CCG has secured a major specification win for Australia's groundbreaking Ceres Ammonia Urea project. This development, set to become the world's largest fertiliser plant of its kind, has selected CCG's proven Corrosion Guard and Posi Grip range of hazardous certified cable glands to meet the facility's demanding environmental and safety requirements.
Located on the Burrup Peninsula, approximately 20 km north of Karratha on the Western Australia coast, the Ceres Ammonia Urea project will produce fertiliser from urea by transforming natural gas supplied by the neighbouring Woodside LNG production facility into ammonia and then into urea. Producing over 2 million metric tons per year, this will make the plant the largest of its kind in the world. It will also be on the avant-garde in terms of energy efficiency and emission reduction, with a design to minimise the carbon footprint to net carbon zero by 2050.
The project includes a urea fertiliser plant, a water treatment plant, a power plant (100 MW), and urea storage, loading, and unloading facilities. A closed conveyer will transport the urea 7 km directly to the Pilbara Ports Authority for shipping to local and offshore markets, with up to 100 shiploads expected per year.
Stringent design specifications
The design specification for the project called for continuous heavy-duty service in a harsh and hazardous environment, 24 hours per day and seven days per week, for a minimum facility life of 25 years
Equipment had to demonstrate reliable and proven performance for ambient temperatures of 50 °C, high exposure to UV, ingress resistance to cyclonic conditions, operation in 100% humidity, explosion hazardous certification, and resistance to high levels of corrosion.
After a lengthy vetting process during which CCG could demonstrate compliance with all the project’s strict performance requirements, the project EPC specified CCG’s proven Corrosion Guard and Posi Grip range of hazardous certified cable glands for installation throughout the plant.
CCG was able to demonstrate proven performance because the company’s Corrosion Guard and Posi Grip range had been in continuous operation on a similar neighbouring Yara fertiliser plant for 21 years without any failures and on the Woodside LNG plant for 24 years. In addition to the required explosive hazardous areas certification, CCG could produce independent test reports and certification for corrosion resistance, UV protection, and resistance against deluge conditions experienced during cyclonic conditions with compliance to Shell oil specification DTS-01.
World-leading solutions
CCG is the recognised world leader in corrosion-resistant cable glands. In 1989, in cooperation with Sastech-Sasol, it first designed and patented the Posi Grip compression gland and Corrosion Guard armoured cable gland.
Since then, the range has been specified globally for use in highly corrosive process plants such as metallurgical and mining process plants, petrochemical plants, and water treatment plants. A unique design feature of the range is the tapered Posi Grip seal, which results in 100% cable retention. This negates the need for extra cable clamping or built-in captive components. This delivers true built-in safety, as critical components cannot be left out during installation. It also uses the revolutionary Vortex injection resin barrier gland system on unfilled cables.
