American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2021 - 69

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SpecialReport: Gas Compression Tech
whether we get a call-out for that unit afterward, " he relates. " This helps us identify
when an employee may need more training
or guidance. "
Thode adds that Archrock is equipping
its compressors with telematics to enable
remote monitoring. " Our goal is to gather
data from the units, analyze it and present
it in a way that helps our employees see
where issues may pop up before they become a problem, " Thode outlines.
In early May, Thode said Archrock
had telemetry on all its compressors deployed in its Permian Basin business
unit and almost all its compressors in
the South Texas business unit. " We are
working through our Rockies and East
business units as well, and we plan to
get them all operational by the end of
the year, " he adds.
" Among other things, telematics can
help us identify when compressors might
have problems because of low-quality
fuel gas or a contaminated gas stream, "
Thode mentions. " When we find those
issues, we work with the client to address
them, because doing that improves run
time and ultimately throughput. "
The company also works with producers to control emissions, Thode says.
" One way to limit emissions is to focus
on catalyst elements, " he says. " As gas
quality changes, so can the best catalyst
for the location. We also need to make
sure we maintain the catalysts well enough
to maximize their lifespans, which can
be as simple as periodically turning the
catalyst so both sides get used.
" Reducing methane leaks is increasingly important for producers and compression services providers, " Thode says.
" As with reliability, the key is proper
maintenance. Every time our employees
touch a unit, they run a leak detector
across all the connections. They also stay
on top of packing changes and can work
with customers to pipe any blowdown
from the unit back into the system rather
than venting it to atmosphere. "

emissions, " he reports. " These customers
want to get ahead of regulations and
show the public they are strong environmental stewards. "
To address emissions, Berwick says
Cook Compression is deploying sensors
and cloud-based telemetry to monitor
packing-associated leakage rates. " Our
goal is to establish a baseline and improve
the packing so we can reduce venting, "
he relates.
Minimizing packing leaks and other
emissions frequently boosts profits, notes
Craig Martin, Cook's chief engineer for
rings and packing. " When packing fails,
the compressor owner either needs to run
it with a leak until it can be fixed or shut
the compressor down. Either approach
costs money, " he says.
" Proactive maintenance is one of the
best ways to keep leaks from occurring,
so we are encouraging customers to adopt
maintenance plans that include periodically
pulling the packing out and repairing or
replacing it, " Martin reports. " In some
applications, this maintenance can pay
for itself within a few months. "
Based on laboratory tests and past experience, Berwick says, Cook often can
estimate packing's remaining useful life
and recommend maintenance schedules
that minimize unnecessary work. He cautions that packing and other components
sometimes experience shocks that accelerate their degradation.
" To identify those situations, we are

looking at data from different elements
of the package and applying statistical
modeling and pattern recognition techniques that are underpinned by Cook
subject matter experts. This will allow us
to recognize early onset of a packing
issue, six-12 weeks before it might warrant
a unit shutdown, " he says. " We also are
developing more resilient materials that
should deliver the expected life over a
broader range of applications. "
Martin stresses that getting the right
product for the application is key. " To
keep OEM and end-users' costs down,
packing tends to be a one-size-fits-all
product, " he notes. " But in challenging
or unusual situations, we often need to
do some customization. By adjusting how
we configure seal rings within the packing
case or the wear materials we use, we
can create packing that will have an acceptable life and cost. "
To shorten design times for custom
components, Martin says Cook's application engineers tap Dover Precision
Components' India Innovation Center
team to run finite element analysis and
other simulations overnight. He adds that
Dover Precision Components blends and
molds in house many of the materials
Cook uses.
" This has helped us reduce costs while
maintaining quality and consistency, " Martin says. " It also lets us create new wear
materials more quickly when that's the
best way to solve a customer's problem. "

Fugitive Emissions
Producers and midstream companies
are becoming increasingly proactive about
reducing emissions, assesses Ben Berwick,
product manager at Cook Compression,
a division of Dover Precision Components.
" Our engineers are getting requests from
customers to highlight ways to reduce

To improve compressors' performance and reliability in demanding applications, Cook
Compression can tailor the materials used for sealing rings and other compressor components to specific environments. The company points out that it molds and blends
many materials in house.

MAY 2021 69

American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2021

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