Hot gas expander cuts costs and emissions
Industry reports put energy waste as high as 20% due to process system leaks, inefficient equipment, lack of useful data and poor controls. Even when prices are low, energy represents one of the largest components of a refinery's operating costs. So, if a plant can get a tighter rein on its energy usage, it will get a tighter rein on profitability too.
"Energy accounts for about 50% of the total operating costs for a refinery," said Jeff Nagel, Vice President, Global Services for GE's Oil & Gas business. "Wasting flue gas, which is largely air and a by-product of the refinery processes, means wasting a tremendous opportunity to reduce energy costs and the carbon footprint of the entire refining industry. A Power Recovery Air Train equipped with a GE expander can maximize the use of this waste gas to produce the additional power a refinery needs to operate."
Cuts costs and increases availability
An average 18-MW GE expander for Power Recovery System is designed to recover more than 148,000 MW hours of electricity from waste energy every year (the amount used by 13,900 US households), which can save a refinery operator nearly $9 million in annual electricity costs.
GE’s hot gas expander system also has practical maintenance and availability benefits. Previously, power recovery air trains were equipped with older expander technology that was unable to meet customer requirements for 4-5 years of uninterrupted run time. But materials and aerodynamics improvements over the past decade enable the latest GE expander to withstand heavy crude oil corrosion and erosion, delivering improved reliability and availability to meet the 4-5 year performance standard. "This capability sets our waste gas recovery solution apart from others available in the industry," noted Nagel.
Reduces greenhouse gas emissions
The new technology also avoids emission of 244,000 metric tons of CO2 annually – the equivalent of removing 44,000 US passenger cars from the roads. These improvements in environmental performance, paired with those achieved in operating performance, have enabled GE’s hot gas expander to receive ecomagination certification.
GE's ecomagination program is designed to develop and promote products, services and ideas that are simultaneously better for business and for the environment. Certification is something we take very seriously and therefore stringent criteria must be met before a product can carry the ecomagination designation.
The new hot gas expander technology was developed with support from various GE businesses including the Global Research Center. It is the third Oil & Gas product to receive ecomagination certification, joining the BCL centrifugal compressor for sour gas reinjection and PII's UltraScan™ Duo pipeline inspection tool.
"With our ecomagination program, we strive to introduce and modify technologies that will be better for the environment," said Claudi Santiago, President and CEO of GE Oil & Gas. "It's good for nature, for people and for business."
For more information on GE’s Oil & Gas ecomagination products please contact:
Sara Hassett
Sara.Hassett@ge.com
