Dr Sib Akhtar, MSE (Consultants) Ltd, UK
The design of compressors for large gas fields, normally centrifugal type, proves a challenge. Once reservoir pressures decline, production rates are constrained by the design of compressor facilities and cannot be easily changed. Compressor operating conditions, pressures and flows, constantly change with time due to reservoir depletion. This makes it difficult to specify the “compressor basis of design” at the early design stage and late changes have major detrimental impact on its cost and schedule.
The paper examines different strategies adopted by operating companies, contractors and vendors for designing compression systems. The paper demonstrates the use of “Integrated Asset Model” of the gas field in which reservoir and sub-surface elements are integrated with different compressor designs thus enabling alternative compressor designs to be tested over field life.
The Integrated Asset Modelling approach provides an optimised and robust compressor design with reduced risk of late design changes.
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