Dr. Reza Agahi - Atlas Copco Gas and Process

NEWS FOR CUSTOMERS OF THE GAS AND PROCESS DIVISION - ISSUE 1 / 2010
VISITING BP GELSENKIRCHEN 4 • INTERVIEW: INSIDE THE TECHNOLOGY 8 • BETTER CITY. BETTER LIFE 13 •
TRADE SHOW PREVIEW 14 •
EDITORIAL
CONTENT
Page
04
ENSURING A CLEAN PROCESS
G&P Stories takes you inside olefin plant
Page
Introducing Sustainable
Productivity
This issue of G&P Stories introduces the new Atlas Copco Gas
and Process brand promise: “Sustainable Productivity.” We feel that
it best reflects our commitment to
deliver reliable, lasting results for
our customers, with responsible
use of resources; human, natural,
and capital.
For some years already, we have
been driving a number of key technologies that help reduce carbon dioxide emissions, enhance energy efficiency, and generate energy from
alternative resources.
I am proud to say that we have already achieved an innovative lead
by working on ground-breaking
projects in the alternative energy industry and the Energy Recovery
field, gaining invaluable experience
in the process.
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INSIDE THE TECHNOLOGY
An interview with Reza Agahi on geothermal
Page
13
BETTER CITY, BETTER LIFE
Atlas Copco at Expo in Shanghai
Page
14
TRADE SHOW PREVIEW 2010
Visit us at fairs around the globe
This issue of G&P Stories will highlight some success stories, such as
BP Gelsenkirchen, whose olefin
plant has performed outstandingly
thanks to our turbocompressors and
expert service – for almost two decades.
Welcome to this issue, and welcome to the future of sustainable
productivity.
Publication Data, Gas and Process Division, Atlas Copco Energas GmbH
Schlehenweg 15, 50999 Cologne, Germany
Phone: +49 2236 96 50 0, Telefax: +49 2236 96 50 899, [email protected],
www.atlascopco-gap.com
Best regards,
Editor-in-Chief: Petra Jacob, Phone: +49 2236 96 50 750
Published by Threeview GmbH for Atlas Copco Energas GmbH
Additional photography credits: Hans Herbig
Harald Dany
All data are without warranty. No guarantee is given for the correctness of the information contained in this
newsletter. Articles may be reprinted free of charge on condition that a copy of the publication is forwarded to
and approved by the publisher (Atlas Copco Energas GmbH). Reproduction of photographs only with written
agreement of the communications agency /publisher.
2
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EDITORIAL
I am One of the Atlas Copco Faces
Ann-Kathrin Heinemann, who works in HR at Gas and Process, is an Atlas Copco
face – one of several hundred that we included in a photo shoot as part of the new
„
brand promise Committed to Sustainable Productivity.“ Heinemann enjoyed the
„
shoot in March at our Cologne plant and values the new brand: It is a very authentic and credible way of showing what we are all about as a company. Atlas Copco is
highly diverse in terms of its, people, talents, but also products and markets. The
new brand brings that out well.“
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3
FEATURE
Klemens Rickert, BP Gelsenkirchen
4
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FEATURE
ENSURING A CLEAN PROCESS
Refinery operations require a complex interplay of machinery to run smoothly and
reliably. At one of the largest petrochemical plants in Europe, the Scholven (Germany)
facility operated by Atlas Copco Gas and Process customer BP Gelsenkirchen, two
turbocompressors have been ensuring a smooth and clean process for almost two
decades now – in very different applications.
Taking the bird’s eye view from an old mining heap, the petrochemical facility operated by German BP subsidiary, BP Gelsenkirchen in Scholven (Germany) stretches across 250 hectares of
countryside like a city in its own right.
With crude oil as the starting point, the site’s enormous refinery
churns out more than 2 million tons of gasoline and 3 million
tons of diesel fuel per year, sold at the 2,500 gas stations operated by BP in Germany under the Aral brand.
Moving in closer, the massive production plants for petrochemicals appear, towering over the rest of the industrial complex with
their steaming chimneys.
The plants are part of Germany’s largest system for producing
olefins – mainly ethylene and propylene – as raw materials for
plastics. Scholven alone produces more than 1 million tons of
ethylene and over 550,000 tons of propylene every year, delivered directly to customers in the area (or even on site) and via the
European ethylene pipeline.
“This site is one of the very few that can handle and produce
practically everything,” Rickert says about Scholven, a place he
has come to know inside out over the past three decades.
“You put crude oil into the process – and you get various products
out, along the entire value chain.”
Along these lines, Olefins are produced from Naphtha, a side
product of Scholven’s crude oil refinery. Olefin production was
added in the early 1960s to make full use of crude oil and respond to the growing international demand for plastics.
Outstanding Reliability
Klemens Rickert has been with the company for more than
30 years. In 1996, after some time in another department, he
returned to his true passion – machinery.
Entering one of the plants, namely the Olefin 4 plant added during the petrochemical market boom of 1991, we are greeted by
Klemens Rickert.
Having seen many machines during his career, Rickert says
the most reliable units at Olefin 4 include two Atlas Copco
Gas and Process compressors that have served on the periphery of the olefin production process from day one; an H air
compressor and a GT process gas compressor.
Rickert is the man in charge of the Machine and Pump Shop at
Olefin 4. Together with his colleagues, Rickert is responsible for
more than 100 pieces of equipment at Olefin 4.
“These machines are very reliable. They actually stand out
by virtue of never drawing attention to themselves,” Rickert
says with a smile.
Equipment that helps make Scholven go round.
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5
FEATURE
Technical Profile
This three-stage H-Series air compressor is used in a
pipeline-cleaning application in a refinery.
Inlet Pressure: 0.99 bar (a)
Outlet Pressure: 10.50 bar (a)
Flow Volume: 8,000 m3/h
Driver Power: 1,050 kW
This stamp of approval is a hard-earned one,
especially considering that olefin production
on an industrial scale is an intense, high-temperature process. Naphtha as the so-called
“feedstock” is cooked – or “cracked” as the industry calls it – at around 850°C in a furnace.
“The process leaves behind coke, which settles on the insides of the pipelines as residue,”
Rickert explains.
6
furnaces at Olefin 4 require gas from a pipeline
during their start-up and shutdown stages.
The GT compressor helps adjust pressure levels,
and as of recently, it also serves to exchange raw
process gas between Olefin 4 and the adjacent
Olefin 3 plant at about 4 bar outlet pressure.
The Ultimate Stamp of Approval
Enter the Atlas Copco H compressor: It feeds
air at pressures of up to 10bar into the pipelines during the cleaning process, when coke
residue is burned off at regular intervals to ensure clean operations.
Asked about the relationship with Atlas Copco Gas
and Process, Rickert recalls a positive experience
he made in 1998: At the time, BP Gelsenkirchen
called on Atlas Copco Gas and Process to perform
a revision of the H compressor at Scholven.
On the other side of the facility, an Atlas Copco
GT compressor is responsible for feeding combustion gas into the furnaces. Although olefin
cracking by itself releases enough flammable
gas to keep the reaction going, the eight cracking
Much to Rickert’s surprise, he received a personal
invitation to company headquarters in Cologne,
where company specialists had disassembled the
entire processor to show directly what needed to be
done.
FEATURE
“Sure, you can always look at photos,” Rickert
says. “But this approach, seeing it first hand, is
definitely better.”
True to Atlas Copco’s customer promise of constant interaction and innovation, the experts presented a very clear vision of what needed to be
done, including detailed information on costs and
timelines. “And sure enough, they followed
through and got the job done.”
Throughout the years, the partnership with Atlas
Copco has been running much like the compressors at Scholven: “The company is very well organized, things run much more smoothly as they do
with other suppliers,” Rickert says.
Coming from a man who has seen hundreds of
machines throughout a long career in the petrochemical business, this is arguably the ultimate
stamp of approval.
About BP Gelsenkirchen
The Scholven facility, together with plants in
nearby Horst, is operated by BP Gelsenkirchen
GmbH. Assets in the company belong to Ruhr
Oel GmbH, a joint venture with equal parts ownership between BP and the Venezuelan stateowned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela.
Overall, BP controls the second-largest refinery
system in Germany with a crude oil distillation
capacity of 27.4 million tons per year, almost a
quarter of the country’s total refining capacity.
Ruhr Oel’s petrochemicals plants, including the
largest olefin plant system in Germany, have a
joint production capacity of 4.8 million tons a year.
Internationally, the BP Group reported $361 billion in sales and other operating revenues and
employed 92,000 people in 2008.
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CUSTOMERS IN FOCUS
„
WE WILL CONTINUE TO ADVANCE
„
OUR GEOTHERMAL TECHNOLOGY
Geothermal energy generation is playing an increasing role in the energy mix of
the future. G&P Stories talked to Dr. Reza Agahi, Gas and Process Marketing
Manager North America – and resident geothermal energy expert – about Atlas
Copco’s position in this promising growth market.
A geothermal expert: Reza Agahi
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G&P Stories: Dr. Agahi, environment-friendly technologies and sustainability are very “trendy” and fashionable topics right now. But really, how attractive are
they from an economic/market perspective?
There is not one single answer to this question. Different
countries and governments follow different approaches, while
their level of commitment to environmentallyv-friendly technologies varies.
As a result, these technologies are economical and marketable
in some areas while in other areas they are not. But the trend
is definitely increasing and more and more countries are
jumping on this bandwagon because it makes a lot of sense.
Why does it make sense for them to jump on the geothermal bandwagon?
I believe this question could be considered from two perspectives: From a government’s point of view, geothermal energy
is renewable and thereby counts towards the target of meeting an electrical energy mix. For instance, some countries
have approved electrical energy mixes that should produce
30% from renewable sources by the year 2020.
Secondly, for investors geothermal energy is renewable, base
load, and hence qualifies for various incentives depending on
the country where the plant is installed. The latter makes
such an investment more attractive in terms of return on investment.
The future potential for geothermal energy is enormous: The worldwide installed capacity of the geothermal power industry could grow 16-fold over the
next 20 years, according to the International Geothermal Association. What steps is Atlas Copco taking to
play a part in this growth?
As a company that’s very innovative by nature and has customer focus as a value, we will continue to advance our technologies through strategic partnerships with leading companies.
Today, Atlas Copco is already a major player in the geothermal market in many areas. We have partnered up with engineering companies that specialize in Organic Rankine Cycle
(ORC) technology.
We have developed turboexpanders with integral gearbox designs for higher power generation and flow, up to 25 MW per
stage. And we are proactively exploring cooperation with energy companies around the world, supported by a strong list
of milestone projects.
How does energy recovery from geothermal resources relate to the new Atlas Copco brand promise
“Sustainable Productivity”?
When it comes to geothermal power plants, availability is a
big factor. A power plant is categorized as “base load” if it is
available 80% of the time or more.
We at Atlas Copco have advanced our solutions for geothermal power plants that feature binary cycle technology to 95%
and higher availability, offering continuous and sustainable
productivity to our customers.
I would call that “sustainable.”
INSIDE THE TECHNOLOGY
the turboexpander extracts energy from the vapor
to drive an electric generator.
The cooled brine returns back into the ground,
while the working fluid remains within its closed
cycle to be recirculated again.
Atlas Copco is one of the only suppliers that
can provide customized solutions for both
the Kalina Cycle and the ORC. How important are these two technologies for the future of the geothermal energy market?
Speaking from a global perspective, medium-temperature geothermal resources at 140°C and above
that are configured with the ORC can be considered as “low-hanging fruits.” These resources are
easy to unlock and will be explored first wherever
they are available.
The Kalina Cycle is more suited for lower temperature geothermal resources at 130°C and below.
Some regions of the world are not blessed with
medium or high temperature geothermal resources
and need to leverage low-temperature resources
where the Kalina Cycle may be applied.
”WE CAN OFFER
EXPANDER DESIGN
FOR 25 MW PER STAGE.”
Speaking of binary cycle technology, the
ORC and Kalina Cycle unlock energy generation from low- to mid-temperature geothermal reservoirs. Could you outline briefly
the working principle behind these technologies?
In binary cycle power plants, the hot geothermal fluid,
or “brine,” is used indirectly for energy generation.
Because it is not hot enough by itself, the geothermal fluid is used to boil a “working fluid” with a
low boiling point.
This working fluid, for example isobutene, is contained in a separate cycle, where it evaporates and
10 |
As a solutions provider focussed on customer and
market needs, Atlas Copco has developed the necessary expertise to customize energy recovery solutions utilizing the ORC, Kalina, or any other cycle,
with a suitable working fluid.
Atlas Copco geothermal solutions offer turboexpander stages with up to 25,000 kW
power. What are some of the technological
advantages of Atlas Copco turbines over the
competition?
Our Atlas Copco radial inflow expanders offer several advantages over the competition. Firstly, no
other vendor can offer an expander design for 25
MW per stage. Secondly, Atlas Copco turbo expanders are supplied with variable inlet guide
vanes, or IGVs.
Variable IGVs can direct the flow of working fluid
into the expander wheel at an optimal direction. and
maintain the inlet pressure relatively constant.
Thereby they can maintain high efficiency and performance over a wide range of process variations, including temperature changes in the geothermal resource
or environment including ambient temperature.
INSIDE THE TECHNOLOGY
For customers who are in the process of
designing a geothermal plant, there is
a choice between using axial turbines
and radial turbines in geothermal power
plants. What are the advantages of both
solutions, respectively, and the benefit for
the customer?
Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, isn’t
it? Our radial expanders can be equipped with
variable inlet guide vanes, so they can tolerate
really high-pressure ratios and cope better with
resource, process and ambient variations.
Axial turbines, on the other hand, can operate at
lower speeds and thereby directly drive a generator.
Gazing into the crystal ball a bit, what can
customers in the geothermal market expect from Atlas Copco Gas and Process
over the next few years, both as a partner
and, generally, as market innovator?
Larger turboexpander trains will provide the
customers with economy of scales, while reducing the capital investment per installed KW.
Customers of Atlas Copco Gas and Process are
expecting us to make progress on two fronts:
ORC engineering and turboexpander trains that
could handle more flow and higher power per
stage.
Optimization of Organic Rankine cycle engineering will improve the cycle efficiency and deliver
more output power from a geothermal plant.
Variable Inlet Guide Vane
Turboexpander efficiency in relation to head.
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NEWS
Atlas Copco Wins Large-scale
NGL Order in Middle East
Demand for natural gas solutions is soaring in the United Arab Emirates (UAE),
and so is demand for Atlas Copco turbomachinery. In February 2010, Atlas
Copco received a large-scale order for
turboexpanders, to be delivered to Abu
Dhabi in May 2011.
Remodeling at Cologne
Headquarters on Schedule
Construction crews are still roaming the
Gas and Process Division headquarters
in Cologne, Germany. But as the dust
settles, the impressive pace of progress
becomes clear, with new facilities nearing completion as we speak.
Range extension for the run-out measurement unit is on the way, with the groundwork
completed in early 2010. The actual machine
was delivered and installed in March. The
new run-out measurement features test rotors up to 2m in diameter and 8 tons weight,
at a maximum bearing clearance of 2m.
The machine for spinning large impellers –
a cornerstone of the division’s next generation machine offering – will be delivered
in June, with ground works already underway.
The facility will be able to handle test impellers up to 2m in diameter, at maximum
weight of 3.5 tons and engine speeds up to
15,000 rpm. Ground works for the new highspeed balancing machine have also started,
so the entire effort is well on schedule.
Quick project background: Atlas Copco
Gas and Process is investing more than
MEUR38 into state-of-the-art production
machinery, new buildings and improved
infrastructure.
Ultimately, this will bring customers greater product quality, more precision, and
shorter delivery times.
12
The turboexpanders will be used in four
natural gas liquids (NGL) processing
trains at the Habshan 5 Process Plant,
currently under construction in an inland
desert area 150 kilometer southwest of
Abu Dhabi.
The new plant is an addition to the existing Habshan natural gas processing facility.
This multi-million dollar order was won
by Atlas Copco Mafi-Trench. The California-based company, which has been
part of Gas and Process since 2007, has
been delivering turboexpanders to the
Habshan facility for more than 25 years.
“Here’s another example of how the acquisition of Mafi-Trench has yielded synergies – with the customers and with the
market. By adding Mafi-Trench’s advanced natural gas applications to our
value-added chain, we have become
much stronger worldwide, also in special
applications like the NGL processing
performed at Habshan,” said Dré
Schmitz, President of Atlas Copco Gas
and Process.
Commitment from Day One
The company to install the very first set
of turboexpanders at Habshan was actually Mafi-Trench. Successfully commissioned in 1984, they are now in operation
for over 26 years.
In 2001, Mafi-Trench added another expander train, still running with no need
for an overhaul even after over 75,000
operating hours.
The new set of turboexpanders, featuring active magnetic bearings, is used in
the final steps of natural gas liquefaction: Removal of natural gas liquids
(NGL) such as ethane, propane and butane through a cryogenic low temperature distillation process.
Expected to start operations in 2013,
Habshan 5 will process 1 billion cubic
feet of raw gas per day– doubling Habshan’s overall capacity to 2 bcf/d –
while yielding 12,000 t/d of marketready NGL.
Qatar
Fujairah
Taweelah
Habshan
United Arab Emirates
Oman
NEWS
Better City, Better Life:
Atlas Copco at Expo in Shanghai
The international spotlight will be on Shanghai for the World
Expo until October 31, 2010. In line with the Expo’s motto “Better City, Better Life,” Atlas Copco will be showcasing our sustainable productivity solutions as Official Partner of the Swedish
pavilion at the Expo.
On a total 5.28 square kilometers of World Expo grounds on both
sides of the Huangpu River, exhibitors from over 200 countries
will present the future of urban living and tomorrow’s clean energy technologies.
True to the sustainable outlook, the modern 3,000 square meters
Swedish pavilion is designed to be re-used after the World Expo
closes in October 2010.
The organizers expect more than 70 million visitors – the largest
number in the entire history of world fairs since the first World
Expo in London, held in 1851.
A Strong Market Presence
Sweden – Spirit of Innovation
As one of the official partners of the Swedish exhibit at Expo,
Atlas Copco also has shown a strong presence at the show inside
the VIP Area of the country’s pavillion. In early May, Atlas Copco offered a taste of Swedish hospitality to customers, employees and other stakeholders.
Atlas Copco’s core values of Interaction, Commitment, and Innovation closely match the Swedish theme for Expo 2010: Innovation, Sustainability, and Communication, or simply stated:
“Sweden – Spirit of Innovation.”
For direct support on Shanghai’s “road to the World Expo,” a
fleet of Atlas Copco portable compressors and generators had
been visible on the roads leading into Shanghai months before
the event, as the city upgraded its highways and other infrastructure with Atlas Copco Portable Air as a major contractor.
With our strong presence on the Chinese market, the World Expo
is practically a “home game” for the Gas and Process division.
Expanding our presence, construction on a new production facility for turbomachinery near Shanghai started in December 2009
at a total investment of more than MSEK 100 (more than 10
MEUR).
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TECHNICAL PART
4-7 October 2010 · Houston, USA
The HoustonTurbo Show: Hello inTexas
I am Nasser Sadeghzadeh, Business Manager at Gas and Process Division,
and want to invite you to our booth in Houston. We want to present to you our
offering for gas and air compressors, and our expander compressor solutions
(10 kW to 25 MW). They are used in FGB, gas processing, C/PC, LNG and
energy recovery, respectively.
In Houston, we will be at Booth #439.
October 24-27, 2010 · Sacramento, United States
Geothermal Energy Expo®: See you in California
Greetings, I am Reza Agahi and look forward sharing with you insight into Atlas Copco’s premier offering for the geothermal market, most notably for the
Organic Rankine Cycle. See you next fall at the GEA Geothermal Energy
Expo® and the GRC Annual Meeting.
TECHNICAL PART
Trade Show Preview 2010
As a company that’s very close to its customers, we always want to find places and
venues to meet with you. Trade shows are great places for that. Here we want to
tell and you where in the world we will be for the rest of 2010, what you can expect,
and we certainly want to cordially invite you to our booths in Sacramento, Singapore
and Houston.
2-4 November 2010 · Singapore
Power Gen Asia: Welcome to Singapore
During our first-ever participation at Power Gen Asia, we will give you a firsthand look at our renewable energy portfolio, most notably our solutions for
geo-thermal applications. The show will take place at Marina Sands Bay Resort,
we will be at Booth C1. See you in Singapore!
Gas and Process Division
Our points of contact worldwide
Headquarters
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© Atlas Copco 07/2010 Printed in Germany.
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