Construction is in full swing this month with as many as 900 workers at the Channahon, Ill., site of the 2-bcfd Aux Sable NGL extraction and fractionation plant.
The plant will start up in October 2000, according to Aux Sable Liquid Products Inc., Calgary. It will be the terminus for the 1,900-mile, 36-in., high-pressure, dense-phase Alliance Pipeline from northeast British Columbia. - The 136-ft de-ethanizer tower is raised into place at the Channahon, Ill., site. (Photograph from Aux Sable Liquid Products Inc., Calgary)
Several major components have been fabricated, delivered, and erected, including:
- Two 176-ft demethanizers.
- A 136 x16.5 ft de-ethanizer.
- A 125-ft depropanizer.
- A 92-ft debutanizer.
- A 187-m butane splitter.
- A 300-ft flare stack.
- Several large pipe rack modules, each about 120 ft in length and weighing as much as 200 tons.
In addition, eight, large, spherical storage vessels capable of holding 200,000 bbl of NGL product are currently being fabricated on-site. - The plant will extract and store 200,000 bbl NGL for local heating and petrochemical markets. (Photograph from Aux Sable Liquid Products Inc., Calgary)
Two trains
The Aux Sable facilities will extract and process natural gas and recover and fractionate NGL.
Extraction facilities will consist of two trains, each with a capacity of processing approximately 1 bcfd.
Fractionation includes a de-ethanizer to recover ethane for petrochemical feedstock, a depropanizer to recover propane for farming, industrial, commercial, automotive, and retail requirements, and a debutanizer and butane splitter to recover butanes and natural gasoline for gasoline blending (Fig. 1).
Ancillary facilities include on-site storage for NGL products, rail tank-car loading, and product pipeline interconnects.
In January, Aux Sable announced it has signed a long-term contract with Williams Cos. Inc. subsidiary Williams Energy Marketing & Trading Co., Tulsa, for Williams to purchase all Aux Sable's anticipated ethane production at prices linked to Gulf Coast market price (OGJ, Jan. 31, 2000, p. 43).
Ownership
Also, Williams acquired Duke Energy Corp.'s 9.8% equity interest in both the Aux Sable Liquid Products and Alliance Pipeline limited partnerships. The transaction brought Williams' total interest in Aux Sable Liquid Products to approximately 14.6%.
Other investors include affiliates of Enbridge Inc., Calgary (21.4%), Fort Chicago Energy Partners LP, Chicago (26.0%), Coastal Corp., Houston (14.4%), and Westcoast Energy Inc., Vancouver (23.6%).
Coincidentally also in January, Coastal announced that it was being acquired by El Paso Energy Corp, Houston, in a deal valued at $16 billion (OGJ, Jan. 24, 2000, p. 23).