REPRINTED FROM WORLD PIPELINES MAPCH 2007 www.wcrldpipelines.ccm
CompressIng costs CurdIaI SIngh and MIchaeI Moore, C8& UK LImIted and Stephen Cower, 8P ExpIoratIon, UK, dIscuss reducIng the cost oI onshore pIpeIIne systems. | 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). ccsl ccnsiderolicns | 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. ccsl ccnsiderolicns REPRINTED FROM WORLD PIPELINES MAPCH 2007 www.wcrldpipelines.ccm 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. ccsl ccnsiderolicns REPRINTED FROM WORLD PIPELINES MAPCH 2007 www.wcrldpipelines.ccm 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. ccsl ccnsiderolicns REPRINTED FROM WORLD PIPELINES MAPCH 2007 www.wcrldpipelines.ccm 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. l l l l 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) ccsl ccnsiderolicns REPRINTED FROM WORLD PIPELINES MAPCH 2007 www.wcrldpipelines.ccm 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 REPRINTED FROM WORLD PIPELINES MAPCH 2007 www.wcrldpipelines.ccm 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. ccsl ccnsiderolicns REPRINTED FROM WORLD PIPELINES MAPCH 2007 www.wcrldpipelines.ccm 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.