Compressor Applications in the Decarbonization Discussion

The emphasis on reducing the carbon footprint has led to efforts to use hydrogen and to decarbonize when fossil fuels are used. This creates a variety of new applications for gas compression: When hydrogen is generated, it must be compressed to the pressure needed in a pipeline, an engine or another user. In pipelines, hydrogen natural gas mixtures or pure hydrogen have to be compressed in booster stations. In the field of carbon capture, sequestration and usage, we find compressors to bring the captured CO2 to pipeline pressure, we have booster stations to compress it, and compression may be needed to sequester the CO2 in underground storage sites. Many, if not most, of these gas compressors are driven by electric motors. Given the foreseeable fluctuation in operating conditions, many of these will require variable speed motors. The article will target the areas for carbon capture, transport and sequestration, and the topic of compression and transport of hydrogen.