Twister BV today announced the completion of a joint technology development agreement with Petrobras (Petróleo Brasileiro SA) for the first phase in the development of a sub-sea gas processing unit based on Twister technology.
The project will build on the results of a feasibility study completed in 2002 by a partnership comprising Shell, FMC-Kongsberg and Twister BV, and funded by the Norwegian Government under the DEMO 2000 programme. It will also benefit from a subsequent subsidy award from the European Commission for the development and testing of a sub-sea Twister gas processing system.
Petrobras has purchased a Twister unit for an onshore test which is expected to take place during 2008 at the Estaçäo Geofísico Vandemir Ferreira de Oliveira (EVF DPP), which processes gas from the Manati platform (PMNT-1), both located in the Bahia state in north-east Brazil. The Twister gas processing module will be used for dehydrating and dewpointing Manati gas before it is delivered as sales gas.
Petrobras have identified the Canapu field in the Espirito Santo basin as the preferred location for subsequent sub-sea testing of the Twister sub-sea pilot system.
An onshore chemical-free Twister gas processing module will be installed in early 2008 for dehydrating and dewpointing 120 MMscfd of gas which will be supplied as fuel to the Shell Petroleum Development Company owned and operated 970 MW Afam V1 Power Plant in Nigeria.
The selected Twister design benefited from extensive Twister testing and operating experience at five onshore gas plants in the Netherlands, Nigeria and Norway, as well as almost four years of successful full scale commercial operation on the Petronas/SSB B11 facility offshore East Malaysia.
Twister technology treats gas at supersonic velocities, extracting water and hydrocarbon liquids. Compared to conventional technologies, the Twister process requires no chemicals and hence reduces environmental emissions and exposure to hazardous gas. It has no moving parts, permits near instant start up and allows considerable cost reduction, particularly for offshore installations.