Hoerbiger expands gazprom Losing pumpTecHVariSpark Line export MonopoLy iSSue

NOVEMBER 2013

Changes In LNGrefrigerating trains

Misinformation Threatensu.S. Shale Boom

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On a personal basis, many of us try to rationalize our own situation with the tenor of world events. It’s ex-tremely difficult to make sense out of the causes and attempted solutions. We start with our own problems.

At the end of a hard day’s work (if we have found it), at the beginning of a tough month, in the middle of a dif-ficult season, some of us feel like quit-ting. But, we cannot. We have to keep on working, even in the face of fail-ure. Like rowers slipping downstream when they strive to paddle upstream, they see no progress. But if they stop, it only gets worse.

Often it is debt that saps our energy. We get deeper into trouble and there seems to be no way out. Rule number one for getting out of a hole is simple: Quit digging. This seems like good ad-vice, which by no means is original with me, but it would be useful for those in charge of our governance. It’s alarm-ing that those in the driver’s seat see no problem other than where they can glean the next trillion to spend.

Not to change the subject entirely, but a while back, my attention was di-rected to the writings of historian Paul A. Rahe, which appeared at Ricochet.com, on why revolutions occur.

To quote Rahe, “One key indicator is that those with access to the levers of power within the ruling order cease to believe in the religion or ideology

that legitimizes the regime. Another is that their underlings also gradu-ally abandon the beliefs that render respectable the rule of their masters.”

Many examples give credence to this process. Rahe goes on, “First goes the belief in the legitimacy of the system. Then comes a trigger — an event which causes large numbers of people to say to themselves, ‘I cannot take this anymore.’ Then, the crucial question is whether those in charge have the nerve to try to crush the re-bellion and whether their underlings will follow orders. If the powers that be are hesitant, ambivalent, or divided, or if their underlings are fed up, things can very easily come apart.”

That has happened in eastern Eu-rope, in the Soviet Union, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria. Some other nations have been able to keep a lid on things so far. “But, do not think for a second that these regimes are sta-ble,” Rahe wrote. “In these countries, skepticism about the regime’s legiti-macy is commonplace.”

Can it happen here? It depends upon where the ideology carries us and how watchful and with what diligence we continue to nurture the legacy that our founding fathers es-tablished for us.

While you ponder these thoughts, may the Lord hold you in the hollow of His hand. CT2

Morphing Into A National Malaise

Page4President & CEO .................... Michael J. OsengaExecutive Vice President ...Michael J. Brezonick

PUBLICATION STAFFCT2 Founder .......................... Joseph M. KanePublisher .................................Brent D. HaightAssociate Publisher ..............Roberto ChelliniEditor ..........................................Patrick CrowExecutive Editor .............................. DJ SlaterSenior Editor ................. Michael J. BrezonickSenior Editor ............................. Mike RhodesAssociate Editor ............................... Jack BurkeAssociate Editor ............................Chad ElmoreCopy Editor ............................... Jerry Karpowicz

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Featured Articles16 Hoerbiger Expands VariSpark Digital Ignition Line

18 Sundyne Pushes Expansion Program

22 Compression For Transportation

30 Compact Recip Designed For Prelude LNG

34 Kingsly Adapts To Motor-Driven Compression Trend

38 OSUIT Opens Compressor Training Center

60 Changes In LNG Refrigerating Trains

64 Valerus Launches Integrated Controls System

PUMPtech32 Pumping Energy

52 A Firm Stance Against Corrosive Environments

TECHcorner42 Troubleshooting Contamination In Gas Compression

70 Reducing Centrifugal Compressor Commissioning And Start-Up

Departments 4 Page 4 — Morphing Into A National Malaise

8 Global Perspective — Gazprom Losing Its Gas Export Monopoly

10 Meetings & Events

12 About The Business — Environmental Misinformation Threatens U.S. Shale Boom

14 Monitoring Government — An Environmental Model Gone Wrong

57 Recent Orders

58 Prime Movers

66 Literature

68 Featured Products

72 Web Headlines

74 Snapshot — MAN Ships First Airmax

76 Scheduled Downtime

77 Marketplace

78 Advertisers’ Index

80 Cornerstones Of Compression — The Superior 825 Gas Engine Series

COMPRESSORDedicated To Gas Compression Products & Applications

November 2013

Follow Us @ Compressortech2

Cover Designed By Alyssa Loope

MEMBER OF BPA WORLDWIDE®PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

MEMBER OF …

Compressortech 2 ( ISSN 1085-2468) Volume 18, No. 9 — Published 10 issues/year (January-February, March, April, May, June, July, August-September, October, November, December) by Diesel & Gas Turbine Publications, 20855 Watertown Road, Waukesha, WI 53186-1873, U.S.A. Subscription rates are $85.00 per year/$10.00 per copy worldwide. Periodicals post-age paid at Waukesha, WI 53186 and at addi-tional mailing offices. Copyright © 2013 Diesel & Gas Turbine Publications. All Rights Reserved. Materials protected by U.S. and international copy-right laws and treaties. Unauthorized duplication and publication is expressly prohibited. Canadian Publication Mail Agreement # 40035419. Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: P.O. Box 456, Niagara Falls, ON L2E 6V2, Canada. E-mail: slizdas@dieselpub.com. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Circulation Man ager, COMPRESSORtech2, 20855 Watertown Road, Suite 220, Waukesha, WI 53186-1873 U.S.A.

www.compressortech2.com

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NOVEMBER 2013 8 COMpREssORtech2

In June 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that his govern-ment is looking to partially reform its gas export policy. This

partial liberalization has as much to do with politically benefit-ing well-connected Novatek and Rosneft, which have LNG export ambitions, as it does to help expand Russia’s share in the growing global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market as its traditional gas market in Europe comes under threat. How-ever, it also means that Gazprom, which currently enjoys a monopoly on gas exports from Russia, is about to lose this privilege and the large profit margins associated with it.

Gazprom has lost the race to stop Novatek’s Yamal LNG project from proceeding. In fact, on Oct. 2, GE Oil & Gas announced it had received a US$600 million order for tur-bomachinery needed for the construction of the 16.5 million Tpy Yamal gas liquefaction facility. The feedstock will come from the South Tambeyskoye gas/condensate field, which is believed to have proved and probable gas reserves of more than 32 Tcf (900 x 109 m3).

The American company is contracted to supply the Technip and JGC consortium, the LNG plant EPC contractor, with tur-bomachinery for three production lines, each with the capacity to produce about 5.5 million Tpy of LNG. Each train will consist of two main refrigeration units that will convert natural gas into a liquid for transportation. In all, GE will supply six Frame 7E gas turbines, 18 centrifugal compressors, six variable speed drives and six waste heat recovery units.

Asia’s growing gas demand, which would mainly be met by LNG imports in light of the region’s limited gas produc-tion and lack of gas pipeline infrastructure, has thus been seen as a key market for Russia if it is to maintain overseas revenues from gas sales. Energy cooperation has been a key focus in President Putin’s meetings with Chinese Presi-dent Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Rosneft has made aggressive moves to push into the Chinese and Asian markets. In June the company signed a US$60 billion agreement with China for the supply of 300,000 bbl/d of oil over a 25-year period starting after 2015. Ros-neft also offered Chinese National Petroleum Corp. a 30% stake in Siberian producer Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha, which will supply much of the oil.

Rosneft’s Sakhalin LNG terminal is also oriented toward Japan, with Marubeni Corp. purported to be an interested partner. Thus, Rosneft has been relatively successful in reorienting its export strategy towards the more promising Asia-Pacific market.

Gazprom, on the other hand, has been less adroit, fo-cusing too much on locking in European markets with the North and South Stream pipelines. It has been slow to ex-pand its LNG presence to take a larger share of the grow-ing Asian LNG market. Gazprom has also been losing out on gas export opportunities to China and its Central Asian neighbors — namely Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uz-bekistan — due to a long-standing disagreement over the price of gas.

While Russia and China agree in principle on build-ing pipelines between the countries, Gazprom is seeking a price close to that paid by European customers, a price China is unwilling to pay. Gazprom may therefore be forced to compromise if it wishes to secure market share in China, where demand is expected to grow on the back of an active government policy to increase the share of gas in its energy mix, especially to combat its pollution issues.

Not only does the Russian government have a larger share in Rosneft (translating into a bigger windfall for the government), but also its CEO is Igor Sechin, the for-mer head of Russia’s fuel and energy sector. Sechin has strong links to the current Russian administration and a long history with President Putin. It therefore appears Rosneft has the market position, asset base and politi-cal backing to become the new cash cow of the Russian state at the expense of Gazprom. This will provide the traditionally oil-focused firm the political support to open gas exports.

According to Business Monitor International (BMI) this situation is expected to have positive long-term implications on gas exports, which have been stifled under Gazprom. BMI also anticipates a strengthening energy relationship with China, lead by Rosneft. The U.K. analyst forecasts Russian oil and gas exports to fall through 2020, although a shift to break the Gazprom monopoly over gas exports — even if a partial one — could mitigate this trend. CT2

Gazprom Losing Its Gas Export Monopoly > BY ROBERTO CHELLINI

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Global Perspective

The Kremlin looks to Novatek and Rosneft to increase LNG exports

CT277.indd 1 10/29/13 1:59 PM

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Cooper-Bessemer is a registered trade name of Cameron Corporation, used under license by Rolls-Royce plc

RollsRoyce.indd 1 10/11/13 1:55 PM

Meetings & Events*Indicates shows and conferences in which Compressortech2 is participating

For a complete listing of upcoming events, please visit our website at www.compressortech2.com

NovemberNov. 10-13*Abu Dhabi International Petroleum exhibition & Conference — Abu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesTel: +971 2 4444 909Web: www.adipec.com

Nov. 12-14*Power-Gen International — Orlando, FloridaTel: +1 (918) 831-9736Web: www.power-gen.com

Nov. 13-15Developing Unconventional Gas (DUG) East Conference & Exhibition — PittsburghTel: +1 (713) 260-5209Web: www.dugeast.com

DeCemberDec. 5-8

Basra Oil & Gas Conference and

Exhibition — Basra, Iraq

Tel: +90 212 356 00 56 (1725)

Web: www.basraoilgas.com

JANUArY 2014

Jan. 21-23

Offshore West Africa —

Abuja, Nigeria

Tel: +1 (713) 963 6283

Web: www.offshorewestafrica.com

FebrUArY

Feb. 4-7

*Gas/electric Partnership

Conference — Cypress, Texas

Tel: +1 (713) 529-3216

Web: www.gaselectricpartnership.com

Feb. 19-21

Australasian Oil & Gas Conference —

Perth, Australia

Tel: +61 3 9261 4500

Web: www.aogexpo.com.au

Feb. 24-27

Nigeria Oil & Gas Conference —

Abuja, Nigeria

Tel: +44 20 7978 0000

Web: www.cwcnog.com

mArCH

march 19-21

China International Offshore Oil & Gas

Exhibition — Beijing

Tel: +86 10 5823 6555

Web: www.ciooe.com.cn/2014/en

march 23-27

*Sour oil & Gas Advanced

Technology 2014 — Abu Dhabi,

United Arab Emirates

Meetings & Events

Hilliard.indd 1 8/1/13 3:35 PMNov_meetingsevents.indd 1 10/28/13 10:08 Am

Meetings & Events

For a complete listing of upcoming events, please visit our website at www.compressortech2.com

Tel: +971 2 674 4040

Web: www.sogat.org

March 24-25

*Gas Transport & Storage 2014 —

Berlin, Germany

Tel: +44 20 7202 7690

Web: www.gtsevent.com

March 26-27

Georgian International Oil, Gas, Energy

and Infrastructure Conference —

Tbilisi, Georgia

Tel: +44 207 596 5135

Web: www.giogie.com

aprilapril 7-9

*Gas Compressor association Expo

& Conference — Galveston, Texas

Tel: +1 (972) 518-0019

Web: www.gascompressor.org

*april 9-10

Turkish international Oil and Gas

Conference 2014 — Ankara, Turkey

Tel: +44 207 596 5147

Web: www.turoge.com

*april 13-16

Gas processors association

annual Convention — Dallas

Tel: +1 (918) 493-3872

Web: www.gpaglobal.org

*april 15-16

Gas Compressor institute — Liberal,

Kansas

Tel: +1 (620) 417-1171

Web: www.gascompressor.info

april 28-30

Black Sea Oil and Gas Forum

— Bucharest, Romania

*Indicates shows and conferences in which Compressortech2 is participating

Tel: +44 203 615 2988Web: www.blackseaoilgas.com

*april 28-May 2Gulf South rotating Machinery Symposium — Baton Rouge, LouisianaTel: +1 (225) 578-4853Web: www.gsrms.org

MaY*May 5-8Offshore Technology Conference — HoustonTel: +1 (972) 952-9494Web: www.otcnet.org

*May 13-15Eastern Gas Compression roundtable — Moon Township, PennsylvaniaTel: +1 (412) 372-4301Web: www.egcr.org

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NOVEMBER 2013 12 COMpREssORtech2

Compression industry activity continues to be robust. Attendance at the recent Gas Machinery Confer-ence in Albuquerque, New Mexico, nearly matched

the record 1201 participants at the 2012 Austin, Texas, event. In fact, several end users said they were just too busy with projects to take time away for the meeting.

Growth in oil and gas production continues to drive strong demand for compression in upstream, midstream and downstream markets. The U.S. Energy Information Admin-istration (EIA) reported that the Lower 48 States produced 74.52 Bcfd (2.1 x 109 m3/d) of natural gas in July, 2.5% high-er than July 2012. And there are signs that the boom could continue through the end of the decade.

Dow Chemical announced two new plants and other ex-pansions in the Gulf Coast region. Driven by plentiful Mar-cellus and Eagle Ford shale gas and associated liquids, Dow’s investments increase its capacity to produce ethyl-ene for the production of various chemicals and plastics. Shell Chemical continues to evaluate the potential for a large ethane cracker in western Pennsylvania. Wood Mack-enzie projects that growth in oil production will cut imports to just 15% of domestic crude supply by 2020, from about 44% now. Raymond James & Associates said that the U.S. could become self-sufficient in oil by 2020.

Yet, experience tells me that whenever a boom feels like it will never end, there is a precipitous drop just over the ho-rizon. What could threaten the economic gains from shale gas? One concern has to do with the vocal opponents and legislative obstacles to hydraulic fracturing (fracking). Public opinion is easily manipulated by fear, especially environ-mental concerns about both known problems and the pos-sibility of those yet to be discovered.

The extraction of natural gas is not a risk-free process. It requires sound practices and effective regulation. Effective regulation already exists within the states, which have long managed natural gas exploration and production. But a com-

mon assertion is that shale development is under-regulated or even unregulated — particularly by federal environmental law.

Organizations spending millions of dollars to promote such a message are causing anxiety in communities throughout the nation. According to the American Petro-leum Institute (API), the mischaracterization of incidents involving oil and natural gas production is a regular practice of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Sierra Club. API said that this effort is intended to instill fear and opposition to natural gas production, and discredit the effective regulatory programs that manage the environmen-tal risks associated with production.

Various studies have found that hydraulic fracturing has not caused the contamination of underground drinking water supplies. However, environmental organizations continue to allege that fracturing not only poses a serious risk of con-tamination, but also that the process has been linked to such contamination on numerous occasions. The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) said that this is not based on scientific evidence and the allegations are one par-ticular tool in a broader agenda to reduce — or eliminate — the development and use of natural gas.

New York, New Jersey and California already have wrestled with bans on fracking. IPAA, API and other energy groups are tracking another alarming trend: some local governments are considering bans on new gas and oil activities. IPAA said that these moves could have incredibly damaging consequences for the industry. API said that activists are focusing on easy targets — notably college towns — in their attempts to build a base for the growth of broader opposition.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management recently moved to regulate hydraulic fracturing on federal and Indian lands. API objected that those proposed rules would impose a lay-er of duplicative regulations that would raise costs and cre-ate needless delays for domestic energy production, while providing little or no environmental or safety benefits.

In addition to protecting the public and the environment, the oil and gas industry has to do a better job of using edu-cation and facts to combat misinformation and unsubstanti-ated fears. It’s a battle that the industry and the nation must win, or the shale boom could rapidly become a bust. CT2

Environmental Misinformation Threatens U.S. Shale Boom > BY NORM SHADE

About The Business

Education, facts must be used to assuage public fears

BY NORM SHADE

Norm Shade is senior consultant and president emeritus of ACI Services Inc. of Cambridge, Ohio. A 43-year veteran of the gas compression industry, he has written numerous papers and is active in the major industry associations.

CT281.indd 1 10/29/13 2:02 PM

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Monitoring governMent

Pennsylvania Compressor Station Gets Clean Bill of Health

By PatriCk Crow

An Environmental Model Gone Wrong >

NOVEMBER 2013 14 COMpREssORtech2

you’ve smelled mercaptan although you may not know it by that name. it’s the pungent stuff that’s added to odorless methane to give it the fetid smell

that we mistakenly recognize as natural gas.another false scent — emanating from accusations about

a compressor station — didn’t fool the Pennsylvania Depart-ment of Environmental Protection (DEP) earlier this year.

an environmental group, the Clean air Council (CaC), unequivocally claimed that PVr Nepa Gas Gathering’s Bar-to compressor station in Lycoming County was generating pollution concentrations nearly three times the level allowed under federal health-based air quality standards.

the Philadelphia-based CaC has actively opposed, and has organized local residents against, several compressor station projects that would move Marcellus Shale gas pro-duction to markets.

CaC claimed its modeling showed the Barto station, where nine diesel engines drive compressors were being used, was emitting 278% times the one-hour nitrogen di-oxide limit permitted by the National ambient air Quality Standard (NaaQS) and that the exceedances could be measured a mile away.

the basic flaw in the report was that the accusations were based on predictions from the model, not actual num-bers collected by equipment on the ground.

the environmental group noted that it repeatedly had asked DEP to require modeling for larger compressor sta-tions to ensure that they do not cause pollution in nearby areas exceeding the federal standard.

DEP has maintained, however, that because the stations are classified as “minor sources” of emissions, it was not required to perform modeling and, that by virtue of being a minor source, the facility will not impact the NaaQS.

CaC said, “this recent modeling study (Barto) makes clear that these ‘minor sources’ are having a major impact on local air quality and DEP must address this serious pollution.”

it may not have been a coincidence that CaC grabbed headlines with its accusations on the very same day that DEP announced its final revisions to the general permit governing air emissions for pipeline compressor stations and for drill sites. the new limits, endorsed by the Penn-sylvania oil and gas industry, were 75 to 90% stricter than

current limits — but were not as tough as environmental groups had wanted.

DEP was immediately dubious about CaC’s Barto re-port. it said existing No2 monitors near the Barto station and other stations had not measured any exceedances of the one-hour limit. Further, a monitor near four compressor stations in tioga County had only measured No2 concen-trations well below the standard.

the state agency also recognized, and informed CaC, that it had used an outdated model, gathered data at the wrong location, relied on the wrong data for background concentrations, and such.

Nevertheless, DEP conducted actual monitoring in late July. the air was tested a half-mile downwind of the station, without notifying the operator, at a time the compressor sta-tion was operating at normal capacity.

the agency’s final report in late august completely exon-erated the Barto station.

“results of sampling performed over a four-day period demonstrated that concentrations of nitrogen dioxide were minimal, and well below national ambient air quality stan-dards,” it said.

So rather than prove the necessity for modeling of air emissions from compressor stations, CaC’s accusations did just the opposite.

the Barto brouhaha was clearly linked to DEP’s long-term air-monitoring study in southwestern Pennsylvania’s washington County.

in that extensive analysis, the state is collecting data for various pollutants, including ground-level ozone, par-ticulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydro-gen sulfide, methane and volatile organic compounds. the monitoring includes the sampling of the air near a com-pressor station and near a gas processing plant.

DEP will finish its field work at the end of the year and is-sue a report in the spring. Environmental groups apparently fear that the comprehensive washington County study will conclude that the production, processing and transmission of Marcellus Shale gas are not impacting public health.

and apparently if opponents can’t build a case against Pennsylvania compressor stations using actual data, then theoretical data will have to do. Ct2

Ct291.indd 1 10/29/13 2:04 PM

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Hoerbiger has launched two new sizes in its Altronic Vari-Spark ignition product line

for modern gas-powered engines.Besides the existing XL size for

large-bore, slow-speed gas engines, especially for integral compressor ap-plications, Hoerbiger has added the XS for small-bore, high-speed gas engines between 670 and 1340 hp (500 and 1000 kW) and the XM size for large-bore, medium-speed gas engines up to 13,410 hp (10 MW) and beyond.

In addition to realizing a maximum spark voltage of 50,000 V, the Vari-Spark system can shape the profile of the spark, thus adjusting the volt-age to the specific engine gas mix-ture and application.

“Modern gas engines adopt several technologies to achieve a lean com-bustion,” said Gerhard Ranegger, head of Hoerbiger’s Business Unit Engine Solutions. “With higher boost pres-

sures, two-stage turbocharging, high BMEP and very lean mixtures, con-ventional spark ignition systems are not able to ignite the mixture.

“VariSpark delivers an energy per spark event that can be as high as 20 times that provided in a conven-tional ignition system, thus assuring reliable combustion and eliminating the risk of misfiring.”

Ranegger said the use of a system such as VariSpark is essential for the performance of the engine and also gives the engine manufacturer more freedom to shape and optimize the ignition.

VariSpark is electronically control-led and the optimization is done in the development phase. “We calculate what the better profile for a specific application is,” Ranegger said. “Cus-tomers can then select the best profile and even change it during operation.”

According to Hoerbiger, VariSpark

has received a good response from the customer base, which needed such a solution for lean-burning gas engines. The system is ideal for power genera-tion gas engines, as well as for mechan-ical drive and even marine applications.

The new VariSpark XM and XL cannot be retrofitted on existing en-gines, but Hoerbiger offers alterna-tive solutions with the CPU95 and CD200 ignition systems. Both are now available in VariSpark-enhanced versions and can offer a valid alterna-tive for retrofit projects.

The Hoerbiger Engine Solutions business unit is active in the field of gas engines and recently launched other dedicated products such as ported fuel injection (PFI) valves and a control system called DriveCOM.

PFI valves have been designed for a minimized response time for a very precise admission of the gas volume. Ranegger added that the valves are capable of switching very high gas pressure differentials.

He said the valves offer improved wear and sealing properties, thanks to an optimized material pairing, and feature a special design for double-wall configurations. That makes PFI valves ideal for use with dry and cor-rosive gases and for marine com-pressed natural gas applications.

As far as DriveCOM is concerned, the new control system is a modular, scalable and integrated control system for internal combustion engines that is especially designed for use in station-ary off-road and marine applications.

The system is capable of moni-toring all critical engine parameters and its modules can be combined for a customized unit. Open-structure software allows the integration of DriveCOM into the customer’s con-trol architecture. CT2

Hoerbiger Expands VariSpark Digital Ignition Line > New products accommodate wider

range of gas enginesBy ROBERTA PRANDI

n The Altronic VariSpark family has been completed with two more sizes: XM and XS.

NOVEMBER 2013 16 COMpREssORtech2

CT259.indd 1 10/28/13 10:15 AM

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Sundyne LLC, a company known for its engineered centrifugal pumps and compressors, has

embarked on a five-year plan to ex-pand its product portfolio and capture new business.

It began when United Technologies Corp. spun off the Arvada, Colorado-based company in December 2012 (along with Sullair and Milton Roy) to form Accudyne Industries.

With more than 900 employees at manufacturing and service facilities in the U.S., England, France, Spain and China, Sundyne offers equip-ment for oil and gas processing, chemical and petrochemical, power generation, general industry and en-gineered water applications.

The company’s roots date to 1905, but in 1933, known at the time as Sund-strand Machine Tool Co., it began mak-ing pumps for applications such as fuel oil burners and hydraulic services. In the early 1960s, the company introduced its

first high-speed centrifugal pumps and process gas compressors.

The Sundstrand Fluid Handling Divi-sion was established in 1968 in Denver, Colorado, to make compressors, indus-trial pumps and other engineered pack-ages for the hydrocarbon and chemical processing industries. United Technolo-gies acquired Sundstrand Corp. in 1999 and merged it with its Hamilton Stan-dard division until the 2012 spinoff.

The Arvada manufacturing complex already was clean and well-lit with state-of-the-art machinery and pro-cesses that emphasized precision and reliability. Now it is being transformed into a world-class facility. Factory ma-chinery and departments have been rearranged to optimize production flow with better organization and online data availability throughout the entire operation, from the sales department all the way to the shipping dock.

Sundyne products include an exten-sive range of centrifugal pumps that

are engineered to meet industry stan-dards including ISO 13709, API 685, AP 610, and ANSI. The pump line in-cludes close-coupled and gear-driven; single- and multistage; seal-less mag-netic drive; metallic and nonmetallic; high-pressure; and inline, vertical, and vertically suspended models.

The company’s legacy pump brands include Sundstrand, Ansimag, Sunflo, HMD/Kontro and Marelli.

Sundstrand centrifugal pumps are used in a wide range of industry ap-plications including refining, petro-chemical, fertilizer production, phar-maceutical processing, steel, silicon development, chemical processing, power generation, pulp and paper, pipeline, beverage production, food processing, municipal water, agri-cultural water, osmosis, wastewater, washwater and engineered water.

Although pumps make up a large portion of Sundyne’s business, the

Sundyne Pushes Expansion Programs > Company makes precision, low-flow

process centrifugalsBy NORM SHADE

n Sundyne is revamping its Arvada, Colorado, plant to sup-port the goal of being a best-in-class manufacturer of a broad portfolio of pumps and compressors. Two completed pack-ages are shown above.

NOVEMBER 2013 18 COMpREssORtech2

continued on page 20

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company also offers lines of precision, low-flow centrifugal compressors. The compressors are engineered to run continuously for five years under API 617 and 614 standards at oil refin-eries, chemical and petrochemical plants and natural gas processing plants. Other markets include liq-uefied natural gas, sulfur, specialty gases, silicon manufacturing, power generation, pipeline, and refrigeration.

The high-speed, high-pressure com-pressors are available in both single- and multistage configurations. Spe-cially engineered skidded packages are available for the harshest environ-ments including floating production, storage and offloading vessels and offshore platforms. Applications range from 100 to 4000 hp (75 to 3000 kW). Multiple compressors chained to-gether on a single integrally geared Sundyne Pinnacle LF-2000 frame can achieve output pressures up to 4000 psia (276 bara).

“Sundyne has over 30 years of ex-perience with high-speed integrally geared process gas compressors,” said Tom Huseas, U.S. sales supervi-sor. “We specialize in low-flow cen-trifugal compressor expertise, with compressor performance that overlaps many positive displacement designs,

including reciprocating and rotary screw-type compressors.

“The single-stage, internally geared LMC/BMC series are our bread-and-butter compressor product lines. Sev-enty packaged units were produced last year for process gas and molecu-lar sieve regeneration applications.”

The largest of the Sundstrand heavy-duty, single-stage horizontally mounted centrifugal compressor products is the BMC-34X Type A, which can provide

flows to 3550 acfm (6030 am³/hr) with a maximum working pressure of 1600 psia (110 bara). The maximum rated speed is 34,200 rpm with a rated power up to 450 hp (335 kW). Standard cas-ings carbon or stainless-steel casings are offered with either fully machined 17-4PH stainless-steel or titanium im-pellers, depending on the application. Higher-pressure 1440 psia (100 bara) single-stage models, such as the LMC/BMC-311, can deliver flows to 2000

NOVEMBER 2013 20 COMpREssORtech2

n A LF2000 multistage centrifugal compressor package is set up for a string test at Sundyne’s plant in Arvada, Colorado.

n This cutaway shows the key features of Sundyne’s Pinnacle LF-2000 centrifu-gal compressor.

CT279.indd 2 10/28/13 10:22 AM

NOVEMBER 2013 21 COMpREssORtech2

acfm (3398 am³/hr), in either line- mounted (LMC-3XX) or base-mounted (BMC-3XX) configurations.

The Pinnacle LF-2000 series is an API 617 multistage, integrally geared, horizontally mounted centrifugal pro-cess compressor. It can provide flows to 10,000 acfm (17,000 am³/hr) and pres-sure ratios to about 30:1. It is available in one to four stages and operates as high as 50,000 rpm with a 60 Hz mo-tor drive at ratings up to 4000 hp (2983 kW). Designs are available for a maxi-mum working pressure of 4000 psia (275 bara) and gas operating tempera-tures of -200° to 500°F (-130° to 260°C).

The integral gearing includes a sin-gle bull gear and two high-speed pin-ions. All gears are the hardened, pre-cision-ground helical type, designed and manufactured to AGMA Class 13 quality standards. The gearbox is car-bon steel. Each high-speed shaft is supported by tilting pad radial bearings and the design allows mounting of two opposed impellers on the same shaft, minimizing thrust loads. Tapered land or tilting pad thrust bearings are used, and all bearings are the split type for easy removal.

High-performance impellers with three-dimensional blade geometries that deliver high aerodynamic efficien-cies are manufactured on five-axis CNC milling machines. Hirth joints for impeller-to-shaft attachment provide positive concentric alignment and bal-ance repeatability. Suction/inlet cas-ings are removable for easy access to impellers and seals. Cartridge-type dry gas mechanical seals provide oil-free process gas compression. Single, double or tandem seal arrangements are available. Pinnacle compressors come standard with a shaft driven lube oil pump.

Sundyne offers standard packag-ing for most common auxiliary sys-tems including mechanical seal con-trol, lube oil, machinery monitoring, surge control, process control, etc. Most units are supplied with highly engineered API 617 packages includ-ing API 614 lube oil systems to meet specific customer specifications and application requirements.

First introduced in the 1990s, the Pinnacle LF-2000 is used in process gas applications in chemical plants and refineries, including ethylene re-cycle, molecular sieve regeneration, sour gas, catalyst regeneration, syn-thetic gas and other services.

Sundyne officials indicated that most of the company’s business is interna-tional, with more than 2000 customer sites in 117 countries. Products are marketed and supported through more than 100 channel partners and autho-rized service centers worldwide. CT2

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PrecisionPE_Nov13_CT.indd 1 10/21/13 1:28 PM

n A Sundyne BMC-34X process compressor package is inspected prior to shipment.

CT279.indd 3 10/28/13 10:22 AM

The growth of compressed natural gas (CNG) as a transportation fuel in the U.S. is opening oppor-

tunities for the compression business.For decades, the widespread use of

natural gas-fueled vehicles (NGVs), either using CNG or liquefied natural gas (LNG), has been a logistical de-velopment that always seemed to be on the cusp of a major breakthrough.

But there has been little overall movement. Natural gas accounts for about 2% of U.S. demand for transpor-tation fuel, mostly from fleet vehicles like buses and taxis.

Several trends now have converged to make that breakthrough finally seem possible. The proliferation of shale gas plays has flooded the U.S. market with an abundance of methane.

That oversupply has worked to drive down natural gas prices. But oil prices, and thus gasoline prices, have re-mained quite high, establishing robust economics for investments in CNG and LNG transportation infrastructure.

According to several estimates, at current natural gas and gasoline pric-

es, consumers can save US$1/gal. or more by operating vehicles on CNG.

Since the lack of a widespread re-fueling infrastructure has limited the growth of the NGV market, large and small firms have responded with tech-nologies for more economic, modular refueling equipment packages.

The federal government has long en-couraged the use of natural gas in trans-portation. In 2012, President Barack Obama — as part of a goal to reduce oil imports by a third in the next decade — announced more federal investment in NGV research and development.

He proposed incentives for medium- and heavy-duty trucks that use natural gas, grants for communities that over-come the barriers to NGV deployment, transportation corridors with refueling stations, conversions of buses and trucks to NGVs, and research on ways to better convert and store natural gas as a transportation fuel.

NGVAmerica President Richard Kolodziej has said that with the proper government incentives, NGV usage could blossom. The group estimated

that NGVs used about 43 Bcf (963 x 106 m3) of natural gas in the U.S. in 2011, backing out 320 million gallons (1.2 x 109 L) of imported gasoline.

“With proper government policies, that number could reasonably grow to 1.25 Tcf [35 x 109 m3], or the equiv-alent of about 10 billion gallons [37.8 x 109 L] of gasoline within 15 years,” it said.

Eventually, refueling equipment could be a common sight in every garage. The Department of Energy has awarded the University of Texas Center for Electromechanics a US$4 million grant to develop a home-based CNG refueling system.

The Texas center has designed a highly integrated, single-piston sys-tem that has fewer moving parts and thus would be more a more reliable, lighter, and cost-effective option than current four-piston compressors.

Global marketA CNG-powered vehicle gets

about the same fuel economy as a

NOVEMBER 2013 22 COMpREssORtech2

>Compression For Transportation

Boom in CNG vehicles would expand market for compressors

By PATRICK CROW

n Table 1. These nations have the larg-est natural gas vehicle fleets. (Source: NGVAmerica)

Nation Number Of VehiclesPercentage Of

NGVs Worldwide

Iran 2,859,386 18.82%

Pakistan 2,850,500 18.76%

Argentina 1,900,000 12.50%

Brazil 1,694,278 11.15%

India 1,100,000 7.24%

China 1,000,000 6.58%

Italy 779,090 5.13%

Ukraine 390,000 2.57%

Colombia 348,747 2.30%

Thailand 300,581 1.98%

continued on page 24

CT288.indd 1 10/28/13 3:27 PM

KB_Delta_June.indd 1 5/23/13 8:10 AM

conventional gasoline vehicle on a gasoline gallon equivalent basis. To provide adequate driving range, CNG is stored onboard a vehicle in cylinders at a pressure of 3000 to 3600 psi (200 to 250 bar).

Compressed gas is usually preferred for high-mileage, centrally fueled fleets that operate in a limited area.

LNG is good for medium- and heavy-duty trucks needing a longer range because the liquid is denser than CNG and, therefore, more en-ergy can be stored by volume in a given tank.

It is produced by purifying natural gas and super-cooling it to -260°F (-162°C) to turn it into a liquid. Be-

cause it must be kept at cold tempera-tures, LNG is stored in double-walled, vacuum-insulated pressure vessels.

NGVs have been used worldwide for decades. NGV Global said at the be-ginning of 2012, there were 15.2 mil-lion NGVs in operation worldwide and in the next decade they will grow to more than 50 million vehicles, or about 9% of the world transportation fleets.

“NGVs have been most successful in the Middle East and Latin America, especially so in countries that lack a high capacity to refine oil,” it said (Table 1).

The U.S. ranks 17th in the world with less than 1% of total NGVs. “However, North America is expected to see some of the fastest growth due to abundant proven reserves and the low cost of domestically produced natural gas,” the group said.

NOVEMBER 2013 24 COMpREssORtech2

CNG Going Strong In South America >

The growth of the compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicle fleet in South America has kept

compression companies busy to sup-ply demand.

CNG fleets total 1.7 million light vehicles in Brazil and 2.1 million in Argentina.

In Brazil, the Argentinean compres-sor manufacturer Aspro has 55% of the market share, according to Ro-drigo Bogacz, the company’s industrial

Compression companies supply, service equipment for stations

By MAURo BELo SCHNEIdER

n Rio de Janeiro’s government is testing this flex-engine bus prototype for use during the 2014 World Cup. MAN Latin America and Robert Bosch Latin America developed the diesel bus, which can operate on up to 90% CNG.

manager. other companies — such as Galileo, Agira, Sulzer, Junqueira, Multi-flow, Safe and Movitec — are manufac-turers or importers.

The arrival of these international players is due to the fact that Brazil has 1700 CNG refueling stations, each of which needs at least one compressor, said Rosalino Fernandes, coordinator of the CNG committee at the Brazilian Petroleum Institute (IBP) and presi-dent of the Latin American NGV As-

sociation. More than a thousand of the stations are in densely populated southeastern Brazil.

“The compressors already come with a high degree of safety, for the market is mature,” Fernandes said. “The CNG fleet is growing, but we are not satisfied because the growth is slower than we would like it to be.”

As opposed to the Northern Hemi-sphere, Brazil and Argentina have a

n GE is producing its modular “CNG In A Box” refueling stations for a number of customers.

continued on page 26

continued on page 26

CT288.indd 2 10/28/13 3:28 PM

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‘CNG In A Box’GE is providing modular and stan-

dardized CNG compression sta-tions, known as “CNG In A Box,” for transportation.

The modular packages include gas compression, storage, cooling, drying and controls. They come in two configu-

rations: an 8 x 20 ft. (2.4 x 6 m) contain-er or an 8 x 40 ft. (2.4 x 12 m) container, depending on the site’s need. The CNG is dispensed at the rate of 7 gasoline gallon equivalents (GGE)/min.

The company recently sold 20 CNG In A Box systems to Chelsea Natural Gas Ltd. in Canada.

Chelsea, which specializes in ex-panding the public use of natural gas as a transportation fuel, plans to use GE’s CNG fueling stations in a semi-private “card lock” format to serve smaller fleet owners.

The first units will be delivered in

NOVEMBER 2013 26 COMpREssORtech2

very small quantity of heavy vehicles that use CNG. The numbers are so in-significant that they are not compiled, but they represent less than 10% of the total fleet.

CNG is commonly used in South America by taxicabs, since it’s cheap-er than gasoline or diesel. Argentin-ean and Brazilian cars that use CNG are normally retrofitted in specialized shops, which involve installing the gas cylinder in the trunk and the CNG in-jection system and electronics.

Being a tropical country restricts the faster development of the CNG market in Brazil, Fernandes said. He explained that nations such as Argen-tina that have severe winters are bet-ter prepared for this market.

“These countries use gas for heat-ing, so the distribution network is very similar,” Fernandes said. “In a tropical country as Brazil the situation is not the same, it doesn’t have the same distri-bution extent of the cold countries.”

Abegás, which is the Brazilian as-sociation of gas distribution compa-nies, said that from January to Octo-ber 2012 the vehicle segment in Brazil consumed about 187 MMcfd (5.3 x 106 m³/d) of CNG.

Bogacz said that CNG has devel-

oped into an important growth mar-ket for the compression industry.

“There are companies which dedi-cate themselves exclusively for this segment, as is Aspro’s case,” Bo-gacz said. “Nowadays, through our plants in Brazil and Argentina, we export to more than 35 countries and have more than 4000 compres-sors manufactured and sold world-wide. This growing market has mo-tivated other companies to dedicate their attention to this area, even adapting their portfolio or developing specific products.”

Distributors are the main custom-ers for compressors used at refueling stations in Brazil. Companies such as Petrobras, Ipiranga, Cosan, Shell, CDGN, NEOGÁS, White Martins and Multiflow are the biggest CNG operators.

Guilherme Garcez Cabral, who co-ordinates new business and technolo-gies at Sulgás (Rio Grande do Sul’s governmental gas company) explained that the compressor firms make cus-tomized or standardized packages for refueling stations.

“Many of these companies sup-ply the market with several technical solutions for refueling stations, with different compression capacities,”

Garcez Cabral said. “These com-panies also offer the possibility of leasing the equipment or even the financing for acquisition, besides the preventive maintenance.”

Bogacz said the compressors used in Brazil are characterized, in general, by low suction pressure (because of the availability of gas pipelines) and high pressure of discharge (an opera-tional CNG requisite). The Brazilian legislation is strict about the safety aspects related to the construction of refueling stations.

The compressors used in the sta-tions in South America are compact and have small flow characteris-tics compared to those used in the gas pipelines.

“Most of the compressors are re-ciprocating with horizontal balanced opposed configuration,” Bogacz said. “They are generally started by elec-tric motor and there is a great varia-tion about their suction pressures. The delivery pressure varies very lit-tle. In Brazil, it is operated with deliv-ery pressure of around 3550 psi [250 bar/cm²] and vehicle refueling pres-sure of 3120 psi [220 bar/cm²]. Other South American countries adopt sim-ilar values.” CT2

n GE’s Micro LNG system uses this methane process design.

continued on page 28

CT288.indd 3 10/28/13 3:28 PM

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December to a Chelsea fueling sta-tion that will open next spring. Several of the 20 units will feature a special-ized cold-weather design to withstand harsh Canadian winters.

Earlier, GE said it would sell 260 CNG In A Box systems over the next three years to Endurance Industry of China. It opened a high-speed reciprocating (HSR) compressor manufacturing plant in Shenyang, China, to support the ven-ture. The plant would increase to a pro-duction capacity of 300 HSR units per year, supplementing GE’s primary HSR facility near Houston.

The CNG fuel station configuration that GE is supplying to Endurance features a standard-sized CNG In A Box unit with multiple, smaller “daugh-ter” stations running off of it. The HSR compressor is an integral part of the modular CNG refueling unit.

Other CNG systems Many other companies have in-

troduced CNG refueling systems for vehicles.

ANGI Energy Systems Inc. of Milton, Wisconsin, provided a custom design for the Massachusetts Bay Transporta-tion Authority (MBTA). The station fills 100 CNG buses each day to service the Boston area.

The system uses three motor driven ANGI Model NGSC300 rotary screw boosters with variable-speed electric motor drives that compress gas from an inlet pressure of 2 to 12 psig (0.14

to 0.83 barg) to 140 psig (9.3 barg) feeding three Ariel JGQ/2 reciprocat-ing compressors that each pressurize 700 scfm (1189 sm3/hr) up to 4500 psig (310 barg). It also includes two dispensers each with a maximum flow rate of 5000 scfm (8495 sm3/hr).

ANGI delivered a larger station to MBTA using the same screw/recip com-pression process. That installation has four sets of 900 scfm (1529 sm3/hr) rotary screw compressors, four sets of 900 scfm (1529 sm3/hr) reciprocating compressors and four refueling lanes.

The company also provided the Springfield Mass Transit District in Springfield, Illinois, which operates 20 CNG buses, with a time fill system. It includes two Caterpillar 3306NA gas engine driven Ariel JGP/2 reciprocating compressors, each with a capacity of 250 scfm (425 sm3/hr). The compres-sors pressurize gas from an inlet of 30

psig (2.1 barg) to a discharge of 4500 psig (310 barg). There are eight CNG dispensers each with a maximum flow rate of 1000 scfm (1699 sm3/hr).

Nat G CNG Solutions, based in Houston, introduced its Nat G 500 Series CNG vehicle fueling station for mid-sized fleets, priced starting at US$59,900 after a federal tax credit.

The fully integrated fueling station, which is on a skid, is available in time fill and fast fill configurations. The company claimed it is the first system of its kind to break the US$100,000 price barrier.

The Nat G 500 Series delivers up to 23 GGE of CNG per hour when con-figured as a time fill unit and is also available in fast fill to provide up to 80 GGE of instant fill capacity. The series is built around a Sauer compressor.

LNGCompanies experienced in manu-

facturing compression equipment also are bringing their expertise to the LNG vehicle market.

The use of LNG for long-haul trucks is growing because LNG has about 0.00167 the volume of CNG for an equivalent unit of fuel. While LNG typically is more expensive to produce than CNG, technological improve-ments are reducing the costs.

Dresser-Rand plans to offer a skid-mounted LNG production process with capacities as low as 1506 gpd (5700 L/d), which it said is much smaller than any other commercially available LNG process.

The units would use Expansion Energy’s VX Cycle LNG technology along with Dresser-Rand engines and

NOVEMBER 2013 28 COMpREssORtech2

n These ANGI 50 bhp (37 kW), electric motor-driven units are used to refuel school buses.

n The Nat G 500 Series CNG fueling station is shown with an optional fast fill system.

CT288.indd 4 10/28/13 3:28 PM

compressors. The units could produce LNG at the fueling station or the wellhead, eliminating the need to truck LNG from large, centralized plants to smaller fueling depots.

“We presently believe that the market for this technology will be in the range of US$100 to US$200 million within just the next two to three years, and will continue to grow ro-bustly beyond that,” said Brad Dickson, vice president and chief marketing officer.

The VX Cycle enables the production of LNG with small-scale plants because the technology can use natural gas from virtually any high- or low-pressure pipeline or distribu-tion line, or from stranded wells. The technology can also be used to upgrade existing CNG stations to produce LNG and/or a colder, denser CNG product with a higher BTU density versus standard CNG.

GE is providing Clean Energy Fuels with micro LNG packages serving over-the-road trucks.

Clean Energy claims to be the largest provider of fuel for NGVs in North America, refueling more than 30,000 vehicles per day at 360 CNG or LNG stations in the U.S. and Canada.

Clean Energy plans to use the standardized micro LNG plants that GE introduced in 2012. The first two units will begin operation in 2015 at yet undetermined truck stops.

The LNG units will produce 250,000 gal. (950,000 L) of LNG per day, or about 54 million diesel gallon equivalents per year and can be expanded to 1 million gallons.

NaysayersNot everyone is anxious to jump on the CNG-powered

bandwagon.Adam Sieminski, administrator of the Energy Information

Administration, has warned that the CNG market will be re-strained until two problems are solved: the infrastructure to refuel and the limit of how much low density of gas can be stored in an auto.

Shell has declared that it will focus its transportation in-vestments on LNG, rather than CNG, because of the latter’s operating limitations.

ExxonMobil observed that CNG vehicles are nearly 25% more expensive than conventional gasoline or diesel ve-hicles and building the refueling stations for an expanded fleet would cost billions of dollars.

It also saw operational challenges. It said because CNG has nearly 70% less energy per gallon equivalent than gasoline or diesel, the vehicles have less horsepower, must have large tanks, and must be refueled more frequently.

ExxonMobil said CNG makes sense for vehicles with lim-ited driving distances but the market should be allowed to decide for itself.

“Like any fuel or technology, natural gas should com-pete with other transportation fuels on a level playing field — not one distorted by governments trying to pick which fuels and technologies will ultimately be the most success-ful,” the company said. “In this way, the nation’s energy needs are met at the lowest possible cost to consumers and taxpayers.” CT2

NOVEMBER 2013 29 COMpREssORtech2

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Neuman & Esser (NEA) has built a compact reciprocat-ing compressor to meet the

detailed requirements of the Prelude liquefied natural gas (LNG) project offshore Australia.

Shell will anchor a US$10 billion float-ing liquefied natural gas (FLNG) vessel over the field (see COMPRESSOR tech2, August-September 2011, p. 90, and January-February 2012, p. 54).

The Prelude developers selected turbocompressors for the liquefaction process but required a backup unit to maintain the pressure in case of shut-down. That assignment went to NEA,

which developed the TDS 30, which will be the only reciprocating com-pressor on board.

As a seal gas compressor, it will keep the dry seals of the process gas compressors pressurized during standstill. That will prevent the venting and flaring of process gas.

The compression of an industrial gas from 123 to 1290 psi (8.5 to 89 bar) of 220 cfm (380 Nm3/h) is normal for a NEA reciprocating compressor.

The Prelude reciprocating compres-sor will operate at a rotary speed of 420 rpm and has a stroke of 4.33 in. (110 mm). Safety was a design prior-

ity and therefore the maximum output of this construction size is more than 603 hp (450 kW). The power installed, however, is only 84 hp (63 kW) so the motor also can start the fully loaded compressor easily.

A so-called “buffer” vessel is filled with nitrogen and connected to the compres-sors via a seal gas system. If pressure in the vessel falls below 1218 psi (84 bar), the NEA reciprocating compressor is activated and compresses the nitro-gen to 1291 psi (89 bar).

A high degree of reliability is re-quired from the small reciprocating compressor, since it guarantees the

Compact Recip Designed For Prelude LNG > Neuman & Esser meets exacting specifications

n NEA developed this vertical recip for use on the Prelude field liquefaction vessel.

NOVEMBER 2013 30 COMpREssORtech2

CT282.indd 1 10/28/13 11:09 AM

NOVEMBER 2013 31 COMpREssORtech2

The Lloyd’s Register requirement to use Marine Class 1A certifica-tion meant that NEA could only use suppliers approved by Lloyd’s Reg-ister. Those high standards for qual-ity and testing also entailed highly complex documentation.

In addition to those 200 specifica-tions on more than 14,000 pages, NEA also met Shell’s comprehensive Material and Equipment Standards and Code (MESC), which regulates

and standardizes the application and handling of the materials used in the project.

NEA Project Manager Jens Wulff said it seemed like NEA had to meet a thousand requirements for just one small compressor. “Despite the excep-tionally extensive customer specifica-tions from Technip, Samsung, Shell and Lloyd’s Register, we even exceeded the specifications for some of the elements,” he said. CT2

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safety of the FLNG in case of failure or deactivation of the turbocompressors.

The NEA project was challenging because of the marine environment, the need for compactness and com-plex design criteria.

The damp and saline conditions off-shore will be ideal for rust formation. Moreover, the tropical location of Pre-lude, northwest of Australia and close to Timor, is always around 86°F (30°C).

Although the Prelude FLNG is very large, with a length of 1600 ft. (488 m) and a width of 243 ft. (74 m), it will be filled with equipment. The designer evaluated every single item in terms of size and weight to rationalize the layout and facilitate operability and access for maintenance.

A challenge for NEA was to enable suitable accessibility to the compres-sor system in the smallest spaces with-out having to disassemble the other elements such as the piping or motor. Therefore, only a vertical compressor was considered.

NEA designed the compression system so that access during its operation and servicing would be possible under normal, emergency and adverse weather conditions — including typhoons.

During operation, wave movement can have considerable effects on the piston and piston rod seals. Compared to regular vertical compressors, the Prelude recip must withstand consid-erably more horizontal forces because the ship (and therefore the compres-sor) will constantly move in all direc-tions. NEA will use seven plain bear-ings with pressure feed lubrication to guide the forged steel crankshaft and connecting rods.

NEA drew on its offshore experi-ence in designing the compression system to satisfy the Lloyd’s Reg-ister demanding criteria for floating installations. The base frame was placed on a three-point mounting system. In order to be able to guar-antee a sufficient oil supply at all times, NEA used dry sump lubrica-tion like that used for motor sports. A separate lube oil tank ensures the constant supply of lube oil for all sea conditions and ship movements.

CT282.indd 2 10/28/13 11:10 AM

NOVEMBER 2013 32 COMpREssORtech2

Depressurizing a fluid by throt-tling it through a pressure re-duction valve wastes energy.

Conventionally, it is possible to use an expansion turbine to recover the energy stored in the fuel. A more cost- effective approach, however, is to use a pump with inverted flow that can function as a turbine.

GE Oil & Gas/PVS, leaning on its experience with hydraulic pump recovery turbines (API pumps), has certified its Pump as Turbine product as a stand-alone energy generator, which is suitable for refineries and

petrochemical operations, as well as heavy-duty operation.

Pump as Turbine (PaT) is a reverse running pump that can replace pres-sure choke in several systems and uses the energy stored in the pressur-ized liquid to generate power (electric-ity or mechanical drive). The gener-ated power can be sent back into the system or sold to the grid, and the PaT can be exercised as the driver of another plant machine.

The PaT is directly coupled with a three-phase asynchronous generator. When the synchronism (3000 or 3600

rpm) is reached, an automatic switch closes and connects the generator to the grid. In case of variable operating conditions required at site, a variable frequency drive (VFD) can be added to the package to make the PaT ca-pable of generating power in different operating points.

PaT represents a cost-effective replacement for throttling devices such as pressure-reducing valves (PRVs) that are usually installed to dissipate excess available energy or to recover flow after special treat-ment processes, such as reverse

Pumping Energy > Pump as Turbine (PaT) system provides energy recovery with limited investment

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n Pump as Turbine (PaT) is a reverse running pump which uses the excess of energy in the system. This waste en-ergy, normally dissipated in the PRV, is recovered from PaT and converted into electric power.

CT292.indd 1 10/28/13 5:37 PM

osmosis, water distribution systems and industrial systems. In these ap-plications, the customer’s preference goes to a product that allows power recovery, simple/compact installation and reduced maintenance. The PaT, meanwhile, offers an ideal solution, the company said.

Using the entire range of hydrau-lics normally employed for centrifugal pumps, PaT has a larger availability for heads and flows with highly customiz-

NOVEMBER 2013 33 COMpREssORtech2

able outputs that can be tailed on to a specific process, reducing to the mini-mum layout of the PaT skid.

The GE PaT can be used in a vari-ety of sizes and can produce energy starting at 100 kW up to 1 MW. When comparing installation cost against re-turns, the return on investment can be as low as 1.5 years on a small unit, according to the company.

Customers that will use PaT in lieu of pressure-reducing valves will expe-

rience lower energy costs by convert-ing waste energy into electricity with a high conversion efficiency, and lower CO2 emissions by lowering energy con-sumption from grid-based sources (500 grams of CO2 for every produced kW), GE Oil & Gas said.

Customer advantages with the PaT system include its availability in a wide range of heads and flows, as well as standard sizes; low costs compared with conventional tur-bines; simple installation; and less maintenance than conventional tur-bines, the company said. CT2

n The electrical power generated from the Pump as Turbine can be sent back into the system, creating a helper effect for the electric motor, or into the grid.

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Historically, gas-driven engines were the norm for compressors used in natural gas extraction.

With sometimes spotty access to elec-trical grids in rural areas, it was easy for operators to power their gas engines with natural gas from the pipelines.

However, for economic, environmen-tal and control reasons, there’s been a shift toward using electric-driven motors in the last five or six years. The wellhead price of gas has made it more profitable for the producer to sell his gas rather than use some of it for operations.

In addition, electric motors run cleaner and have overall lower car-bon emissions than a comparable

natural gas-powered engine — fac-tors that are becoming increasingly important as environmental regula-tions become more stringent.

Finally, controls can more easily be applied to electric motors than gas engines and offer increased efficiency and motor durability, improved control in pipelines, and remote monitoring and control capabilities.

Electric motors and automated control

Variable-frequency drives (VFDs) and soft starters are used to ramp up the speed of electric motors. They help mitigate power surges and elimi-

nate inrush, which reduces wear on the motor and compressor, and im-proves equipment life.

A VFD also allows users to control the speed of the compressor and real-ize energy savings. For example, re-ducing the speed of the compressor by as little as 10% can result in a 25% energy savings. In addition, a VFD gives gas producers more control over their compression schedule. They can alternately run the compressor at higher and lower speeds as needed.

A control system offers gas producers access to more information about their system, such as pressures, tempera-tures, runtime and immediate notifica-tion of a fault. The real-time data allows gas producers to make more informed decisions and optimize operations.

Utilizing a control system with a pro-grammable logic controller (PLC), hu-man machine interface (HMI) and VFD

Kingsly Adapts To Motor-Driven Compression Trend > Sophisticated montoring is

key to failure detectionBy KeITH WeLCH

AnD JACK CreAMer

n Kingsly Compression built this model KC-PHT2-3-200E3 compressor package, which includes a Schneider Electric Altivar 31 VFD installed on a remote skid along with a Modicon M238 PLC.

Keith Welch is an OEM field sales engineer for Schneider Electric. A civil engineering graduate of Ohio State University, he has been with Schneider for 11 years. Contact him at: keith.welch@schneider-electric.com. Jack Creamer is the market segment manager for pumping equipment at Schneider Electric. He attended Syracuse University and Rensselaer Polytechnic University and has been in the electrical industry for 35 years. Contact him at: jack.creamer@schneider-electric.com.

NOVEMBER 2013 34 COMpREssORtech2

continued on page 36

CT286.indd 1 10/28/13 11:22 AM

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also gives equipment manufacturers the ability to customize solutions by machines and applications versus the off-the-shelf solutions that are used with engine-driven controllers.

But the biggest advantage of electric motors and automated control for gas producers likely is the remote monitor-ing capability. Technology limitations and the associated expenses once lim-ited remote monitoring to only the most critical compression solutions in remote locations. However, as technology and trends such as energy management have evolved, remote monitoring has become a prevalent solution today.

Gas fields are often located in re-mote areas that require technicians to travel long distances to reach the sites, making it difficult to effectively manage equipment. Without an au-tomated solution, the only option for maintenance personnel is to physi-cally drive to the site.

Remote monitoring limits downtime because technicians can identify the problem ahead of time and then take any needed equipment with them in-stead of having to make multiple trips for troubleshooting and repair.

Technicians also can tune, update and restart equipment from a remote location — all things that they would have to do by driving to the site if re-mote monitoring wasn’t available.

Cloud-based remote monitoringA cloud-based machine-to-machine

monitoring application is a newer al-ternative to traditional remote moni-toring solutions.

For example, Schneider Electric’s OptiM2M solution gives compression skid builders, their representatives and their end users the ability to monitor and analyze remote systems as well as transfer and store data in a high-se-curity web cloud that’s accessible via any device anywhere in the world us-ing only a smartphone, laptop or other web-connected device with nothing more than an Internet Web browser.

Solutions like these incorporate a GSM/GPRS modem that polls the compression system controller and delivers the data to the cloud.

A solution like the OptiM2M allows users to harvest detailed, real-time

equipment use information such as equipment performance, energy con-sumption, preventive maintenance scheduling and usage of their com-pression systems.

Data access can be configured ac-cording to user type, such as equipment managers, owners, users, etc. Once in-stalled at the well site, a cloud-based solution allows real-time communica-tion with a production system, ensuring optimization of resources and visible reduction of on-site interventions.

Cloud-based solutions make use of cellular networks and can be de-ployed almost anywhere without the need for dedicated network hardware.

Kingsly’s challengeKingsly Compression, a packager

of small-to-medium horsepower gas compressors in the Appalachian mar-ket, is an example of a company that has seen demand from its customers shift from gas-powered engines to electric-powered motors.

In 2006, the company was ap-proached by a Virginia-based gas pro-ducer about a 200 well-site project us-ing electric motors and electric-driven controls. At the time, less than half of Kingsly’s customers were interested in electric motors and the packager had only dabbled with automation products from various vendors.

Kingsly worked with Schneider Elec-tric on this large-scale project, utilizing Schneider’s Altivar 31 VFDs, an ultra-compact controller, and a text display HMI to monitor variables such as tem-peratures and pressures, and to per-form basic operations like idle, shutoff, sleep mode, restart, etc., if certain con-ditions were present.

Following the initial project, addi-tional opportunities arose from the Virginia gas producer and other cus-tomers who wanted electric controls but needed horsepower and more ad-vanced technology needs.

Kingsly’s solutions needed to evolve with customer demand. It asked Schneider Electric’s OEM Technology and Solutions Center (TASC) and its market-focused application design engineers to help it co-design and co-engineer new solutions.

Kingsly also tasked the TASC to

bring consistency and continuity to the design and application of its elec-trical panels. Kingsly’s expertise was in packaging compressors, not build-ing electrical panels.

Working with TASC enabled King-sly to eliminate variability in its panels with a repeatable product that used the same design, consistent naming and wire numbering conventions, written documentation and wiring schematics.

Currently, Kingsly manufactures four compressor designs based on horsepower and compressor type, all built with Schneider’s Modicon M238 PLC and a full video display HMI that offer remote access via its Web gating capability.

The PLC gives the compression controls a more efficient design, and it conveniently communicates with GSM modems that are capable of sending and receiving text messages regard-ing the status of the compressor skid.

For example, the GSM modem will automatically send a text if a unit goes down. A technician also can poll the machine via text to deter-mine running condition and perform a control reset if a shutdown was generated by a resettable fault.

Again, this provides gas producers a considerable savings in costs and time, since technicians no longer must drive to remote sites to determine if a compressor is running. The GSM mo-dem immediately will tell the gas pro-ducer and/or his field service staff that a compressor went down.

It’s possible for operators to ob-tain production information, operat-ing hours for maintenance purposes, and review detailed historical infor-mation — all via computer at a cen-tral office location that has remote access via an Ethernet modem and with the compressor information. Webcams also can be designed into these control systems for remote viewing of well sites.

Kingsly has found that the demand for engines has reversed, with less than half of its customers preferring to remain with the traditional gas engine. That trend toward motor-driven com-pression will require it to continue mi-grating toward the most technological-ly advanced electronic controls. CT2

NOVEMBER 2013 36 COMpREssORtech2

CT286.indd 2 10/29/13 2:07 PM

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The Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology (OS-UIT) has completed its US$5

million Chesapeake Energy Natural Gas Compression Training Center.

OSUIT has offered a natural gas com pression training curriculum since 1974 and made it an independent pro-gram in 1999. The 23,920 sq.ft. (2222 m2) center will allow the program to ex-pand from the current 65 students to more than 160 students by 2015.

“We built this center to address the lack of technicians in the industry,” said Roy Achemire, Division Program Chair for the Heavy Equipment & Ve-hicle Institute at OSUIT. “Companies need more people. Our original facil-ity was a little over 8000 sq.ft. (743 m2). We’d max out with a class of 20

sophomores and 20 freshmen. We were eventually able to get another facility that fit 40 freshman and 40 sophomores and reached the point where we were graduating 30 to 35 students a year. It still wasn’t enough to meet the needs of the industry. With the new training center we can accommodate 80 freshmen students each year.”

Chesapeake Energy Corp. was the lead donor on the project, contribut-ing US$2 million. Other support-ers included Devon Energy Corp., ONEOK Inc. and Texas-based pipe-line operator Energy Transfer.

“The natural gas compression pro-gram began as an elective class,” Achemire said. “Most of the training was directed toward truck techni-

cians. Instead of taking an air brake course, people took a compressor course. There are a lot of people in the field today who only took one or two natural gas compression cours-es as electives and are managers now. They are on our advisory board and have been very active in hiring graduates. That’s how Chesapeake got involved with us. They have a lot of employees that have graduated from here and they recognize the value of what we offer.”

The training center features four full-time classrooms, eight faculty offices, a large classroom for in-cumbent training and 11,760 sq.ft. (1092 m2) of dedicated shop space complete with the two operating compressor skids, six small skids

OSUIT Opens Compressor Training Center > US$5 million facility to help

double enrollmentBy BRENT HAIGHT

n This operating compression skid was repainted in the orange and black school colors of Oklahoma State University.

NOVEMBER 2013 38 COMpREssORtech2

CT285.indd 1 10/28/13 11:48 AM

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NOVEMBER 2013 39 COMpREssORtech2

voltages to diagnose problems with-in electrical circuits. They will able to read schematics.”

According to Achemire, the entire program is designed to serve the student.

“The students are our product,” he said. “The companies are our cus-tomer. We have to provide a product they want to buy, or in this case, hire. If we produce graduates that com-panies will want to hire, then we’ve served our students well.” CT2

that are used to teach coupling alignment and compressor repair, Caterpillar, Cummins and Wauke-sha engines, tools and a variety of components that graduates will en-counter in the workplace.

“Classroom teaching deals a lot with the fundamentals,” Achemire said. “We start students out with safety. We talk to them about regu-lations. From there, we introduce them to precision measurement. We introduce engine principles and how engines operate. From there we look at engine overhaul, which deals with disassembly and inspection. They go through compressors the same way.

“We have actual compressor skids for students to learn on, with all working components. We have a number of components to assemble and disassemble. We have basic electrical trainers, as well as PLC simulators. Students will learn how to use timers and relays and hard-wire them into systems to perform various functions. They’ll learn about electric motors and motor controls. They’ll learn how components work, how the components work within a system and how those components need to be installed or programed within a system to make it perform a variety of operations. Students also learn how to use software from dif-ferent compressor companies.

“The training center is equipped with these trainers and simulators for electrical/electronic training. Stu-dents start out with the simulators, learning a lot of applied physics. They learn how to use digital volt ohm me-ters (dvom), for example, learning how to measure amps, ohms and

n The compression training facility will enable the program to expand from 65 students to more than 160 students by 2015.

CT285.indd 2 10/28/13 11:48 AM

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David B. Engel has more than 20 years of industrial experience and is the inventor in 15 U.S. patents on subjects relating to new technologies. He recently has focused on new technolo-gies for efficiency, reliability and throughput increase. Engel is president of the American Filtration & Separations Society (Southwest Region) and is managing director of Nexo Solutions. Contact him at: david.engel@nexosolutions.com Scott Williams is a process engineer with Nexo Solutions. His latest focus is in the area of liquid contaminant removal from liquid and gas streams and in selective separation applications. He has a B.S. in Chemical and Biological Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Troubleshooting Contamination In Gas Compression >

Gas compression systems are a vital yet delicate part of any gas plant, transmission line or refinery. In simple terms, gas compressors raise the pres-

sure of gas in a stream by reducing the gas volume. Heat is created and the gas stream is generally cooled before use or transport. There are many different types of compres-sors, but all work by imparting energy to the gas, reducing its volume, heating the stream and increasing pressure.

This process creates changes in conditions for the gas stream, and contaminates to some extent the com-pressed gas stream with aerosolized micron and sub-micron lubrication oils and other residues. These small-sized contaminants can create significant challenges in the downstream units such as metering stations and gas processing plants.

Only a small number of compression systems have the necessary means to adequately remove contaminants in the outlet compressed gas stream. As natural gas and other feedstocks become more and more contaminated (from shale formations, for example) there is a fundamen-tal need for accurate gas contamination testing and high-efficiency separation systems for contaminant removal.

Causes and effectsCompressor failures and downstream problems can

be caused by a variety of mechanisms, and every com-pression system must be monitored, inspected and main-tained with a holistic approach.

Dissolved contaminants in the gaseous phase or in wa-ter entrained in the gas can settle in the system during

compression, leading to fouling and corrosion, reduced throughput and eventually, failure. Suspended solids in the gas stream can cause similar effects in addition to erosion.

One of the most common and difficult challenges in gas compression, however, is dealing with lubrication oils and additives injected within the system.

Lubrication oils typically contain 90% base oil (most often petroleum fractions, called mineral oils) and about 10% additives for various functions. Additives deliver re-duced friction and wear, increased viscosity, improved viscosity index, and resistance to corrosion, oxidation, aging and contamination.

Most additives, however, have surfactant properties caus-ing a number of downstream problems such as foaming. Base oil, usually a heavy hydrocarbon, generally causes many detrimental effects downstream. These are related to the agglomeration of the heavy hydrocarbon with solid par-ticles in the gas stream forming larger residues.

This material can cause deposition and fouling in many gas lines and downstream equipment including pumps, compressors and metering equipment. These contami-nants are responsible for inaccurate gas metering that generates considerable revenue losses.

n Figure 1. This bar graph shows the effect of the surface tension of water when contacted with lubrication oil.

To illustrate this point, Figure 1 shows the change in sur-face tension of pure water when contacted with lubrication oil. The decrease in surface tension from 72 millinewtons per

TECHcorner

Advanced identification, removal systems can reduce downtimeBy DAvID B. EnGEL AnD SCOTT WILLIAMS

NOVEMBER 2013 42 COMpREssORtech2

continued on page 44

CT260_new.indd 1 10/28/13 3:43 PM

Insight onsite.™

Harsco.indd 1 10/18/13 8:48 AM

NOVEMBER 2013 44 COMpREssORtech2

meter (mN/m) to 46 mN/m is a clear indication of the surfactant properties of water soluble additives in the lu-brication oil.

The decrease in surface tension leads to an increase in entrained water and dissolved contaminants downstream as separation equipment loses liquid removal efficiency. Poor liquid removal efficiency leads to downstream issues including foaming, fouling and corrosion in addition to pro-cess solvent losses and performance decay.

Compression systems in gas plants, refineries, trans-mission lines, chemical plants and other industrial settings are an integral part of the operation, and without the sys-tem pressure created, the process often cannot operate.

Compression systems in refinery fluid catalytic crack-ing units are generally responsible for a large percentage of a refinery’s output, and failure can lead to complete refinery shutdowns causing tens of millions of dollars in lost revenue.

Natural gas compressor stations are responsible for the transportation of raw and processed natural gas, and sup-ply the pressure needed for gas plant operations.

Adequate compression system protection is thus an ex-tremely important aspect of successful plant operation, as compressor failure and also contamination breakthrough have enormous consequences.

Contamination characterizationThe first step in compressor protection is in under-

standing the nature of contamination in the stream, and gas testing is a vital piece of any troubleshooting protocol. Contamination in the feed gas contributes to many issues both in the compression system and downstream, so the identification of contaminant ingress should be performed in almost every case.

Suspended solids, water and dissolved contaminants, ad-ditives and other liquid contaminants such as heavy hydro-carbons should be monitored and quantified, and a suitable feed separation system can be put in place if necessary.

Feed contamination can play a major role in compres-sion system challenges and is often cited as the main cause of process problems.

Plant operators and engineers often overlook the injec-tion of lubrication oils and additives in the compressor it-self, however, and neglect to identify those sources of con-taminant ingress. In cases where lube oils and additives are of concern, downstream effects such as foaming and fouling are often observed, and testing of the gas stream at the outlet of the compressor should be performed.

Liquid contamination in gas streams is one of the most common and detrimental challenges. In compression sys-tems, lubrication oils and additives, heavy hydrocarbons and water all cause harmful downstream effects, and must be identified and quantified before a removal solu-tion can be developed.

The testing for liquids in gas streams is performed quan-titatively using a gas-liquid super coalescer (GASCO) test system (Figure 2). The system consists of a high-pressure housing that contains the coalescer element.

The gas flow to or from the compressor is routed from the high-pressure point into the housing and sent to the low pressure outlet. As gas flows across the multilayer media element, the liquids are intercepted, coalesced and drained from the element.

At the bottom of the test system there is a sight glass with an inner reservoir to accommodate the drained liq-uids. The sight glass is calibrated to measure liquids ac-cumulation. Liquids can then be removed from the system by means of a needle valve.

n Figure 2. The photo shows the setup of the GASCO test system for a compressed gas stream.

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NOVEMBER 2013 45 COMpREssORtech2

The separated liquids can then be analyzed for their composition and concentration, and a better understand-ing of process challenges can be gained.

The nucleus of the test is the coalescing element. The test elements are designed using specialized media formulations. The efficiency of the elements is rated at 99.98% for liquid droplets down to 0.1 µm in size. The ele-ments also have the latitude for the separation of liquids with a broad spectrum of polarities and viscosities.

With advanced testing for liquid contaminants using the GASCO system coupled with suspended solids char-acterization, a thorough contamination characterization can be completed and utilized to select the most effective compressor protection plan.

In any case where feed contamination is present, it is always advisable to locate the source. Oftentimes a capi-tal investment can be avoided by identifying and correct-ing issues upstream. If at all possible, avenues for reduc-ing feed contamination should be investigated before an investment is made in process protection.

In gas compression, liquid contamination from injected lube oils and additives is always present, and source removal is not an option. In this case, process protection is a must.

Many systems have been designed and implemented for liquids removal, but few have success in completely or even adequately removing the contamination.

Separation of liquid contaminants in gas streams is usually carried out using demisters (also known as knock-out drums) equipped with a metal coalescing pad element or vane pack installed near or at the outlet of the vessel.

Demister systems are typically vertical in orientation; however, they are only adequate for removing large di-ameter contaminant droplet sizes. In fact, these separa-tors were originally designed for bulk liquids removal (also called slug catchers).

These devices are not designed for solids separation (usually done by a wet scrubber or a particle filter) with the exception of cyclonic systems that can remove large solid particles and some larger liquid droplets.

Only a small number of compression systems have the necessary means to adequately separate the lubrication oil liquids in the gas stream caused by injection at the compressor itself.

As far as contamination in gas streams, the most prevalent and difficult contaminants to separate are submicron liquid aerosols. These are finely divided liquid droplets with diame-ters ranging from less than 0.1 µm to a few hundred microns.

Droplet sizes below 1 µm are the most difficult to re-move due to the absence of a specific separation mecha-nism that yields high removal efficiency. The typical aero-sol distribution in gas streams is primarily in the submicron

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NOVEMBER 2013 46 COMpREssORtech2

range. Larger droplets tend to not be as persistent, as they are likely to be separated by gravity. Larger droplets can shatter due to the shear forces surrounding the droplet surface with certain deficient vessel design features.

When large droplets shatter, progressively smaller droplets are created until the distribution is stabilized by the balance of energy distribution, gravitational settling and shear.

Other devices such as mesh pads, vane packs and cyclones are ineffective because they are not able to capture the small and most penetrating submicron aero-sols. Vane packs are especially ineffective when dealing with submicron liquid aerosols since the small droplets do not have enough momentum to properly contact the vane surface. Most small droplets are just carried with the stream.

Interfacial layers in many vane packs and some mesh pads are one cause of inefficiencies, and companies have mitigated this by using different designs (double and sin-gle pockets). Their efficiencies can be enhanced some-what for larger liquid droplets, low liquid loadings and gas velocities within certain limits.

Although mesh pads suffer similar inefficiencies, their removal rate is somewhat better due to the higher surface area, but these devices are prone to particle fouling.

Today, the technology of choice for high-efficiency removal of submicron aerosols in gas streams is built around spe-cially formulated microfiber media. Vane packs, cyclones and mesh pads should only be considered for larger liquid aerosols with droplet sizes well above 10 µm. Nevertheless, these devices are good for bulk liquids removal (slug catch-ers) or as a pre-separation process prior to a more efficient stage downstream.

n Figure 3. This shows a typical liquid aerosol size distribution at the outlet of a compressed gas stream.

As indicated in Figure 3, about 50%/weight (w/w basis) of all liquid contaminants in a gas stream area are smaller than 1 µm (aerosols), and 80%/w are smaller than 10 µm. Hence, most of the approaches to separating liquid contamination in gas streams using demisters with mesh pads, vane packs or certain horizontal filter-separators display rather low efficien-cies at removing submicron aerosols (% weight).

The reason for the lack of efficiency is related to the aerosol droplet size distribution, flow configuration in-side the separator and the mechanism of liquid droplet interception. In other words, the separation media is not capable of intercepting and coalescing submicron liquid droplets (followed by liquids unloading in order to enable proper high-efficiency separation).

Most aerosol contaminants break out of the system al-most intact. The vessel configuration is also critical even if the separation media is appropriate. The internal flow direction and gas routing inside the separator could be a source of significant inefficiencies. Additionally, poor vessel designs can actually shatter liquid aerosols into smaller sizes, adding more difficulty to an already chal-lenging separation process.

Most gas separation systems currently installed in re-fineries and gas plants as well as existing designs for future projects are usually not very appropriate for the separation of submicron liquid droplets in gas streams. These systems are conventional separation technologies for bulk removal. The efficiency decreases dramatically as particles become smaller than 10 µm in diameter.

Mesh pads suffer from flooding when excessive liq-uids are introduced and the mesh becomes saturated with liquid; this leads to efficiency losses by carry-over. Conventional devices are also prone to solids-fouling by particle deposition at the mesh structure surface, further reducing efficiency and causing considerable maintenance costs and pad failures. Movement of the mesh pad inside the vessel is somewhat common due to the difficulty of properly anchoring these devices to the vessel interior.

Alternative options, such as vane packs, have better mechanical performance and lower differential pressure, but provide inferior separation efficiencies. Even modern developments where improvements are made by the com-bination of vane packs and mesh pads do not adequately produce the necessary removal efficiency to protect sen-sitive equipment and processes.

A compressed gas separation for the outlet of com-pressors is called a “high-efficiency submicron coalesc-er” equipped with correct instrumentation, valves and specially formulated microfiber coalescing media. High-efficiency submicron coalescers possess the ability to intercept and coalesce submicron aerosols and properly drain the coalesced liquids from the element structure.

As indicated in Figure 3, submicron liquid droplets com-pose on average more than 50% of the total liquid con-taminants in a gas stream. Submicron coalescer devices are carefully designed depending on the flow, pressure, tem-perature, gas composition and contaminants. They should be installed as closely as possible to the unit or process they are intended to protect.

Typically most correctly designed high efficiency submi-cron coalescers are capable (in theory) of removing, on

continued on page 48

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NOVEMBER 2013 48 COMpREssORtech2

average, 99.98%+ of all aerosols with diameters between 0.1 to 1.0 µm (and larger) as measured in a laboratory setting. In essence, this is the majority of the liquid aero-sol contamination in a gas stream.

These devices should be protected with a suitable par-ticle filter separator (equipped with the correct separation media) in order to extend the online life of the coalescer and to minimize operational costs, as the replacement fil-ter elements for particle separation are much less expen-sive than coalescing elements.

Correctly designed submicron coalescer vessels have two stages: the bottom section designed to remove bulk liquids, and an upper high efficiency stage for aerosol re-moval. In certain occasions, the bottom section can be fit-ted with a mesh pad, vane pack or designed in such a way as to have cyclonic action. The gas then leaves the bottom chamber flowing into the second stage immediately above via the coalescing element’s interior.

The gas is then directed across the microfiber coalesc-ing media. The fine aerosols are intercepted, coalesced and drained from the elements by gravity. Like the lower stage, the upper stage has a liquid removal system com-prised of a level control and drain valves. The gas exits from the top of the vessel.

Typical campaign times for gas coalescing elements can vary anywhere from six months to up to two years de-pending on the amount of solids entering the coalescing stage as well as additive presence.

It is important to point out that many fabricators adver-tise systems capable of removing submicron liquid aero-sols. Most do not correlate these claims and expectations with actual performance. Only a small number of compa-nies possess the proper technology to supply submicron gas-liquid coalescers.

Case studyA South American oil and gas company subcontracts exter-

nal companies to operate a number of compression stations throughout the country. It is critical to be able to rely on specific standards for compressed gas and compressed gas quality.

At these compressor stations, the gas is compressed and invariably there is injection of lubrication oils into the gas stream (originating from the compressors them-selves). Testing of the compressed gas was performed in order to understand the level of contamination in the gas stream and whether the gas coalescing system’s design for its removal was effective.

Training on gas coalescing and filtration was first per-formed with the objective of setting the fundamental un-

derstanding of the phenomenon and to lead into testing of the gas stream.

The gas was then tested using the GASCO system to determine both the concentration of lubrication oil present in the form of aerosols and the concentration of lubrica-tion oils penetrating the coalescer equipment. The GAS-CO system is often used by Nexo Solutions to determine contamination in gas streams in many industrial settings.

The amount of lubrication oil collected in the GASCO system during testing was not enough to cause accumu-lation in the sight glass at the bottom of the test system. Hence, the lubrication oil was not visible.

n Figure 4. These photos and associated IR spectra illustrate residue from the GASCO test element.

However, upon inspection of the test elements, it was clearly identified that lubrication oil was present in the in-terior of the element. This can be seen in Figure 4 as the end of the test element was inspected and had a consid-erable amount of lubrication oil residue.

This residue was carefully removed and analyzed using infrared spectroscopy (IR). The IR spectrum (Figure 4) is a match with the sample of lubrication oil supplied by the compression station facility. The spectra of both materials were consistent with the base oil present in lubricants. Lubrication oils are typically high molecular weight hydrocarbons, mainly composed of C and H at-oms. Similarly, the spectrum only shows CH2, CH3 and C-C vibrations.

As the amount of lubrication oil was not enough to cause accumulation in the test systems, the contaminant was removed from the coalescing element using a sol-vent wash. The test element was weighed with the lubri-

n Table 1. The lubrication oil concentration in each test point is displayed.

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NOVEMBER 2013 49 COMpREssORtech2

cation oil inside and then after the oil was removed.

The solvent used for removal was hexanes (150 mL). This solvent is also compatible with the test element and will not remove any component from its structure. (Only the lubrica-tion oil is removed.)

The data for the lubrication oil quantity separated in each test run and the actual concentration of lu-brication oil in the main gas flow is shown in Table 1.

From the data acquired by the GAS-CO test system, it was apparent that the efficiency of the installed coalescer is near 92% (in a mass basis). This ef-ficiency is lower than what is normal for a high efficiency submicron liquids co-alescer. The total amount of oil present in the compressed gas stream is low.

This low concentration was achieved by the correct operation and maintenance of the compressors themselves. The correct and peri-odic maintenance of the compressor parts, seals and gaskets are critical in order to prevent release of lubrica-tion oils in the form of aerosols.

The low efficiency in removing aerosol was caused by a few fac-tors, and further investigation can verify the exact causes. The possible causes are:

Incorrect vessel design — The process conditions and flow in the vessel were simulated, and the 42 in. (106 cm) outer diameter size of the in-stalled vessel was found to be larger than required. A vessel with a 36 in. (91 cm) diameter and 19 to 23 co-alescing elements, with 4.5 in. (11 cm) diameter and 36 in. (91 cm) length, would have been sufficient.

Gas coalescer vessels have a de-termined size envelope. A small ves-sel will have considerable contami-nants carry-over caused by the high gas velocity in the vessel interior. An oversized coalescer vessel will not generate the sufficient energy to pro-mote the coalescing process inside the microfibrous coalescing element structure. This will also cause con-tamination carryover.

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In this particular case, the vessel positioning of the outlet, located be-low the element line using a baffle plate, was also erroneous. This ar-rangement is inefficient as the out-let gas inside the vessel needs to change direction many times caus-ing increased velocity and increased carryover possibilities.

New vessel designs have the outlet a minimum of 10 in. (254 cm) above

the element line with no baffle. This ensures only one gas turn direction in the vessel prior to the outlet and also reduces localized high velocity and carryover.

Incorrect maintenance procedures — To what was understood, the vessel was properly maintained periodically. Pictures of the vessel were taken during

continued on page 50

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NOVEMBER 2013 50 COMpREssORtech2

inspection. This is important for possible future troubleshoot-ing. The vessel interior was not inspected during the visit.

One possible area of importance is correctly inspecting the vessel interior for possible depositions in the support hardware or for any hardware malfunction. This can cause a bypass if residue build-up is not cleared or if the hardware is not properly functional.

Incorrect media — One possible aspect for enhancing the quality of compressed gas by reducing the concentration of lubrication oil is increasing the removal rates and ensuring that the removal rate is not affected by shutdowns and start-ups of the gas flow.

It has been observed that all coalescers lose efficiency when the gas flow is interrupted and resumed at a later time. In Figure 5, this phenomenon is shown compara-tively for some of the most common coalescer elements in the marketplace today. Data was obtained during many field tests over the last two years.

n Figure 5. This graph shows the effect of gas flow interruption on different gas-liquid coalescing elements.

Some coalescer elements do not have adequate initial liquids removal efficiency. Only certain coalescing elements show proper aerosol removal, however, in all cases the decay in efficiency upon cycling (shutdown and start-up) is considerable.

The decay in efficiency at the outlet of compressors at cycling operational modes is related to the interaction of the liquids and other contaminants that remain inside the coalescing element with the various fibrous materi-als. There is likely to be both chemical degradation of the fiber materials and plugging of small pores responsible for small liquids aerosol removal.

From the data in both GASCO tests for aerosol removal and quantification, it was indicated that the compressors are operating correctly with minimal liquids injection into the gas stream. This is primarily due to the age of the equip-ment (fairly new) and proper maintenance and operational procedures. As the equipment ages and deficient mainte-nance and operation takes place, the presence of higher lubrication oil concentrations is more common.

The installed gas-liquid coalescer at the outlet of the plant (outlet of air coolers) had a slightly oversized diameter but in this case, did not affect operation or performance of the sys-

tem. The system was simulated and the flow exit velocity and media face velocity were within acceptable parameters. How-ever, the overall efficiency (by mass) was lower than what is acceptable for a compressed gas stream at the outlet of a compressor station.

One of the most likely causes of poor removal efficiency is the degradation of the fibrous material in the coalescing element when stagnant liquid is in its interior or a coalescer element internal with poor efficiency (or maybe a combi-nation of both factors). A possible improvement alternative is to install XC coalescing elements that have materials in their interior specially designed to endure intermittent gas flow (cycling) operations.

Figure 6 shows the variation of efficiency on XC coalesc-ers upon cycling. It can be observed that the efficiency is not affected. In many cases the efficiency remains constant up to the ninth cycle of shutdown and start-up.

n Figure 6. This graph shows the effect of gas flow interruption on the XC gas-liquid coalescing element.

This new technology is critical to ensure that quality com-pressed gas is delivered to the gas line and that contamina-tion is properly removed in order to minimize inadequate gas metering and further processing in operations downstream.

ConclusionsThere are considerable benefits associated with con-

taminant removal in gas compression systems. Several aspects including gas testing, separation system design, maintenance and media choice must be performed cor-rectly in order to ensure adequate contaminant removal.

Properly designing, operating and maintaining a co-alescer separation system will unequivocally provide sig-nificant downstream protection. Foaming, fouling, corrosion of process equipment and inadequate gas metering can be expected without proper protection. Contamination in gas streams varies greatly in both type and concentration, and the best solution for each case varies as well. Proper identi-fication and quantification of contaminants including solids, dissolved species and liquids must be accomplished so the correct solution can be designed.

Improving process efficiency and profitability is impor-tant to every plant, and taking the right approach to con-tamination in gas compression systems has fundamental impacts on process stability and economics. CT2

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NOVEMBER 2013 52 COMpREssORtech2

Pumping corrosive fluids contain-ing abrasive solids is a chal-lenge. To face this challenge,

Sulzer has developed a specific heat treatment procedure for steel that im-proves wear resistance, while leaving corrosion resistance nearly unchanged.

There are several pumps that can operate in corrosive and abrasive en-vironments, such as chemical or metal processes and wastewater treatment. To ensure high reliability, research and development in the fields of fluid mechanics and materials technology, as well as detailed knowledge of the applications and operating conditions, are essential, Sulzer said.

Hydroabrasive wear and corrosion can significantly reduce the lifetime of pump components. One possibility to optimize operational life in such aggres-sive surroundings is the use of specially adapted hydraulics or seals. Further-

more, the selection of appropriate mate-rials is the key to substantially extending the service intervals of a pump.

Specialized foundryCast duplex stainless steels, as de-

fined by ASTM International (the inter-national standards organization formerly known as American Society for Testing and Materials), are the materials mainly used today under corrosive and erosive conditions. When sourcing from com-mercial foundries, pump manufactur-ers are required to use these standard grades for their components.

Sulzer, meanwhile, operates its own foundries in Karhula, Finland, and in Jundiaí, Brazil, allowing the com-pany to develop alloys and methods for material treatment that commercial foundries do not offer. The foundry in Karhula supplies corrosion-resistant steel and special cast-iron cast-

ings. Of the total annual production of roughly 30,000 castings, almost 90% are made of corrosion-resistant duplex and super duplex cast steel grades, Sulzer said.

Making a standard material betterEven though duplex steel offers out-

standing wear properties along with its corrosion resistance, some de-manding applications require an en-hancement. Precipitation hardening is a specific heat treatment that can improve the characteristics of duplex steel without the need for additional alloying elements.

This heat treatment strengthens the material by allowing the controlled release of constituents that form pre-cipitated nanoscale and microscale intermetallic clusters. However, it is not applicable to all duplex grades and bears the risk of impairing the corro-sion resistance and the toughness of the respective material. Sulzer has examined several procedures for the precipitation hardening of duplex steel containing copper. By varying the copper content and the parameters of the heat treatment, Sulzer engineers improved the wear resistance of the material without undermining its cor-rosion properties and toughness.

Proprietary testing knowledgeVarious process parameters, such

as heating rate, heating temperature, dwell time and cooling rate, influ-ence the size and the distribution of the precipitates. The optimal control of these two characteristics provides the balance between the resulting increase in strength and the loss of ductility and toughness.

A Firm Stance Against Corrosive Environments >

n Sulzer’s foundry in Karhula, Finland, manufactures castings for pumps, mixers and agitators.

Sulzer develops heat treatment procedure to strengthen pumps

PumP

tech

continued on page 54

By THOMAS KrAEnzlEr And rAIMO ArOlA

Thomas Kraenzler is head of the materials group of Sulzer Pumps in Winterthur, Switzerland. He can be reached at thomas.kraenzler@sulzer.com. Raimo Arola is the material special-ist of Sulzer Pumps Finland in Karhula, and can be reached at raimo.arola@sulzer.com.

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Methods for the testing and char­acterization of the material were used to optimize the parameters. The goal was to adapt the ASTM material A 890 Grade 1B (duplex steel containing some copper) to make it usable in challenging pump applications. During the materials development project, the following pa­rameters were varied: copper content; solution annealing temperature of the base material; heating rate; treatment temperature for precipitation hardening; dwell time; and cooling rate.

Improved hardnessThe testing showed that there is only

a small temperature range where hard­ness and toughness can be optimized. This temperature range is limited on both sides by the precipitation of harmful intermetallics (brittle metallic structures). However, within that process window, hardness and toughness can be tuned over a wide range by choosing the ap­propriate dwell time. Measured with a high­velocity slurry jet, precipitation heat treatment leads to a significant improve­ment in wear resistance compared with the reference material, which was only solution annealed. Corrosion testing of the precipitation­hardened steel also showed only minor relative changes.

Extending pump lifetimeSulzer has used this heat­treated

material in cases where the pumped media are corrosive fluids that con­tain moderately abrasive solids such as pure salt crystals. For these appli­cations, typically an Ahlstar process pump type WPP with wear­resistant hydraulics is selected. The special material is used for pump impeller and side plate — because these parts are normally the most exposed to wear — or for all wetted cast parts.

An exemplary application of a pump made from this new material is the sec­ond step of absorption in the fluor salts production, which is part of the produc­tion process of phosphoric fertilizer. As for most chemical processes, the per­formance of these pumps is critical for the production, and the requirements relating to their reliability are high. The pumped liquid is both corrosive and contains fine, abrasive particles.

Improving process reliabilityA client who operates a fertilizer

production plant wanted to replace the original pumps, which had an

insufficient lifetime. These machines were sealed with gland packings. This type of seal works with a lubri­cating fluid and failed to seal the ag­gressive fluid dependably.

Based on their experience with the pumps in first step of the absorption in the fluor salts manufacturing pro­cess, Sulzer experts selected a wear­ resistant pump with an open impeller and a dynamic seal. The pumps are made from precipitation heat­treated material with a hardness of 300 HBW. The chosen pumps operate close to their duty point, which is essential for efficient hydraulic operation, Sulzer said.

In this case, the combination of pump, fabrication material, and seal type — all well­suited for the application — led to increased reliability of the overall pro­cess. This improvement reduced outage and increased the time between repairs. Following the successful installation of the first pump, several pumps — all made from specifically heat­treated steel — are now running in same fertil­izer production line. CT2

n Duplex steel combines two different phases: austenite (white areas) in a ferrite matrix (grey areas).

n Sulzer examined several proce-dures for the precipitation harden-ing of duplex steel.

What Is Duplex Stainless Steel?

The corrosion resistance of stain­less steels is based on the pres­ence of a substantial amount

(>12%) of chromium in the steel. It forms a protective film of chromium oxide on the surface that inhibits corrosion. By alloying other elements such as

nickel, molybdenum, nitrogen, titani­um, and manganese, it is possible to achieve a wide range of mechanical and chemical properties in the stain­less steels.

Stainless steels are categorized continued on page 56

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into four groups according to their crystal structure:

• Austenitic stainless steels (face-centered cubic structure)

NOVEMBER 2013 56 COMpREssORtech2

n The hardness and the toughness of the steel can be controlled by varying the precipi-tation hardening temperature and the dwell time.

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• Ferritic stainless steels (body- centered cubic structure)

• Martensitic stainless steels (body-centered tetragonal structure)

• Duplex stainless steels (mixture of austenite and ferrite phases)

The austenitic grades are most popular, but the duplex grades are the most important for industrial pump applications. Owing to their two-phase microstructure consist-ing of austenite and ferrite grains, duplex alloys combine the advan-tages of both steel groups. They are roughly twice as strong as purely austenitic stainless steels. They have significantly better toughness and ductility than ferrit-ic grades. They exceed austenitics in their resistance to stress corro-sion cracking.

Because of the increased yield strength, it is often possible to re-duce the section thickness of com-ponents compared with designs based on austenitic grades. Further-more, duplex stainless steels have a lower content of expensive nickel and molybdenum than their austen-itic counterparts do. CT2

To

ug

hn

ess

[J]

Hardness [HV10]

Temp. 1

Temp. 2

Temp. 3

Temp. 4

Solution annealed

Time A

Time B

Time C

CT293.indd 3 10/28/13 4:03 PM

Recent OrdersGE Oil & Gas

GE Oil & Gas has received a US$600 million contract to supply turbomachinery for three trains at the Yamal liquefied natu-ral gas (LNG) project being developed on the Yamal Peninsula in eastern Russia.

The LNG project is owned by JSC Ya-mal LNG, a joint venture between Rus-sia’s OAO Novatek (80%) and France’s Total (20%). It will build a liquefaction plant near the port of Sabetta, drawing on production from the South Tambeys-koye gas/condensate field.

Each train will consist of two main re-frigeration units, both with a 115,000 hp (86 MW) Frame 7E gas turbine, three main refrigerant centrifugal compres-sors (two mixed refrigerant and one pro-pane), a 32,200 hp (24 MW) variable-speed drive starter/helper and waste heat recovery units.

In all, GE will supply six Frame 7E gas turbines, 18 centrifugal compressors, six variable-speed drives and six waste heat recovery units. The turbines will be man-ufactured at GE Power & Water’s plant

in Greenville, South Carolina, and the compressors at GE Oil & Gas’ facility in Florence, Italy. Two turbocompres-sor systems will be tested at GE Oil & Gas’ facility in Massa, Italy. GE Power Conversion facilities in France will sup-ply the variable-speed drives.

GE will deliver the equipment during the second half of 2015. The first train is due to reach full capacity in 2017, followed by the second train in 2018 and the third train in 2019.

FluorPetroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) has

provided ICA Fluor’s joint venture with Empresas ICA a contract to build a gas compression system for the Dos Bocas marine terminal at Paraiso, Ta-basco, on the Gulf of Mexico.

Fluor booked its US$54 million share of the contract in the third quarter of 2013. It will provide engineering, procure-ment, construction and start-up serv- ices for the electromechanical works and tie-in of the new system to connect

a 48 mi. (77 km), 36 in. (91 cm) pipeline to move oil and gas from an offshore plat-form to processing facilities at the marine terminal. Work should be completed in the second quarter of 2015.

Foster WheelerAramco has provided a subsidiary of

Foster Wheeler’s Global Engineering and Construction Group with a contract for the front-end engineering design of its Master Gas System Expansion in Saudi Arabia.

Foster Wheeler will develop a design package on a fast-track basis for two compressor stations. Aramco plans to de-velop up to three more compressor sta-tions in a second phase of the expansion.

The Master Gas System is a gather-ing and processing network built in the mid-1970s. It has been the backbone of the country’s industrial network.

To meet growing demand, the Petro-leum Ministry and Saudi Aramco have announced a US$9-billion program to find and develop natural gas fields. CT2

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NOVEMBER 2013 57 COMpREssORtech2

CT283.indd 1 10/28/13 4:06 PM

November 2013 58

MetsoMetso has opened a service center

in Waddinxveen, the Netherlands, near the Rotterdam-Antwerp industrial area.

The service center supports the company’s strategy to grow its valve and field device service business globally, and strengthen its service ca-pabilities within the Benelux region for major petrochemical, energy and pulp and paper companies.

With the new facility, Metso has 34 automation service centers and 87 au-tomation service hubs.

ExterranExterran Holdings has sold Exterran

Canadian Partnership Holdings for an undisclosed sum to an affiliate of Sta-ple Street Capital LLC. Staple Street said the business would be renamed Ironline Compression.

The former Exterran Canada busi-ness, which is based at Nisku, Alberta, owns and maintains a fleet of 190 com-pression units. It services producer-owned equipment from nine locations in the Western Sedimentary Basin. It also is the exclusive Canadian distribu-tor of the Cameron line of products, including Cooper, White Superior, Bes-semer and Ajax.

GE Oil & GasGE Oil & Gas is moving its global

headquarters from Florence to Lon-don, effective January 2014. The di-vision said Florence will remain the global headquarters for GE Oil & Gas Turbomachinery Products & Services, a US$6 billion business and a key manufacturing and engineering site for the production of centrifugal com-pressors and gas turbines. GE Oil & Gas has 43,000 employees in more than 100 countries.

Compass CompressionCompass Compression Services

Ltd. has opened a third manufacturing facility in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, in-creasing its shop space by 25% for a total of 62,000 sq.ft. (5760 m2).

The new 16,000 sq.ft. (1500 m2)

shop at 94th Ave. SE is dedicated to vessel and piping fabrication while an existing 12,000 sq.ft. (1100 m2) shop is being converted for skid fabrication. The additional facility and reallocation of space provides Compass with more room at its main assembly facility on 40th Ave. SE.

J-W EnergyJ-W Energy Co. has sold its sub-

sidiary, J-W Measurement Co., to White Deer Energy L.P. II and its af-filiates and J-W Measurement Co.’s senior management team. J-W Mea-surement Co. will continue to base its operations out of the Dallas, Texas area, and will announce its new name in the near future.

White Deer Energy is an energy pri-vate equity firm focused on the explo-ration and production, oilfield service and equipment manufacturing, and midstream sectors of the oil and gas in-dustry. White Deer Energy has offices in Houston, Texas and New York, N.Y.

USA Compression PartnersUSA Compression Partners (USAC)

has completed the purchase of US$187 million of assets owned by S&R Compression, a Tulsa, Oklahoma- based company majority owned and controlled by Argonaut Private Equi-ty, an affiliate of George B. Kaiser.

The Kaiser affiliate will receive USAC common units representing 20% of the pro forma limited partner interest in USAC. USAC will retain S&R’s employees.

The 983 compressors, totaling 138,000 hp (103 MW), are mostly used in connection with oil production in Texas and Oklahoma. S&R Compres-sion fabricated the compressors, which have an average age of 2.2 years and a 95% utilization rate.

The S&R Compression fabrication business, which will continue to be owned and operated by the Kaiser af-filiate, also will begin supplying small horsepower units for the USAC com-pression fleet.

MoversPRIME

continued on page 73

Heinzmann GmbH & Co. KGAm Haselbach 1D-79677 Schönau/GermanyPhone: +49 7673 8208 - 0Fax: +49 7673 8208 - 188Email: info@heinzmann.de

HEINZMANN Contacts in North America

Subsidiaries

USAHeinzmann America, Inc.1305 Duff Drive, Unit 1AFort Collins, CO 80524Phone: +1-970-484-1863Email: info.usa@heinzmann.com

CanadaHeinzmann GmbH & Co. KG1013-14 AvenueWainwright, AB, T9W 1K5Phone: +1-780-231-2280Email: b.powers@heinzmann.com

Agents

USAKraft Power Corporation199 Wildwood Ave.Woburn, MA 01801-2024Toll free: +1-800-969-6121

Further offi ces:• Suwanee, GA

Phone: +1-800-394-0078 (Toll free)Email: GAinfo@kraftpower.com

• Gaylord, MIPhone: +1-866-713-2152 (Toll free)Email: MIinfo@kraftpower.com

• Charlotte, NCPhone: +1-704-504-3033Email: NCinfo@kraftpower.com

• Houston, TXPhone: +1-800-394-0078 (Toll free)Email: aschaub@kraftpower.com

• Massillon, OHPhone: +1-330-830-4158 Email: rmontgomery@kraftpower.com

• Pompton Plains, NJPhone: +1-800-221-3284 (Toll free)Email: NJinfo@kraftpower.com

• Syracuse, NYPhone: +1-877-349-4184 (Toll free)Email: NYinfo@kraftpower.com

• Sturtevant, WIPhone: +1-262-884-8666Email: WIinfo@kraftpower.com

CanadaAdvantage Governor & Controls Inc.1013-14 AvenueWainwright, AB, T9W 1K5Phone: +1-780-842-4248Email: sales@advantagegovernor.com

Wajax Power Systems2997 rue WattQuebec, QC G1X 3W1 Phone: +1-418-651-5371Email: PCusson@wajax.com

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Usually when referring to liq-uefied natural gas (LNG) pro-duction plants, one tends to

identify the subject with large plants, large investments and several years from planning to production.

That’s been the history of the LNG industry, but the future is very much oriented towards smaller plant sizes to cover markets not addressed by major natural gas pipelines such as smaller communities, long-distance truck refueling and railways.

The definition of small or large is somewhat elastic, however, a small liquefaction train is commonly de-fined as one that produces less than

0.5 million T/yr of LNG. A plant under 0.1 million T/yr is considered mini-sized. Mid-size is a plant from 0.5 to 1 or 2 million T/yr. More than 2 million T/yr is no doubt a large plant.

Siemens has strong experience in the small and mid-sized markets but is also greatly oriented towards large “e-LNG plants” for which it has de-veloped not only the compressor but also the large variable-speed electric motor drive.

During the last four years, Sie-mens has sold 20 small-sized trains for LNG plants ranging from 0.2 to 0.55 million T/yr to Chinese firms. These plants use gasified coal as

feedstock and the success of the first installations has created a booming demand for such plants.

Siemens manufactures the com-pressor trains used in these plants in China. The availability of variable inlet guide vanes (IGV) on these compres-sors allows the use of identical ma-chines for different plant sizes, with considerable savings in investments.

The abundance of shale gas in the United States is creating the need for smaller-sized LNG infrastructure in North America to refuel long-distance trucks. According to Siemens, the size of these plants would be somewhat

Changes In LNG Refrigerating Trains > Siemens portfolio spans from small to large sizes

By RoBeRTo CheLLINI

n Siemens tested a 105,940 hp (79 MW) electric motor-driven refrigeration compressor train at full speed and full load.

NOVEMBER 2013 60 COMpREssORtech2

continued on page 62

CT284.indd 1 10/28/13 6:19 PM

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smaller than the Chinese ones, the present contracts being for the supply of 0.15 to 0.25 million T/yr trains.

The BOG reliquefaction systemSiemens also has reported recent

success with boil-off gas (BOG) re-covery and reliquefaction in large LNG plants. According to the Ger-man company this, for its size, is a world first and highlights a new mar-ket trend.

BOG is produced by cryogenic storage tanks at a fluctuating rate, peaking during the loading of LNG carriers. Part of it is conventionally used as fuel gas for the gas turbines driving the refrigerating compressor trains, but a substantial amount is flared. This adds to air pollution and wastes a valuable product.

Petronas’ Bintulu LNG complex in Malaysia is one of the world’s larg-est, producing in three parallel lines a total of 24 million T/yr of LNG. Until now the BOG flowing to the flare was about 0.8 to 0.9 million T/yr, a sub-stantial amount that the new plant designed by Linde Engineering, which acts also as EPC, intends to recover in a reliquefied form.

Siemens has long (since the Demag days) been specialized in the design and manufacture of BOG centrifugal compressors. The Bintulu unit seems to be one of the world’s largest and for the first time is driven by a SGT-700 gas turbine.

The Bintulu BOG recovery plant consists of two separate gas turbine driven compressor trains.

The first train features a two- casing cryogenic compressor. The first casing, horizontally split, is di-rectly coupled to the SGT-700 gas turbine. The second casing, vertical-ly split, is driven through a step-up gear coupled to the end of the first compressor shaft.

The SGT-700 has an ISO rating of 45,150 hp (33.67 MW), but due to the hot climate the output is reduced to 37,500 to 38,900 hp (28 to 29 MW), sufficient to drive the compressor train at full load. The BOG is handled by the compressor to the process (cold box) for conversion to liquid.

The second compressor train is the mixed refrigerant compressor providing the cold box with the refrig-eration needed to convert BOG into LNG and feed it back to the cryo-

genic storage tanks. This compres-sor features a vertically split casing and hosts two compression phases in a back-to-back configuration. The gas turbine driver is the same as the one used in the BOG train and the amount of power required by the two trains is almost balanced out.

Specially engineered IGV systems available on Siemens cryogenic com-pressors allow the operation of the plant at various loads, as required for handling BOG fluctuation, while main-taining high the whole train efficiency.

The cost of the new BOG relique-faction plant is considerable but the additional LNG made available for sales ensures a quick return on the investment, not counting the environ-mental benefits. The Bintulu relique-faction plant is expected to start com-mercial operation in October 2014.

Siemens expects that the system pioneered in Bintulu will soon be ad-opted by all major LNG plants in the Middle East, Australia and Africa.

The e-LNG solutionSiemens is also pushing into the

market for large-sized LNG plants and has successfully tested a 105,940 hp (79 MW) compressor train at its Duis-burg Mega Test Center in Germany.

The latest trend in this field is to shift from gas turbine-driven refrig-erating compressor trains to electric- motor-driven trains. Siemens is prof-iting from the availability in its prod-uct portfolio of both the e-motor and the compressor to implement the e-LNG trend.

While the gas turbine-driven com-pressors have a typical operating range varying from 97 to 105% of design speed, the use of a variable-frequency drive (VFD) feeding the electric motor in combination with variable IGV on the refrigerating compressors allows the operation of the plant at high efficiency in the en-tire 70 to 105% speed range.

Furthermore, while the mechanical drive gas turbines are operated in a simple cycle mode with an efficiency of just over 40%, when aeroderiva-tive units are used, in the case of the construction of a dedicated power

n The company built the first gas turbine-driven boil-off gas compressor train for the LNG plant in Bintulu, Malaysia.

NOVEMBER 2013 62 COMpREssORtech2

CT284.indd 2 10/28/13 4:32 PM

plant the gas turbines can be oper-ated in the combined-cycle mode with an overall efficiency approach-ing 58%.

The availability of a 79 MW electric motor is a remarkable achievement and the fact that the Duisburg test cen-ter has the capability to perform such tests at full load is also noteworthy.

The first test was performed by as-sembling two identical motors in a back-to-back arrangement. Once the motor performance was determined to be respondent to the design character-istics, one of the motors was tested at full load and full speed (79 MW, 3000 rpm), coupled to a refrigeration centrif-ugal compressor under conditions re-producing the operating conditions of an LNG plant. The full load test lasted four hours, during which cold and hot start-ups were performed.

The use of a VFD allowed the operation of the train within a vast speed range maximizing plant ef-ficiency and production rate capa-bilities. Electric motor drives and the availability of IGV on the compres-sor inlet allowed the start-up of the plant with the refrigerating loop un-der pressure, a practice not possible when the refrigerating compressor is driven by a gas turbine.

The harmonics induced by the VFD, which may create grid distur-bance, can be eliminated easily by installing appropriate harmonic fil-ters. Interharmonics must be han-dled carefully case-by-case. They may create torsional vibrations in the compressor train and above all in the couplings. To avoid them it is necessary to select the number of poles of the motor and the pulses of the converter so the interharmon-ics fall out of the motor operating speed range.

The only e-LNG plant in operation is the Statoil Hammerfest LNG com-plex. This plant was a “first” in many aspects and its commissioning was a challenge. However, once all the ini-tial problems were solved, the plant has been stopped for maintenance only four days during the last three years of operation, demonstrating an exceptionally high utilization rate.

NOVEMBER 2013 63 COMpREssORtech2

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Other operators are considering e-LNG for future projects because of the advantages offered by electric-motor-driven refrigerating compres-sor trains. They offer:

• additional availability and thus additional production;

• practically no maintenance of the motor versus periodical planned maintenance for gas turbines;

• freedom in selecting the plant ca-pacity, since motors can be built to

the desired size while gas turbines are available only in certain sizes;

• high overall efficiency and thus reduced emissions.

The requirements of a dedicated combined-cycle power plant determine the initial investment required, and according to Siemens, this additional investment is recovered in only a few years from the start of the LNG plant and considerable savings can be ex-pected over the plant’s lifetime. CT2

CT284.indd 3 10/28/13 4:33 PM

Valerus has launched its Com-mand data system for the con-tract compression fleet and oth-

er facilities that it owns and operates.Command is a step change from the

usual SCADA and monitoring systems, integrating remote monitoring and ana-lytics, enterprise asset management (EAM), standard operating procedures and the expertise of technicians to de-liver actionable information and insight.

“We’ve invested extensively in our people, in this technology, and in pro-cess improvements to launch what we believe is the most comprehensive performance monitoring and predic-tive analytics system available for sur-face facilities,” CEO Pete Lane said.

Valerus worked with Enbase En-ergy Technology to develop the per-formance monitoring and analytics portion, or predictive SCADA, which automates real-time data, notifications and daily reports within the system.

The data is then fed into the Valerus EAM system, which generates a work order with model-specific maintenance

procedures and schedules technicians to provide service. Valerus also opened a center in Houston for Command mon-itoring and administration.

The system simplifies environmental compliance because all monitored data is archived. The centralized recordkeep-ing provides timely, simplified access to job safety analysis data for require-ments such as safety audits, operator qualification, and safety and environ-mental management systems

The work-order portion of Com-mand has been applied to virtually all of the equipment the company serv-ices. The full Command suite has been enabled for about a third of the company’s operations and will be fully implemented early next year.

Tanmay Desai, senior vice president of contract services, said Valerus would continue to improve, expand and invest in Command. “This launch marks the beginning of a staged deployment that will result in further performance ad-vances for our producer and midstream customers,” Desai said.

He said the company and its custom-ers already have seen tangible improve-ments in costs and downtime. In one ex-ample, Valerus provided compression on a Texas lease where the customer was experiencing repeated fluctuations in discharge from gas lift wells.

Because discharges could vary from 600 to 1000 psi (40 to 70 bar) from day to day, the customer suspected a com-pressor problem. In visits to the lease, a Valerus mechanic concluded that the compressor was operating properly but a gas lift valve was opening and lowering the discharge.

After Valerus installed Command monitoring sensors on the equip-ment, real-time data confirmed that the valve was hanging up and also indicated some small pipe leaks were contributing to the problem.

Desai said Command stemmed from an internal company review two years ago that focused on finding ways to perform work in the best and safest ways possible.

He said at that time the company’s total reportable incident rate (TRIR) was near the industry average, but “a pronounced effort to improve our safety culture” has cut the rate to ap-proximately a third of the industry av-erage. “For the compression sector, we think that Valerus is the ‘best in class,’ ” Desai said.

The review also sought to improve the Valerus data-collection methodol-ogy in order to improve services, re-sponsiveness and communications.

“A lot of people thought we have been working on a remote monitoring system, but it’s much more than that,” Desai said.

The system generates maintenance work orders and schedules services when a piece of equipment is expected to be off line.

Valerus took OEM maintenance rec-ommendations, supplemented them

Valerus Launches Integrated Controls System > Command technology surpasses simple

failure detectionBy PATRICk CROW

NOVEMBER 2013 64 COMpREssORtech2

n The control room at Valerus Command monitors and optimizes entire systems, including compression.

CT290.indd 1 10/28/13 4:23 PM

with what its veteran employees had learned over the years, and wrote step-by-step best practices for its technicians.

Those standardized EAM check-lists are updated continuously and are used in electronic formats by the 300 field technicians.

“No one has to carry a thick manual or rely on their memory when they ser-vice equipment,” Desai said. “Everything they need to know is on the computer screen before them. Everybody is doing the same thing, and doing it right.”

Desai said when there is a prob-lem with equipment, the technician’s first reaction isn’t to dash to the site. Instead, he turns on his laptop com-puter to review the operating data and repair information, so that he knows what supplies he needs before he gets into his truck.

“That’s big step,” he said. “It avoids a lot of time-consuming, back-and-forth parts runs that add to the cus-tomer’s downtime.

“Valerus Command also makes a big difference when the technician gets to the site. He has an improved focus. He knows exactly what he needs to examine and repair and doesn’t waste time guessing and checking and tin-kering. He just has a heightened level of awareness.”

Desai said the important thing about the improved data-gathering system is what Valerus does with the information. “The technology is just the enabler,” he said. “We want to see the big picture,

and make the x-to-y connections, so we can predict failure in advance. When we can do that, we can perform repairs or service so that the failure never occurs.”

He said Valerus deliberately uses employees from different disciplines to staff its Command center. “But what we always have in the room is an ex-perienced mechanic,” he said. “A lot of

NOVEMBER 2013 65 COMpREssORtech2

n The availability of real-time data facilitates maintenance and repair by Valerus technicians.

folks can analyze data but sometimes it takes that field experience to fully recognize what’s happening.”

Desai said some other compres-sion companies are monitoring assets, but in a more traditional way, watching computer screens for lights that flip from green to red. He said the Valerus approach is the first industry attempt to completely integrate the data-gathering technology, the personnel and the ser-vice process.

“Ultimately the biggest difference will be the predictive nature of Valerus Command,” Desai said. “We’re working toward a mode in which we will never see red lights appear on the screen be-cause we have identified those prob-lems beforehand.”

Desai said Valerus customers have been impressed by the data and ser-vice that Command is generating.

“When something goes wrong, it’s not a finger-pointing exercise any more,” he said. “We’ve eliminated that sort of thing. Who is at fault doesn’t matter. The data speaks for itself and tells us what we need to do.” CT2

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NOVEMBER 2013 66 COMpREssORtech2

Process Pumps

Ruhrpumpen, a Corporacion E.G. company, has published a brochure on its heavy-duty, multistage API 610 pro-cess pumps. The brochure includes performance data, a product description and a broad application range. Oth-er company products include overhung radial-split and horizontal-split case pumps.

www.ruhrpumpen.com

Vacuum Pumps, Compressors

Nash has published a bro-chure on its Vectra XL liq-uid ring vacuum pumps and compressors. Vectra XL pumps are designed to with-stand harsh environments found in the chemical pro-cess industry. Key design elements include improved cone angles.

www.gardnerdenvernash.com

Packing Rings

Ariel’s uncut packing rings replace the radial cut back-up ring in the company’s standard seal ring set. Un-cut rings are designed to eliminate the leak path of conventional segmented rings, and generate less frictional heat. This informa-tion is available in literature from the company.

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Natural Gas Services

A brochure on Valerus ca-pabilities is available. The brochure has sections on Valerus’ integrated services; processing and treating so-lutions; compression solu-tions; production solutions; and aftermarket services.

www.valerus-co.com

Foundation, Grouting

Eagle Compression has created several literature items on its services as foundation and grouting specialists. Its services in-clude industrial machinery and skid grouting; epoxy in-jection and foundation crack repair; pump base voids; and vibration problems.

www.eaglecompression.com

Spray Application

Information on ThermAlloy, a Thermex spray applica-tion of complex power alloy, is available in a brochure from Exline. The spray, which has been tested in more than 2 million hours of runtime, is designed for power cylinder bores.

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Environmental Equipment

EnviroTherm International manufactures environmen-tal equipment for the oil and gas, petrochemical and wastewater industries. The company’s product lines include thermal oxidizers, combustors, enclosed flares, utility flares, air flares, safety skids, pressure vessels, stress relief ovens, and high-temperature furnaces.

www.envirothermintl.com

Heat Exchangers

GEA Group has published a brochure on its air-cooled heat exchangers, which can be applicable for refineries, petrochemical plants, steel-works, gas facilities, power stations and other cooling applications. Details are available on the product’s finned tubes, headers, fan drives and configurations.

www.gea.com

Compressor Valves

Cameron has published a brochure on its Texcentric compressor valves. The valves are designed to be retrofitted to old compres-sors, which helps the ma-chinery operate more ef-fectively. The valves can reduce power and efficiency losses to 4 to 12%.

www.c-a-m.com/cs

Mobile Systems

Leobersdorfer Maschinenfab-rik (LMF) has published a bro-chure on its mobile systems, which are designed for pipe-line evacuation, pressure test-ing pipelines and on-site nitro-gen generation. The company has an international presence, with its headquarters in Aus-tria and branches across Eu-rope, China, Russia, Mexico and South America.

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Literature.indd 2 10/28/13 4:47 PM

Linear Position Sensors

Alliance Sensors Group has launched the ME Series of linear po-sition sensors for embedded use in measuring the ram position of hydrau-lic and pneumatic cylinders in indus-trial, mobile or subsea applications.

The ME Series is designed to be drop-in form, fit, and function replace-ment for embedded magnetostrictive sensors. They can also replace em-bedded resistance potentiometers, of-fering high accuracy without wearout, the company said.

ME Series sensors, based on con-tactless inductive sensing technology, can withstand shocks, vibration, and operating temperatures up to 185°F (85°C) for standard products and 257°F (125°C) for custom units.

The sensors available in full ranges from 2 to 36 in. (50 to 900 mm) with either analog dc voltage or current out-puts, a linearity error less than or equal to ±0.1% of full scale output, and a -3 dB(A) frequency response of 500 Hz.

www.alliancesensors.com

Gas Analyzer

Ametek Process Instruments has introduced an extractive combustion gas analyzer with safety support.

The Thermox WDG-V monitors hot, wet flue gas for excess oxygen and screens methane for safe burner startup. It also allows operators to low-er emissions of NOx, CO and CO2 and improve operating efficiency in power

generation and petrochemical refin-ing, the company said.

The WDG-V mounts directly to the process flange and is heated to maintain all sample wetted components above the acid dewpoint. Its air-operated aspi-rator draws a sample into the analyzer and returns it to the process.

The analyzer’s unique features in-clude an improved aspirator design with larger orifice size and better re-sponse times; a low-flow sample alarm that monitors combustion gas flow at the sensors; automatic verification of cell and detector response; and cell and detector age tracking for proactive calibration or service scheduling.

www.ametek.com

Bearing Isolator

Inpro/Seal announced that its Inpro/Seal bearing isolator has received the IP66 rating through third party test-ing performed at Underwriters Labo-ratories (UL). The Inpro/Seal bearing isolators are designed for applications in severe duty and/or wash down en-vironments where outside contami-nation entering the bearing housing causes premature bearing failure.

Ingress Protection (IP) ratings are used to define the level of sealing ef-fectiveness for enclosed equipment against intrusion from foreign bodies, in-cluding dust, dirt, powder and moisture.

The Inpro/Seal bearing isolator earned the IP66 rating after testing con-firmed that zero dust or water passed through the seal and entered the en-closed equipment.

www.inpro-seal.com

Vibration SwitchIMI Sensors has released the Model

685A09 mechanical vibration switch designed for use in cooling towers, fin fans, large exhaust and vent fans, HVAC systems, blowers and motors.

It enables a better trip sensitivity adjustment than traditional designs, which allowing the user to better con-trol the trip level in the switch, the company said. Other benefits include low cost protection for critical machin-ery, better sensitivity repeatability on reset, DPDT relay, 10 Amp dry con-tacts and 120, 240 Vac or 24 Vdc op-tions, IMI Sensors said.

www.imi-sensors.com

Bellows Valves

Parker Hannifin Corp. has intro-duced the FB Series bellows valves, designed for instrumentation applica-tions requiring high temperatures and pressures in the power industry.

The FB Series bellows valve is an externally pressurized bellows, fea-turing a pressure rating of 2500 psig (414 bar) cold working pressure. A secondary packing system acts as a backup seal above the primary bellows seal, which is available in a choice of Grafoil or PTFE. The Grafoil packing features temperature ratings from -65° to 1000°F (-54° to 538°C), and the PTFE packing ratings range from -65° to 450°F (-54° to 232°C).

With a 316 stainless-steel con-struction, the valves are available in a welded or gasketed valve body to bel-lows sealing. Stem tip configurations include a choice of blunt or regulating.

www.parker.com/ipdus

PRODUCTSFEATURED

NOVEMBER 2013 68 COMpREssORtech2

Products.indd 1 10/28/13 4:53 PM

Condition Monitoring

Metrix Instrument has released Setpoint CMS, a machinery condition monitoring software designed to diag-nose machinery malfunctions quickly with a user interface that resembles stock trading interfaces.

Users can zoom in on a time of inter-est, select specific data, and diagnose the condition of critical machinery assets.

The system features an intelligent data storage process that keeps vi-bration data readily available without requiring alarm configurations to store information only after an alarm sounds. The Setpoint system is also designed to work with the OSIsoft PI historian.

www.metrixsetpoint.com

Combustion Analyzer

E Instruments has released the E1100 handheld combustion gas ana-lyzer, suitable for boiler, burner, engine, turbine, furnace and other combustion applications. The device is precalibrat-ed with field-replaceable sensors for oxygen and carbon monoxide. It also measures stack gas and ambient air temperature, as well as draft and dif-ferential pressure. The E1100 also fea-tures a 12 in. (305 mm) probe with a 10 ft. (3 m) dual hose, a rechargeable battery and ac charger, and an internal memory that can save up to 900 tests.

www.e-inst.com

Fleet Simulation Detechtion Technologies unveiled

an online diagnostic Enalysis tool for compressor fleet management. The simulation tool allows users to run an unlimited number of “what if?” scenar-ios on compressor fleets.

Leveraging engineering calcula-

tions and hardware audits, the simula-tion feature facilitates predicting com-pressor performance by using actual data from fleets to provide calculation models that take into account real-world losses and inefficiencies, the company said.

www.detechtion.com

BGservice_OctWW.qxp 1/25/07 2:45 PM Page 1

PRODUCTSFEATURED

NOVEMBER 2013 69 COMpREssORtech2

Products.indd 2 10/28/13 4:53 PM

Asser Amin is a specialist mechanical engineer for Cairo-based Engineering for the Petroleum & Process Industries (ENPPI). He has 12 years of experience in engineering, inspection and construction supervision. Amin has a mechanical engineering degree and a Master of Science degree in fluid dynamics. Contact him at: asseramin@enppi.com.

Reducing Centrifugal Compressor Commissioning And Start-Up >

Reliable centrifugal compressor operation is more criti-cal now than ever. Compressor downtime has a de-structive effect on plant operations. In most oil and gas

applications, loss of production results in an extensive loss of revenue with direct impact on the whole plant’s productivity.

The knowledge of different compressor failure causes and downtime statistics allows engineers to determine which root cause merits closer investigation. In several cases, downtime statistics can be used to provide vital con-tributions to the project specification.

n Figure 1. This schematic shows a centrifugal compressor system.

Commissioning and start-upDirt, debris, weld beads, slag, weld rods, metal chips, rust

scale and sand can collect in the pipe system during fabri-cation — all waiting to move at the right speed of flow. Pipe chemical cleaning and air blowing is insufficient to assure that the pipes and pipe flanges are clean.

When compressors initially run during commission-ing, carryover foreign material and dirt located in the

compressor recycle loop and suction line settle in the compressor suction strainer and anti-surge valve. This causes fast compressor suction strainer clogging that in turn causes unsafe compressor operation (operating at surge). It also obstructs valve disc movement and dam-ages the valve internals. This will delay the whole plant start-up, postponing production and causing consider-able revenue loss.

n Figure 2. This sand and foreign material (weld beads and slag) were collected from the compressor suction strainer.

Suction strainer cloggingAs a last chance protection for centrifugal compressors,

a temporary strainer at compressor suction is mandatory to avoid foreign material and dirt ingestion by the com-pressor that can travel from pipes during plant commis-sioning and start-up.

When the compressor flow and gas speed in the pipes increase, foreign material and dirt can plug the strainer in a short time — within even a few seconds. This causes the

TECHcornerPreventing problems caused by clogging in anti-surge valves and suction strainers

By AsseR AmIn

November 2013 70 Compressortech2

CT280.indd 1 10/28/13 4:40 Pm

compressor recycle loop and suction line settle in the compressor suction strainer and anti-surge valve. This causes fast compressor suction strainer clogging that in turn causes unsafe compressor operation (operating at surge). It also obstructs valve disc movement and dam-ages the valve internals. This will delay the whole plant start-up, postponing production and causing consider-able revenue loss.

n Figure 2. This sand and foreign material (weld beads and slag) were collected from the compressor suction strainer.

Suction strainer cloggingAs a last chance protection for centrifugal compressors,

a temporary strainer at compressor suction is mandatory to avoid foreign material and dirt ingestion by the com-pressor that can travel from pipes during plant commis-sioning and start-up.

When the compressor flow and gas speed in the pipes increase, foreign material and dirt can plug the strainer in a short time — within even a few seconds. This causes the

November 2013 71 Compressortech2

pressure differential across the filter to escalate quickly and the strainer to collapse, as shown in Figure 3.

Consequently, foreign particles (including those sepa-rated from strainer by brittle fracture under sudden strainer overload) are swallowed by the compressor, causing com-pressor failure.

The cost of a compressor revamp, production loss and downtime will depend on the degree of failure.

n Figure 3. The collapse of this suction strainer was caused by a rapid increase in pressure differential across the filter after clogging.

It is recommended that the pressure drop across the strainer should be monitored by a pressure transmit-ter with alarm/trip, as shown in Figure 4. The transmit-ter loops are tested for correct installation and opera-tion. The estimated trip/alarm signal should be defined with respect to the mesh screen size as suggested by the compressor original equipment manufacturer (OEM). Secondly, the strainer should have sufficient mechanical strength to withstand sudden strainer over-load (i.e., at least two times the trip pressure drop across the strainer).

Anti-surge valve cloggingDuring compressor commissioning, the recycle gas

flow in the anti-surge loop upstream of the valve drives any foreign material and dirt directly to the anti-surge valve. It is mandatory to inspect the valve before instal-lation for any foreign material that may have collected in the valve body.

Also, any pipe scale, welding slag, or other foreign mate-rial must be removed from the pipeline. If this is not done, the valve inner parts (e.g., seat, plug, cage, seal, piston rings, etc.) will suffer serious damage, which will appear as fretting marks, as shown in Figure 5.

continued on page 72

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IPC.indd 1 10/9/13 8:32 AM

CT280.indd 2 10/28/13 4:40 PM

November 2013 72 Compressortech2

The orifice will serve as a restriction on the anti-surge line, permitting the compressor to operate in full-recycle provided that the following conditions are respected: (1) The orifice is sized to allow for the full flow of the compressor. Moreover, the compressor maximum flow must not exceed the orifice calculated flow. (2) The orifice selected has to be verified for all conditions along the anti-surge control line. (3) All anti-surge instrumentation and logic permissives must be manually bypassed by an OEM site representative.

To install an anti-surge valve with temporary strainer, in-stall a temporary strainer with pressure differential monitor-ing upstream of the anti-surge valve, as shown in Figure 7. Next, operate the compressor at full circulation mode for 12 hours. Then, check the cleanness of both the compressor and anti-surge strainers. Repeat the process as needed.

n Figure 7. The diagram shows a compressor anti-surge valve with temporary strainer arrangement.

The initial investments for installing temporary strainer with pressure differential monitoring are low in comparison to the revenue loss resulting from the downtime of compressors. CT2

n Figure 5. Photos show anti-surge valve damages and fretting marks.

This could require replacement of the inner set assem-bly, with delivery duration from six to eight weeks after the purchase order. This delay may increase if the valve internals are fabricated from special materials.

It is recommended that during commissioning, a movable spool with temporary orifice is installed in place of the anti-surge valve, as shown in Figure 6. Then the compressor should be operated at full circulation mode for 12 hours. The compressor suction strainer and suction scrubber then should be checked for cleanness. This process should be repeated as needed.

n Figure 4. This shows a compressor suction strainer filter moni-tored by pressure transmitter.

n Figure 6. This shows a tempo-rary orifice spool arrangement.

HEADLINESWEB

Each issue, COMPRESSORtech2 will provide a list of head-lines from our website. The digital version of this issue will allow readers to access our web content by clicking on the headline. For our print readers, please visit www.compressortech2.com to read more on the stories from these headlines.

Pipeline Projects Move Forward Despite Public Outcry

Monico Aligns With CMR Group

ACI’s Shade Honored at GMC Meeting

Marcellus Boom Continues to Lower Gas Price

Windrock Monitor Taps Ultrasonic Data

GE Compressors Due for Russian LNG Project

Corac Working on In-Pipe Gas Compressor

Oklahoma Compression Training Center Opens

Howden Acquires Czech Compressor Firm

GE Sells 20 CNG Modules in Canada

CT280.indd 3 10/29/13 2:14 PM

MonicoMonico Monitoring Inc., has formed

a strategic alliance with CMR Group, a manufacturer of industrial engine con-trols, wiring harnesses and electrical management systems.

Both companies will work together on existing and new projects to devel-op and grow business in core industrial engine, gen-set and gas compressor markets around the world.

Through this partnership, Monico, whose international customer base includes, among others, the end us-ers of Caterpillar, Cummins and MTU equipment, will provide strategic guidance to CMR on developing its presence in the U.S. end user com-ponents market. In return, Monico will be able to access CMR’s global network of customers to expand its international reach.

CMR, which has operations in Eu-rope, Africa, the Far East and the

United States, supplies control, safety and monitoring systems, industrial sen-sors, pre-engineered wiring harness systems and low- and medium-voltage switchboards for global offshore plat-forms and vessels, marine, engine and industrial applications. Its customers include Cummins, Allen Diesels and Wärtsilä.

ACI ServicesThe Gas Ma-

chinery Conference (GMC) honored Norm Shade, se-nior consultant and president emeritus of ACI Services, during the Gas Ma-chinery Research Council (GMRC)

meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico.Shade was presented GMC’s annual

Edward N. Henderson Award for “out-

standing service not only to GMRC but to the industry as well.”

After a long career with Cooper En-ergy Services, Shade joined ACI Serv-ices Inc. in 2004. He recently stepped down from the ACI presidency.

Shade is a contributor and colum-nist for COMPRESSORtech2.

Compressor Products International

Compressor Products Internation-al (CPI) has hired Filipe Pinto as sales director for Latin America. He will be based out of Stafford, Texas, and will report to Ian Evans, direc-tor of the refinery and petrochemical business unit.

Filipe, who has more than 15 years of sales and marketing experience, is experienced at rotating equipment sales, especially in the gas, petro-chemical, mining, and power genera-tion industries, the company said.

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MoversPRIME

November 2013 73 Compressortech2

N. Shade

CNG

J-W POWER COMPANYPremier U.S. manufacturer

and supplier of

refueling equipment

Natural gas refueling solutions Safe, reliable, scalable systems

Superior customer and product support

cng@jwenergy.com

JW_Power.indd 1 10/14/13 1:11 PM

Nov_PrimeMovers.indd 2 10/28/13 4:21 PM

NOVEMBER 2013 74 COMpREssORtech2

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CT276.indd 1 10/28/13 4:25 PM

Dictionary_OnSale.indd 1 10/29/13 2:24 PM

NEW2013_SpanishAd.indd 1 1/24/13 1:18 PM

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F A N E Y I M S X T Z E F I X I G J Z JC L F P G N W E I X L K T H U N D E R SZ S A N A F T T G H X U S P A R K S T SF E I R R L Z E Z A L B N M R F L A S HZ T I K E A P B L R V G N I K C O H S EE S E R B M E A F O T O J T O W Y A L PU T D L M E M N T D R Q L M L A L I T PS T A I E P V I I I A V B T L P G Z K NK T B T S C Y G L H N U E P I H P A O IL Y U C S C T U B G S E D H T V N S S LW L S N U A H R P T F L W I C E I E B KU P R T N R N A I I O I N Q L D E L O NN L E F T I R O R C R G T E E E T K N AG F G T I A N E Z G M H C V I O S R K RS I R W U F W G N I E T S N E K N A R FJ P A I C O B O L T R S Q O T V I P O RB I H N R W I Z L O S A N G E L E S O IF V C K I N D L E I W B J U U G O R D TH A S L C A F L I C K E R Z E L U J B VC M A E L G L I T T E R I V L D P T U B

Seeing SparksArizona StateBlazeBoltChargersChevroletCircuitColdplayCombustionCurrentDischargeDoorknobEdisonElectricElectroEinsteinEmberFireworksFlareFlashFlickerFrankensteinFranklinGhidorahGleamGlimmer

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Visit www.compressortech2.com for answers

Scheduled Downtime DJ SLATEr, PuZZLEMASTEr

CT2_Nov13_Puzzle.indd 1 10/28/13 4:32 PM

Marketplace

NOVEMBER 2013 77 COMpREssORtech2

Marketplace

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(Act of August 12, 1970: Section 3685, Title 39, United States Code) 1. Publication Title: ComPressortech2

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Waukesha, state of Wisconsin 53186-1873. 8. Complete mailing Address of Headquarters or General Business office of Publisher: 20855 Watertown rd., ste. #220, City of

Waukesha, County of Waukesha, state of Wisconsin 53186-1873. 9. Full Names and Complete mailing Addresses of Publisher, editor, and managing editor: Publisher, Brent Haight, 20855 Watertown rd.,

ste. #220, Waukesha, WI 53186-1873; editor, Patrick Crow, 20855 Watertown rd., ste. #220, Waukesha, WI 53186-1873, managing editor, DJ slater, 20855 Watertown rd., ste. #220, Waukesha, WI 53186-1873.

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stated on Ps Form 3541. .............................................................................................. 8,202 8,318 (2) Copies requested by employers for Distribution to

employees by Name or Position stated on Ps Form 3541 ................................................— — (3) sales Through Dealers and Carriers, street Vendors,

Counter sales, and other Paid or requested Distribution outside UsPs® ...................................................................................................................— —

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c. Total Paid and/or requested Circulation ...................................................................... 8,202 8,318 d. Nonrequested Distribution (By mail and outside the mail) (1) Nonrequested Copies stated on Ps Form 3541 ........................................................... 2,741 2,817 (2) Nonrequested Copies Distributed Through the

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CTStateOfOwn13.indd 1 10/28/13 4:46 PM

EXPLOSION PROOFAC&DC ENGINE STARTING SYSTEMS• STARTER MOTORS • ALTERNATORS

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Flexware_Classified.indd 1 9/9/13 10:33 AM

SEEKING SALES REPS – LOUISIANA & TEXASStrong, established, growing manufacturer of quality lubricants is seeking a sales representative to grow

our compression sector business in the East Texas/West Louisiana market. Our goal is to assist our cus-tomers by providing quality products as well as supporting them by offering solutions to the lubrication problems they are faced with daily. We provide these solutions via high quality products, through our team of qualified and certified technical support staff, and by our commitment to superior customer service.

2 Openings — One in our Shreveport, LA office and one in our Midland, TX office. The ideal candidates for these positions will have a minimum of 5 years outside sales experience and

contacts/experience in the oil & gas industry, specifically in compression. Experience in the West Louisiana/East Texas market a plus. Bachelor’s Degree preferred.

In addition to compensation of base salary plus commission, our company offers health, dental, vision, & 401K plans as well as a generous paid time off program.

If you are interested in joining our team, submit your resume to compressionsalesLA@gmail.com

Shreveport2.indd 1 10/21/13 3:53 PM

COMPRESSORtech2 MARKETPLACE

Help Wanted ... Used Equipment ...

Engine Parts ... Products & Components ...

Company “Business Cards”

Reach over 14,000 principals in the oil, gas and process business every month in COMPRESSORtech2 Marketplace Classified Advertising Section. The Marketplace is a cost-effective way to look for new peo-ple, rent or sell used equipment and promote your company and products to the industry.

Rates are only for “non-display” type classified advertising. One inch minimum. No charge for typeset-ting. Classified advertising is non-commissionable. Payment must accompany order.

Please contact Sarah Yildiz for more information.

262-754-4146syildiz@dieselpub.com

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forMarketplace Rates

CT_Nov13_Mrktplc.indd 1 10/28/13 4:54 PM

*Further information on this company’s products can be found in the 2013 Edition of the Global Sourcing Guide (at GSGnet.net) and 2013 Compression Technology Sourcing Supplement (at CTSSnet.net).

Advertisers’ Index

NOVEMBER 2013 78 COMpREssORtech2

Web: www.compressortech2.com • Phone: 262-754-4121 • Fax: 262-754-4175E-mail: slizdas@dieselpub.com • Address: 20855 Watertown Road, Suite 220, Waukesha, WI 53186

74 Natural Gas Production77 Gas Gathering Company70 Natural Gas Process Plant Operations72 Gas Transmission Pipeline

Compressor Operations75 Natural Gas Storage Company73 Chemical or Petrochemical Process

Company76 Refinery Operations91 Consulting Engineers or Contractor95 Research and Development,

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Aavolyn ....................................................................................... 61

ACI Services, Inc. ....................................................................... 33

Altronic, LLC .................................................................... 25, 56-57

*ARIEL ............................................................................................ 1

AXH air-coolers .......................................................................... 65

BG Service Co. Inc, The ............................................................. 69

*Burckhardt Compression AG .................................................... 17

Cameron ................................................................................. 40-41

Catalytic Combustion Corporation ........................................... 53

*Compressor Products International ......................................... 13

Cook Compression .................................................................... 51

DCL International Inc. .................................................................. 7

*Dresser-Rand .............................................................. Third Cover

ECOM America ........................................................................... 63

E Instruments International ....................................................... 71

*Elliott Group ........................................................... Second Cover

Ellwood Crankshaft Group ........................................................ 66

Gas Drive .................................................................................... 27

GUARDIAN Engine + Compressor Control ............................... 47

Hahn Manufacturing Company ................................................. 67

Harsco Industrial Air-X-Changers ............................................ 43

*Heinzmann GmbH & Co. KG ................................................ 58-59

The Hilliard Corporation ............................................................ 10

IPC Industrial Plants Consultants ........................................... 71

J-W Power Company ................................................................ 73

*KB Delta Compressor Valve Parts Mfg. ................................................................................. 23

Kiene Diesel Accessories, Inc. ................................................. 67

MIRATECH .................................................................................. 11

MOTORTECH GmbH .................................................................. 19

Murphy by Enovation Controls ................................. 37 & Fourth Cover

Neuman & Esser Group ............................................................. 15

Nord-Lock ................................................................................... 73

Petro-Canada – Suncor ............................................................... 5

Precision Polymer Engineering ................................................ 21

PROGNOST Systems GmbH ..................................................... 35

Reynolds French ........................................................................ 29

*Rolls-Royce .................................................................................. 9

Shinkawa Electric ....................................................................... 55

SKF Magnetic Mechatronics S.A.S ........................................... 45

Summit Industrial Products ...................................................... 39

*Tech Transfer, Inc. .................................................................... 2-3

*Testo, Inc. ................................................................................... 49

Waukesha Bearings ................................................................... 31

CT_Nov13_AdIndx.indd 1 10/29/13 2:17 PM

November 2013 79 Compressortech2

In 1928, National Supply purchased the company and oper-ated it as the Superior Engine Division.

Superior diesels were widely applied for drilling and power generation. In 1939, after weathering the Great Depression, the company introduced a specialized line of 365 to 945 hp (272 to 705 kW) Type PTD diesel engines, specifically for oil field drilling. The company built diesel engines for U.S. Liberty ships and Navy LST landing craft during World War II.

With the growth of diesel demand during and after the war, the company focused its production on medium- and heavy-duty, slow-speed diesel engines. Its high-speed diesel line was sold to Sterling Engine Co. and in 1945 the slow-speed horizontal gas engine line was sold to Ajax Iron Works. The organization that had started with the manufacture of gas en-gines was virtually out of the gas engine business.

By the mid-1950s, Superior diesel engines were being used in many petroleum, marine, rail and other industrial applications. White Motor Co. purchased the company in 1955. Although White’s plan was to use the capacity for pro-duction of truck engines, other opportunities, such as sup-plying generator engines for the government’s new radar network and 175 missile sites, changed the plan.

Superior’s popular 10.5 in. (267 mm) stroke Model 40 die-sels were produced from the mid-1930s to the 1990s with ratings ranging from 255 to 2400 hp (190 to 1790 kW). Model 40 inline engines were produced in both 8.5 in. (216 mm) and 9.125 in. (232 mm) bore diameters. Model 40 vee engines had a 10.0 in. (254 mm) bore.

Gradually, the company saw a new opportunity for large gas engines. The Superior 825 gas engine series was intro-duced in 1952, based on the successful Model 40 diesels. The model name resulted from the 825 cu.in. (13.5 L) dis-placement of the 10.0 in. (254 mm) bore and 10.5 in. (267 mm) cylinders in all the 825 gas engines.

The first two 825 gas engines were naturally aspirated 6-cylinder inline models rated 450 hp (336 kW) at 900 rpm. The introduction of a new line of reciprocating compressors

in 1959, matched to the gas engine line, revitalized sales to oil and gas producers. The decision to develop the matched gas engine and compressor line was a masterpiece of mar-ket timing. By the end of 1963, it had sold 475 engines of the 6- and 8-G825 inline models.

With gas engines reestablished as important products, the company name was changed to the White Superior Division in 1965. Refinements of the engine line continued, including the addition of 12G- and 16G-825 vee engines in the early 1960s.

In 1972, turbocharging and redesign of the top end of the engine to include timed fuel injection, better head and mani-fold designs, and introduction of the unique Superior “hill-side” piston shape, resulted in a rating increase of 37.5%.

These developments increased the 825 gas engine line to 2200 hp (1641 kW). Development of the SGT, introduced in 1975, resulted in another 20% uprate that advanced the 825 series to 2650 hp (1976 kW).

By 1976, with the division’s production again dominated by gas engines (and compressors), it was sold to Cooper Industries and the White name was dropped from the prod-uct. Nevertheless, many owners still call their 825 engines “White Superiors” or just “Whites.”

With the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency target-ing exhaust emissions on large stationary gas engines, extensive research and development programs resulted in the 1980 introduction of clean-burn engines that provided breakthroughs in low emissions and fuel consumption that extended the popularity of the 900 rpm 825 series in both gas compression and power generation applications.

During the 1980s, higher speed (1200 rpm) gas engines began to gain market share in both industries and by 2000 the 825 gas engine line was discontinued and production at the Springfield, Ohio, plant ended. Production of 825s totaled 2455 engines by that time. Several years later, how-ever, Cameron Process and Compression brought the two largest models, now named 12- and 16-SGTD, back into production and they remain available today. CT2

Superior 825 Series Gas Engine

Model

Cylinders

6 Inline 8 Inline 12 Vee 16 Vee

Rated bhp (kW) @ rated rpm

G825 600 (447) @ 900 800 (597) @ 900 1200 (895) @ 900 1600 (1193) @ 900

GT825 825 (615) @ 900 1100 (820) @ 900 1650 (1230) @ 900 2200 (1641) @ 900

GTL 825 (615) @ 900 1100 (820) @ 900 1650 (1230) @ 900 2200 (1641) @ 900

GTLA 825 (615) @ 900 1100 (820) @ 900 1650 (1230) @ 900 2200 (1641) @ 900

GTLB 825 (615) @ 900 1100 (820) @ 900 1650 (1230) @ 900 2200 (1641) @ 900

GTLE - 1100 (820) @ 900 - -

SGT - 1500 (1119) @ 1000 2000 (1491) @ 900 2650 (1976) @ 900

SGTA - 1500 (1119) @ 1000 2000 (1491) @ 900 2650 (1976) @ 900

SGTB - 1500 (1119) @ 1000 2000 (1491) @ 900 2650 (1976) @ 900

SGTC - 1500 (1119) @ 1000 2000 (1491) @ 900 2650 (1976) @ 900

SGTD - - 2000 (1491) @ 900 2650 (1976) @ 900

Cornerstones Of Compression story continued from page 80

CT278.indd 2 10/28/13 5:03 PM

C ornerstones Of Compression

November 2013 80 Compressortech2

When Patrick J. Shouvlin opened a small Spring-field, Ohio, machine shop in 1889, he didn’t in-tend to pioneer an industry.

At the time, Ohio was producing 20% of the world’s oil supply, with the bountiful Lima-Indiana oil field discovered just a few years earlier. Machining expertise was in great demand and Shouvlin soon had a thriving business with oil pumpers and drillers. Some of the repair work was on steam engines used to bring in oil, while natural gas es-caped as a waste product.

The natural gas engine industry was in its infancy, having been invented earlier in Germany. But in the U.S., many entrepreneurs were developing their own models. Shouv-lin became one of them, hoping to use escaping wellhead gas to power oil-pumping engines. By the 1890s, Shouvlin’s company had a new name, the Superior Gas Engine Co., describing its new product.

Other gas engine companies were emerging. One of the best known, the Otto Engine Works, of Philadelphia, Penn-sylvania, advertised a “silent gas engine” with the slogan, “No boiler, no danger, no engineer.”

Although Superior, with its engines adapted particularly for the oil fields, had a strategic market location, it soon con-nected with the National Supply Co. to market its engines throughout the U.S. By its 25th anniversary in 1914, Supe-rior was selling a line of standard gas engines rated from 20 to 100 hp (15 to 75 kW) and tank-cooled and open-jacket engines from 2.5 to 15 hp (1.9 to 11 kW).

In 1920, Shouvlin added a semi-diesel engine. Realizing the potential of diesels, in 1923 Superior purchased the Otto Engine Works to accelerate its diesel market position. The first Superior vertical diesel was completed in 1926 and the company changed its name to the Superior Engine Co.

The Superior 825 Gas Engine Series > Production run of 2455 units saw steady

improvementsBy NORM ShAdE

continued on page 79

n Eight Superior 16SGTB gas engines drive Superior separable compressors in a Kansas gas boosting application.

CT278.indd 1 10/28/13 5:03 PM

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