Right size gas turbines for upstream compression systems

Written by: Ka-Mun Lam, Tim Shire, Tina Akinradewo

In Upstream facilities, gas turbines are widely used to generate electricity and provide mechanical shaft power to operate production related equipment such as gas compressors and pumps. Gas turbine performance is dependent on several operational parameters which change across field life, for example, fuel gas composition, fuel gas temperature and pressure, inlet air temperature, pressure and relative humidity. Changes in fuel gas composition can affect power by 3-10% and an increase in inlet air temperature of 5.5oC or 10oF would reduce power by 3-5%.

In this paper we discuss the adverse impact this has on capital costs and asset productivity, and show how a new generation of fully integrated simulation models can help avoid the twin pitfalls of either oversizing the equipment due to being too conservative, or constraining the system due to failure to account for all the factors.