The dual pipeline will export heated crude oil from the Mangala field in Rajasthan to Salaya on the Gujarati coast, via Viramgam, where the oil will then be exported by tankers to coastal refineries.
A 24 inch diameter pipeline will carry crude oil, while an 8 inch pipeline running alongside it will carry natural gas from the Raageshwari Gas Field in Rajasthan. The gas will be used to power heating stations along the pipeline route, which will heat the waxy crude oil to enable it to flow through the export pipeline.
In June 2009, GE Energy won a contract to supply Cairn India with its J420GSJenbacher gas engines.
GE’s Jenbacher engines will be installed at 32 sites along the pipeline’s route to meet the 1 MW load requirement at each station. The engines, powered by natural gas supplied from the adjoining 8 inch diameter pipeline, will primarily be used to generate power to maintain the fluidity of the waxy crude oil as it is transported.
Article continues below…At the time of writing, construction activities at all of the 32 heating stations had reached 70 per cent completion.
In 2008, Larsen and Toubro (L&T) was awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract for the project. L&T President K Venkataramanan said the ‘unique mega pipeline’ was the first of its kind in India.
The pipeline is part of Cairn’s Mangala Field Development Plan, which has been approved by the Government of India Management Committee.
Cairn India, as operator, holds a 70 per cent interest in the joint venture, with ONGC holding the remaining 30 per cent.
At the time of writing, approximately 520 km of the 600 km pipeline had been welded, and more than 400 km was in the ground, with pre-commissioning and testing activities underway.
The pipeline will have a total capacity of approximately 150,000 bbl/d of oil once it becomes fully operational.
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