Dominion Energy has announced the closure of its Cove Point LNG Terminal for planed maintenance and inspection works. The outage is scheduled to last about three weeks.
One of the initial actions at the Maryland terminals is to depressurise systems and equipment used to produce LNG, in preparation for servicing them. Inert nitrogen gas is used to purge the systems and equipment of hydrocarbon gases and make them safe to service.
In accordance with Maryland environmental regulations, the hydrocarbon gases undergo controlled combustion in a process called “flaring,” which takes place within an isolated area on the plant site. This purging and flaring occur at the start of the outage and at the end.
The company said that during the September 22 weekend, the flaring process temporarily produced a strong, harmless odour usually associated with natural gas that has been odourised to aid in leak detection and repair. “Maintenance activities during this outage may cause the odour to briefly occur at times. Dominion Energy Cove Point regrets the inconvenience.”
The flaring process is carefully monitored and the site gas detection systems are functioning normally to protect the safety and health of the public and the employees. Calvert County emergency preparedness organisations are aware of this occurrence.
For more information visit: www.dominionenergy.com
25th September 2018
