The construction of Coretracks’s Ecopropp pilot-scale proppant manufacturing plant should be completed on time and within budget.
The company said in a statement that the target date for completion of construction is December 2014 and it expects that the plant will be ready for commissioning in January 2015.
Ecopropp is currently in the process of preparing for the construction of its pilot plant for the manufacture of its fly-ash based proppant product for use in the hydraulic fracturing (fracking) of unconventional oil and gas deep shale wells globally.
The pilot-scale plant at its project site in Clontarf, Queensland, is being built to validate the “scale-ability” of the product.
The majority of long lead-time equipment items were ordered in June 2014. Manufacturing of these component items is currently being completed, and the company expects that shipping of these items will commence later this month from their manufacturing centres in Shanghai and Zhengzhou, in China.
During September 2014, Ecopropp management and representatives of the pilot plant designers, Bulk Process Equipment of Baltimore, USA, inspected the Chinese manufacturing centres to ensure that design and subsequent minor modifications were undertaken in line with the design specifications of the plant.
The company said that this inspection process was successful which should ensure a smooth construction phase for the pilot plant.
In addition, Ecopropp’s team of technical consultants are in the process of relocating from Germany to oversee the construction and operation of the pilot plant.