Alternators help boost efficiency of oil-field generator sets

Paul Boughton

George Swindale reports on the supply of alternators for a Russian generator set supplier

PSM, an abbreviation of the Russian for Industrial Power Units (Promyšlennye Silovye Mašiny), is the largest Russian company specialising in engineering, manufacturing and servicing of diesel engine-based equipment. Since its formation in 2005 the company has built a strong position in diesel-powered generator sets, power drives and pump sets, and has its own 15,00m2 production facility in Yaroslavl, 250km northeast of Moscow.

Across the Ural mountains in the Yugorsk region of Western Siberia, oil and gas giant Gazprom has its largest gas transmission subsidiary company, Gazprom Transgaz Yugorsk, which operates a 1,500km network of manifold gas trunklines delivering gas to consumers in the Urals, Central Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States and Europe. The company operates and maintains a total length of 27,000km of pipeline strings, along with 220 compressor shops and 1,168 gas pumping units. 

Ensuring that its gas transmission system is efficient and reliable is always a top priority. The load on Gazprom Transgaz Yugorsk’s gas transmission system is set to grow steadily over the next few years, and the company lays great emphasis on trunkline repairs, reconstruction, technical retrofit and reinstatement of compressor system capacities. For its standby power requirements, above all Gazprom Transgaz Yugorsk needs reliability. And that is where Stamford alternators entered the picture. 

PSM uses Stamford alternators for a number of the generator sets it manufactures. The models in PSM’s extensive generator set range mix and match Stamford alternators with engines from a number of international manufacturers, which are then promoted in the Russian market as easy to operate and maintain. 

To meet Gazprom’s needs, PSM knew it could draw on the brand recognition and high-quality reputation Cummins has in Russia to assure its customer of the quality and reliability of the Stamford range. 

For this project PSM specified robust Stamford PI144D1 alternators to combine with Belarusian MMZ 231 D-246.1 engines. Gazprom Transgaz Yugorsk’s total power requirement of 430kVA is being met by 20 units, expected to be required to start up 20 times a year in their standby role. 

Reliability has been the key to success for PSM in winning a large order from its leading oil and gas customer. 

Currently, markets such as agriculture, construction and public utilities account for around two thirds of PSM’s US$50 million turnover. 

With Cummins Generator Technologies’ experience of the oil and gas industry, Stamford alternators offer a way for PSM to increase the oil and gas side of its business, and benefit from the size and growth potential of this major sector of the Russian economy.

For more information visit www.engineerlive.com/iog

George Swindale is with Cummins Generator Technologies, Peterborough, UK. 

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