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CompressIng costs
CurdIaI SIngh and MIchaeI Moore, C8& UK LImIted and Stephen Cower,
8P ExpIoratIon, UK, dIscuss reducIng the cost oI onshore pIpeIIne systems.
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C
rowlng demand for energy,
ooupled wlth produotlon
oapaolty oonstralnts ln the
establlshed oll and gas reglons, has
led to the exploratlon and produotlon
of hydrooarbons ln more remote
and ohallenglng envlronments. Thls
trend has lnevltably resulted ln the
transportatlon of hydrooarbons over
longer dlstanoes (Flgures 1 and 2
lllustrate the ourrent world movement
of oll and gas), promptlng energy
oompanles to look at new ways of
bulldlng and operatlng plpellnes ln a
more eoonomloal fashlon
1
.
ln an effort to reduoe the oost
of new plpellne lnfrastruoture, Bl,
worklng olosely wlth all seotors of
the oll and gas lndustry, launohed
the llpellne Cost Reduotlon projeot
ln 1997. To date, thls lnltlatlve
has lnvolved more than 200
lndlvldual operators, oonsultants,
oontraotors, researoh assoolatlons
and unlversltles, and lt has resulted
ln the establlshment of new lndustry
deslgn guldellnes, new weldlng
teohnlques and operatlonal tests
for hlgher grade plpe.
whlle the projeot lnltlally fooused
on llne plpe and oonstruotlon
2,3
,
further analysls of the data revealed
that plpellne faollltles are a souroe
of slgnlfloant oost. ^ look at reoent
projeot oosts (Flgure 3), prlor to
the lmplementatlon of any oost
reduotlon methods, lndloated that
materlal oosts typloally aooount for
F|gure 1. 0|| mevement (BP 5tat|st|ca| Rev|ew ef Wer|d nergy 2005).
F|gure 2. 6as mevement (BP 5tat|st|ca| Rev|ew ef Wer|d nergy 2005).
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This artic|e is based cn a paper presented at the 8
th
Annua| Transpcrtaticn in the C|S and
Caspian Fegicn Oi| and Oas Ccnference, 10 - 12
th
Octcber 2006, Vienna, Austria.
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30 38 of total plpellne oosts, oonstruotlon approxlmately
35 45, and the remalnder oonslstlng of rlsk related
oosts, oontraotor`s proflts, and owner`s oosts (whloh
typloally lnolude projeot management oosts, flnanolng and
lnsuranoe).
Subsequent analysls showed that a slgnlfloant part
of plpellne system oosts ls taken up by the oost of the
faollltles that house pump/oompressor statlons, whloh oan
represent between 25 30 of the overall oost of a projeot.
For several years, Bl has worked olosely wlth rotatlng
equlpment suppllers Solar Turblnes, M^N Turbo, Rolls Royoe
and Dresser Rand to develop more efflolent, rellable and
oompetltlvely prloed maohlnery for these faollltles.
ln 2002, Bl engaged the servloes of englneerlng,
proourement and oonstruotlon oontraotor CB&l whloh had
been aotlve ln a number of oost reduotlon studles wlth Bl
worklng wlth them and the rotatlng equlpment suppllers
to lead a study that would offer a fresh perspeotlve
on how plpellne faollltles oosts oould be reduoed. The
result of prellmlnary work lndloates that lnstalllng spare
maohlnery ls not always the most approprlate solutlon.
Further development of thls essentlal theme led to the
ldentlfloatlon of several other oost reduotlon methodologles,
lnoludlng remote operatlon, modularlsatlon and prooess
optlmlsatlon. The results of thls study follow.
Study deveIopment
The study was oomprlsed of three stages:
^n lnltlal analysls of the oosts of plpellne faollltles.
The oolleotlon of data from the rotatlng equlpment
suppllers, varlous lnterested bodles wlthln Bl and other
organlsatlons wlth lnterests or teohnologles approprlate
to the study.
Data analysls and derlvatlon of methods.
The flrst stage ldentlfled the relatlonshlp between total
lnstalled power and faollltles oosts and also ldentlfled other
praotloes, suoh as levels of slte mannlng and methods of
oontrol, that needed to be ohallenged.
The seoond stage lnvolved data gatherlng, uslng
questlonnalres and detalled dlsousslons, both oolleotlvely
and lndlvldually, wlth the rotatlng equlpment suppllers, Bl
and other partles. The results were then analysed and
developed ln the thlrd stage,
data analysls and derlvatlon
of methods, whloh was dlvlded
lnto the followlng aotlvltles:
Generatlng generlo, non
dlmenslonal performanoe
maps for oompressors and
pumps ln order to optlmlse
plpellne and faolllty deslgn and
speolfy preferred equlpment
oharaoterlstlos generloally.
Conduotl ng Rell abll lty,
^vallablllty and Malntalnablllty
(R^M) studles that would help
generate an avallablllty model
for a typloal transmlsslon
plpellne and provlde data on
equlpment rellablllty and repalr.
Lxamlnlng the experlenoe of
rotatlng equlpment suppllers,
operatlng oompanles and
eleotronlo oommunloatlons
speolallsts wlth regards to remote operatlon.
Developlng modularlsatlon oonoepts based on:
Manufaoturlng ln a shop envlronment and slmpllfylng
the lnstallatlon and transportatlon of equlpment.
lrovldlng modularlsed oomponents that are slmple
to ohange out and are not llmlted by transportatlon
methods due to thelr slze.
lmplementlng prooess optlmlsatlon, whloh oonslsted
of thlnklng 'outslde the box` and flndlng new ways of
reduolng onslte personnel support.
The effeots of any faollltles oost reduotlons found
ln the study have been refleoted ln the overall plpellne
optlmlsatlon prooess. whlle the orlglnal lntent was to
develop an optlmlsatlon prooedure applloable to all plpellnes,
lt beoame evldent as the study progressed that oll plpellnes
oould not be analysed generloally due to topographloal
effeots. Consequently, the ourrent optlmlsatlon prooedure ls
llmlted to gas plpellnes. However, the oost savlng prlnolples
desorlbed hereafter oan also be applled to oll plpellnes
onoe topographloal data ls avallable.
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
t
t
l
F|gure 3. 1y|ca| cest breakdewn ef BP |eng d|stance, |arge
d|ameter |e||nes.
F|gure 4. 1y|ca| cest breakdewn ef fac|||t|es.
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Cost reductIon on IacIIItIes
ln the flrst stage, an analysls of reoent major
projeots was used to establlsh the approxlmate
oosts of faollltles (a breakdown of whloh ls
shown ln Flgure 4). Based on these oosts, study
partlolpants ldentlfled areas where potentlal
savlngs oould be aohleved.
For lnstanoe, the total lnstalled power requlred
for eaoh faolllty ls optlmlsed agalnst the plpellne
dlameter for mlnlmum oost and, tradltlonally,
standby maohlnery tralns are then added at eaoh
statlon. Thls praotloe was oalled lnto questlon by
study partlolpants who began to olosely examlne
the lnterdependenoy between the avallablllty of
a standby unlt and the overall performanoe of a
plpellne.
Thelr work soon fooused on understandlng the
relatlonshlp between the number of oompressor statlons on
a gas plpellne, the number of oompressors on eaoh statlon
and the oonsequenoes of fallure of one of the statlons or
maohlne tralns. Several lnvestlgatlons determlned that,
whlle a statlon wlth two 100 maohlne tralns (200
lnstalled power) has a hlgher avallablllty than one wlth three
50 tralns (150 lnstalled power), the lnltlal lnvestment ls
olearly a 33 lnorease ln lnstalled power.
Not only was the avallablllty of lndlvldual statlons
oonsldered, but also the avallablllty of the total plpellne
system. To thls end, the oonoept of resldual flow loss (RFL)
was developed. Thls ls the loss ln plpellne throughput ln
the event of a slngle maohlne traln fallure, lgnorlng the
mltlgatlon of plpellne paoklng or unpaoklng.
ln addltlon, the rellablllty of modern maohlnery was
also taken lnto aooount. Several members of the orlglnal
equlpment manufaoturers (0LMs) oonflrmed that ourrent
models and equlpment have muoh hlgher avallablllty than
typloally used ln avallablllty modelllng. Dlsousslons wlth
plpellne operators llkewlse oonflrmed thls lmprovement
and suggested that the oauses of fallure were most
frequently not assoolated wlth the maohlnery tralns
themselves.
Based on these lnltlal flndlngs, the maln oost reduotlon
oonoept was to ellmlnate standby maohlnes. The lnltlal
study showed that lt was posslble to remove all standby
unlts exoept at the flrst slte and stlll aohleve the deslgn
throughput, by optlmlsatlon of faolllty spaolng ln oonjunotlon
wlth prudent maohlne seleotlon. ^ typloal example ls shown
ln Flgure 5.
^nother oostsavlng method lnvestlgated was the lnoreased
use of remote monltorlng teohnlques. Remote operatlon
removes the personnel support lnfrastruoture. Comblned
wlth the removal of standby tralns, a reduotlon of more than
70 ln plot slze oould be reallsed. The study ldentlfled up to
30 ln oost reduotlons resultlng from reduoed plot slze and
equlpment.
Modular oonstruotlon was also oonsldered, slnoe ease of
equlpment lnstallatlon and removal ls partloularly attraotlve
wlth remotely operated sltes. 0ther beneflts lnolude ease
of oonstruotlon and a shorter sohedule. Modularlsed
oomponents are also easler to malntaln, and repalrs oan
be oarrled out by semlskllled staff that may be more readlly
avallable for travel to remote sltes. However, to fully reallse
these savlngs, malntenanoe oentres would have to be
plaoed strategloally along the plpellne.
Thus, lt was determlned that the mlnlmlsatlon of
standby unlts, the lnoreased use of remote monltorlng
teohnlques and modularlsatlon oould all result ln
slgnlfloant savlngs ln faolllty oapltal expendltures lf
dlfferent deslgn, operatlng and malntenanoe phllosophles
were adopted. lt was also reoognlsed that suoh large oost
reduotlons would ohange the optlmum mlx of plpellnes
and oompresslon faollltles.
PerIormance revIew
For the next stage of the study, methodologles were
developed to allow the deslgn of new equlpment
oonflguratlons wlthout prlor knowledge of any partloular
maohlne oonstruotlon or statlon oonflguratlon. These were
speolfloally developed for gas turblne drlven oompressor
systems ln gas plpellnes.
Flgure 6 shows a typloal oompressor operatlng map
and lts normal operatlng range. The boundary to the top
of the map ls the maxlmum speed llmlt of the oompressor,
whloh ls normally 5 hlgher than deslgn. The boundary
to the left ls the surge oontrol llne that deflnes the
usable operatlng range at lower flowrates. Beyond thls,
there ls also the surge llne whloh, lf orossed, oan oause
severe physloal damage to the maohlne. ^pproaohlng
thls boundary wlll also result ln a penalty ln terms of
oompressor efflolenoy. The boundary to the rlght ls less
rlgld and ls very maohlne dependent; however, severe
efflolenoy losses wlll aoorue ln the reglon. The lower
boundary, however, ls a funotlon of power and represents
50 power. Thls power llmlt ls for gas turblne drlven
oompressors and ls sllghtly below the level at whloh most
gas turblne manufaoturers oannot guarantee to meet the
N0x emlsslon standards requlred ln most oountrles of
the world.
Thls operatlng map oan be used to represent elther
a statlon wlth many parallel oompressor tralns or a
statlon wlth just one oompressor traln; thus allowlng
the lnvestlgatlon of uslng multlple tralns for varylng
oondltlons.
For the transmlsslon of 100 of the deslgn flow of
gas, all the oompressor statlons must be operatlonal.
However, ln sltuatlons where reduoed throughput ls
requlred elther on a frequent basls or durlng the early
llfe of the plpellne dlfferent oomblnatlons of statlons
and maohlnery tralns oan be used. For example, operatlng
wlth one 50 traln on every fourth statlon oan provlde 40
50 flow on the same system.
To analyse a soenarlo of plpellne systems durlng the
deslgn phase, lt ls oonvenlent to use nondlmenslonal
parameters, so that the solutlons are lndependent of any
maohlne type. The methodology developed to aohleve thls
ls desorlbed below.
F|gure 5. 5|ng|e stat|en fa||ure recevery - 24 |n. et|m|sat|en study.
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Non-dImensIonaI head vs. voIume
IIow equatIon
The followlng equatlon oan be used to desorlbe oentrlfugal
oompressor performanoe:
where h ls the ratlo of the head at a glven volume flow
and speed to the head at the deslgn polnt, v ls the ratlo of the
volume flowrate to the volume flowrate at the deslgn polnt, and
S ls the ratlo of the oompressor speed to the deslgn speed.
By analysls of the equatlon above, lt oan be shown that the
meanlngs of parameters a, m and n are as follows:
a determlnes the head rlse to surge from the hlghest
efflolenoy polnt at any glven speed.
m governs the 'flatness` of the oompressor ourve at a
glven speed. ln turn, thls determlnes the range of volume
flow between the hlgh efflolenoy polnt and the surge llne.
The flatter the ourve, the wlder the range, whloh ls better
for slngle maohlnes. For multlple maohlnes, however, thls
may not be as lmportant as the slope of the ourve, whloh
needs to be steeper to allow multlple maohlne oontrol.
The produot am ls the slope at the deslgn polnt on the
100 speed llne.
The lndex n ls the loous of the hlghest efflolenoy
operatlon for the oompressor at any speed. lt oan be
shown that an ldeal operatlonal ourve oan be ldentlfled
as head equal to volume flow to the power of 2,n.
^ll of the lnformatlon above ls dlmenslonless and oan
be applled to both oompressor tralns and statlons wlth a
number of tralns.
System curve anaIysIs
^ slmple, dlmenslonless system ourve oan be generated
uslng the Fannlng equatlon. lgnorlng gravltatlonal and
aooeleratlon effeots, the pressure gradlent oan be stated
as:
where P ls the pressure, z ls the dlstanoe along the
plpellne, f ls the Fannlng frlotlon faotor, O ls the mass
veloolty (=4 , D
2
, where ls the mass flowrate), ls the
gas denslty and D ls the plpe lnslde dlameter.
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The varlatlon of frlotlon faotor, partloularly ln hlgh pressure
gas systems, oan be oonsldered negllglble. However, for
a gas plpellne, the denslty wlll ohange due to pressure,
temperature and oompresslblllty. The most slgnlfloant of these
ls pressure and, for the lnltlal estlmate, the temperature and
oompresslblllty oan also be oonsldered oonstant. wlth these
assumptlons, equatlon (2) oan be lntegrated to glve:
where P
1
ls the pressure lnto the seotlon of plpellne
of length L, P
2
ls the pressure out and the 'oonstant` C ls
glven by:
where Z ls the mean gas oompresslblllty, F ls the
unlversal gas oonstant, T ls the absolute temperature and
MW ls the gas moleoular welght.
For a serles of oompressor statlons equally spaoed
along a plpellne, P
1
ls the dlsoharge pressure from one
statlon, and P
2
ls the suotlon pressure at the next. The
pressure ratlo over eaoh oompressor ls glven by:
Therefore, ln the deslgn oase, the oholoe of pressure
ratlo aoross the maohlne ls elther governed by or dlotates
the deslgn of the plpellne, dependlng on whloh parameter ls
ohosen flrst.
ln the sltuatlon where the phllosophy ls to malntaln
the dlsoharge pressure at the deslgn pressure regardless
of throughput, lt oan be shown that the pressure ratlo ls
related to fraotlon F of the deslgn mass flow, whloh oan be
stated as:
^nd the volume flow relatlve to the deslgn ls glven by:
To use ln oonjunotlon wlth the oompressor performanoe,
the relatlonshlp between head and flow needs to be
determlned. ln lts dlmenslonless form, thls oan be
expressed as:
where k
'
ls the polytroplo lndex ln the gas equatlon.
F|gure 6. Cemresser erfermance ma w|th system curve
fer cemress|en rat|e (Pr) ef 1.4.
(2)
(1)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
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AppIIcatIon to statIon desIgn
Uslng the equatlons above, a system ourve oan be drawn on
the same axes as the oompressor ourve, suoh as ln Flgure
6, where the deslgn pressure ratlo ls 1.4. From there, the
value of the oompressor parameter n that flts thls ourve
oan then be determlned. ^ prellmlnary assumptlon that
oan be made ls that thls ourve ls orthogonal to the 100
oompressor speed llne at the deslgn polnt. Thls flxes the
slope and thus the produot am.
^t thls polnt, a theoretloal deslgn oan be developed and
examlned ln detall before the plpellne deslgn beoomes flxed,
wlth the oonfldenoe that the prospeotlve equlpment suppllers
would all be able to meet the projeot requlrements.
Uslng thls methodology, the effeot of loslng one maohlne
traln oan be oonsldered for a number of oonflguratlons,
statlon spaolng (L), deslgn pressure ratlos and addltlonal
statlons, as shown ln Table 1. The values for RFL ln Table
1 are the loss of produotlon ln peroentage terms durlng a
slngle maohlne shutdown.
^ooordlng to Table 1, RFL ls reduoed when both the number
of statlons and the number of oompressor tralns at eaoh
statlon are lnoreased. However, thls aotlon leads to lnoreased
oosts. Henoe, a balanoe needs to be aohleved between oosts
and overall avallablllty, whloh oan be found uslng suoh tools as
the R^M analysls. lt should be further noted that the lmpaot
of oompresslon ratlo ls of a lower order.
RAM studIes
R^M studles were oarrled out to lnvestlgate the lnfluenoe of
RFL on overall plpellne avallablllty. 0f partloular lmportanoe
was the rellablllty data for the major oompressor statlon
oomponents. Two souroes of data were used: the
0ffshore Rellablllty Data (0RLD^) database and the latest
lnformatlon from the 0LMs, to lnvestlgate the lnfluenoe of
oompressor traln oonflguratlons, repalr response tlmes and
the dlfferenoes between the 0RLD^ and 0LM data. The
lnfluenoe of spare oomponents and malntenanoe reglmes
was also oonsldered.
The R^M model lnoludes the effeot of all ltems of
equlpment on the statlon ln lts normal oonflguratlon, suoh
as power generatlon and oompressed alr supply. The results
are expressed ln terms of overall plpellne avallablllty, whloh,
ln thls oase, ls deflned as the total gas throughput aohleved
ln one year as a peroentage of the total plpellne throughput
oapablllty over one year. The model oonslders eaoh fallure
of a pleoe of equlpment and the tlme taken to brlng that
equlpment baok onllne. Durlng perlods of maohlne or
statlon breakdown, the llne throughput ls assumed to be
reduoed by the RFL prevlously desorlbed ln Table 1.
Flgure 7 oompares plpellnes that have statlons wlthout
spare maohlnery tralns at dlfferent RFL values wlth a plpellne
provlded wlth dual maohlne (operatlng and standby) oompressor
statlons. lt should be noted that even wlth an RFL of 0, there
ls a flnlte loss of avallablllty beoause the probablllty of another
statlon falllng oolnoldentally ls not zero. ^lso, a oolnoldental
loss of both oompressors or the fallure of a oommon anolllary
oomponent would result ln a statlon fallure. Fallure of one
statlon ln thls oonflguratlon would produoe an RFL of about
24. Through approprlate oompressor speolfloatlon and the
spaolng of statlons suoh that the plpellne RFL ls small
desplte the loss of a slngle statlon, plpellnes wlth slngle unlt
oompressor statlons oan have slmllar avallabllltles as those
plpellnes wlth dual unlt statlons.
For plpellnes utlllslng hlghly rellable maohlnes, the
avallablllty advantage of provldlng spare maohlnes at eaoh
statlon beoomes mlnlmal. ^s prevlously stated, experlenoe
oonflrmed from dlsousslons both wlthln and outslde of Bl
suggest that spare maohlne tralns may not be approprlate
for many plpellne deslgns.
Remote operatIon
lnformatlon gleaned from experlenoed operators oonflrmed
that remote operatlon ls a preferred praotloe. The
prlnolple that the plpellne should be operated as a
slngle entlty rather than a group of lndlvldual statlons
beoomes even more apparent when oonslderatlon ls
glven to ourrently avallable oommunloatlons equlpment
and teohnlques. However, remote operatlon must be bullt
lnto the base deslgn, as eaoh plpellne owner dependlng
on thelr looatlon, ollmate and oulture wlll have partloular
requlrements wlth regards to operatlon, malntenanoe and
seourlty.
whlle remote operatlon wlth malntenanoe teams
based ln one or more oentral looatlons (not neoessarlly
one of the plpellne statlons) oan provlde greater efflolenoy,
thls ls more easlly aohleved lf the statlons and equlpment
share a oommon deslgn. Lstabllshlng servloe agreements
wlth suppllers of major equlpment tralns oan produoe
slgnlfloant beneflts, partloularly lf the suppller ls prepared
to oarry replaoement spares, take a falled oomponent
to repalr and replaoe operators` stook. For gas turblnes,
spare gas generators have been avallable to operators
wlth thls type of agreement for some tlme. Many
maohlnery suppllers already have the teohnloal oapablllty
to monltor equlpment oondltlon and performanoe remotely;
thus, provldlng soope for preventatlve malntenanoe on a
planned basls.
^ major reduotlon ln bulldlngs and personnel support
systems oan stem from suoh a phllosophy, and thls
approaoh oan provlde slgnlfloant savlngs ln both oapltal
and operatlng oosts. lt ls lmportant to note that the ablllty
to aohleve these savlngs ls avallable now and ls, to some
extent, already belng reallsed.
ModuIarIsatIon concepts
Two aspeots of modularlsatlon were oonsldered:
modularlsatlon for oonstruotlon and modularlsatlon for
malntenanoe. whlle the former has been used to a large
extent ln the offshore seotor, lt has also been used for
large onshore plants and, by some organlsatlons, for
plpellne statlons. Based on dlsousslons wlth experlenoed
operators, thls ls very muoh a beneflolal route. The extent
of modularlsatlon to be undertaken and the partles
seleoted to do thls work need oareful oonslderatlon, as
the responslblllty for modularlsatlon ls often plaoed on
oompanles that have no real expertlse or even experlenoe ln
thls area. laokages supplled by oompressor and/or turblne
suppllers oan often be a module ln themselves, but further
paokaglng should be evaluated oarefully.
Modularlsatlon for malntenanoe, by oontrast, ls olosely
llnked to remote operatlon. The lntent would be to have small
modules enoompasslng hlgh teohnology equlpment that oan
be removed and replaoed readlly by a oompetent malntenanoe
worker who would not need to know the detalls of the enolosed
oomponents. Thls method ls used suooessfully ln other
lndustrles. Replaoement and/or repalr of the oomponents
wlthln the module oan be performed by skllled teohnlolans ln
a oentral establlshment, whloh may well be oarrled out by the
suppllers. ^ddltlonal beneflt oould also be galned from the
praotloe of keeplng oommon spares.
ccsl ccnsiderolicns
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Process optImIsatIon
lrooess optlmlsatlon may offer some of the greatest
beneflts to plpellne oost reduotlon ln the future. For any
plpellne system, the baslo operatlon should be that there ls
a requlrement to move gas, that some devloe ls needed to
provlde thls movement and that some form of energy must
be applled to aohleve the movement. ^nythlng other than
thls baslo system should be oonsldered surplus untll a valld
and unshakable argument ls put forward.
Many plpellne statlons are equlpped wlth emergenoy
generators, bulldlng oomplexes, water supply and treatment,
baok up fuel supplles, eto., that often requlre as muoh,
lf not more, malntenanoe than the maohlnery tralns
themselves. Bulldlngs requlre heatlng, llghtlng and often alr
oondltlonlng, whloh use up energy and requlre malntenanoe.
The removal of these bulldlngs and personnel support
systems further reduoes the oomplexlty and power and
malntenanoe requlrements of the statlon, leavlng the
maohlnery traln as a selfoontalned and sustalned entlty.
By uslng the oapabllltles of the maohlnery traln, suoh as
the energy avallable from the exhaust heat, seoondary
drlvers or even the lnoomlng alr supply, muoh of the extra
energy requlred by the maohlnery traln oan be provlded
wlthout addltlonal fuel use. Thus, the avallablllty of the traln
depends on lts own rellablllty and not that of an anolllary
pleoe of equlpment.
lt ls reoognlsed that thls phllosophy ls an ldeal that
would be dlffloult to aohleve lmmedlately, prlmarlly due to
laok of oommltment to suoh a oonoept. There are also
some systems, partloularly for startup, that would be
needed ln some form. However, the ultlmate alm should
be to mlnlmlse all equlpment that does not fulfll the baslo
premlse prevlously mentloned.
EnvIronmentaI beneIIts
whlle the lnltlal thrust of the study fooused on oost
reduotlons, lt beoame apparent that the teohnlques
proposed ln the study would also produoe
oonslderable envlronmental beneflts due to
the followlng:
^ reduotlon ln manufaotured equlpment for
eaoh faolllty.
^ reduotlon ln oonstruotlon aotlvltles at eaoh
slte due to the lnstallatlon of fewer bulldlngs
and equlpment.
^ reduotlon ln energy oonsumptlon at sltes
that adopt remote operatlon.
lmproved fuel utlllsatlon due to lmproved
maohlnery deslgn.
AppIIcatIon to projects
The oonoepts proposed ln the study were
tested agalnst varlous Bl lnhouse projeots
that not only oonflrmed that oonslderable
savlngs oan be aohleved, but they also
ldentlfled areas where further deslgn
optlmlsatlon oould be reallsed. lresently,
the oonoepts of modularlsatlon, remote
operatlon and prooess optlmlsatlon are
already belng used on several Bl gas
plpellne projeots, and a slmllar analysls has
been oarrled out for oll plpellnes.
ConcIusIon
^s a result of the studles performed,
4
lt was oonoluded
that the oosts of plpellne faollltles oan be greatly reduoed,
ln some oases by more than 20, by a oomblnatlon of
ellmlnatlng standby maohlnes, remotely operatlng plpellne
statlons and developlng modularlsed oomponents. Suoh
oost reduotlon wlll alter the balanoe between plpellne
slze and oompresslon faollltles. Methodologles for statlon
performanoe oan be used to oarry out a thorough deslgn
analysls, whlle R^M teohnlques oan address oomplex
lssues suoh as sparlng phllosophles and the lmpaot of
moblllsatlon and repalr tlmes.
lt should be reoognlsed, however, that ln order to aohleve
these beneflts, a number of steps have to be ln plaoe ln
the early phases of the projeot. These lnolude speolfylng
the avallablllty requlrements ln the deslgn phllosophy and
oommerolal agreements, a wlder aooeptanoe of the prlnolple
of remote operatlon wlth lts assoolated servloe agreements
wlth equlpment suppllers, and a genulne oommltment to
modular oonstruotlon and malntenanoe.
The effeot of plpellne faolllty oost reduotlons has to
be refleoted ln the overall plpellne optlmlsatlon prooess.
To that end, a plpellne optlmlsatlon prooedure has been
developed that ls applloable to large dlameter, long dlstanoe
gas plpellnes. However, many of the prlnolples for oost
savlngs relatlng to remote operatlon and modularlsatlon
are applloable to all plpellnes. ^pplloatlon to oll plpellnes
ls more dependent on topographloal oonstralnts, and
oonsequently, the opportunltles to reduoe the number of
standby unlts wlll be fewer. Nonetheless, the use of drag
reduolng agent (DR^) ln oonjunotlon wlth these oonoepts ls
an area that stlll has to be explored.
lt should also be noted that there are a number of
teohnologles, both new and establlshed, ln other flelds
that oan be applled to plpellne faollltles. 0ffshore praotloes
oould provlde some teohnlques that are applloable but not
oommonly used. ^lternatlve aooommodatlon strategles ln
remote looatlons should also be oonsldered.
l
l
l
l
1ab|e 1. Var|at|en ef RFL w|th cemress|en rat|e and cenf|gurat|en
llpellne
deslgn
pressure
ratlo
Statlon
spaolng
1 x
100
2 x
50
parallel
3 x
33.3
parallel
4 x
25
parallel
Spare
on
alter
nate'
2 x
50
serles
1.2 L 23.8 9.6 6.2 4.6 6.5 9.5
0.9'L 20.0 6.2 2.6 0.9 2.3 6.0
0.8'L 15.5 2.1 0 0 0 2.0
1.4 L 24.8 9.7 6.2 4.6 12.3 9.5
0.9'L 21.0 6.1 2.4 0.7 8.3 6.0
0.8'L 16.5 1.9 0 0 3.6 2.0
1.6 L 25.6 9.6 6.0 4.4 15.5 9.3
0.9'L 21.8 5.9 2.1 0.5 11.3 5.6
0.8'L 17.3 1.5 0 0 6.4 1.5
Fcr staticns with cne 100 machine, the |imitaticn is due tc the ccmpresscr
map.
Fcr mu|tip|e machine ccnfiguraticns the |imitaticn is pcwer.
' A|ternate sites with cne 100 cn cdd numbered staticns and twc 100
cn even numbered staticns. Spare machines arranged tc cperate in series
when preceding sing|e machine staticn fai|s. The |imitaticn is pcwer cn cne
machine and pcsiticn cn the ccmpresscr map cn the cther.
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0noe the lnltlal deslgn has started, lt
ls paramount that a strong partnershlp
between the operator, deslgner and the
equlpment suppllers ls formed to fully
reallse the oostsavlng beneflts. The
methods desorlbed above oan asslst ln
olarlfylng the lnterfaoes lnvolved.
ReIerences
G0wLR, S and H0w^RD M., 0hang|ng
Fconom|cs of Cas 1ransportat|on, laper TF 9C,
lGU 22
nd
world Gas Conferenoe, Tokyo, 1apan,
15 1une, 2003.
FRLLTH, G and llR^Nl, R, Bl lllU04. Nove|
0onstruct|on Methoos, Lnergy lnstltute, London,
UK, 25
th
February 2005.
Ncve| Ccnstructicn Methcds, BlllL0C^ presen
tatlon, larls, Franoe. 30th 31st Maroh 2005.
BP Faci|ities Optimizaticn Study, lhase 2, Flnal
Report, November 2004.
AcknowIedgements
The authors are grateful to the
management of Bl and CB&l for
permlsslon to publlsh thls paper and to
our oolleagues wlthout whose lnput thls
work would not have been exeouted.
lartloular reoognltlon has to be
made to the oonslderable oontrlbutlon from eaoh of the
rotatlng maohlnery suppllers: Dresser Rand, Man Turbo,
Rolls Royoe and Solar Turblnes for thelr openness, tlme
spent ohallenglng and dlsousslng the oonoepts, and the
data provlded that has helped develop the oonoepts
presented ln thls paper. wlthout thelr lnput, the study
work would not have been posslble.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Thanks also to Trans Canada llpellnes for thelr
dlsousslon on operatlons and to lndlvlduals who have
oontrlbuted to the study work, lnoludlng Brett Ldmonds,
lan 1aoksonReeves and Matt Haylett of CB&l and Norman
Sanderson, 1oe ^ttard and Steve Burohell from Bl.
F|gure ?. Var|at|ens ef RFL w|th mach|nery cenf|gurat|en and t|me te rea|r, w|th
meb|||sat|en t|me fer rea|r a|eng the bettem ax|s.