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. November
BETA 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. April
BETA Design staff and Field (troubleshooting) personnel are working on reciprocating and rotating equipment around the world. Current projects include: Epic Energy Pipeline (Australia), Sakhalin Island (Russia), Gujarat Refinery (India), Petrobras (Brazil), Qatar Gas (Qatar), Talisman (Malaysia), CNOOC (China), Formosa (Taiwan) and supporting GE in Mexico City.
BETA presents paper at the Round-shaped FPSO Workshop, KL.
BETA and ACI's article, Reciprocating Compressor Station Optimization Service in CompressorTech2 magazine, April issue. This approach is recommended for new (or modified) pipeline compressor stations, large midstream compressors, or other applications where improved efficiency, reliability, safety, and flexibility are required March
Spectra Energy, knowing that BETA provides design and field services to support all models of centrifugal compressors, recently retained BETA to evaluate and model three centrifugal compressors to avoid vibration problems. The study identified interferences between the compressor excitation sources and shell mode piping natural frequencies. Potential excitation sources such as flow induced pulsations and blade passing pulsations were evaluated. February
BETA continues to be awarded many offshore projects, including contracts in Thailand, China, Malaysia, Angola and in the Middle East. Evaluating the structural dynamics of these offshore platforms and FPSOs is a key design factor when installing rotating and reciprocating compressor or pumping systems. These contracts include a range of design and onsite engineering services including shaker testing on several of these offshore installations to validate the structural dynamic computer models. January
Consumers Energy, a large Michigan based energy utility with many gas transmission and storage assets, is adding additional compression to an existing gas storage facility. Given the wide range of conditions and challenges with integrating the units into the existing facility, Consumers selected BETA to analyze and recommend the overall vibration design solution, including pulsation, mechanical, thermal, performance and other engineering studies. This work follows on past field work where BETA provided field engineering support to resolve vibration concerns for existing facilities.
In other pipeline news, BETA recently completed work on two different El Paso pipeline facilities. In one case, BETA evaluated pulsation problems in the pig launcher area, which was quite far away from the compressors. The pulsations resulted in a shock wave phenomenon that resulted in vibration and noise problems. BETA's MAPAK time domain solver was successful in modeling this unique problem and providing a solution to the customer. 2009
December
BETA was awarded a large project to evaluate critical production (rotating) machinery assets at three sites for ZADCO, a large oil producing Company in the Middle East. The study analyzed reliability, machinery operations, maintenance, performance, vibration and other parameters. Recommendations included modified maintenance procedures, selective machinery replacements or upgrades, and reliability process improvements. The evaluation included 100 critical assets, including turbines, pumps, engines, compressors and other essential machines.
Onsite troubleshooting and vibration analysis for Formosa Petrochemicals (Taiwan). Scope includes analysis of hydrogen compressors, small bore piping, and foundation issues. November
Dynamic structural analysis for Anadarko (Kerr-McGee China) and CNOOC. Machinery design service on variety of offshore production platforms. Scope includes gas turbine, pump, and reciprocating compressor assets. October
GMC Oct. 6-7, Atlanta. Presenting two papers and one short course, booth 222. New System Performance Model™ with ACI Services, Inc. September
Detailed compressor performance analysis for Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL)'s hydrogen compressor (3 stage, 5 throw, Nuovo Pignone, driven by a 11,043KD motor). The critical assets are at its Ft. McMurray facility.
See us at the TurboMachinery Symposium, Sept. 14-17, 2009 booth 1322 May
Field troubleshooting and root cause analysis for gass compression equipment for WAHA Oil, Libya and Dow Chemical, Spain. April
Chevron, El Segundo Refinery expansion - performed API 618 Design studies for one new 8500 HP, three existing 4500 HP, and one existing 2500 HP reciprocating compressors.
China - start-up check of recip compressors and structure on an offshore platform. March
At its Richmond Refinery, Chevron is working on an Energy and Hydrogen Renewal Project - an initiative to help respond to future changes in market demand, available feedstocks and gasoline regulations. In March 2009 BETA was engaged to perform torsional and API 618 Design (pulsation and vibration) studies for four 7000 HP and two 9000 HP reciprocating compressors that are being upgraded as part of this project. February
Transportadora de Gas Internacional TGI S.A. E.S.P. awarded BETA API 618 pulsation studies for 25 reciprocating compressor packages slated for the upgrade and expansion of various stations along TGI’s National Gas Pipeline Network. January
BETA presented two papers at the 2009 Compressor Optimisation Conference (Optimisation and Troubleshooting of Compressors and Turbines, in Aberdeen, Scotland: Avoiding Compressor Problems as Conditions Change; and Monitoring Compression Machinery for Increased Cash Flow 2008
October
28-29, European Forum for Reciprocating Compressors (EFRC), Dusseldorf.
Papers: Optimizing the Pulsation Control Solution, authored and presented by Shelley Greenfield; Torsional Vibration Case Study Highlights Design Considerations, coauthored by Brian Howes, Tony King (AG Equipment), and David Pearsall (Dresser-Rand), presented by Brian Howes and Tony King.
Booth A16.
6-8, GMC, Albuquerque. Technology Update presented by Russ Barss. Paper: Reciprocating Compressor System Performance Affected by Dynamic Pressure Drop coauthored by Kelly Eberle, Gordon Q. Sun, Dwayne A. Hickman (ACI Services, Inc.), presented by Kelly Eberle. Short Course: Pulsation & Vibration Control Strategies to Meet the New 5th Edition of API 618, presented by Kelly Eberle and Rich Bennekemper.
Booth 311. September
37th TurboMachinery Symposium, Houston, Sep 8-11. Booth 331.
This month's Pipeline and Gas Journal features an article about condition and performance monitoring for onshore and offshore facilities, by Dr. Bryan Long. BETA's MAO (Monitor, Analyze, Optimize) program is explained. August
CompressorTech2 magazine published a series of BETA's articles explaining the impacts of the 5th edition of API 618 for packagers and end users. This series, authored by Shelley D. Greenfield and Kelly Eberle, ran from June-August. See reprints of the articles here: Part 1-Key Changes; Part II-Implications for Packagers, OEMs and Owners; Part III-Recommendations.
CompressorTech2 magazine published a series of BETA's articles explaining the impacts of the 5th edition of API 618 for packagers and end users. This series, authored by Shelley D. Greenfield and Kelly Eberle, ran from June-August. See reprints of the articles here: Part 1-Key Changes; Part II-Implications for Packagers, OEMs and Owners; Part III-Recommendations. February
25-27 With M2M, booth at the 13th Annual Gas Compressor Association Conference & Expo, Galveston.
With M2M, booth at the 13th Annual Gas Compressor Association Conference & Expo, Galveston. January
BETA and M2M Data Corporation issue a joint press release announcing a groundbreaking new monitoring and diagnostic service for reciprocating compressors.
BETA presents at the Nalco Conference for Gas Plant Operational Excellence in Calgary. The topic for our presentation is Operational Excellence for Rotating Equipment, Jan 23-24. |