Honeywell to improve operations for LNG pipeline in China

Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) has announced that its technology will help improve operations for China’s long-distance Guangxi liquefied natural gas (LNG) high-pressure pipeline.

A key strategic project of Sinopec Limited and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the Guangxi LNG pipeline will play a critical role in optimising China’s energy structure and meeting the demand for natural gas in Guangxi. The project will use HPS gas measurement and equipment and software to measure the flow and pressure in the pipeline.

“We are able to draw upon our experience in long-distance, natural gas high-pressure pipelines to provide expertise to this essential clean energy project,” said Aldous Wong, HPS vice president, Greater China. “Pipelines have challenges that are very different from processing plants since you have to manage an operation that is hundreds or sometimes thousands of miles long. Measurements such as flow and pressure must be accurate and immediately accessible to keep the pipeline operating most efficiently.”

The pipeline should be completed later this year, and will have a capacity of 8 billion cubic metres of LNG a year and a total length of more than 2100 km, from Maoming to Beihai in the Guangxi region. This pipeline will be part of a network that transports natural gas and LNG from as far away as Kazakhstan to China. HPS technology is already being used on all three of the 1770 km Central Asia to China pipelines as well as the 9000 km West to East II pipeline across China.

The integrated gas measurement technologies provided by Honeywell includes computer software and sensors that measure flow, temperature, pressure and other indicators that are critical to maintain optimum performance throughout the entire pipeline. These include: temperature and pressure transmitters; ultrasonic flowmeters to measure natural gas for custody transfer; and flow computers to perform parallel calculations of compressibility according to all established methods, including GERG 88 S, AGA 8 and AGA NX 19.