J Curves (HP vs. Gas Velocity)

[kirkwarren]

We are in the "planning" phase and have rough numbers generated for flows on our pipeline segment however one question is being bandied about; at what point are you simply paying too much for each additional HP to generate additional volume's of flow. I have found numerous references to corrosion at high gas velocities and API references to max velocity etc however we have very clean gas and I am not concerned with this. Does anyone know if there is a reference to a max gas velocity (for efficiency or economics)in spacing of compressor stations?

 

[dcasto]

you can do your own study for the economics of compression versus larger diameter lines. But the rule of thumb says compressor stations should be between 60 and 120 miles apart and have about a 2 to 1 compression ratio.

errosional velocies for clean gas are huge, in the 100's of feet per second. most gas lines are designed for under 15 ft/sec.

http://books.google.com/books?id=eu...ximum for spacing of gas compressors&f=false

here is a page from a book I googled up with a chart on spacing.