oil and gas customer magazine venture 15

Ventureinto the world of industrial turbomachinery and oil and gas solutions

FocusDrillships: Going deep with trust and passion

SpotlightForging ahead with subsea technology

Monitor SGT-750 — What customers asked for in a gas turbine

Issue 15 | May 2011

Venture_15_LY_RZ_1.indd 2 20.04.11 16:59

Dear Readers,Welcome to a new Venture magazine. This issue will be distributed at the Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Texas, during the first week of May and therefore reflects our offshore technologies business. From subsea to drillships and back again, we visit a shipyard in Korea that has close cooperation with our oil & gas hub in Singapore, meet the man who designed the cooling system for the STC-ECO subsea compressor, and present some recent strategic business tie-ups, including the acquisition of two Norwegian subsea specialist companies who will enrich our portfolio and extend our competence. Our recently launched SGT-750 industrial gas turbine also makes a guest appearance: already in the design phase this turbine was marinized for the tough roll and pitch of offshore applications.

Enjoy reading and an open welcome to meet us in Houston!

Tom Blades, PresidentSiemens Energy Sector, Oil & Gas Division


Inside

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04 News flash Around the world Projects in Australia and Norway, and a boost of subsea competence

06 Focus Going deep with trust and passion Delivering essential electric power packages to the worlds leading

manufacturer of drillships

14 Spotlight Forging ahead Awarded “Siemens Innovator of the Year”, Wolfgang Zacharias

is the brain behind the cooling system of Siemens STC-ECO subsea motor-compressor unit

18 Monitor SGT-750With the latest SGT-750, Siemens developed the first of a whole new breed of industrial gas turbines, based on extensive customer research

06

Publisher: Siemens AG, Energy Sector, Oil & Gas, Wolfgang-Reuter-Platz, 47053 Duisburg, Germany Responsible: Dr. Uwe Schütz Editorial team: Lynne Anderson (Head), Manfred Wegner Contact: [email protected] Contributing editor: Eric Johnson, Thomas Chatterton Design: Formwechsel Designbüro, Berlin Photography: Jochen Balke, Florian Sander, Edgar Hendrassen Lithography: TiMe GmbH, Mülheim Printing: Köller+Nowak GmbH, Düsseldorf.

© 2011 Siemens AG. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Cover photo: Drillships and a semi-submersible drilling rig at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) in Okpo, South Korea

IMPRINT

Inside

May 2011 Venture 03

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04 Venture May 2011

Vista

A R O u N D T H E W A l l S — Engineering headquarters of Daewoos DSME shipyard at Okpo, South Korea, see article on page 6.


Around the world

Acquisition of subsea specialists Poseidon and Bennex strengthens the Siemens Subsea PortfolioSubsea processing is the most rapidly growing application in the oil and gas industry as depletion of onshore reserves and a mounting demand on the world market are forcing oil and gas companies to exploit fields in remote places at ever greater water depths.

The strong strategic match between Siemens, Poseidon and Bennex will enable quicker realization of the companies’ development plans and the transaction will be very positive for employees, customers and stakeholders. The subsea hydraulic and electrical subsea distribu-tion systems, fiber optic, electromagnetic and seismic applications supplied by Bennex add a decisive building block to the Siemens subsea portfolio. The role of the Poseidon engineers will be to marinize the proven Siemens offshore portfolio for subsea applications, including subsea control systems, transformers, switchgears, electric motors, automation and compressors along with other complementary elements such as subsea cameras and subsea electric valve actuators.

“This acquisition brings new capabilities to Siemens in subsea engi-neering, equipment marinization and electrical connector penetrator technology, the primary elements of solution based on in-house products,” emphasizes Tom Blades, CEO of the Siemens Oil & Gas Division.

Efficient solutions for unconventional gas gather-ing in AustraliaSiemens Energy is to deliver up to 10 compressor trains to Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) in Queensland, Australia, a joint venture between Origin Energy and ConocoPhillips. The project involves development of coal-seam gas fields in south central Queensland over a 30-year period. It includes construction of upstream gas-gathering and process-ing facilities, together with a 450-km main transmission pipeline from the gas fields to the LNG facility, being built on Curtis Island near Gladstone. The Siemens compression solution will be incorporated

into the upstream gas-gathering facilities to compress low-pressure coal-seam gas for delivery to the LNG facility, where it will be com-pressed and cooled into liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Each compression train consists of two compressor skids, one low-pressure and one high-pressure, each skid carrying two compressors with variable speed drives. Each train is designed to transport around 84 million standard cubic feet per day of gas. The compressors have to demonstrate a high level of reliability and flexibility to suit the LNG facility requirements.

Coal-seam gas is a natural gas which is mainly composed of methane. It is a by-product of ancient plant matter that has formed over millions of years by the same natural processes which produce coal.

Statoil and Siemens team up Statoil and Siemens have agreed to team up to push forward developments in subsea technology, electrical engineering technology, energy efficiency measures and wind power.

Statoil said co-operation between the companies facilitates the development of new technology. Halfdan Knudsen, senior vice president for process and refining technology in Statoil, said: “Based on complementary user needs and technological opportunities we aim at developing technological solutions that contribute to more environmentally friendly, effective production. This is a strategically important agreement for Statoil.”

Siemens is an important Statoil supplier within several areas, and the two companies already co-operate in the technology development area. An umbrella agreement has therefore now been developed, structuring the framework of the technology partnership within R&D and technology development and facilitating the start-up of new cooperation projects.

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News flash

May 2011 Venture 05

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06 Venture May 2011

In an extremely competitive market for deep-water drillships, manufacturer DSME is relying on electric power packages from Siemens. The simple secret of success: Proximity of Siemens Oil & Gas to the South Korean shipyard.

Going deep with trust and passion

Focus

Perhaps we all know that the earth is 40,000-km round at the equator, but the practicality of that really sinks in when a global project is on deadline. Take the case of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME), which sources its shipyard off the southern tip of Korea with components and services from 40 to 50 major suppliers that are located — literally — all over the world.

“Sometimes during the engineering, installa-tion and commissioning of a new ship, we can make mistakes or our supplier can make

mistakes,” notes DSME’s Tae-Young Kang, Senior Engineer and in charge of electrical and control system design. “This is unavoidable, but to stay on schedule, we need to respond quickly. Siemens Oil & Gas team is higly dedicated so when we ask them for help, they often come back with answers on the same day.”

This, according to Eun-Kerl lee, Procurement Manager Offshore with DSME, is where Siemens towers above its competitors. “All the suppliers must communicate,” he notes,


Focus

DRILLSHIP

Platinum Explorer

Dragon Quest

NORBE VIII

NORBE IX

Cobalt Explorer

Carolina

ODN I

ODN II

OWNER

TMT & Vantage

TMT & Vantage

Odebrecht

Odebrecht

TMT

Petroserv

Odebrecht/Delba

Odebrecht/Delba

END USER

ONGC India

Petrobras

Petrobras

Petrobras

To be announced

Petrobras

Petrobras

Petrobras


08 Venture May 2011

and what role Siemens equipment plays in them.

That’ll be the DaewooFirst things first: these ships are behemoths. Stretching some 240 m long by 40 m wide and 20 meters below the deck, and wired by some 700,000 meters of data and power cables, their operating gear — crowned by an unmistake-able oil derrick poking up from the middle — reaches another 70 meters into the sky. They weigh over 100,000 metric tons.

As is obvious from their name, drillships are meant to drill the ocean floor for oil and gas reservoirs, penetrating up to 10,000 ft (3,048 m) of seawater followed by up to another 30,000 ft (9,146 m) of the earth’s crust. In calm seas this is challenging enough, but the real

“but none of them do it as well as Siemens.” Of course the top-notch technical performance of its equipment is highly valued by DSME, but what sets Siemens apart from the crowd is accessibility and prompt response.

That is fulsome praise — which so far has been more than matched by deeds. From 2005 to 2010, the shipbuilder bought Siemens power-packages for 13 drillship and semi-submersible platform projects (see table for the most recent ones) at a total value north of euro 300 million.

For Siemens this is an honour as well as a sizable order. So to commemorate the occasion, Venture took an onsite look at Daewoo’s ship building operations at Geoje Island, to learn more about what the vessels can do, where they are deployed, how they are built

The lobby of DSME shipyard, with the corporate motto chiseled in marble.

test of performance comes when swells and tides join the action.

This is where dynamic positioning (DP) comes into play. DP maintain a vessel’s position and heading by use of propellers and thrusters. An array of sensors — that measure geographic position, wind and motion — coupled with gyro compasses, tell a central computer the vessel’s position as well as the outside forces affecting that position. using a mathematical model that includes all these inputs plus the vessel’s drag and its propeller and thruster abilities, the computer calculates the required steering angle and output for each thruster. This allows oper-ations in the deep sea where mooring or anchoring is impossible, or in shallower areas where anchors are forbidden due to pipelines or other congestion on the sea floor.

Focus


May 2011 Venture 09

Trust, passion and mutual understanding — essential ingredients of a working relationship. From left to right: Tae-Young Kan, Senior Engineer for offshore electrical and control systems, DSME; Myeong-Cheol Shin, Senior Manager offshore projects, DSME; Eun-Kerl Lee, Procurement Manager, DSME; YeongJoon Jeong, Project Site Manager, Siemens; Cheol Chae, Director, Head of Busan branch, Siemens; P.K. Naik, Senior Project Manager, Siemens.

Not only drillers use dynamic positioning. It also sees duty in semi-submersible units as well as pipe layers and oceanographic research vessels. In any case, the DP system is mission critical. In drilling, DP is the failsafe that keeps pipes from cracking or leaking under the stress of movement. So it is no wonder that DSME and Siemens treat it with such care. “DP3, the latest and most stringent version of DP specifications, requires the dynamic positioning system to maintain the position of the ship during and following any single fault, including loss of compartment due to flood or fire,” explains P.K. Naik, Senior Project Manager with Siemens Singapore Oil & Gas Division. Tae-Young Kang adds: “Basically, DP operates in island mode, with completely redundant power supply. Even in the event of maximum failure of the 11kV switchboard, we’ll lose no more than two

thrusters and two generators, but the remain-ing thrusters will keep the ship in position.” The entire DP system is engineered based on FMEA (failure modes and effects analysis) procedures, and is subjected to more than 100 tests before final commissioning.

Industry experts estimate that more than 1,000 DP-able drillships are in action worldwide. Most of them are run directly or indirectly by the A-listers in the oil industry, companies such as BP, ExxonMobil, Petrobras and Shell. Daewoo vessels are on the job in all the major offshore sites: Brazil, Gulf of Mexico, North Sea, Persian Gulf and West Africa. Still to be drillshipped are the final frontiers of the arctic, says DSME’s Tae-Young Kang. “We have not yet mastered the technology for drillships to handle extremely cold climates.” Faced with the world’s unquench-

able thirst for oil, that barrier surely will fall, and the number of drillships is sure to increase.

It’s about time However, even as demand is climbing, thanks to fierce competition, drillship prices are actually in a modest decline. What currently lists for uSD 500–600 million sold a few years ago for nearer to uSD 750 million.

DSME’s response is to build them faster than anyone else. Currently it takes a project team, numbering some 500‒600 staff, about 30 months to deliver a ship: 12 months for engineering and design topped by another 18 months of construction and commissioning. “You cannot find this kind of speed elsewhere,” assures Eun-Kerl lee who adds that the com-pany is not resting on its laurels. “From cutting

Focus


“To ensure faster response, since 2008 our drillship project management is located in the same time-zone as DSME. In addition, were continuously increasing the number of engineers available at our Busan and Okpo offices.”

Cheol Chae, Director, Head of Siemens Busan branch


May 2011 Venture 11

the ships six massive diesel generators through 11-kV switchboards to the entire vessel, most importantly its workhorses: the drill and the ship’s thrusters which through guidance of the dynamic positioning system, keep the drill where it is meant to be.

The drillship Venture visited was the Norbe IX. Currently under commissioning, it is the 8th such project of cooperation between DSME and Siemens since May 2006. Summarizing his past experience with Siemens, lee says: “We believe Siemens have a very good product — and a good organisation as well. So, we have trust in the product and the people, and we consider Siemens a very good colleague for the success of our drillship projects.” So, it wouldn't surprise anyone if DSME wanted to continue its successful cooperation with Siemens. What

does come as a surprise, however, is the sheer number of future projects DSME wants to realize together with Siemens. On April 6, DSME issued an order for the supply of power solutions for three more drillships, plus a letter of intent for another seven drillships and — a first for the Siemens Singapore team — a semi-submersible drilling rig. Obviously, the streak doesn’t stop here. So, watch this space!

T E X T Eric Johnson P H O T O S Jochen Balke

F u R T H E R R E l A T E D I N F O R M A T I O N

www.siemens.com/venture

steel to delivering the ship, we’re already down to 17 months, and we’re aiming to cut that time even further.”

This need for speed is where Siemens enters the picture. As expected, DSME values Siemens’ excellent qualifications as well as its good-qual-ity product and solutions. Its unique selling principle, though, is Siemens’ ability to respond rapidly to DSME’s needs, which is possible with a competent and dedicated execution team serving from (relatively) nearby Singapore. It is from here, where Siemens has been present for over a century and now has more than 2,000 employees, that DSME’s demand is satisfied.

Show me the goodsFor each drillship, Siemens is supplying a power package (see box) that supplies electricity from

• Alternators (6 x 11kV, ~ 8MVA)• 11kV Switchgear c/w synch panels• HV transformers – 18nos.• Thruster drives – 6nos.• Drilling drives• Thruster motors (6 x 4.5/5.5MW)• UPS system• NGT• Local power management system• Power system studies for complete ship

(including LV)• FMEA study• Class certification through ABS/DNV

WHAT’S UNDER THE HOOD:

Focus


L O c a t i O n Okpo-dong area, Geoje island, South Korea c O O r D i n a t E S 34° 53' 17'' n, 128° 41' 37'' ED a t E O f v i S i t March 21 to 24, 2011 W E a t h E r c O n D i t i O n S fair, 7 degrees centigrade max. P h E n O L O G y unusually cold for time of year; cherry blossom probably delayed by a week or two


May 2011 Venture 13

Off Limits


Spotlight

14 Venture May 2011

Wolfgang Zacharias — Awarded “Siemens Innovator of the Year” for his contribution to the STC-ECOs cooling system


Spotlight

the reduction of inlet and outlet pipes and the use of a seal-less design. The latter has the additional advantage that it reduces the probability of leakage.

The revolutionary design of the STC-ECO which makes it suitable for the extreme conditions encountered on the seabed, especially the high pressure, creates its own challenges: conventional cooling designs do not work. Motor and compressor are not separate units here, as they are in onshore applications. Thus both produce process heat within a rela-tively small, tightly confined area. Cooling fins that would transport the heat away from its source are not practical in this case, partly due to the very compact design of the device. And as if this was not enough of a problem, Zacharias had to deal with an additional complication: in order to fit the motor into the same capsule as the compressor it must be able to withstand the raised pressure inside. Also, the particularly sensitive copper wiring of the motor must not come into contact with the gas since this could cause corrosion or physical damage through sand particles, which are sometimes found in raw gas.

“It was obvious that we would have to work with a separate cooling cycle under these circumstances. Compressor and motor simply produce too much waste heat. Even the cool waters at the bottom of the sea cannot reduce the temperature sufficiently,” says Zacharias.

The massive steel capsule would be the pride of any blacksmith. Not that Wolfgang Zacharias — a trained blacksmith — is responsible for the impressive shell: his job was to ensure the successful function of its even more impressive contents. And he did such a good job, that this engineer, based in Duisburg, was recently chosen as one of the Siemens Innovators of the Year for his work with components for subsea equip-ment. In particular for the design of a cooling system for the compressor and its motor, which are contained by the steel capsule in question. They are part of the STC-ECO solution, a hermetically sealed integrated motor and compressor unit for dirty-gas applications. Setting up such equipment onshore is easy business and has been done many times. But setting it up at the bottom of the sea is pioneers’ work.

Huge oil and gas finds off the coasts of Brazil and elsewhere in the world, including the frosty north, call for equipment to be placed nearer to the pockets of oil and gas — thus at the bottom of the sea, the potential location for a flourishing subsea oil and gas industry.

“Conditions are rough down there, and maintenance is prohibitively costly in the extreme environment encountered at 3000 meters below sea level,” says Zacharias. The major challenge is thus to raise reliability of the equipment even further to allow for maintenance cycles of five years without intervention. One way of achieving this is

Forging aheadImagination and fantasy are essential prerequisites when it comes to finding unconventional solutions for unconventional applications. Add decades of experience and excellence in workmanship, and you’ll get a fairly precise outline of Wolfgang Zacharias — Siemens Innovator of the Year and developer of the cooling system of Siemens STC-ECO subsea motor-compressor unit.

May 2011 Venture 15


16 Venture May 2011

to be higher than the pressure of the cooling liquid, therefore the shield could break easily. To make matters worse: the pressure of the gas changes constantly, due to natural conditions at the gas deposit or shift-ing patterns of production. “To avoid damage of the shield we have to make sure that the pressure on both sides is about equal at any given time,” explains Zacharias.

To achieve this, he and his team developed a sophisticated control system, which constantly adapts the pressure of the cooling liquid to match the pressure of the raw gas flowing through the compressor. “This control system must work perfectly. The reason is simple: Once the device has been brought to the bottom of the sea it will have to work without flaws and without maintenance for years,” Zacharias adds.

Currently a long-term test with a pilot system is being carried out, one aspect of this testing being to expose the system and its components to extreme stress levels, to identify their respective breaking points. This is an important part of the creative process of making a product out of an invention. According to Zacharias there is more than one way to spark ideas which lead to inventions. “Maybe a third of my inventions seemingly come out of the blue. An idea, a quick draft and it turns out that it really works,” he says. But most inventions are the result of the continuing struggle of an engineer to make an incremental improvement to an existing machine. If you’re lucky, the increment turns out to be a leap rather than a step — and becomes an invention. “It is natural for inventions to be the result of team work rather than the result of a single man’s genius. There is frequently more than one name on a pat-ent,” says Zacharias.

And sometimes the improvement was never even intended. The STC-ECO, developed for subsea applications, could turn out to be an asset onshore, too. Its seal-less design makes it particularly safe with regard to leakages. This is particularly beneficial when it comes to the handling of hazard-ous and toxic gases, like those containing mercury, H2S or CO. The solu-tion also allows for greater plant safety, due to its fully integrated, canned design. Compared to solutions consisting of discrete components, this means a substantial reduction of interfaces and thus of complexity. And while space is not exactly a limiting factor on the seabed, it can be in land-based installations: The vertical, integrated concept of the STC-ECO re-duces its footprint, thus requiring less space than conventional solutions.

The application of the solution in the context of a live subsea offshore project might still be some years away, when the long-term testing has

For the cooling cycle Midel is used as cooling fluid. It transports the excess heat from the copper wiring out of the steel capsule, to a heat exchanger. Together with other auxiliary systems and the steel capsule, the heat exchanger is located within a metal frame, which contains the complete STC-ECO solution — in total measuring somewhat less than five cubic meters.

However, for Zacharias, who claims 28 entirely own inventions, along- side 34 patents, work was not done simply by setting up a cooling cycle. The wiring of the motor, which is surrounded by the cooling oil, must be shielded from the process gas. This is done by means of a highly resistant barrier. The resulting problem: the pressure of the gas tends

“Maybe a third of my inven-tions seemingly come out of the blue. An idea, a quick draft and it turns out that it really works.”

The inventor and the machine he co-fathered.


May 2011 Venture 17

been concluded successfully. During this process new issues might come up, calling for both the creativity and perseverance of Wolfgang Zacharias and his team. But no doubt, he would come up with a solution. In spite of all the modesty he displays when asked about the recognition as Inno-vator of the Year: “look at all those other guys who were awarded. They tend to have a lot more patents than I do. In that sense I am only average,” he says, half joking.

He has proven himself with his inventions, so does not need to prove himself again with big words. In the near future Zacharias will retire, looking back at a professional life full of increasingly sophisticated engineering achievements. A career that had begun with a hammer and

an anvil and the hot fire in his father's smithy, where he had been trained to become a smith himself.

The workshop still exists, although it is a little dusty now, having lain idle for many years. “Who knows?” says Zacharias, “maybe I will take up the hammer again when I retire.” He would then, once again, forge iron rather than ideas.

Spotlight

T E X T thomas chatterton P H O T O S florian Sander, harry reusmann, Edgar hendrassen



Top left: Prototype of the STC-ECO at NAMs Vries-IV gas-gathering site south of Groningen, Netherlands. Top right: Tubing of the STC-ECOs Midel cooling system. Bottom left: The ancient smithy of Wolfgang Zacharias father. Bottom right: Assembly of the STC-ECO at Siemens Hengelo workshop.


18 Venture May 2011

Monitor

What do customers really want, and what is the range that is important for the next stage of development? Benchmarking gave Siemens the answers for the SGT-750 industrial gas turbine.

SGT-750 — Proven technology, perfected results


17 days in 17 yearsNot only the core engine, but also the overall package, is designed to provide owner con- fidence. The modular design supports easy maintenance and maximized uptime. The SGT-750 was designed for maximized service-ability and minimized load-to-load downtime. To start with, the modular build-up facilitates swift disassembly and parts replacement. If the customer chooses the on-site 24-hour gen-erator swap option, Siemens can schedule as little as 17 days’ maintenance time over a 17-year service period. This 24-hour exchange of the complete gas generator can is key to the outstandingly high uptime capability.

Siemens’ solution-oriented approach has resulted in a turnkey product that is fit for hard work in many demanding applications, not least in the oil and gas industry.

Filling the gapSGT-750, as its name implies, will fill the gap between the 32MW SGT-700 and 47MW SGT-800 gas turbines. With a launch output of 37 MW, the Siemens SGT-750 fits perfectly into the Siemens range of industrial gas turbines from 4 to 47 MW. It offers high output, market- leading efficiency and future-proof DlE emis-sion control.

The SGT-750 is seen primarily as a fit for the future mechanical drive market, following the market trend for greater unit power. Since the

Center in Norrköping. Fifty VIP guests — cus-tomers, partners and journalists — and as many representatives from Siemens Energy, have been welcomed by the head of Industrial Power, Dr. Markus Tacke, to the inauguration of the first industrial gas turbine for ten years, the 37MW SGT-750.

“Combining heritage with leading-edge design and engineering, this piece of machinery is designed to deliver maximized customer value day in, day out” the narrator’s voice impresses upon us. Count on itReliability was the big message that came back from the customer survey which Siemens car-ried out before embarking upon the design of its latest gas turbine. uptime and serviceability were the criteria that were the backbone of the turbine design. In order to assure that the requirements were met, an innovative design approach was used: a full-scale 3D studio was used so that the turbine could ‘grow’ in natural scale, based on sophisticated modeling tech-niques to indicate well in advance if there were any pitfalls in the design. This technology enabled close cooperation between designers and service engineers from the very earliest stages. This advanced 3D visualization program enabled the engineers to check that the design allowed full serviceability of important compo-nents and areas, without major disassembly of the unit.

May 2011 Venture 19

Monitor

And suddenly there we are, revolving in space and hurtling through the internals of the SGT-750 gas turbine in a rollercoaster ride that takes us into unbelievably intimate contact with the newly designed turbine such as never before experienced. We almost touch the value words that loom at us on the full-surround screen

The occasion is the November VIP launch of the latest Siemens industrial gas turbine. The venue is the recently inaugurated Visualization

Mechanical drive 37.11 MW (49,765 bhp)• Fuel: natural gas• Efficiency: 40.0%• Heat rate: 9,002 kJ/kWh (6,362 Btu/bhph)• Turbine speed: 3050–6400 rpm• Compressor pressure ratio: 23.8:1• Exhaust gas flow: 113.3 kg/s (249.8 lb/s)• Temperature: 462° C (864° F)• NOx emissions (with DLE, corrected to 15% O2 dry): ≤ 15ppmV

Voices are heard from the control room:

ignition sequence start

all systems green

Power on

Pressure oK

oK, let’s go

customer Value — uPtime — Performance — new Power range — world class dry low emissions — fleXiBility


well suited where grid requirements call for maintained power output in the event of fre-quency drop.

Mechanical driveThe sheer robustness and stability of the 37 MWs SGT-750 makes it a perfect option for mechanical drive applications within the oil and gas industry. The dual-fuel online switch- over capabilities provide a unique built-in flexibility when it comes to ambient climate,

Monitor

20 Venture May 2011

entire design of the SGT-750 has been targeted to meet the stringent requirements of the oil & gas industry, the core engine is suitable for operation in extreme climates, from arctic to desert environments, from -60°C to +55°C. Additionally, the gas turbine meets the pitch-and-roll requirements for installations on FPSO and marine applications, in accordance with DNV rules and regulations.

However, the turbine’s high efficiency and rapid start capability make it an equally competitive machine for the power generation market. SGT-750 sets a new standard of efficiency for industrial gas turbines in this power range. Reaching 38.7% in power generation applica-tions and afull 40% in mechanical drive applications helps push fuel consump-tion down to even lower levels, still keeping — and improving — all the benefits of a robust, easy-to-service industrial design.

A turbine for all seasons

Power generation/cogenerationIn power generation and cogene-ration, SGT-750 demonstrates its flexibility, being the perfect option for base load, standby power and peak lopping. The fast start-up and cycling capability both support inter-mediate to continuous operation with improved turndown capability, high efficiency and low emission levels. Through the use of a free power tur-bine, the 36 MWe SGT-750 is also

and perfect adaptability to fixed or floating installations, onshore and offshore, upstream, midstream or downstream.

On upstream production facilities, it can be used to drive pumps and compressors for various applications such as associated gas reinjection, water injection or export gascompressors to forward produced gas to treatment facilities. In midstream applications it can drive gas pipe-line compressors, the refrigerant compressor trains on mid-size lNG liquefaction plant (on-shore or offshore) or on liquefaction processes using cascade processes. Waste heat from the turbine exhaust can also be recovered to provide process steam or hot oil for oil and gas treat-ment and separation processes, or to raise steam to generate additional p ower from steam tur-bine generators, increasing the overall energy efficiency of a facility.

Power generation 35.93 MW(e)• Fuel: natural gas• Frequency: 50/60Hz• Electrical efficiency: 38.7%• Heat rate: 9,296kJ/kWh

(8,811 Btu/kWh)• Turbine speed: 6,100 rpm• Compressor pressure ratio: 23.8:1• Exhaust gas flow: 113.3 kg/s

(249.8 lb/s)• Exhaust temperature: 462° C (864° F)• NOx emissions (with DLE, corrected

to 15% O2 dry): ≤ 15ppmV


Keeping the turbine runningReliability is always an important issue: never more so than in the demanding environments of oil and gas production and transport, where surprises are to be avoided and rugged ma-chinery and detailed planned maintenance are essential. Operation of the rotating equipment is critical for the operator: no power, no produc-tion, no revenue. So the longer the plant is able to operate without interruptions, the better the financial returns for the operator.

In the SGT-750 reliability is inbuilt. The turbine is programmed to run for four whole years of operation before a hot-section inspection is advised. Remote, on-line check of the complete engine is performed once a year from the man-ufacturing unit.

Where do we go from here?The film ends with a breathless fly-in over des-erts and high seas — the natural world of the oil and gas markets. Time to test our orientation as we leave our seats: I listen for reactions and comments: “Impressive, very impressive!” “Brilliant. Fun and informative.” These com-ments set the tone. Herbert Habersätter, SAAPI’s gas turbine specialist and adviser, is more specific: “I appreciated the opportunity to talk directly to members of the development team,” he says “and I won’t forget the 3D-presentation and the trip through the turbine in a hurry!”

Now it is time to board the specially decorated bus and visit the Finspong manufacturing site, some 30 kilometers away. This is where the SGT-750 is being built, and where it is being presented today by the Finspong experts in the context of the overall product family. News on these products is also on the agenda.

The first two units will be produced for testing at a specially designed rig. Testing will continue until the first commercial unit begins operation so that there is still time to make improvements prior to a full global release. First delivery is estimated for 2012. Siemens is currently in talks with several interested customers.

It is anticipated that the SGT-750 will become a standard in its range for power generation, since Siemens has incorporated the best features from its turbine range into this machine. The power generation market is always in need of reliable and economic power producers and the SGT-750 is entering a new power range, in-creasing the company’s flexibility on the market.

Meanwhile the oil & gas market is facing its own challenges: eliminating flaring of associated gas; operating in more remote and harsher environments; monetizing stranded gas assets; and providing low carbon energy at the lowest possible cost to consumers located long distanc-es from the source of the oil and gas.

lNG (liquefied Natural Gas) is one of the possible solutions for all these issues, onshore or offshore. The lNG value chain uses a gas turbine in several applications: as the driver for the main refrigerant compressors in the lique-faction process; to provide power (and heat) for the rest of the liquefaction plant, including any gas treatment facilities; and to provide power, and sometimes heat, for the regasification process at the lNG receiving terminal. Whatever the specific solution selected, reliable sources of power and compression will be required and the gas turbine will be there to fulfil these needs.

The markets are there and the turbine will soon be available: together with the other solutions in the Siemens Energy total offer, the new SGT-750 will contribute to generating power and value for decades to come. Count on it!

Siemens and Leon AB were awarded the regional annual marketing prize for their “Count on it” campaign of the year.

May 2011 Venture 21

Monitor

T E X T Elise chaplin P H O T O S Siemens




www.siemens.com/oilandgas

The entire electrical system, from the generation plant to the drive systems, has been designed and supplied by Siemens. As Deepsea Atlantic often operates in harsh climates, availability

Deepsea Atlantic, a sixth-generation semi-submersible drilling rig designed by GVA Consultants and owned and operated by Odfjell Drilling, is ideally suited to operate in environmentally sensitive

is key, and Siemens technology has proven itself superbly here, braving the elements and ensuring reliable operations – deliver-ing the Siemens promise literally anywhere and anytime.

areas. Along with its highly efficient design, the rig features elec-trical solutions with state-of-the-art technology ensuring safe operation and high availability.

Solutions for the oil and gas industry

Availability is key at sea.Highly reliable and high-performance electrical offshore equipment.

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www.siemens.com/oilandgas

The entire electrical system, from the generation plant to the drive systems, has been designed and supplied by Siemens. As Deepsea Atlantic often operates in harsh climates, availability

Deepsea Atlantic, a sixth-generation semi-submersible drilling rig designed by GVA Consultants and owned and operated by Odfjell Drilling, is ideally suited to operate in environmentally sensitive

is key, and Siemens technology has proven itself superbly here, braving the elements and ensuring reliable operations – deliver-ing the Siemens promise literally anywhere and anytime.

areas. Along with its highly efficient design, the rig features elec-trical solutions with state-of-the-art technology ensuring safe operation and high availability.

Solutions for the oil and gas industry

Availability is key at sea.Highly reliable and high-performance electrical offshore equipment.

E50

00

1-E

44

0-F

15

6-V

1-4

A0

0

3569_460x274_Oil_and_Gas_Ad_DrillShip.indd 1-2 13.04.2011 10:07:01 UhrVenture_15_LY_RZ_1.indd 24 20.04.11 17:01

www.siemens.com


oil and gas customer magazine venture 15

Documents

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subsea applications

gas industry

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upstream gas

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