UHřICE, CZECH REPUBLIC: MND Gas Storage is operating an underground gas storage facility in Uhřice, Czech Republic. For almost ten years now, gas has been compressed around the clock and delivered through wells located at depths of close to two kilometers (1.25 miles) in the immediate vicinity of the Austrian and Slovakian borders. A close partnership has existed with HOERBIGER through the Žandov branch ever since the storage facility was commissioned. Trust is essential in this partnership, as the HOERBIGER products play a central role in Uhřice: they ensure the safety and reliability of the compressors operated by MND Gas Storage. (Page 52) Manfred KlimekManfred : oto PH 014 015 ice in the Hills Czech Republic. MND Gas Storage operates a natural gas storage facility there in a former gas field. č ice reservoir is located amidst Liten ř The Uh UHŘICE, CZECH REPUBLIC [49° 10’ N, 17° 4’ E] www.mnd.cz On Site at MND Gas Storage in Uhrice 052 053 24 HouRS A DAY, Vítezslav Straka is Operations Manager at MND Gas Storage in Uhrice. Straka and his team of ten technicians are in charge of assuring the smooth and safe operation of the underground natural gas storage facility. His equipment runs 365 DAYS A YEAR around the clock, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. GAS NO BREAK FOR COMPREssoRS TEXT: Georg Frick · PHOTOS: Manfred Klimek 1 2 efore Vítězslav Straka shows us his first takes us through the newer hall, which was compressors, he explains the busi- just completed in 2012. Together with Pavel ness model of MND Gas Storage: Hafner, Service Manager at HOERBIGER “MND Gas Storage stores natural Žandov s.r.o., he explains the technical details of Bgas for a variety of customers. Our the two 16-cylinder Caterpillar gas engines and clients purchase storage capacity on the Energy the two-stage Ariel compressors driven by them. Exchange and enter into long- or short-term The compressors are used to compress the gas contracts with MND Gas Storage. The gas is which is transported to Uhřice for underground then stored in accordance with the customers’ storage. The gas is precompressed to a pres- requirements, but does not belong to MND Gas sure of 12 MPa in a first stage. In a second Storage.” Uhřice is located in the gently rolling stage, secondary compression up to a maxi- countryside of Litenčice Hills, southeast of Br- mum pressure of 21 MPa is carried out, where- no. The landscape is shaped by agriculture and upon the gas is ultimately pumped underground isolated pockets of viticulture. It is not a place through wells. The gas is compressed incre- where one would suspect any noteworthy indus- mentally, because it heats up significantly under 5 trial activity. What is special about this area is pressure. The two-stage compression allows the the oil and gas fields located approximately two gas to be cooled in an intercooler. kilometers below the Earth’s surface. The un- 3 4 derground storage facility in Uhřice is also a for- Everything is largely automated: mer natural gas field. It has been used to store Thanks to HOERBIGER Systems natural gas after gas production ceased there. During regular operation, everything is largely The total capacity of the underground facility is automated. A HOERBIGER RecipCOM system 054 280 million cubic meters. Directly adjacent to monitors the compressors around the clock— the compartments utilized exclusively for storing an indispensable step for a facility that operates 055 natural gas, in Uhřice South, residual amounts without interruption. A key function of the moni- Pictures 1 to 4: Gas-powered engines of crude oil are still being extracted from an oil/ toring system is to quickly detect sudden com- drive the compressors which compress gas field. At the same time, the site is already pressor damage and wear. the natural gas transported to Uhřice for being used to store gas. underground storage. The HOERBIGER A HOERBIGER HydroCOM system meanwhile HydroCOM system (picture 3) allows the Ideal Conditions for Storing Gas controls the first compressor stage. The timing gas volume required to be exactly tailored The Uhřice reservoir is located at a depth of and flow of gas volume are exactly tailored to the to the demand. approximately 1,800 meters (5,900 feet). The demand. Because the gas volume that is com- natural gas compartment is surrounded by pressed is always only the exact amount that is Picture 5: This is the above-ground portion absolutely impermeable sandstone and clay required, the dynamic HydroCOM control unit 6 7 of the kilometers of wells which deliver formations. This geological formation offers produces significant cost savings for MND Gas the compressed gas to the reservoirs ideal conditions for storing gas. MND Gas Storage compared to conventional control by located deep down. Storage primarily stores natural gas from Russia, way of the rotational speed of the compressor which is delivered via pipelines to Lanžhot in the drive. Vítězslav Straka takes us to the second Pictures 6 to 7: All important data merge Czech Republic, in the tripoint with Austria and hall. This building, which was built in 2006, also in the central operations and monitoring Slovakia, from where it is transported under- houses two gas engines and two compressors. room—including the readings from the ground to Uhřice. There, it is received in one of While the output of the gas engines installed in installed HOERBIGER HydroCOM and two enormous compressor halls. Vítězslav Straka 2012 is 3,500 kW, the output of the engines HOERBIGER RecipCOM systems. 8 here is lower at 2,500 kW. The compressors are merge here, in the central monitoring and oper- 20 YEARS OF HOERBIGER Zandov S.R.O. produced by Gemini, but like the Ariel compres- ations room. MND Gas Storage has relied on sors next door are also equipped with a HOERBIGER technology since 2006. The units PRoduction FacilitY and SERvicE BRanch HydroCOM control unit and a RecipCOM moni- form an integral part of the facility and ensure toring system.All four compressors of MND Gas that it operates efficiently and safely: lower com- Storage handle an average of 5.4 million cubic plexity equates to higher reliability. HOERBIGER Just a few more months–then HOERBIGER Zandov s.r.o. can celebrate meters of gas a day at full utilization of the facil- is also a service partner when it comes to main- a milestone anniversary. In 2013, it will be exactly 20 years that ity. Vítězslav Straka stresses that it is quite possi- taining the systems and compressors. Mainte- HOERBIGER founded the branch in Zandov, Czech Republic. While ble to exceed this number if the gas reservoir is nance is performed at service intervals of one to initially it was purely a production site for valves and compressor emptied completely. It was critical to always two years—depending on the number of hours components, today HOERBIGER Zandov s.r.o. is one of the leading maintain a pressure of 80 bar in the reservoir the machines have been running. In addition, service providers for compressors in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. because this was the only way to preserve the the service team of HOERBIGER Žandov s.r.o. TEXT: Tim Wohlfarth · PHOTOS: Martin Špelda geological structure. Before being passed on to can be on-site at any time as needed. “Just yes- the customers, the natural gas stored in the terday we needed service from HOERBIGER on underground facility undergoes a quality control short notice,” Vitězslav Straka reports. And why “After the Czech Republic opened to foreign in- were equipped and optimized with state-of-the- step. Because the facility two kilometers below did MND Gas Storage opt for such a close part- vestors, establishing our company was arguably art HOERBIGER components, in particular with ground is of natural origin, admixtures may nership with HOERBIGER? Vítězslav Straka one of the fastest privatizations,” Dr. Libor Zeman RecipCOM, the online monitoring system. occur in the reservoir. MND Gas Storage there- does not have to give this much thought: recalls, who accompanied the founding of fore removes such impurities. “HOERBIGER came out ahead in an invitation to HOERBIGER Žandov s.r.o. produces HOERBIGER Žandov s.r.o. as Managing Director HOERBIGER services allow even older-model bid. The objective was to regulate the machine valves and compressor components from the very start. At the beginning of the nine- compressors, such as those built by CKD and Lower Complexity– performance without lowering the rotational and offers comprehensive all-inclusive ties, the predecessor enterprise, CKD Žandov, used at RWE Gas Storage in Dolní Dunajovice, to Higher Reliability speed. Out of the various systems that are avail- compressor services. Its valve service was looking for an investor. HOERBIGER quick- be upgraded. This significantly increases the re- 056 After visiting the halls, Vítězslav Straka takes us able in the market, the HOERBIGER HydroCOM (picture above), for example, assures ly recognized the opportunity that an investment liability. In light of the immense costs associated to the central monitoring and operations room of control unit and the HOERBIGER RecipCOM optimal use of this important component. in one of Eastern Europe’s largest valve manu- with investments in new purchases, the reliabil- 057 the facility. Through the windows, we can see monitoring system were those that met our facturers at the time would entail—in particular ity argument also meets with interest among the above-ground portion of the kilometers of needs the best.” because the company was able to look back on other customers from the oil, gas, and process wells which deliver the compressed gas to the a history of more than one hundred years.