The commissioning of the Phase 1 plant at integrated energy company Renergen’s Virginia gas project, in the Free State, is progressing smoothly, the company announced on May 30.

The company said the cooling systems had been fully commissioned, as had the nitrogen removal system to purify the helium.

All water systems had been commissioned, while all the liquefied natural gas (LNG) cryogenic vacuum jacketed pipelines had been checked and precooled, ready for use.

All of the helium cryogenic vacuum jacketed pipelines had also been checked, as had the completed digital control systems signals and communication equipment.

Safety systems had been installed and were being continually tested, while all rotating equipment had undergone final preparations for the start of operation.

Renergen’s strategy is to expand the Virginia gas project to produce liquid helium and LNG, which will take place in stages. Phase 1 of the project involves connecting existing wells to a new gas pipeline and constructing the new helium and LNG plant.

Once the new plant is operational, Renergen will cease its compressed natural gas production and replace it with LNG.

Renergen still has several key activities to complete on site before the plant is fully commissioned.

The helium vacuum jacketed pipelines need to be precooled in preparation to be ready for use.

Meanwhile, flushing and cleaning the amine wash – a component used to remove carbon dioxide from the gas – needs to take place.

Additionally, all rotating equipment must be tested with nitrogen, and mixed refrigerant circulation testing must also still be completed. The storage tanks also need precooling prior to achieving commercial operation.

To ensure safe operating procedures, the commissioning team said they had elected not to put combustible gas through the system until it was ready for commercial operation, but to rather complete the commissioning with nitrogen as it was inert. This significantly reduced the risk of fires or explosions, Renergen said.

The company said its customer sites were simultaneously being prepared in parallel to receive the LNG, and so the commercial operation date would be timed to coincide to ensure the tanks were filled and that LNG was ready to be received. This would ensure that the plant did not need to be turned off again, allowing for uninterrupted operations to ensue.

Renergen said that, throughout the commissioning, quality assurance and quality control would remain a key focus, along with safety.

In this regard, the company said that several key enhancements had been identified and implemented.

“After 32 months of construction, everyone is really excited for the imminent turn-on but being so close to the finish line means we need to be ultra-cautious to turn on for the right reasons and not risk having to turn it off again for whatever reason.

“I can confidently say that we have had no surprises during hot commissioning and testing has given us comfort that the plant should operate as designed,” said Renergen CEO Stefano Marani.