AES Corporation selected CB&I to provide lump-sum, turnkey engineering, procurement and construction services for the Dominican Republic’s first liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal. The project requirements called for a terminal that would fuel a new 300 MW power generation plant, located adjacent to the terminal, and an older power plant nearby.

Our scope of work included project development support, process design, civil and structural design, detail engineering, material supply, fabrication, project management, construction, precommissioning, startup and operator training.

Getting involved early helped us minimize capital costs, optimize the integration of the terminal with the power plant, and complete the work ahead of schedule. Initial commissioning of the facility took place just 25 months after we received full contract release.

At the peak of construction, we mobilized a crew of approximately 150 people at the site; 90 percent of the workers were Dominican nationals whom we trained. The crew completed the project without a single recordable injury or lost workday.

The terminal is designed to receive LNG from ships with rated storage capacities ranging from 35,000 to 145,000 cubic meters and unload vessels at a rate of 10,500 cubic meters per hour. The steel, double-wall, flat-bottom tank provides 160,000 cubic meters of gross LNG storage capacity.

We designed a unique vapor-handling system for the terminal that eliminates the need for compressing the gas to pipeline pressure; this system is more economical to operate than a traditional vapor-handling system. We designed the sendout system so it could easily be expanded. The system delivers up to 125 million standard cubic feet per day of vaporized gas to the pipeline at a pressure of up to 650 pounds per square inch gauge (4482 kilopascal) and temperature of up to 40°F (4.4°C). The terminal incorporates 100% redundancy for all LNG sendout systems pumps and heat exchangers.