Gas compressor dual drive mechanism

Abstract

A dual drive mechanism for a gas compressor includes a pulley and belt drive system to provide power to a gas compressor using either an electric motor or a reciprocating engine. The source of the power can be chosen by the operator of the system depending on a number of variables, including the cost of electric power.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims priority benefit from provisional U.S. application Ser. No. 60 / 550,812 filed Mar. 5, 2004, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The invention is related to the natural gas energy industry and more particularly to the field of mechanical drive systems for gas compressors. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] In the natural gas gathering industry, there have been two basic gas compressor units available in the 1000 to 4000 hp range. One is an electric driven gas compressor and the other is a reciprocating engine driven gas compressor. Electric driven gas compressors in this class range have been predominantly utilized in the offshore drilling industry and in isolated cases for landside use. Electric driven gas compressors are particularly useful in cutting down on polluting emissions and tend to be easier to maintain. [0004] Although an electric dr...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0007] It is an object of the invention to provide an alternative drive source to power a gas compressor such that cost is reduced, while maintenance and operating simplicity are magnified. A dual drive mechanism provides an opportunity to reduce the price of electricity to operate a gas compressor on an electric motor, and allows a compressor operator to choose to operate the gas compressor on a reciprocating engine or on an electric motor, depending on the economic advantages of the energy source. When compared to current methods and technology for driving a gas compressor, the dual drive mechanism provides significant economic benefit to gas compression operators.

[0009] The dual drive mechanism will allow the operator to startup the gas compressor and bring it up to speed with a reciprocating engine. Through use of an electronic load-sharing device, the electric motor will slowly begin to take over driving the compressor. The dual drive mechanism prevents the electric motor from requiring any peak or instantaneous load demands from the utility, and allows the utility to provide the electricity required to operate the motors at optimally reduced rates. The utility will benefit from a constant base load consumption of electricity without peak load demands, and the larger the load, the better the benefit.

[0011] When operating the compressor on the electric motor, the compression station operator can increase the profitability of his operations by selling the available natural gas that is not being burnt as fuel in the natural gas reciprocating engine.

[0013] Further, the dual drive mechanism increases redundancy due to the dual drive. Should the electric motor fail or be in need of repair or maintenance, the compressor can be run on the reciprocating engine until the unit can be put back into service operating on the electric motor, or visa versa. The option of switching to a different manner of operation can significantly increase efficient production.

Problems solved by technology

Although an electric driven gas compressor offers more favorable maintenance features, the fluctuating and often high price of electricity have prevented electric driven compressors from being more widely utilized.

This reserve or peak load demand is more expensive to provide.

The extra cost in most cases makes the use of electric motor driven compressors less feasible than running a gas compressor on a reciprocating gas engine.

Due to the high cost of a reciprocating gas fired engine, most gas compressor units utilize high speed reciprocating gas engines in the compressor packages to reduce cost, rather than utilizing slower speed engines.

The operations and maintenance cost of the reciprocating gas engines is usually high and a large portion of the overall cost of operating a gas compressor.

Unscheduled down time due to unexpected engine failures are a common complaint, and major overhauls of the engine are costly and frequently required.

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