RHEA project: on the way to Qatar!

After six months of integration in Sassenage’ workshops, the helium liquefier of the RHEA (Ras Laffan Helium Air Liquide) project is hitting the road to reach the purification and liquefaction helium plant at the site of Ras Laffan, Qatar. The teams of Air Liquide Advanced Technologies has once again demonstrated their expertise and know-how by designing and manufacturing the largest helium liquefier in the world ever made to that date and this, in the time limit set by the customer (RasGas). The liquefier will reach its destination around mid-February, after a long journey, to be integrated into the entire unit RHEA. The teams of Air Liquide Engineering, responsible for the purification element of the plant, will then follow the installation for Air Liquide Advanced Technologies, with the technical support of its teams. After a phase of start-up and testing, the first drops of helium should be produced late 2012, early 2013.

RHEA in figures, this is:

• One cold box 15m long by 4m in diameter with a total weight of 108 tons
• 520 meters of pipes, 750 fittings, 1 200 welds
• 6 turbines, 2 of witch “TC7” of 180 kW each, that will be the most powerful machines ever built to liquefy the helium
• Liquid helium production: 38 million m3 per year by RHEA, 58 million m3 in total with the first plant (RLH 1) which was also implemented by Air Liquide Advanced Technologies
• Ras Laffan produces 25% of the world’s production of helium
• Helium Recovery performance: 98%
• Helium purity: more than 99.999%