Big issues require big solutions, and we have the knowledge and skills necessary to handle the jobs that come our way.
From the humid climate of Cadereyta, Mexico, to the extreme dry heat of the Algerian Sahara Desert, Hycomp is providing large solutions specifically engineered for their application and environment. Both of these locations are associated with projects that required extensive design, engineering, documentation and packaging arrangements.
At Hycomp, we welcome the opportunity to provide the right solution as we continue to build relationships of trust with every distributor and end user with whom we do business. We recently had the opportunity to tackle a couple of large projects head on and provide the exact compressor system required for each application.
Location: Algerian Sahara Desert
Client(s): Petrofac, El Merk, Anadarko, Sonatrach
In the North East region of the Algerian Sahara Desert, the $3 billion El Merk oil Central Processing Facility (CPF) is being built and will be operated by Sonatrach and Anadarko on behalf of the El Merk partners: Sonatrach, Anadarko, Maersk Oil, Eni, ConocoPhillips and Talisman (Algeria) BV.
Petrofac is one of the largest design, build and investment companies for oil & gas production projects in the Middle East with annual revenues of $3.3 Billion (USD) and a backlog approaching $8 Billion (USD). Hycomp will be supplying Petrofac, the primary contractor for the El Merk Central Processing Facility (CPF), with a nitrogen gas compressor system that will be used for fire suppression.
This nitrogen system will be boosting 80 psig of nitrogen up to 565 psig then delivering it into a nitrogen storage vessel. The high pressure nitrogen will then be discharged to the Hot Oil Fired Heater snuffing application in the event of a fire. Hycomp has provided Petrofac with extensive documentation and engineering services prior to installation and will provide onsite technical support as well as startup services during and after installation.
The complexities of engineering this application were many and at the top of the list were certification requirements and environmental conditions. This project was designed and built to meet the stringent certification requirements of the Autorité de Régulation des Hydrocarbures (French: Hydrocarbon Regulatory Authority; Algeria). An extensive control panel was designed and built to comply with all ATEX certification requirements. The gas compressor also had to be specifically designed to handle desert sand storm conditions and extreme temperatures of 23˚ to 140˚ F (-5˚ to 60˚ C).
We are very confident in our products and this Petrofac project is no exception. There has been a lot of documentation on the front end of this project and a great deal of specialized fabrication to ensure exact specifications are provided. All regional regulations were met and Petrofac is very satisfied. Hycomp is making a strong push in the oil & gas industry and we are proving very successful where safety and reliability are paramount.
Location: Cadereyta, Mexico
Client: PEMEX
PEMEX, a Mexican petroleum company, needed to load & unload of isobutane from rail tanker car in the city of Cadereyta, Mexico, which is approximately 175 miles South of Laredo, Texas. PEMEX is a Mexican state-owned company with a total asset worth of $415.75 billion and it is the second largest company in the world by market value (as estimated by the Financial Times in 2006).
Hycomp’s design conditions for the two compressors ordered had to be flexible as isobutane pressures are altered by changing ambient conditions. The compressors were designed to handle an inlet pressure ranging between 21 – 85 psig and a discharge pressure that could also vary from 78 – 142 psig. The flow would depend on both of these factors and the twin compressor systems were designed to produce between 108 – 377 scfm.
Each turn-key system included a NEMA 7 control panel to meet the necessary regional explosion proof safety requirements. These NEMA 7 control panels weighed approximately 1,000 pounds and were sized to contain the complex electrical components to make each system fully automated.
When isobutane is shipped in tanker rail cars, it is primarily in a liquid state. However, during loading and unloading it is predominantly a gas with a liberal amount of moisture. For this reason, Hycomp utilized liquid separators before and after compression. Pulsation dampeners were also employed to provide a steady flow at both the inlet and discharge of the compressor by absorbing the shock waves created by the compressor.
Hycomp Project Engineer, Jeff Brown commented on how proud he was to be in charge of the PEMEX compressor build, “I remember walking out to the production room floor and literally seeing [our people] we have working on the PEMEX compressor system, like bees in a hive, working as one for a common goal. When this project was complete and finally loaded on the truck, as I watched it leave, it was like losing my baby. I am so proud of what we had accomplished.”
The Hycomp Solution
Our clients and distributors come to us for three reasons: 1) Engineered Solution: the client’s application requires a specifically engineered oil free solution that few offer. 2) Quality: our customers want a quality compression system that will last. 3) Trust. We stand behind our product, our distributors and our end users by offering customer service and technical support that is unmatched in our industry.
When our clients bring us applications that require a great deal of engineering, design, and manufacturing we are ready for the challenge and, when necessary, we will design a completely new system configuration we have never built before, because that is what we do; we provide solutions.