With the last of the topside modules now installed, the full scale of Shell’s Prelude FLNG project being built in South Korea is taking shape.
Once completed, the FLNG facility will be located at the Prelude gas field off the northwest coast of Australia.
The sheer size of the full-scale facility will help it to withstand very high winds and giant waves. In addition, it will be secured in place by one of the largest mooring systems in the world, according to Shell.
A 93-metre (305-foot) high turret, spacious enough to house the Arc de Triomphe, will run through the facility. Four groups of mooring lines will anchor it to the seabed.
The system allows the facility to turn slowly in the wind – absorbing the impact of strong weather conditions – while remaining moored above the gas field.
Three 6,700-horsepower thrusters will sit in the rear of the facility. Two of these will operate at any one time to turn the facility out of the wind and allow LNG carriers to pull alongside to load, Shell said.
The facility’s storage tanks will be below deck. They can store up to 220,000 m3 of LNG, 90,000 m3 of LPG, and 126,000 m3 of condensate.
LNG World News Staff; Image: Shell