Amec Foster Wheeler has announced that work is nearing completion on a major new refrigeration plant at BP’s Grangemouth site that will help maintain efficient operations across the Forties Pipeline System.

Amec Foster Wheeler is providing engineering, installation, project, construction and supply chain management services for the Kinneil Liquid Petroleum Gas (KLPG) Chilldown Project located at BP’s Refrigerated Liquid Petroleum Gas (RLPG) site in Grangemouth, Scotland. Amec Foster Wheeler’s completions and commissioning specialist, qedi, is providing commissioning support for the project.

Jim Lenton, Amec Foster Wheeler’s Interim President Northern Europe and CIS said: “We are proud to deliver this project for BP using our leading brownfield and onshore engineering experience and expertise. We have been working with BP at Grangemouth since the 1970s and we are delighted to have been a part of an impressive collaboration to successfully maintain the efficiency of the Forties Pipeline System.”

Mark Thomas, BP’s Regional President for the North Sea, said: “The UK-based engineering services industry offers a wealth of expertise and capability which is being demonstrated through the safe and efficient delivery of this complex project. It is great to see so many companies from all parts of the UK working together to contribute towards a project that will, once complete, maintain efficient operations across the Forties Pipeline System for many years to come.”

The RLPG plant currently operates with R22, a colourless, refrigerant gas. EU legislation requires the replacement of R22 and Amec Foster Wheeler provided the conceptual design study identifying R410a as a suitable more environmentally friendly and efficient replacement refrigerant.

Refrigeration is required to chill the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) to enable storage and eventual transportation by ship to market. Without refrigeration, the Forties Pipeline System would be unable to operate.

The UK supply chain has played a vital role in this project with BP and Amec Foster Wheeler drawing on the capabilities of a highly skilled local workforce to achieve successful delivery.