The Springhurst Compressor Station (SCS), which consists of a single Solar Centaur C50 dry seal machine, was constructed in 1998 to provide compression for gas flowing south from New South Wales into the Victorian Transmission System (VTS).

In order to meet increasing market demand, APA began a project in September 2009 to modify the SCS to enable gas to flow in either a northerly or southerly direction.

The main aim of the project was to meet projected demand for Victoria’s northern zone, and to allow APA and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) to both export gas to NSW and import into Victoria.

As part of the project, the SCS needed to be automated, allowing it to be operated remotely from either AEMO’s or APA’s Dandenong control room.

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“Prior to the upgrade, an APA technician was required to make a three-hour drive from Melbourne to manually start the gas turbine to flow gas to Melbourne,” said APA Project Manager Jim Theodoropoulos.

The installation of a double-acting actuator to the existing line valve operation also allows continued flow along the pipeline in the event of compressor failure or emergency shutdown of the compressor station.

“Strategically, Springhurst provides a backup to the upstream compressor stations at Culcairn and Young in NSW such that if either or both stations were down through either scheduled maintenance or breakdown, Springhurst can then provide gas into NSW,” said Mr Theodoropoulos.

Conversion works

Approximately 30 APA employees and 75 contractors worked on the project, including local suppliers for services such as cranes.

Project works included:

  • Automation of the line valve at the station to allow remote start and stop of the compressor station;
  • A new station control system, removing the existing station control functions from the Solar unit control system and integrating a station safety system;
  • Upgrading the station’s remote terminal unit, human-machine interface and Solar unit control systems to newer versions;
  • Installation of two new station valves to provide automated flow reversal of the compressor station.
  • The compressor was unavailable for two months while inlet and outlet station pipework was removed and modified offsite. The new valves were incorporated into a station cross over skid that allows the compressor inlet and outlet to be interchanged from one side of the pipeline line valve to the other depending on what direction the gas needs to flow;
  • Installation of a capacity valve to provide improved suction and discharge pressure control;
  • Installation of instrument panels to provide over-pressure protection and pressure relief to all existing and new actuated valves; and,
  • Installation of fast-stop and anti-surge valves, related accessories and components necessary for effective operation of the anti-surge control system to avoid surge during all phases of compressor operation. This included valve sizing data, performance evaluation and fast-stop analysis, transmitter ranges, and flow element.

A dedicated instrument air shed, a new operations control hut, a spare parts store and a small workshop for maintenance activities were also constructed as part of the project.

Once construction was completed, rigorous testing was undertaken. “The complete station was function tested and recommissioned for all modes of operations,” said Mr Theodoropoulos. “This included local control as well as remote operation. All safety systems were tested. Point-to-point testing of newly installed cables, circuits and equipment was also performed.”

By August 2010, construction, commissioning and testing works were completed. Operational control was handed over to APA’s operations group on 9September 2010 and additionally to AEMO on 18 November 2010.

APA has now moved on to the construction of the new compressor station at Euroa. APA Project Manager David Thek said “This is the next phase of APA’s Victorian Northern Augmentation Project with completion scheduled for mid-2012.”