New high-density centrifugal compressor for re-injection service

Dresser-Rand has successfully engineered, manufactured and tested high-density centrifugal compressors for re-injection service. The units, which compress a mixture of natural gas and carbon dioxide, will be installed on floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels destined for the "pre-salt" fields offshore Brazil.

While the units will be used in the oil and gas upstream market, the technology is applicable to other market segments requiring the compression of carbon dioxide and heavy gases such as urea production and carbon capture and sequestration. Dresser-Rand booked these orders in the first quarter of 2010.

The first ship (Cidade de São Paulo) will have two trains and will operate in the Guará BM-S-9 oil field. The second ship (Cidade de Paraty) will have the other two trains and operate in the Lula NE (formerly Tupi NE; BM-S-11) field. Both are located in the Santos Basin in water depths of approximately 2,000 meters. An estimated 120,000 barrels of oil and 5 million standard cubic meters of gas per day will be processed by each of these FPSOs.

Robust and stable rotor

The compressors were tested in accordance with ASME’s PTC-10 Type I industry standard at full load and actual field conditions and achieved a discharge pressure in excess of 560 bar (8,120 psi) compressing the CO2-rich gas while exhibiting a robust and stable rotor dynamic behavior. This shows that Dresser-Rand’s stability levels are 30 to 60 times higher than minimum industry standards.

The technology significantly reduces capital expenditure, footprint, weight, and operating costs, while increasing reliability by eliminating the need to install, operate and maintain high-pressure injection pumping systems downstream of the compression system. Besides being smaller, lighter and more reliable than a traditional pumping system, the cycle time for this machine from time of order through successful load testing was less than 14 months. With this compressor technology, the client can start producing earlier.