Ametek Scores Major Analyzer Contract for Shah Gas Field

Aug. 14, 2013

When completed next year, the $10 billion Shah Gas Development Project is expected to have the world’s largest facility of sulfur recovery units and tail gas treating units. Ametek is supplying gas analyzers for a $4.6 million contract.

Aaron Hand,

Aaron Hand

The $10 billion Shah Gas Development (SGD) Project from Abu Dhabi Gas Development Co. (Al Hosn Gas) is one of the largest greenfield gas development projects ever undertaken. Located about 130 miles southwest of Abu Dhabi, the sour gas reservoir is expected to process about 1 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) of sour gas into 0.5 bcf/d of usable gas. Aside from the sheer size of the facility, the high technology used to process the gas will set new industry benchmarks, according to Al Hosn Gas.

Ametek Process Instruments has been awarded a contract to supply UV process gas analyzers for the sulfur recovery units (SRUs) and tail gas treating units (TGTUs) for the SGD project. When completed, the SRU-TGTU complex is expected to be the largest in the world.

Each of the SRU’s four processing trains is so large that it will require twin reaction furnaces with three tail gas analyzers per train, making the project the largest single order for tail gas analyzers ever. With additional associated analyzers, the SRU will have seven Ametek analyzers per train for a total of 28 analyzers.

The Shah Gas Field’s extensive gas reservoirs have not been developed previously because of the challenging operating conditions. The field’s sour gas contains an average of 23 percent hydrogen sulfide and 10 percent carbon dioxide. At those concentrations, the gas can corrode metals, it poses a hazard to plant safety, and it requires extensive processing.

The Ametek contract is valued at about $4.6 million, and includes installation of the following Western Research analyzers:

12 Model 900 air demand analyzers, developed to meet the requirements of the latest sulfur recovery processes. The unit measures up to five species simultaneously, including hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), sulfur dioxide (S₂O), carbonyl sulfide (COS), carbon disulfide (CS₂) and sulfur vapor (Sv).
12 Model 931 single-gas analyzers, which are rugged, single-component photometric gas analyzers housed in an explosion-proof package designed for a variety of gas monitoring and process control applications. It uses Ametek’s high-resolution UV technology in a dual-beam, dual-wavelength configuration that features no moving parts.
Four Model 930 H₂S vapor space analyzers, developed to measure H₂S vapor in pits used to store liquid sulfur. The vapor poses a potential danger to plant operation and personnel and must be carefully monitored.

About the Author

Aaron Hand | Editor-in-Chief, ProFood World

Aaron Hand has three decades of experience in B-to-B publishing with a particular focus on technology. He has been with PMMI Media Group since 2013, much of that time as Executive Editor for Automation World, where he focused on continuous process industries. Prior to joining ProFood World full time in late 2020, Aaron worked as Editor at Large for PMMI Media Group, reporting for all publications on a wide variety of industry developments, including advancements in packaging for consumer products and pharmaceuticals, food and beverage processing, and industrial automation. He took over as Editor-in-Chief of ProFood World in 2021. Aaron holds a B.A. in Journalism from Indiana University and an M.S. in Journalism from the University of Illinois.