Damaged Dahej pump to be fixed by mid-September
Hungry gas customers buying re-gassified LNG from Dahej must bear with shortages for another three weeks before a pump at the Petronet-LNG terminal is completely repaired.
Petronet-LNG tells PETROWATCH the pump will be fixed and R-LNG supplies restored to normal at the “latest by mid-September†this year. According to a three-month partial â€کforce majeure’ declared by Petronet-LNG in early July, the repair work should have finished by the end of September.
But the company now hopes to finish work earlier. From the Dahej terminal, Petronet-LNG is contracted to supply 22.9m cm/d of R-LNG.
“Out of this 17.5m cm/d are regular supplies under a long-term contract with RasGas and the rest (5.4m cm/d) is meant for Dabhol under a short-term contract (valid until September 2009).†Petronet-LNG says despite one pump being out of action it can still send out 21m cm/d R-LNG.
“The shortfall is just 1.9m cm/d,†we hear. As for the damaged pump, our source reveals that, “the manufacturer came over to Dahej to diagnose the problem and concluded that a â€کvapour lock’ was the problem.
†Petronet-LNG tells us the parts needed to fix the problem must be specially manufactured, because they are custom-made for the Dahej terminal. “The parts will be manufactured in India and the replacement will be carried out by Toyo Engineering, or someone else.
†Fortunately, adds our source, “Toyo is already at the site and does not have to be specially mobilised.†Petronet-LNG feels the breakdown was the result of “normal wear and tear.
†An â€کoverhaul’ of the pump is routinely done after 20,000 hours of operation. “After the overhaul the pump was re-started and it began vibrating,†we hear.
“Dahej has a nine-stage compression system and this particular pump is the last in the chain.†Along with replacing the defective parts in the pump, engineers will also “re-configure the piping layout to avoid a recurrence†of the problem.