QGC has been operating our Curtis Island LNG plant for over three years and has an ongoing schedule of maintenance planned. Regular maintenance work is critical for the ongoing integrity and safety of the plant.
Flaring at our LNG Plant
Resembling a candle flame, flares are a common sight at LNG plants. We explain how we manage flares and run our LNG plant safely.
Flaring at our QGC LNG plant - regular maintenance and safety
Read the transcript
Title: Regular maintenance is an essential part of LNG operations
Duration: 1:02 minutes
Description:
Regular maintenance at Curtis Island ensuring the process of converting gas to liquid is carried out safely
Transcript
Background music
Corporate, Confident, Inspiring, Optimistic, Uplifting
Animated sequence
Line and text animates in.
Factory animates in and pans to the left. Scrolls up and worker animates in with tick.
Circle swipe and pipeline animates in and pans right then scrolls up.
Circle swipe and animates in a cross/x and then replaced by a tick.
Circle swipe to a stylised smoky flare.
Circle swipe to an animated percentage indicator.
Swipe down, line and text animates in with stylised smoky flare with smoke.
Circle swipe then stylised factory animates in then pans up and zooms out.
A large green tick animates in.
Circle swipe then QGC logo and text animates in.
End.
Speaker
At Curtis Island, regular maintenance is an essential part of LNG operations, ensuring the process of converting gas to liquid is carried out safely. During maintenance, we need to ensure the equipment is free of gas so our workers can do the job safely. This means sending the gas to flare so it can be burnt safely. Flaring is also used during any stoppage to keep the plant safe. Usually, methane gas is sent to flare, producing a clean-burning flame which can vary in height depending on the gas flow rate. On rare occasions, less than 1% of the time, propane and ethylene gases, which are used in our refrigeration process, may also need to be flared. This may produce visible smoke. But it's important to know flaring is an integral part of QGC's operational and safety management systems.
Flaring at our QGC LNG plant - major flaring events
Read the transcript
Title: Burning excess gas is part of safe operations
Duration: 0:45 minutes
Description: Burning excess gas is an essential part of safe operations at Curtis Island
Transcript
Background music
Corporate, Confident, Inspiring, Optimistic, Uplifting
Animated sequence
Line and text animates in.
Circle swipe to a stylised smoky flare.
Laptop with statistics animates in.
Worker animates in with equipment then half swipe with a megaphone.
Blends with smoky flare with smoke and hand holding newspaper.
Half swipe with an iPad then radios.
Circle swipe and animates in a cross/x and then replaced by a tick.
Circle swipe question mark with people animates in and swipe down.
Circle swipe then QGC logo and text animates in.
End.
Speaker
Burning excess gas is an essential part of safe operations at Curtis Island. QGC plans our operations to minimise flaring. There have been significant reductions in flaring since the early startup phase of the project. The planned major maintenance shutdowns, QGC notifies the community in advance that they may see visible smoke. For unplanned events, where major flaring is required, QGC will notify the community about why the flaring occurred and when the plant will return to normal operations. If you have any questions about the LNG plant or about flaring ...
Flaring at our QGC LNG plant - health and environmental impacts
Read the transcript
Title: Modelling predicts no health or environmental impacts from flaring
Duration: 0:53 minutes
Description: Modelling predicts no health or environmental impacts from flaring at QGCs
Transcript
Background music
Corporate, Confident, Inspiring, Optimistic, Uplifting
Animated sequence
Line and text animates in.
Circle swipe to a stylised smoky flare.
Circle swipe to H2O and Co2 graphic.
Dissolves into a stylised camp fire then half swipe with a lit candle.
Circle swipe to carbon molecules.
Circle swipe to a stylised smoky flare and smoke.
Circle swipe to three stylised smoky flares.
Circle swipe. Person watching TV with stats animates in.
Swipe right to a clipboard then half swipe with a stylised forest.
Circle swipe then QGC logo and text animates in.
End.
Speaker
Modelling predicts no health or environmental impacts from flaring at QGCs. LNG facility. When methane and refrigerant gases are burned in the flare, they produce mostly carbon dioxide and water with small amounts of other products such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon particles. The visible smoke has a similar chemical composition to smoke from a campfire or candle. It's mostly carbon generated by combustion of the refrigerant gases. While smoke from flaring can be visible for short periods based on air dispersion modelling that considers the stack height and gas composition and the government's air quality monitoring, there are no health or environmental impacts predicted from flaring at the LNG plant.
Flaring at our QGC LNG plant - Gladstone air quality monitoring and data
Read the transcript
Title: Gladstone’s air quality is closely monitored
Duration: 0:50 minutes
Description: Gladstone's air quality is monitored by a network of eight monitoring stations run by the Queensland government's Department of Environment and Heritage Protection.
Transcript
Background music
Corporate, Confident, Inspiring, Optimistic, Uplifting
Animated sequence
Line and text animates in.
Circle swipe to a stylised map with locations.
Circle swipe. Person watching TV with stats animates in.
Circle swipe. Queensland Government, line and text animates in.
Swipe right to a clipboard then half swipe with a stylised forest.
Right swipe then colourful bars animates in.
Circle swipe then big tick and text animates in.
Circle swipe into a stylised iMac then dissolved into a timer icon.
Circle swipe then QGC logo and text animates in.
End.
Speaker
Gladstone's air quality is monitored by a network of eight monitoring stations run by the Queensland government's Department of Environment and Heritage Protection. Community members can access Gladstone air quality data at www.ehp.qld.gov.au/air/data/search. Monitoring in the Gladstone region shows no health or environmental impacts related to flaring. The data is colour-coded, with the aqua indicating very good and the green good, so you can see at a glance the current status. It's updated in real time.
QGC’s LNG Plant on Curtis Island
Read the transcript
Title: Here’s what happens at QGC’s Curtis Island plant
Duration: 0:55 minutes
Description: Natural gas allocated for export is piped 542 kilometres to QGC's Curtis Island LNG plant, north of Gladstone.
Transcript
Background music
Corporate, Confident, Inspiring, Optimistic, Uplifting
Animated sequence
Line and text animates in.
Right swipe to a developing stylised gas pipeline.
Factory animates in then pans left. Scrolls up to a red fridge then half swipe with a turbine.
Left swipe and Ch4 and C3H8 animates in. Dissolves into a stylised thermometer with text.
Circle swipe, ‘Like’, Tick and liquid in bottle animates in.
Storage tanks swipe up and dissolves into a stylised pier/jetty and vessels.
Circle swipe as customers animates in.
Circle swipe into a stylised Tokyo graphic icon.
Circle swipe then QGC logo and text animates in.
End.
Speaker
Here's what happens at QLG's LNG plant: Natural gas allocated for export is piped 542 kilometres to QGC's Curtis Island LNG plant, north of Gladstone. The plant is a giant refrigerator, driven by turbines, and using refrigerants — propane, ethylene, and methane. The gas is chilled until it is liquid, -162 degrees, because liquefied natural gas is easier and safer to transport. In its liquid form, it's now 1/600th of its original volume. LNG is stored in tanks before being pumped via a jetty to purpose-built vessels, and shipped to customers around the world. Just one LNG ship provides enough LNG to power Tokyo for two days.
Maintenance background
Before maintenance begins, it’s imperative we completely remove any gas and refrigerants from the 100km+ of pipework so our team can do the job safely. We will return as much gas and refrigerant to storage as possible, while the balance will be sent to the flare so it can be burnt safely and minimise greenhouse gas emissions.
Predominantly methane gas is sent to flare producing a clean burning flame, which can vary in height depending on the gas flow rate.
Refrigerant gases - propane and ethylene - gases, used to cool the gas as part of the liquefication process, may also need to be flared in which case visible smoke may be produced.
While this smoke is visible for short periods, based on modelling and the Department of Environment and Science’s air quality monitoring, no health or environmental impacts are predicted from flaring at the LNG facility.
QGC has significantly reduced flaring since it began operations on Curtis Island and will continue to focus on minimisation.
Minimising flaring is important to us. It is fundamental for good business. Minimising flaring helps assure the future viability of our operations by optimising productivity and strengthening business performance. It also demonstrates QGC is sensitively integrating operations within the community.
About Flaring
No health or environmental impacts are predicted from flaring at QGC’s facility, including during smoky flare events. This is based on dispersion modelling and the Department of Environment and Science’s air quality monitoring:
- Dispersion modelling studies show that, due to flare gas composition and flare stack height, no health impacts are predicted.
- The smoke has a similar chemical composition to smoke from a campfire or candle, comprising carbon particles, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and water vapour.
- The Department of Environment and Science’s Gladstone air quality monitoring network data (PM10, PM2.5, NOx, SO2 readings) show no health or environment impacts related to flaring. Community members can access Gladstone air quality data at www.ehp.qld.gov.au/air/data/search. This data is publicly available in real time.
Maintenance Works
Between October 2017 and May 2018 QGC undertook two major maintenance programs at the LNG Plant on Curtis Island, inspecting, repairing and replacing critical equipment to ensure operations remained safe and reliable. Both programs were successfully and safely executed with minimal black smoke during the flaring process and no community complaints.
We are pleased that the results from the additional air quality monitoring conducted by the Department of Environment and Science have verified that the flaring at the LNG plant did not result in any exceedances of air quality objectives. We support continued operation by the Department of Gladstone’s air quality monitoring network, and efforts to improve the accessibility of this information for the community.
QGC will continue to operate within flaring regulations, keeping visible smoke to a minimum. We will continue to notify the community in advance of any planned maintenance activities that may result in flaring events.
Safety of our people, the community and the local environment is our priority.
Environmental Authority Amendment:
In May 2017, QGC lodged an application for an amendment to its Environmental Authority associated with flaring at its LNG Plant. The existing environmental conditions did not allow for the required flaring for major maintenance works, which is why the Application to Amend our EA conditions was made.
Since then, QGC have been working with The Department of Environment and Science (DES) to provide necessary information for reviewing and assessing the Application and QGC’s proposed options for amendment.
On 29 June 2018, DES made a decision to approve the EA Amendment Application subject to specific conditions. While we did not receive the full flexibility that we were seeking, QGC acknowledges that the Department must strike a balance, and appreciates that our need for some operational flexibility has been acknowledged.
You can find a copy of the amended Environmental Authority here.
Copies of, or extracts from, the application may also be obtained from QGC at 72 Goondoon St, Gladstone, QLD 4680 during business hours by appointment. Please email community@qgc.com.au to book an appointment.
Download the factsheets
More in Environment
Environment management reports
On this page you can find and download various types of reports related to QGC activities.
Water management reports
Water monitoring and management plans, water management annual reports and the Surat North Development Water Resource Monitoring and Management Plan
You might also like
Social Investment
Social Investment is our voluntary contribution of funding, skills and resources to projects that deliver benefits to our local communities and society.
Safety
We are committed to delivering energy responsibly and safely, preventing harm to our employees, contractors, local communities and the environment.