VALUE TO THE PRODUCER
MULTIPLE BENEFIT STREAMS
GNP’s EXPANDER system provides multiple benefit streams for the compressor owner/operator. Since 2007, GNP has been filing patent applications around monetizing the benefits of the efficiencies that are possible by recovering the waste heat from natural gas compressors and reconfiguring the cooling systems to provide additional benefits to the compressor owner/operator. Some of those benefits are:
Generate Clean Power
The EXPANDER system generates clean power that can be used onsite or exported to the grid. In Alberta, GNP has had the EXPANDER designated as clean power such that the grid interconnection is paid for by the utility. This allows the power generated to be either consumed onsite or exported through the grid.
Generate Emission Credits
In the early 2000’s, GNP worked with the Alberta Government to get a Waste Heat Protocol developed so that waste-heat-to-power projects could generate emission credits. In Alberta, the GNP EXPANDER is deemed by the Alberta Utilities Commission to be clean power and the emission credits are generated through the Alberta Waste Heat Protocol.
Inside-the-Fence Generation
Because the power that is generated onsite is consumed onsite, the cost of delivery of the power that otherwise would have been consumed onsite is avoided, thereby that benefit can be attributed to the power generated.
Decouple the Aerial Cooler Fan
All natural gas compressor packages have an aerial cooler whose fan is typically powered by the reciprocating engine. GNP can decouple the driving of that fan from the reciprocating engine and power it with the electricity generated by the EXPANDER. This step will provide either: 1) reduced the fuel consumption in the reciprocating engine, or 2) provide the engine with freed-up horsepower that can be used to compress and move more gas. The result is the compressor owner can view it with either reduced fuel consumption in the reciprocating engine or increased production. This application is patent pending.
Eliminate Summer De-rate
In the summer months, many natural gas compressors are de-rated because the ambient air is warmer and the cooler cannot dissipate all of the heat that is generated by the compressor. Since the EXPANDER system will take virtually all of the useable waste heat from the reciprocating engines jacket water and exhaust, the compressors reciprocating engine can be run flat-out in the summer months, thereby allowing the compressor to move more gas in that period than normally would have been possible.