Helium liquefier for the Ras Laffan site in Qatar [ Return towards  References  ]

This project represents the premier benchmark global liquid helium production plant for Air Liquide Advanced Technologies.
Unlike the refrigerators usually designed by the division – an ultimate cold source for basic or applied research facilities - the RLH plant can be used to purify and produce liquid helium from a natural gas source for use in industrial and domestic applications.

Complementary expertise between two Air Liquide divisions This project was implemented by two divisions of the Air Liquide group. The Air Liquide Engineering (ALE) division, with a long track record in industrial projects, took on the design and implementation of the "purification" part, while Air Liquide Advanced Technologies performed the same task for the "liquefaction" part. On-site equipment assembly was handled by ALE, with technical support from the Advanced Technologies team.
The equipment was delivered in the autumn of 2004 and assembly completed early in the second half of 2005. The first liquid helium container was filled in mid-September 2005.

A technical and industrial challenge. This Air Liquide unit is one of the largest helium liquefiers ever designed and built in terms of production capacity.
Air Liquide was able to contribute its expertise in very low temperature processes and technologies and participate in the turnkey (EPC) management of a large industrial project.
Allowance also had to be made for the technical and documentary specifications specific to the petrochemicals sector and environmental constraints related to the operating conditions encountered in Qatar.
Through its participation in this project, Air Liquide Advanced Technologies demonstrated its capacity to meet complex industrial needs and complemented the expertise contributed by the other Air Liquide divisions, in the area of cutting edge technologies such as liquefiers and turbines.

In what amounts to the largest "cold box" ever built in the workshops of Air Liquide Advanced Technologies, the helium fluid is cooled by a number of aluminum brazed plate heat exchanger sections, and six gas bearing turbines. Two of these are the most powerful machines ever made for helium liquefaction. Given the unique capacities of these turbines and optimized thermal integration, the RLH liquefier is fully autonomous. Customers do not want to see any significant generation of liquid nitrogen, and the liquefier therefore has no liquid nitrogen pre-cooling stage, as is normally applied in helium plants.