54
LNG
INDUSTRY
SEPTEMBER
2014
fully model the performance of the LNG train under various
customer-specified and factory process conditions including:
Start-up.
Controlled and emergency shutdowns.
Anti-surge valve selection confirmation.
Process upset conditions.
Alternate gas operations such as nitrogen purge and
defrosting operations.
Performance simulations are essential design tools, but they
cannot reveal all system integration issues or demonstrate actual
string performance. The optimal way to evaluate the
performance of a compression string prior to site installation and
start-up is to conduct a full-load, full-speed test of the entire
string at the factory. Elliott’s test facilities in Jeannette and
Sodegaura are capable of simultaneously testing multiple
compressor strings, including gas turbines and electric motors,
under full-load conditions (Figure 5). The company’s testing
capabilities include:
Testing to API 617 and ASME Power Test Code (PTC-10)
requirements.
A permanent gas turbine test stand incorporating all required
utilities and necessary auxiliary equipment.
Full-load string testing capabilities with a gas turbine driver
over 75 MW (100 500 hp).
A permanent motor test pad for full-load string testing to
25 MW (33 500 hp).
Full variable frequency drive (VFD) capabilities including
compressor drive and gas turbine start-up.
Customer-specific testing capabilities for LNG process
applications.
Dedicated metallurgy and materials engineering
laboratories.
Installation, maintenance,
overhaul and upgrades
Elliott’s Global Service organisation offers a full spectrum
of turbomachinery services. The company’s field service
teams install, start-up and repair compression trains at plants
around the world. The Global Service network also comprises
22 full-service repair facilities in the Middle East, Europe, Asia
and the Americas. In the US and Canada, two facilities support
the Pacific seaboard, two support the Atlantic seaboard, and
three facilities in Louisiana and Texas support operations in and
around the Gulf of Mexico.
Elliott Engineered Solutions upgrades and rerates critical
turbomachinery to increase reliability, efficiency and
performance, and reduce unplanned outages.
Experience matters
In LNG operations, the goal is years of reliable, efficient
production. Expert engineering, precision manufacturing, and
full-load testing of highly efficient, highly reliable refrigeration
compressors are important considerations when evaluating the
critical compression components of an LNG process. Hands-on
experience is another important consideration. Knowledge of
how a compression train operates in a specific process, with a
particular driver, in different environments and regions of the
world, helps to ensure efficient system integration and operation,
trouble-free installation and start-up, and years of reliable
production. Elliott brings the experience of a market leader to
each project, with a proven record in refrigeration compression
that precedes its pioneering contributions to LNG liquefaction in
the 1960s and continues to the present day.
Figure 6.
Installation of a large propane compressor with
three side streams in the Middle East.
Figure 5.
Full-load test of MR and C3 compressors with gas
turbine and 12 MW electric motor.
Innovations
Elliott’s innovations in LNG include the following:
First baseload plant refrigeration compression train.
First gas turbine-driven refrigeration compression train.
First MR process plant.
First large frame, horizontally split compressor in propane
refrigeration service.
First VFD starter motors for frame gas turbines driving
refrigeration compressor trains.
First dual-mixed refrigerant compressor trains.
First dual-shaft gas turbine drives.
Largest 4-section propane refrigeration compressor in
operation.
Largest dual-mixed refrigerant compressors.
