Gas pipeline operator to transform waste heat into energy

The operator of a natural gas pipeline compressor station in Canada plans to install a new technology that will recover waste heat and transform it into extra, emissions-free electricity.

The ORegen waste heat recovery system, developed by GE Oil & Gas, is expected to improve the overall efficiency of Alliance Pipeline’s Whitecourt Compressor Station in Alberta by up to 20 percent. It’s the first commercial deployment of the technology.

Located about 200 kilometers (110 miles) northwest of Edmonton, the compressor station lies along a pipeline that transports some 1.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas each day from British Columbia and northwestern Alberta to a terminal in Chicago.

Because the waste heat recovery system requires no additional fuel or water to operate, the technology qualified for partial government funding through the Alberta Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation. The ORegen system is expected to produce around 14 megawatts of electricity from waste heat.

“We expect the system to eliminate more than 38,000 metric tons of CO2 per year and at the same time produce additional electricity directly connected to the grid without any water consumption,” said Murray Birch, president and CEO of NRGreen, an Alliance Pipeline affiliate that is coordinating the project.