Kaltra rolls out the second stage of chilled water plant at Sonatrach LPG recovery

Following the initial installation of process cooling system at the GP2Z industrial area in 2016, Kaltra continues to extend the facility and adds new equipment to increase its overall capacity to 5MW cooling.

Initially equipped with air-cooled Lightstream series chillers, GP2Z chilled water production plant will be supplemented with high-reliable units based on screw compressors. Kaltra will integrate new equipment with existing automation system implemented during the first stage of the project.

One of the key aspects of installation is hot maritime climate existing in GP2Z location. In the summer, ambient temperatures may climb up to 45°C while humidity shows an increasing trend. Furthermore, marine atmosphere leads to the most severe galvanic corrosion, thus affecting the lifetime of the installation. To provide stable operation and extended lifespan in such harsh climatic conditions, Kaltra technicians offered the chillers packaged with high ambient temperature kits and e-coated microchannel condenser coils made from new, high corrosion-resistant aluminum alloys. These alloys showed more than 100% longer SWAAT ASTM G85 Annex 3 lifetime than traditional aluminium alloys used in manufacturing of microchannel coils, indicating significantly better resistance against corrosion.

In total, four air-cooled units with an aggregate capacity of 2500kW were offered, thus expanding the plant’s output to about 5MW. All chillers are equipped with screw compressors, allowing stepped capacity regulation by varying the displacement with a control slider.

Engineering works and construction of the plant expansion commenced in January 2018 and is close to completion.