Gas equipment supplier Energas Technologies says it will be beneficial being an exclusive, local distributor and service provider for Italy-based specialised equipment manufacturer VRV, to local refineries and petrochemicals companies in particular.

“Being a local distributor and service provider for VRV is beneficial, owing to its extensive experience in manufacturing high-pressure equipment and high-temperature vessels . . .” notes Energas project engineers HP van Huyssteen.

Energas’s core focus is supporting and supplying systems and equipment – including valves, flowmeters, safety valves, pressure regulators, filters, heaters and specialised vessels – to the natural gas industry for companies such as petrochemicals giant Sasol, since 2001.

The addition of VRV’s equipment and expertise will further enhance Energas’s offering to the local chemicals and petrochemicals industries.

A testament to what Energas is able to offer the South African industry is VRV’s high-pressure vessel package that has been supplied to Sasol’s Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP), in Louisiana, in the US, where several manufacturing units are situated on a 162 ha property.

The LCCP manufactures products used in the cleaning and personal care markets to produce ingredients for soaps, detergents, shampoos and cosmetics. This facility also manufactures speciality chemicals used in mild abrasives, thickeners and pharmaceuticals.

“VRV’s supply to Sasol US entails products for a high- pressure separator and three high-pressure recycle gas knock-out drums, designed for Sasol’s low-density polyethelyne unit,” Van Huyssteen explains.

He further mentions that the specifications for these critical and long-lead items were originated by oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil under its process licence and Sasol’s pressure vessel specification.

Van Huyssteen explains that construction company Fluor, based in California, in the US, developed the front-end engineering design for the LCCP, followed by a joint venture formation between Fluor and engineering services provider Technip USA, before novation to Japanese contractor Mitsui Engineering.

“Among these mega global players, VRV proudly supplied the pressure equipment.”

This project started in 2015 and is expected to be completed in 2018.

Specialised Service

Van Huyssteen says Energas also aims to supply protection equipment for liquid storage tanks, such as conservation vents, flame arresters and emergency vents.

“We specialise in supplying complete skid-mounted high-pressure reduction and metering stations for easy installation in remote areas.”

He adds that another category in Energas’s product range is waste heat recovery and generating electricity from renewable sources.

Through the organic rankine cycle process, electricity and heat can be generated for several industry applications.

VRV Offering

VRV’s product range for petrochemicals applications includes reactors, vessels and heat exchangers, with specific focus on high-pressure and high-temperature applications.

The company’s main equipment comprises heavy wall reactors, dehydrogenation reactors, polypropylene and polyethylene reactors, continuous polymerisation reactors/ finishers, bayonet-type heat exchangers and equipment for cryogenic applications.

VRV offers various materials for fabrication, including carbon, low-alloy steel, austenitic stainless steel, austenitic-ferritic steel and nickel alloys.

Additionally, the company offers a complete set of engineering services, such as thermal design, mechanical design and finite element analysis, as well as detailed flow induced vibration analysis and advanced pressure vessels analysis.