2012 February BETA was awarded another conditioning monitoring contract for 8 centrifugal compressor and gas turbine production trains on offshore production platforms (Gulf of Mexico). The contract includes vibration and performance monitoring, machinery analysis, and maintenance recommendations. This program has proven to be a critical component of the predictive maintenance program, which has resulted in significantly improved reliability for the operator. Registration is open for GMRC's Compressor Station Vibration and the Impact on Cost, Performance and Reliability course, Houston, May 15-17, 2012.This sold out early last August. Instructors are from BETA, ACI, Ariel, and El Paso. JanuaryQatar Petroleum has retained BETA to provide field engineering and design support for a large compressor installation. Field analysis and vibration data is used by the team to accurately model the compressor and foundation, and provide improvement recommendations. Small Bore Piping (SBP) vibration continues to be a hot topic due to the safety and downtime risks associated with gas or oil releases. In the past two months, BETA has been engaged to help two major oil pipeline companies and over 50 gas compressor stations. These projects involve field analysis of many production facilities to identify areas where small bore piping has a medium to high risk of failure. BETA is also supporting these companies with design practices and standards for new installations. BETA is starting Phase 2 of a multiyear research project to reduce mechanical vibration on gas compressors. This initiative is sponsored by the Gas Machinery Research Council (GMRC) and involves direct support and involvement by El Paso, Ariel, Cameron, Dresser-Rand, Exterran, CSI, Propak, Valerus, Boardwalk and Chevron. Refer to GMRC website for more information on this project. 2011 December BETA's new recip compressor course Dec 7-8, 2011 was sold out. These courses are proving to be quite popular. Thanks everyone. NovemberChina continues to be a strong market for our design team and Europe for remote monitoring. October BETA was at the GMC in Nashville, delivering a technical paper and a short course, as well as co-leading a short course and hosting a booth at the Exhibition. All were very well received by participants. Encana invited BETA to present three seminars and a case study at their annual Forum in Calgary, AB. September China’s offshore oil company (CNOOC) and its offshore engineering company (COOEC) appointed BETA to address design and field analysis for various platforms. Our first Reciprocating Compressor Training class at our new Calgary training facility was sold out. | | .jpg) | |  |
| | Our field team remains busy on interesting projects around the world. From supporting refineries with piping vibration (Shell), to pump and foundation analysis in the oilsands, to pipeline compressor station evaluation (Williams), to offshore Australia for performance and piping modifications (BW Offshore), to Ecuador compressor installation. BETA welcomed new and 'seasoned' customers to our booth at the 40th Turbomachinery Symposium. August Compressor Station Vibration, a 2.5 day training course offered through the Gas Machinery Research Council (GMRC) was sold out. Instructors from BETA, ACI, Ariel and El Paso conducted the training. Additional courses will be scheduled by GMRC in 2012. July BETA has signed new monitoring contracts to evaluate rotating assets owned by Direct Energy, Apache, CNRL and PEMEX. These services include CBM (condition based monitoring), including performance assessments, vibration and other reliability measures. Assets being evaluated include reciprocating compressors, centrifugal compressors, engines, turbines and auxiliary equipment. BETA also develops compressor load curves for its reliability and monitoring customers. May BETA celebrated the opening of the new and expanded Calgary head office by hosting a 'Wine and Food Tasting Tour and Discovery' that was very well received. We had the opportunity to show off our new location and customers toured interactive displays of our services and enjoyed fun food and wine pairings.  | |  | | Shaking Forces Demo | | Avoid Resonance Demo |
April Small piping vibration is a hot topic these days. End users have retained BETA to assist in Small Bore Piping Vibration Audits for their existing or new facilities. This new service applies to both liquid and gas pipeline stations, and involves a unique approach to identify areas that have the highest risk of failure. March BETA is awarded vibration analysis contracts by SBM, BW and other major offshore FPSO and Platform production owners and operators. Projects include CNOOC (China), Shell Malaysia, Apache Australia, Chevron Thailand, and Petronas. February US Pipeline companies continue to modify and expand their compressor stations. BETA has been award large projects with many of the major companies January Pumping system projects include engineering support for pulsation and mechanical analysis for Access Pipeline's new liquid pump facilities. For BP Canada, our engineering staff provided acoustical and dynamc analysis for various pumping installations. BETA is providing Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) support and detailed modeling support for new pumping assets for Shell (New Zealand). For Oakwell's projects in Vietnam, BETA provided pumping acoustica nd mechanical analysis. Catalyst Paper required vibration engineering support for its new paper presses. Offshore facilities continue to keep our engineering teams busy; with large projects for Chevron (Gulf of Mexico), Single Buoy Mooring (Middle East), Shell (Malaysia), Carigali (Petronas Malaysia). BETA's unique capabilities in Dynamic Structural Analysis, including both field and design engineering were used. | | 2010 December Now LIVE! Beta's Solutions web site. Visit solutions.BetaMachinery.com for useful tools for your design and troubleshooting concerns. Basic Bottle Sizing (Level 1) is FREE! Another tool for bottle sizing in more complex applications (Level 2), a mini pulsation study (damper check), is also available. NovemberBETA has developed a new seminar addressing the issues caused by small bore piping vibration and offers approaches to avoid problems. If you're interested in your group receiving training on this, and other topics, contact us. October Our technical papers and short course at the GMC and 7th EFRC were well attended and received many positive comments. These papers will be available on our web site under Knowledge Center > Technical Articles shortly. BETA staffed booths at three trade shows; 39th TurboMachinery Symposium in Houston, TX, USA; GMC in Phoenix, AZ, USA; and 7th EFRC in Florence, Italy. September BETA's head office moves across the city to new quarters. Our new office is at 4242 7th Street SE, Calgary, AB T2G 2Y8. The move went smoothly and staff continues to provide great customer service. August Klaus Enterprises is appointed as BETA's Western Canada Sales Representative. Click here to read the press release. BETA welcomes Larry Foran in the new US Pipeline Business Development Manager role. Occidental Permian Ltd selected BETA to provide ongoing compressor performance analysis for its large fleet of compressors in TX. ConocoPhillips uses BETA for pulsation and torsional analysis for new compressors in Viking, AB July Imperial Oil's Strathcona Refinery, Edmonton, AB - field troubleshooting of repeated nozzle failure of HFL Pumps June As a part of an ongoing reliability study, BETA conducted a field vibration survey at various stations along Enbridge Spearhead Pipeline. BETA was involved with the troubleshooting of two piston rod failures for Petrologistics, LLC in Port Allen, Louisiana. May Enogex is the latest pipeline company to utilize BETA and ACI's Reciprocating Compressor Station Optimization service. Pipeline customers find this a valuable approach to improve efficiency, reliability, safety, and operational flexibility.
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