Pacific Rim - ELK HILLS NAVAL PETROLEUM RESERVE - CA

PROBLEM:

We were involved with this facility when it was a national petroleum reserve owned and operated by the Federal Department of Energy (DOE).

The government did something novel; they chose to utilize excess natural gas to power a 50 KW electrical co-generation plant rather than just burn it in large flairs. The DOE tasked Bechtel with the design and installation of the cogeneration plant.

Unfortunately, the natural gas was not clean enough to be used in the cogeneration process because it contained high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide and other corrosive and odorous compounds that would damage the boilers.

SOLUTION:

Pacific Rim was chosen because they were considered best qualified to meet Bechtel's demanding requirements:

  • Licensed general contractor
  • Skill in odor control equipment design & installation
  • Confined space & hazardous material trained team

Photos to the right show Pacific Rim erecting a fiberglass storage tank that is a part of this gas scrubbing system. Because the site is very remote and filament winding on site was not an option, it was cost effective to fabricate the tank in cylindrical sections then ship compressed rings to the site on flat bed trucks. Once on site, they were made round again and stacked together as shown in the photographs.

This tank is part of a sodium hydroxide recycling system. The process converts the odorous hydrogen sulfide into sodium sulfate, a salt that can be sold commercially thereby eliminating the cost of re-supply and disposal of large quantities of sodium hydroxide.

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