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Exergy analysis of high pressure processes in compressor station -- Losses and recovery potentials

Conference ·
OSTI ID:20019099
The paper presents results of the exergy and energy analyses of the following processes at a compressor station in NGTL's high-pressure natural gas transmission system: combustion and power generation in the compressor driver/gas generator; processes of heat transfer, throttling and mixing in the station auxiliary systems which prepare fuel, utility gas and compressed air for station use; and, finally, natural gas compression and cooling in the main station yard. Actual field data was used to evaluate process quality, efficiency and losses. The results showed that an energy analysis alone was not sufficient to provide a realistic process assessment for real gases under high pressure conditions. The analysis did not account for losses due to process irreversibility, gave poor indication of the usefulness of rejected resources, estimated heat fluxes without indicating heat source quality, and degraded value of gas pressure. Applied to the Gadsby Compressor Station, the energy analysis did not show the actual potential of exhaust gases suitable for recovery, neglected importance of the combustion process and deterioration of combustion quality in off-design conditions. It detected no losses in the station auxiliary systems and no energy deterioration during gas throttling. The energy balance misrepresented compression as a process consuming the driving power to raise gas temperature.
Research Organization:
Novacor Research and Technology Corp., Calgary, Alberta (CA)
OSTI ID:
20019099
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English