GE Oil & Gas Technology Drives Efficiency Upgrade at KRIBHCO

02 February 2010

GE Oil & Gas will apply advanced compressor technology in an upgrade project to increase the productivity of Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited’s (KRIBHCO) urea, ammonia and bio-fertilizer manufacturing facility at Hazira in the state of Gujarat, India.

Under the terms of the agreement GE will supply nine compressor upgrade packages to be installed across the plant’s three existing CO2 trains.

GE will utilize its latest impeller designs to upgrade the CO2 compressors, enabling them to pump 45% more flow without changing the steam turbine drivers. Each unit will absorb approximately seven megawatts with an average efficiency of 75%, the highest efficiency rate in the industry for a CO2 compressor application. In addition, the impellers will be manufactured with advanced materials to meet the challenging requirements of sour gas (humid CO2) applications.

GE will upgrade the compressor packages without changing the balance-of-plant or the original compressor footprints. The contract, which is scheduled for completion in the first half of 2011, also includes the supply of anti-surge valves and spare rotors.

S. Jaggia, general manager (technical), KRIBHCO said: “KRIBHCO has selected GE Oil & Gas for this important upgrade project due to its expertise, position as designer of the original compressors and its ability to meet our challenging upgrade schedule.”

Commenting Deven Shukla, global services—India, GE Oil & Gas said: “Despite the significant and challenging scale of the KRIBHCO upgrade across nine compressors for three CO2 trains, our reliable services approach will restrict outage to coincide with the plant’s revamp schedule. In addition to speed of upgrade, once installed our advanced impeller technology will improve plant efficiency and performance by extending the maintenance cycle, and, ultimately, boost production output.”

Equipment for the upgrade project will be manufactured primarily at GE Oil & Gas facilities in Italy and France. Local support will be used to supervise assembly and commissioning activities.

The upgrade project underscores GE Oil & Gas’ ongoing commitment to India. GE is supporting Indian customers through the local presence of an experienced and professional team. India-based engineers work in conjunction with GE’s field service engineering team and global supply chain to ensure continuous support to customers in the region.