Dutch firms Frames and Mokveld have completed two high integrity pressure protection systems (HIPPS) for the Pemex Lakach field gas collection station.
The system is the first ever certified HIPPS in Mexico, says Frames. The contract for the HIPPS was assigned to Frames by the Mexican construction company Arendal that was awarded the contract to construct the gas collection plant for the Lakach field.
To minimize on-site installation activities and to prevent installation errors on a system as critical as HIPPS, Frames designed a completely integrated skid mounted solution. This modular design reduces the number of interfaces and simplifies the certification of the HIPPS.
Each SIL3 certified HIPPS package consists of two Mokveld pneumatically actuated axial valves, pressure transmitters with interlocking manifold and a programmable logic solver (PLC). Since the skids are located in a hazardous area, the logic solver is installed in an explosion proof cabinet complete with HMI. All the other equipment is also rated for use in a potentially explosive atmosphere.
To make sure that the HIPPS has high availability, a pneumatic buffer vessel is installed on each skid and the actuators are provided with passive fire protection.
Thomas de Wolf, Product Manager at Frames Flow Control & Safeguarding stated: “Together with our customer, Mokveld and other supply chain partners we were able to design and build the optimal solution for this project. Due to this cooperation, we were able to deliver the skids on time and to the full satisfaction of the customer and certifying authority (TÜV).”
The HIPPS protects the gas collection station against high pressure in case of a pressure control valve failure. A HIPPS plays a crucial role in site safety. By automatically bringing dangerous processes to a predictable safe state within a defined safety time, the HIPPS protects the site personnel, general public, and environment as well as valuable production assets.