energy use and increase overall throughput and production capacity. The new agitators, said EKATO, have cut energy consumption by over 60%and batch time by 20 minutes. The site manufactures water-based coatings used to protect the food and beverage contents from the metal can, as well as the metal can from the contents

The HART Communication Foundation has selected the MOL Plc Danube Refinery in Százhalombatta, Hungary, as recipient of the 2010 HART Plant of the Year Award. Beginning in 2002, MOL engineers made the strategic decision to install HART-enabled devices, both wired and wireless, throughout their operation, as part of a plant-wide refining maintenance strategy with an objective to increase operational reliability. Read more

Ecolutia Services has completed a multi-phased outsourced water treatment project to help commission a new 420 MW CCGT power station. The temporary treatment and supply of water for the joint construction project between Edison Engineering and Aktor was concluded in time for the handover and scheduled start of commercial operations. Located near Thisvi, in southern central Greece, the mobile water treatment systems produced over 30,000 m3 of high quality water to ensure sufficient availability throughout the project duration.

Jacobs Engineering Group Refining Co. has won a contract from Saudi Aramco Lubricating Oil (Luberef) to provide FEED services to support an estimated $1bn expansion project at its lube oil refinery in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia. The FEED services are for both inside battery limits (ISBL) and outside battery limits (OSBL). The ISBL services involve a new lube oil unit (hydrocracking, iso-dewaxing/hydrofinishing), a new sulfur complex, and an expansion of the propane de-asphalting unit; the OSBL services involve all utilities and infrastructure.

Wood Group statement (3 Feb): In response to recent media speculation, Wood Group confirms that it is evaluating the possible sale of the Well Support division. These discussions may or may not lead to a transaction.

ABB has awarded Aker Marine Contractors the contract to install its subsea power cable for the Goliat field in the Barents Sea. The Aker unit will install the cable utilising its new-build subsea installation and construction vessel, AMC Connector. She will install 106,5km of ABB cable, weighing 6,000 tonnes, stretching from Hammerfest, Norway, offshore to the Goliat FPSO.

Poland’s largest electricity company Polska Grupa Energetyczna has awarded Emerson a $95m contract to modernise units 7 through 12 of its Belchatow Power station. Emerson will serve as both the main automation contractor and main electrical contractor, responsible for updating the instrumentation, control and electrical subsystems. Read more

Thames Water has awarded Vennsys Ltd, a consortium led by Veolia Water UK, to manage all its metering services which include meter installation, meter reading and the implementation of automatic meter reading by radio communication. This 10-year contract will generate estimated revenues of around Euro280m. Vennsys will employ more than 200 people and is a JV between Veolia Water UK (51%), H2O Water Services (34%) and Mace (15%).

US-based JC Carter LLC is supplying 22 pumps for the LNG terminal on Jurong Island, Singapore. Singapore LNG Corp. (SLNG) and its EPC partner Samsung C&T Corp. are building three LNG storage tanks on the Island. The order covers three in-tank send-out pumps per tank, two reloading pumps per tank, six total high pressure booster pumps and one LNG drain pump.

ScottishPower has got the offical green light to construct a new 1,000MW gas-fired power station near Hoo St Werburgh in Kent, adjacent to the existing Damhead Creek 800 MW gas-fired power station. The Damhead Creek 2 Combined Cycle Gas Turbine Plant could generate enough electricity to supply almost 1.5 million homes.

PetroChina has offered $1bn to buy a 50% share of INEOS Group’s European refining business, which includes the refineries at Grangemouth in Scotland and Lavéra in France. Read more

BP is to halve its US refining capacity by selling its Texas City and Carson refineries. The planned sales, which are part of repositioning of the trouble-prone group’s US refining and marketing (R&M) business, are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2012. Read more

BASF has started operations at its expanded plant for the production of the biodegradable plastic Ecoflex. Expansion of the existing plant in Ludwigshafen will increase production capacity for Ecoflex from 14ktpa to 74ktpa. At the same time, BASF will ramp up compounding capacity for Ecovio, a derivative of Ecoflex – a polyester with properties similar to polyethylene.

Fulton Ltd has supplied an oil-fired, 60J vertical steam boiler to Westcountry Smokehouses, a family-owned producer of fine cured and smoked foods. Having secured a contract to supply cooked duck, fish and ready meals for a supermarket chain, Westcountry upgraded its facility by installing a second processing line, and once again chose steam for the cooking process.

Vattenfall Europe AG has sold its 25% share in the 563MW Rostock hard-coal fired power plant to RheinEnergie AG, Cologne. RheinEnergie is also acquiring the 24.6% share held by RWE AG, Essen, in the power plant. The remaining 50.4 percent continues to be held by EnBW AG.