June 2013, Vol. 240, No. 6

In The News

ETT Reports Largest Installation Of Dual Drive Compression Systems

Dallas-based Energy Transfer Technologies (ETT), a leader in energy management, has announced its largest installation to-date of Dual Drive compression systems.

In March, ETT reported completing installation of 17 Dual Drive CA Series natural gas compressors totaling 59,000 horsepower of natural gas compression at Energy Transfer Partners’ natural gas processing plant in Jackson County, TX. Energy Transfer’s Jackson County Processing Plant is an integral part of its Eagle Ford Shale operations.

ETT said its Dual Drive compression system is unique to the industry. Its two drivers, a Caterpillar natural gas-driven engine and electric-driven motor can each independently power the Ariel compressor.

An overrunning clutch seamlessly switches the power source between the two drivers in less than 30 seconds, providing the flexibility to operate on the lowest-cost fuel source, reduce emissions, run during power outages, reduce demand charges by avoiding peak electric rates, and the ability to perform routine maintenance without bringing the system down. In fact, ETT said its Dual Drive system has an industry-leading 99% run time.

“By selecting our Dual Drive technology for its compression needs, Energy Transfer was able to bring its Jackson County processing plant online anywhere from six months to a year ahead of schedule,” said David Coker, president of ETT. “They were able to run the Dual Drives on the natural gas-driven engines while the electric power infrastructure was being constructed. If they had gone with just electric compression, they would still be waiting to bring that plant online.

“There is no other natural gas compressor that will pay for itself over time like the Dual Drive CA Series,” he continued. “If natural gas prices are high you can balance your operations by using the electric-driven motor, and if there’s too much power being pulled from the electrical grid, you can get off the grid by switching to the natural gas-driven engine.

“In fact, we have a customer in South Texas that installed a 5,000 horsepower Dual Drive CA Series and they have reduced their electric charges by $50,000 per month, which is significant for any business,” Coker said.

Energy Transfer’s Jackson County processing plant has four separate processing trains, which combined, have nine 5,000 horsepower Dual Drives and eight 1,750 horsepower Dual Drives.

The installation of Dual Drive compression systems at the Jackson County plant is just part of ETT’s rapid growth that began earlier this year. ETT said it ended 2012 with 48,000 horsepower of Dual Drive compression in the field, and as of the first quarter of 2013, the company had confirmed orders for an additional 90,000 horsepower, tripling the size of the company.

ETT said its Dual Drive compression systems feature custom compression options ranging from 95 horsepower to 5,000 horsepower units to accommodate the needs of a full range of customers from smaller independent companies to those with larger transmission pipeline systems.

“Dual Drive technology goes beyond just natural gas compression,” said Coker. “We have successfully adapted it into a pump that will soon be installed along a crude oil line. We are very excited to continue the evolution of this technology for our industry.”

For more information visit www.ettdualdrive.com.