Went out to the jobsite this morning and completed the job I’ve been on since last week. Swapped out a 1750 horsepower electric motor for a 2500 horsepower replacement. Well, I had PART of the project. The motor was running when I left, two hours past normal quitting time.
My feet hurt.
I will doubtless be seeing the schematic diagrams for that mess in my sleep.
But you folks up north will appreciate the extra natural gas that this will pump into the pipeline.
You’re welcome!
Hey there “unc”….are you dabbling in my “field” now? I started up two compressors last week to help insure the “northerners” can make it through the rest of the winter….one pumping 81mmscfd (million standard cubic feet per day) and one pumping 64mmscfd. That was down in MS….this week I was on a re-build of a “little” engine in KS……
2 hrs past quitting time??? hmmm……we ARE in different career disciplines—–since mine has NO “set” hours……some days are 5 hrs…most are 10…..some are 30 (a couple of weeks ago had to do a 35hr work-day to complete a rebuild and get back on-line—I did send my mechanics home at 24hrs and I stayed to supervise their replacements)….. Unfortunately there have been way too many 30+hr ‘days’ and 100hr weeks..they’re beginning to “tell”.
Oh well……..I do love my job and it’s rarely boring.
Ok, dumb question time. What “state” is the gas in within the pipeline; gas under pressure or compressed liquid?
And at what point of compression does natural gas stop being lighter than air? I mean, it must or the sky would be full of floating pipelines. Right?
Robert–
They don’t normally pay me past normal eight-hour days. Besides, that’s all it took… It’s just a big electric motor. I could care less if it’s turning a gas compressor or a meat grinder…
Homebru–
I do electricity, so I don’t know how high the pressure is in the pipeline, but it IS a gas… The whole facility is designed to take liquid natural gas off ships, store it and then gasify it and get it into the pipeline.
I understand that natural gas is primarliy methane, and it’s only slightly lighter than air. It’d take a bag the size of a room to pick up a couple of pounds. Pipelines are a lot heavier than that…
UMMMmmmpppphhhh
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More POWER
-Tim “the Toolman”Tayler
“But you folks up north will appreciate the extra natural gas that this will pump into the pipeline.”
Wrong. You’ll have a hard time convincing the left wing idiots of that because you’ll get accused of 1) Ruining the enironment with all those pipelines 2) Being a whore for the oil & gas companies. Everytime I tell liberals I work for oil companies, I get accused of those things and more. Forget the fact that I’m working to help out my fiance and feed my future family.
M.C.—I was just giving you “grief”…..I’m also on “salary” so the long days are sometimes a sore point. I was just, amused I guess, that the electric motor you were installing happened to be driving a compressor.
As for the ‘state’ and ‘weight’ of the natural gas…you were absolutely correct in that the “normal” pipeline gas is mostly methane. Gas from wellheads varies in percentage but is “generally” 84 – 96% CH4 (methane). As for the weight…our “comparison” is to air with a gravity of 1.0 Most well-head gases have a specific gravity of somewhere between 0.56 and 0.68 The contents of the gas will, of course, vary the specific gravity. Therefore most ‘natural gas’ is much lighter than air. Certain composites such as H2S (hydrogen sulfide commonly called sour gas) on the other hand are much heavier than air which adds to their danger—100ppm of H2S can kill a grown man. The “pipelines” also vary in size….from 6″ to 48″…as I’m sure everyone is aware 48″ schedule 80 pipe IS quite heavy. As for pipeline pressures…..again varies upon application: gathering, re-injection, transmission. When you see gas pipelines the pressures within could be anywhere from 100psig to 3600psig. The “typical” transmission pipeline pressure is generally in the vicinity of 900psig.
Like I said…I was just giving you “grief”…I enjoy (actually look forward to) reading your blog every day. I would, however, like to see a 2500hp meat grinder!!
WELL THE PRICE OF GAS JUST WENT UP AGAIN
Just out of curiosity, how do they start that 2500Hp motor? Part-winding? Autotransformer? Solid-state RV? Surely not full-voltage?
Kevin–
Full voltage! Uncoupled, it takes a couple or three seconds to accelerate to its nominal 1185 RPM.
This plant is on a STOUT power supply, so this is not a problem. I’ve seen 24,000 HP at 13,800 volts started across the line. That soft-start business is for wimpy power supplies or delicate mechanical loads…
MC
As a former electric utility guy, I appreciate the work we have to put in to keep people from freezing in the dark.
Thanks for your efforts on keeping this vital infrastructure running.