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Fans and Compressors
News Release from: GE Oil and Gas | Subject: ICL compressors
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 01 February 2008
Reduced environmental impact of ICL
compressors
Integrated motor compressor (ICL) technology developed by GE Oil and Gas is designed to help compression plant operators meet growing operational and environmental challenges
ICL technology features an integrated system with a single casing for the compressor and motor and combines three proven technologies: centrifugal compression, active magnetic bearings and high-speed electric motors "Compression plant operators worldwide are facing challenges linked to CO2 and NOx emissions, as well as noise requirements" said Claudi Santiago, President and CEO of GE Oil and Gas: "To minimise a plant impact on the environment, the industry trend today is toward the use of electrification to replace mechanical drive gas turbines" The GE ICL solution provides higher availability and lower maintenance costs, compared to a gas turbine drive, while also enabling customers to optimise their gas resources for other uses
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 6 Sep 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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The key benefits of the ICL technology are listed as:.
* Driven by electricity rather than gas, ICL technology saves energy and avoids associated CO2 emissions.
Using an average 8-megawatt ICL rather than a comparable-sized gas turbine driven compressor can reduce CO2 emissions by 60% or more.
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* Its closed design avoids the annual leakage of 40,000 cubic meters of methane from the shaft ends of a conventional compressor, which equates to 657 metric tons of CO2 - the equivalent of the emissions from 131 US passenger cars or 321 European cars over the course of one year (An interesting comparison - Ed).
* Unlike a conventional compressor, the GE ICL compressor does not need to de-pressurise when stopped, avoiding the annual venting of methane equaling 863 metric tons of CO2 - equivalent to the emissions of 166 US cars or 425 European cars over one year.
* By replacing oil-lubricated bearings with active magnetic bearings, GE has eliminated the need for oil within the compressor.
Over the life of the product, including oil refills, this can eliminate the consumption of more than 30,000 litres of oil.
The GE ICL compressor also features quieter operation than a conventional compressor and takes up less space, since it does not require auxiliary equipment for cooling and lubrication of a gas turbine.
Due to its simplified design, the projected lifetime maintenance cost for an ICL compressor is 40% lower than that of a conventional compressor.
Highly flexible and able to meet a wide range of application requirements, ICL represent GE Oil and Gas state of the art technology design and is the result of the expertise of its research team in leading edge technologies in centrifugal compression and magnetic bearings.
GE ICL technology will make its commercial debut at the expansion of the Etzel Gas-Lager (EGL) consortium natural gas storage facility in Germany.
An 8.3-megawatt ICL compressor driven by a high-speed electric motor will be manufactured and tested at GE Oil and Gas facilities in Le Creusot, France and delivered to the EGL project site in early 2009.
"Designed to address the current requirements for reliability, pollution and noise control, ICL technology offers an innovative solution not only for gas storage applications like the EGL project, but also for pipeline applications and upstream or downstream clean dry gas services up to 15 megawatts of power," noted Santiago.
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