Page 126 - Impiantistica Industriale - Maggio/Giugno 2017

Notiziario

Oman turns to WEG

to enhance gas recovery

in major depletion project

Achieving maximum productivity from oil and gas fields is the prime

goal for the petrochemical industry but the extraction process
becomes more difficult as fields become depleted. With this in mind,

leading global manufacturer of motor and drive technology, WEG,

has developed be spoke variable speed drive systems to help with
extraction from some of Oman’s older oil fields where the natural

pressure is beginning to fade.

Boosting extraction from depleting reserves is part of the production of Ethylene Dichloride (EDC), Caustic Soda
a US$33 billion project which aims to enhance Oman’s and other chemicals.
hydrocarbon production capabilities and help the country
broaden its economic base. It is expected that Oman will As part of this major effort, the PDO SaihRawl Field Deple-
unlock about one trillion cubic metres of natural gas over tion Project, Phase 2, will see US$550 million invested on
the next 25 years, representing a long term sustainable developing a daily gas production capacity of 30 million cu-
competitive feedstock for its petrochemical industry. Plans bic metres, which will be fed to the existing SaihRawl central
are also afoot to develop downstream industries such as processing facility. Extra compressors will be installed to in-
crease the pressure so that gas continues to flow, enabling
the field to feed the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry while
offering a back-up when other plants are shut down for main-
tenance.

Electric motors will play a key role in ensuring that such
compressors runefficiently, smoothly and reliably, as they will
be responsible for driving their suction and discharge coo-
ler fans. Bearing in mind that electric motor-driven systems
(EMDS) are the largest individual source of energy use, ac-
counting for 45% of the world’s electricity consumption, and
over half of this energy demand originates from motors used
1
in fans and compressors, Indian company Larsen & Toubro
decided to partner with WEGto equip the main gas compres-
sor with an efficient drive system, which could endure the
most demanding applications.

To meet such needs, WEG has developed a be spoke solu-
tion comprising48 30kW variable speed drives and motors
and 32 15kW drives and motors,which have been supplied
as systems and mounted in control cabinets, and also in-
clude a high capacity circuit breaker for emergency cut outs
and a by-pass system for DOL (direct on line) starting. Ad-
ditionally, WEG has fitted its equipment with a passive input

122 Impiantistica Italiana - Maggio-Giugno 2017