Beacon Piping

Distrigas
High Pressure Expansion Project (HPEP)
Everett, Massachusetts

This complex project involved the installation of a High Pressure Expansion Unit at the Liquid Natural Gas Terminal in Everett, Massachusetts. One of only two operating facilities of its kind in the United States, this facility receives, stores and distributes a unique form of natural gas, called LNG. The gas is chilled to -260F changing it from its natural vapor form to liquid, reducing its volume 600 times. This allows for economical transportation from its source in the island nation of Trinidad to the Distrigas facility. There it is stored in liquid form and eventually reheated to vapor in order to be distributed by pipeline, in this case to fuel the adjacent Mystic River Power Plant's two new 800MW units.

Beacon Piping provided several critical roles in the fabrication, erection, and turnover of this complex facility. At one time more than fifty pipe-fitters and welders were working for Beacon Piping on the Distrigas project. Scope included the installation of several hundred feet of high pressure stainless steel liquefied gas lines. It was vital that Beacon Piping employ and manage skilled professionals for this project. If not properly installed, these lines can be extremely dangerous. It was essential that each weld and bolt torque be documented and certified. In addition, Beacon Piping set up a fabrication shop on site to expedite the installation of much of the necessary piping.

Often times the scope and schedule required that men and material be positioned off the ground, often times a hundred feet or more. Beacon Piping employed crane operators, riggers and staging to achieve a safe and effective work environment. Throughout the project Beacon piping adhered to the strict demands of the quality control division.

During construction, the existing plant was fully operational which made the project especially challenging. At the project's most demanding time, there were approximately 500 workers performing tasks on different levels in a project footprint area smaller than a football field. Trades included electricians, boilermakers, pipefitters, iron workers, insulators, carpenters and laborers all working per a computer generated 3-dimensional model of the project. Throughout the 18-month project Beacon Piping met every obligation date required of them, many of which had commercial consequences tied to the testing, start up and commercial operation of the Mystic Station Power Plant.

Distrigas of Massachusetts
Everett, MA

Owner: Distrigas, LLC
Engineer: Fluor