At St. Petersburg International Gas Forum, the representatives of the Russian-Slovenian group of companies Comita spoke about the company's project introducing the Mobile Compressor Station (MCS) for pumping natural gas from pipe sections under repair into an existing gas pipeline.
In September of this year, there have been conducted factory tests of the new MCS prototype, and presently, the company is ready for its implementation. The main challenge in its installation is the conservation of natural gas during pipeline repairs. The MCS collects hydrocarbon, which is emitted into the atmosphere from a leaky pipe, and transfers it to the pipeline in operation.
A feature of this innovative product is the adaptation of the compressor to operating conditions in the northern regions, which is minus 50 degrees. In addition, this is the first such installation in Russia, which is used for a main gas pipeline with a pipe diameter of 1,400 mm and a pressure of 7.5 MPa.
According to Alexey Terekhov, CEO of Iskra Systems, the supplier of MCS, the main focus of the project is environmental protection. When pumping gas from a repaired pipe, 90% of natural gas is retained. In this case, two tasks are simultaneously solved: conservation of the environment and saving of natural resources.
The main areas of business of Comita Group are telecommunications, automation and software. In 2017, the company entered into a number of agreements with Gazprom for the development of projects to control the operation of gas systems and preserve the environment.