Light Structures to provide monitoring solution for Ichthys LNG facility

Norway-based structural monitoring company Light Structures has been awarded a contract to provide a load and fatigue monitoring solution for Ichthys’ LNG central processing facility (CPF).

The $2.7bn LNG facility, which is currently under construction by Samsung Heavy Industries, will work alongside an FPSO at the Browse basin field, 440km north of Broome, Western Australia.

The CPF, which is expected to be in service in 2016, will be involved in initial processing of the gas to extract condensate and water, before its transfer through a pipeline for further processing.

The load and fatigue monitoring solution will help to monitor and maintain the structural integrity of the enormous CPF, forming the cornerstone of key repair and maintenance tasks, as it enters its 40-year operational lifecycle.

The system will use an array of sensors, connected by zero-power fibre-optic cables to continuously harvest data relating to the loads working on the 110m² structure of the CPF.

Analysis and calculations will be undertaken to monitor the development of fatigue across crucial structural areas based on this data.

The fibre-optic solution, suited for the LNG sector, can be configured without electrical components in hazardous areas and has the ability to operate at low temperatures with complete reliability.

Light Structures managing director Inge Paulsen said that the Ichthys CPF is the biggest project of its kind anywhere in the world.

“The importance of this project, which is set to produce an initial capacity of 8.4 million tonnes of LNG and 1.6 million tonnes of LPG off the Australian coast per annum, has led to understandably stringent quality and safety requirements,” Paulsen added.

Inpex has a 66.07% interest in the Ichthys facility, while Total holds a 30% stake. Other minority partners include Oska Gas, Toho Gas, Tokyo Gas and Chubu Electric Power.