The Argentina propane/butane export terminal at Puerto Galvan, Bahia Blanca provided Transportadora de Gas del Sur (TGS) an economical way to export refrigerated liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by ship. The export terminal was designed to include propane and butane storage tanks, facilities for refrigerating the incoming product and maintaining it cold in storage, sendout pumps, insulated transfer lines from the storage area to dual loading arms on the existing jetty and miscellaneous plant facilities.
The 30,000 cubic meter propane and 15,000 cubic meter butane storage tanks are cylindrical, single-wall, flat bottom tanks with internal suspended insulation decks and stiffened dome roofs. The tank design, materials and insulation allow for both tanks to store either propane or butane.
The tank shell insulation is CB&I’s proprietary, external Horizontally Foamed In Place (HFIP) insulation system. The HFIP insulation system allows the foam to bond to both the jacket and the tank shell, resulting in a superior moisture and wind resistant insulation system.
The facility is designed to receive 40 metric tons per hour of propane feed and 20 metric tons per hour of butane feed simultaneously through separate feed lines. The product received for storage comes from either the nearby gas processing plant or the on-site warm full pressure storage sphere. Refrigeration is provided by a two-stage open loop air-cooled system utilizing screw compressors.
The facility is designed to load ships at a rate of 2500 cubic meters per hour. The two product pumps can be used to withdraw product from either of the two storage tanks and pump the liquid through the insulated piping to the loading arms at the ship berthing station.
The facility is monitored and controlled by a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) based control system. Operators can monitor and control the facility either at the local control room or at the main gas processing plant control room. Full plant control, data acquisition and hazard detection monitoring is displayed at both locations. This flexible system is designed for safe and complete plant operation and ease of operator monitoring.