Where may a natural gas compressor be installed?
To ensure that gas continues to flow optimally, it must be periodically compressed and pushed through the pipeline. Friction and elevation differences slow the gas and reduce the pressure, so compressor stations are placed typically 40 to 70 miles apart along the pipeline to provide a boost in pressure.
How does a natural gas compression station work?
Natural gas compressor stations utilize electric motors, natural gas engines and gas turbines to power reciprocating and centrifugal compressors that collect incoming gas, compress it to increase its flow pressure, and channel it to the next station.
How does gas turbine compressor work?
The basic operation of the gas turbine is a Brayton cycle with air as the working fluid: atmospheric air flows through the compressor that brings it to higher pressure; energy is then added by spraying fuel into the air and igniting it so that the combustion generates a high-temperature flow; this high-temperature …
What is the purpose of a compressor station?
Compressor stations are large industrial facilities that maintain the flow and pressure of natural gas by receiving gas from the pipeline, re-pressurizing it, and sending it back into the pipeline system. (Pump stations do the same thing for oil.)
How loud is a compressor station?
55 decibels
Richard Wheatley, a spokesman for Kinder Morgan, TGP’s parent company, told The Recorder that compressor stations comply with federal noise regulations, with a maximum day-night weighted average of 55 decibels — about as loud as a conversation or an air conditioner.
What is the difference between compressor and turbine?
Turbine extract energy by decreasing the pressure, while compressor increase fluid pressure. 3. This because turbines deliver works by decreasing total pressure to certain static pressure, without its dynamic velocity. While compressor requires energy to achieved total pressure at the outlet.
How do gas turbine works?
A gas turbine is a combustion engine at the heart of a power plant that can convert natural gas or other liquid fuels to mechanical energy. This energy then drives a generator that produces the electrical energy that moves along power lines to homes and businesses.
How does a gas turbine compressor station work?
A gas turbine compressor station uses a small amount of the gas in the pipeline to fuel a combustion gas turbine known as a mechanical drive. The compressor is normally a centrifugal type and may be a high-speed single-stage or a lower speed multistage compressor. A gas turbine compressor station normally starts around 4000 hp and higher.
What are the components of a compressor station?
The station’s compressor building(s) house(s) the turbine compressor that is the heart of the compressor station. These consist of two main components: a gas turbine and a compressor. The compressor mechanically re-pressurizes the gas in the pipeline using an impellor similar to that of a water pump in an automobile.
How are compressor stations part of the natural gas pipeline?
Compressor stations are an integral part of the natural gas pipeline network that moves natural gas from individual producing well sites to end users. Figure 1. A separator filters out liquids, solids, and other particulate matter that may be in the gas stream.
What kind of engines are used in natural gas compressors?
Gas-powered compressors may be driven by either conventional piston engines or natural gas turbine units. There are site design and operational differences, as well as unique air and sound emissions, between these competing compressor engine technologies.