Texas A&M University at Qatar and BP have signed documents to begin work on a $3 million research project for an initial five-year period, studying liquefied natural gas safety.

The project establishes a top-tier LNG safety research program in collaboration with Qatar Petroleum and Qatar Foundation. Dr. Simon Waldram, visiting professor of chemical engineering, and Dr. Ahmed Abdel-Wahab, visiting assistant professor of chemical engineering, will lead a team of postdoctoral researchers, graduate students and undergraduate students in the project.

“LNG processing and transportation are some of the key pieces of Qatar’s industrial jigsaw, and much of the remainder of Qatar’s economy are based on these foundations,” Waldram said. “Our research will develop new safety procedures and standards that will permeate the land-based gas industry in Qatar.”

The experimental part of the LNG research will be conducted at the new facilities of the Ras Laffan Emergency and Safety Training College being built by QP, Abdel-Wahab said.

“Highly instrumented, large-scale studies of real LNG spills, dispersion and fires will be conducted under carefully controlled conditions,” he said.

The contract was signed by Dr. Brian Hunter, country manager for BP in Qatar, and Dr. Jim Holste, associate dean for research and graduate studies at Texas A&M at Qatar, at the Qatar Offshore Conference and Exhibition. Texas A&M at Qatar undergraduate engineering students Mohammed Albaker, Omar Basha and Raid Hassiba attended the signing ceremony. Albaker, Basha and Hassiba will be student researchers on the project.

“The research program, the first of its kind in Qatar, also aims to provide a new opportunity for home grown graduates educated at the Qatar Foundation and seeking to develop their talents further in to research and innovation while at the same time contributing to the science of safety in Qatar’s global LNG industry,” Hunter said. “It is therefore a great pleasure to mark the appointment of our first research undergraduates, who I am sure will contribute greatly to the program.”

Albaker, a senior chemical engineering student from Qatar, said he is excited to participate in the LNG safety research project. “The results of this research can help increase the LNG output in Qatar, and that would have a positive impact on my country’s growth and development.”

The new project complements a separate research program, also funded by BP, at the university’s main campus in College Station, Texas.
About Texas A&M at Qatar
Texas A&M University, recognized as having one of the premier engineering programs in the world, has offered undergraduate degrees in chemical, electrical, mechanical and petroleum engineering at Qatar Foundation’s Education City campus since 2003. Thirty-four engineers have graduated from Texas A&M at Qatar since 2007. In addition to engineering courses, Texas A&M University at Qatar provides supporting classes in science, mathematics, liberal arts and the humanities. The curricula offered at Texas A&M at Qatar are materially identical to the ones offered at the main campus in College Station, Texas, and courses are
taught in English in a co-educational setting. The reputation for excellence is the same, as is the commitment to training engineers equipped to lead the next generation of engineering discovery. Visit http://www.qatar.tamu.edu to learn more about Texas A&M at Qatar.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Both comments and pings are currently closed.