An Environmental Issues Identification (ENVID) process was carried out by Elixir Engineering for the Project – FEED for New Port Control Tower at RLC.
The aim of the ENVID process was to define the potential environmental impacts from the Project and to identify relevant mitigation measures for potential interactions. The prepared report addresses various environmental issues related to the facilities subjected to ENVID study.
Environmental aspects were identified based on the proposed stage of the projects such as Site Preparation/Mobilization, Construction, Operation and Decommissioning/End of life and any foreseeable accidents, incidents and/ or emergency situations. For every impact identified, the potential risk was evaluated by multiplying the projected magnitude of the consequences and the likelihood of occurrence.
The Ras Laffan Port is situated in the Ras Laffan Industrial City (RLIC), which is situated in the northern region of the State of Qatar. The port offers loading infrastructure for the exportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG), condensate, and other liquid products associated with the petrochemical industries located at RLIC. The RLIC Port facilities encompass various components such as LNG berths, liquid product berths, bulk sulphur berths, a container terminal, general cargo berths, ship repair facilities, and dry docks.
The preexisting Port Control Tower formerly provided unimpeded visual and radar surveillance of the Port vicinity and its ingress routes. The existing Master Plan for the Port encompasses an expansion project that has resulted in the obstruction of the line of sight of the Port Control Tower and the imposition of limitations on the functionality of the Vessel Traffic Centre and Port control operations.
This is primarily due to the development of various facilities, such as the Common Sulphur Facility.
In 2015, a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) package was developed for a novel port control tower. This package aimed to encompass the entire facility, strategically situated in close proximity to the Common Sulphur Facilities area.
Nevertheless, as a consequence of the expansions in the Sulphur Facilities area pertaining to the NFX project, the designated land that was initially earmarked for the Port Control Tower is currently unavailable. Consequently, the construction of the new Port Control Tower will take place at a recently identified site.
The goal is to do FEED for a new, well-designed Port Control Tower and all the buildings that go with it at the site chosen in Ras Laffan Port. Line of Sight, Geotechnical, and Radar Coverage studies are planned for this site, and a Radar Coverage study has already been done.
The new building will be used to create a landmark tower for RLC and the State of Qatar. This tower must be modern and well-known. The design will give port control staff an unobstructed view of the full RLC port complex from any angle. Since it is such an important part of RLC Port Operations and the business of the State of Qatar, it will be open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The building must be made so that maintenance is kept to a minimum, besides planned regular maintenance.
Presented below is a comprehensive enumeration of the tasks that require completion.
- FEED design of new Port Control Tower and all related, infrastructure, services, and facilities.
- Confirmation of tower height and orientation to ensure ideal line of sight and equipment coverage over the port based on the line-of-sight study done by Qatar Energy.
- Plan telecommunications systems, such as special systems for ports, security systems, and IT/network systems.
- Making methods for detecting fires and protecting against them.
- Set up all the connections needed for the chosen tower site.
- Redesigning the bottom level of the tower to include all utilities and services in the base of the tower.
- The chosen spot will be developed to include an access road, a way for emergency vehicles and service vehicles to get in and out, parking, and landscaping.
- Communicating with study providers and using the results of studies done by other people in the FEED.
- Change the previous FEED design and figures to fit the new location and needs. This includes making new specifications and other related attachments.
- Distribution of power, including a new electricity substation in the area.
- Getting the necessary legal permits and approvals from authorities.
- At the very least, the new Port Control Tower will have the following:
- Ground floor – Entrance lobby, vertical circulation, separate entrance for services & utilities.
- Services + (under study, room for shelter-in-place) on the first floor.
- Typical floors (lifts and stairs in the tower centre)
- Port Operations Floor
- Marine Emergency/Search and Rescue Centre Floor
- Plant Room Floor
- Port Control (VTS) Floor
- Roof Top – VTS equipment, cams, radars, antennae, and the like.
All of the requirements of RLIC Port Operations must be met by the proposed facility. This includes monitoring and controlling vessel traffic, controlling the port, and coordinating search and rescue in line with the most recent IMO/ IALA standards and requirements.
The design of the proposed facility will make sure that all ships arriving or leaving the Port of Ras Laffan can do so safely and that other ships in and around the port limits and anchorage areas can move and be found.
The main goal of ENVID is to make sure that ALARP’s negative effects on the environment are kept to a minimum by looking at all possible solutions.
The key goals of the ENVID would be:
- Identify and predict the potential effects of project development on the environment, i.e., changes on the environmental quality of the surrounding environment.
- Suggest changes to the project’s site, technologies, or raw materials that would stop or lessen the effects.
- Write down the control measures that are needed to handle and keep an eye on the effects.
- Tell the project’s decision-makers about this information so that the suggested changes can be made.
ENVID is an important part of the planning process for projects. It is most helpful when the process starts as early as possible in the planning of a project. At the beginning of the process, the environmental review should focus on finding the environmental factors that could make the project impossible or have a big effect on its costs. The goal is to make sure that from the start, there is a clear understanding of how a project fits into its surroundings.
ENVID is a method for coming up with ideas that is based on key words. Members of a team give based on what they know and what they’ve learned from past projects.
The ENVID study keeps track of the environmental effects that have been found, but it doesn’t offer solutions unless they are clear. Proposed solutions may include additional safeguards or operational processes as necessary. The study record helps figure out the Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) problems that will need to be fixed during the job.
The goal of the ENVID method is to find and describe environmental hazards and threats at the earliest possible stage of a project that could have an effect on the environment.
ENVID important step in a project because it helps find:
- Potential environmental fatal flaws (i.e. unacceptable environmental risks);
- Environmental risks that need more information to assess their impact; and/or
- Environmental risks that will need specific monitoring and management to make sure the risks are effectively managed. Another important part of the process is coming up with ideas for how to prevent, control, or lessen the possible environmental hazards that have been found.
An ENVID exercise includes one or more workshops led by a chairman who is not part of the design team. The workshops are attended by a team made up of representatives from the project executing team, the engineering contractor’s discipline engineers, the project’s environmental consultant, and other discipline engineers as needed.
In these workshops, the Process Flow Diagrams (PFD), Layouts/plot plans, and other available information about the project, as well as the site’s environmental factors, are put together and looked over. These are put on top of each other and used in brainstorming sessions to find out what the project might do to the world.For the ENVID process to work, the professionals who take part in the practise must have a lot of experience.
The environmental aspects are figured out by looking at the activities planned for each part of the project (construction, commissioning, normal operating conditions, abnormal operating conditions, and any accidents, incidents, or emergencies that might happen). When figuring out what is good for the environment, the risks will be looked at using a list of possible environmental problems, like the ones below, to see if they are relevant.
- Emissions into the air (from both fixed and mobile sources).
- Making waste (both dangerous and not dangerous).
- Storing and dealing with dangerous trash
- Use of materials, energy, and water.
- Environmental noise and movements.
- Preparing, leaving, and fixing up the work spot.
- Unintentional spills on land and sea.
- Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
To make the ENVID process easier, the project can be broken up into large parts, activities, or topics that can be talked about in more depth during the planning session. For example, processes, utilities, and services are all good examples of such parts.
Use the table below to find the parts of the environment that might be affected by the expected environmental effects. Information from earlier environmental studies in the project area will help describe the environment around the project, and the EV Department may be able to give this information.
After figuring out what the environmental parts of a project are and what the possible reactions might be, the environmental effects can be figured out and analysed.
The ENVID method was made based on what was in the Qatar Energy Guideline for Environmental Assessment. The Environmental Risk Register Form was used to do ENVID.
Environmental factors were figured out based on the planned stages of the projects, such as Site Investigations/Surveys, Site Preparation/Mobilization, Demolition, Construction, Operation and Maintenance, and any accidents, incidents, or emergency situations that could happen.
For each effect found, the possible risk is calculated by multiplying the expected size of the effects by how likely they are to happen. Both the possibility of an impact and the possible effects it will have will be ranked based on how the environment might change.
The table below leads the process of evaluating effect likelihood and consequences. This method allows for a semi-quantitative assessment that reflects the professional judgement of the ENVID assessment team based on the available knowledge and experience. It also provides a consistent and documented approach across the whole ENVID process.
The table below gives an overview of the impact significance grade that would be used to rank environmental risks based on how they affect the environment. For impacts that are rated as “High” (Red), a different site or technology will be looked into, or preventative and control measures will be built into the design of the project if there are no other options. Impacts rated Medium (Yellow) would require environmental control and/ or management means in the project design and implementation plan. The impact monitoring plans that are part of the project’s Environmental Management Plan would be used to figure out how well these methods work.
For impacts with a Low (Blue) rating, environmental management means like internal procedures and staff training would be put in place, and the best way to deal with them would be to keep getting better. A easy qualitative ranking system is used to figure out how dangerous each situation is.
The ENVID project was worked on by a group of experts from Elixir Engineering, Trading and Agency Services Limited Company W.L.L (Qatar), AEB Engineering Bureau, and Qatar Energy. The ENVID training was attended by people from Process, Environment, HSE, Civil and Structural, System & Control, Project, Operations & Maintenance, Piping, Instrumentation & Control, and Electrical.
