Compressor Station Availability: Managing Its Effects on Gas Pipeline Operation

As competitive market for gas transmission becomes more and more dynamic and we face an increase of regulatory agencies influence, the pressure on cutting down cost of service without affecting reliability and safety is a consequence. Notwithstanding this trend, transportation companies must act in a way that guarantees a fair return on investment and optimizes assets and operation costs. Contractual obligations play an important role since most of the contractual capacity is on a firm basis and subject to liabilities related to capacity shortage or interruption. Compressor stations availability study play a fundamental role in providing information that will support decision making in terms of defining a criterion for installing stand-by units. This paper presents two methods adopted for the Bolivia-Brazil Gas Pipeline Project: (1) Monte Carlo Simulation and (2) Scheduled and Unscheduled Maintenance. A technical end economic feasibility study is also presented to support the decision of installing stand-by units.