How Kunlun Lubricants Kept the Gaoling Compressor Station on the Second West-East Gas Pipeline Running Smoothly for Four Years

From 72 hours to 6,439 hours and then to 18,800 hours – as the cumulative operating time of the domestically produced 20-megawatt-class electrically driven compressor units at the Gaoling compressor station on the Second West-East Gas Pipeline continues to set new records, the Kunlun KTGS32 centrifugal compressor oil that keeps this "Chinese heart" running normally has also been fully recognized: it is comparable to imported lubricant products, fills a domestic gap and marks a new level for domestically produced lubricants.
In the photo, technical and service personnel of PetroChina's lubricant company provide meticulous, high-quality service on site at the Gaoling compressor station on the Second West-East Gas Pipeline.
A domestically produced "heart"
needs domestically produced lubricants to protect it
The compressor unit is the "heart" of a long-distance natural gas pipeline project. For a long time, only large enterprises in the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany were able to design, manufacture and assemble such units. The monopoly of foreign technology meant that when China invested in a natural gas pipeline costing hundreds of billions of yuan, compressor investment alone accounted for about half of the equipment investment.
To change this passive situation, the state listed compressor units as a major science and technology project for technical research and invested special funds to establish an R&D and testing center. Led by the West-East Gas Pipeline Company and working with 10 backbone domestic electromechanical manufacturing enterprises including Shenyang Blower Works Group Corporation, the project jointly undertook the task of localizing three major categories of equipment: 20-megawatt-class electrically driven compressor units, 30-megawatt-class gas-turbine-driven compressor units and high-pressure large-diameter ball valves.
After arduous research, the 20-megawatt-class electrically driven compressor unit completed its development task on schedule, and the Gaoling compressor station on the Second West-East Gas Pipeline was designated a model station for domestically produced compressor units, with four sets of 20-megawatt-class electrically driven compressor units installed for industrial application trials.
"The expert panel also recommended that representative stations be selected as soon as possible along China's long-distance natural gas pipelines for long-term oil application studies, so as to advance the localization of lubricants for natural gas long-distance pipeline compressors," said Sun Daxing, an engineer at the Oil Products Institute of the lubricant company's Dalian R&D Center. This was a good opportunity to raise brand awareness and promote oil products and services.
Independent development and application
of matching high-quality domestic lubricants
Localizing key equipment is the only way to industrial self-reliance and national strength, and localizing key equipment for long-distance pipelines is an important guarantee of national energy security. The lubricant company understands its importance well and took the initiative to shoulder the task of developing electrically driven compressor oil.
For the lubricant company, 2011 was an important and busy year. "In March we held technical exchanges on compressor oil with Shenyang Blower Works Group; in April the development and application research for the matching lubricant passed review, and we signed a tripartite cooperation agreement with Shenyang Blower Works Group and Liaoyang Petrochemical to carry out compressor oil testing; in May we provided an overall lubrication solution in light of the West-East Gas Pipeline equipment situation; in July the Kunlun KTGS32 centrifugal compressor oil passed the centrifugal compressor joint commissioning test; and in November Kunlun KTGS32 centrifugal compressor oil began trial operation in centrifugal compressor units," said Sun Daxing, adding that they subsequently held in-depth discussions and exchanges with the West-East Gas Pipeline Company on product performance, production, processes and supply guarantees.
Wang Xiaoping, Deputy General Manager of the West-East Gas Pipeline Company, gave full recognition to the Kunlun KTGS32 centrifugal compressor oil and made a bold decision: "All four domestically produced compressor units at the Gaoling compressor station on the Second West-East Gas Pipeline will use Kunlun compressor oil, and once we have gained operating experience we will promote it across the board on imported units."
Kunlun Lubricants
a model of domestically produced lubricants
The successful development and commissioning of the first 20-megawatt-class electrically driven compressor unit not only broke the foreign technological monopoly and trade barriers on such equipment, but also marked a solid and successful first step for Kunlun compressor oil on the road toward the localization of lubricants for natural gas long-distance pipeline compressors.
On November 28, 2014, unit No. 1 at the Gaoling compressor station reached 6,439 cumulative operating hours, successfully completing the 4,000-hour on-site industrial assessment. Shenyang Blower Works Group issued a special statement saying: "The Kunlun KTGS32 centrifugal compressor oil supplied by the lubricant company has been used on the PCL804-type centrifugal compressors produced by our group, and during this period the equipment operated stably and fully met normal production requirements."
Su Yongqiang, Chairman of Shenyang Blower Works Group, made clear that in future all oil used for compressor trial runs at Shenyang Blower Works would be purchased as Kunlun special-purpose oil, with on-site analysis and monitoring carried out in cooperation with the Dalian R&D Center; that after the special-purpose oil successfully passed the compressor trial run, the company would include it in the recommended oil list for its products so that users could select it; and that it was agreed to take the existing compressor test platform at Shenyang Blower Works as the basis, with the Dalian R&D Center proposing a corresponding test system design, and to establish a joint rotor dynamic lubrication laboratory between PetroChina's lubricant company and Shenyang Blower Works, so as to better study lubricant performance according to the actual conditions of its compressors.
At this point, through unremitting efforts, the lubricant company finally became a model for the use of domestically produced lubricants in natural gas long-distance pipeline compressors, and also laid a solid foundation for subsequent comprehensive promotion and application at the West-East Gas Pipeline Company.