Faces
Triple Jump
The development of ECO-II tells a story of just what
client-supplier relationship can mean. On a sunny
spring day out at the Vries-4 site near Groningen,
Netherlands, Venture met with Willem Stam,
Team Leader Mechanical Equipment, EPE Europe,
with Shell U.K. Ltd. in Aberdeen, United Kingdom;
Brian Todd, Project Engineer with NAM in Assen,
Netherlands; and Etienne Meier, Project Manager
with Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery B.V. in
Hengelo, Netherlands.
Venture: Gentlemen: Shell, NAM and Siemens have been cooperation partners
for quite some time. Any current hot projects to interest our readers?
Meier: Well, one of our larger ongoing projects is the beefing up of
compressor power at 29 clusters of the Groningen Long Term (GLT)
project with compressor trains featuring VSDS drives and automatic
magnetic bearings. And recently, we have delivered a gas-turbine driven
compressor unit for Shell UK for the offshore facility Sean in the North
Sea for which the commissioning is started. Just two of a number of
exciting projects together with Shell and/or NAM.
Todd: Don’t forget the offshore contracts! Since about 2001, every
centrifugal compressor for NAM offshore platforms has come from
Siemens, including K15, L9 and a number of others.
Stam: Over the last few years we have signed global frame agreements
on new and brown-field modifications and also maintenance support
contracts.
Venture: ECO-II, however, is a different story. It’s about joint development
of a whole new approach. It’s a fair guess Shell and Siemens wouldn’t have
teamed up if there had not been a special relationship before?
Stam: That’s right. This machine is a quantum leap in compressor
technology from the word Go, not the result of incremental improvements.
It wouldn’t have been possible without our long-standing iterative
relationship. Typical of that is that the Shell research team has been part
10 Venture July 2007
Faces
of the joint development group — fairly unique in a customer-supplier
relationship.
Todd: It has to be said, though, that Siemens’ ECO-II is still the one and
only such machine that’s capable of running in saturated natural gas,
not just pipeline-quality dry gas. At this site, the ECO-II sees all kinds of
contaminants, including sand, and water in general use-and-abuse
operation.
Venture: Feasibility study in 1999; pilot order in 2001; workshop test from
end of 2004 to end of 2006; start of field test in November 2006; end of field
test in December 2007: What’s next on the agenda?
Meier: After evaluation of the performance, including visual inspection
of all developed parts and materials, we expect to release the ECO-II
compressor concept by end of 2007. Formally, this is the end of the first
stage of the ECO-II development.
Venture: And with regard to future applications of the ECO-II concept?
Stam: The future of the machine within our organization clearly lies
within Shell rather than NAM. The fact that ECO-II is hermetically
sealed against fugitive emissions, together with its 6-year maintenance
interval, means it’s a technically, environmentally and commercially
viable solution for a number of niche applications involving sour or toxic
gas, as well as subsea production.
Todd: For the NAM organization, this machine will be a one-off; centrifugal compression is fairly minimal due to the limited size of our fields.
Venture: What will become of this ECO-II prototype, once field testing has
been completed?
Todd: It will carry on as a standard operational machine, which, I think,
says a lot about the machine. In fact, I guess the biggest compliment
you can give the machine — and Siemens — is the fact that everyone
within the NAM operations already considers it an extension of the
producing facilities rather than a prototype.
Venture: A last word on ECO-II?
Stam: The concept is the perfect answer to a number of imminent
requirements in the oil & gas industry. And, as this site proves, it’s working
and living up to or even exceeding expectations. I’m sure ECO-II has a
bright and lasting future in many areas of our business.
Meier: ECO-II taught us to question a lot of things we took for granted,
and forced us to re-invent things. Once you’re there, you can go anywhere.
Todd: Indeed, our good old friend Murphy was around in every corner.
He made the project very challenging for each of the three parties. But
with a phenomenal result.
July 2007 Venture 11