
Barbara Fischer, Managing Director of FNB Gas
Photo of the FNB Gas Managing Director Barbara Fischer
Photo of the FNB Gas Managing Director Barbara Fischer
Photo of the FNB Gas Chairman Dr. Thomas Gößmann
Construction of the compressor station in Ochtrup, North Rhine-Westphalia, began in 2010. The station forms the end of a pipeline that transports gas from Norway from Emden to the Ruhr area. The pressure in the pipelines decreases over long distances and is brought back to the required level in Ochtrup so that it can be fed into the German gas grid. An expansion of the station to include an additional compressor was completed in 2018.
The picture shows a shut-off device, a so-called gate valve. This is located at the “entrance” to the compressor station and checks how much gas is flowing into the station. The natural gas from Norway is compressed to a higher pressure at the plant and then piped further towards the consumption centers.
The assembly of the large capillary tubes also always requires manual labor, despite heavy equipment for lifting and transporting.
The Olbernhau compressor station is located on the edge of the Ore Mountains, in the valley of the Flöha River. With three gas turbines, the station has been ensuring the right pressure in the 314-kilometer STEGAL (Saxony-Thuringia natural gas pipeline) since 1992, so that natural gas can reach central Germany from Russia via the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The EUGAL is to run from Lubmin near Greifswald on the Baltic Sea in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in a southerly direction to Deutschneudorf in Saxony and on to the Czech Republic. It has a total length of around 480 kilometers and is to be laid in large sections parallel to the Baltic Sea Pipeline Link (OPAL). Thus, it runs through three federal states. The uneven terrain in the Ore Mountains made it necessary to use special technology when laying the pipelines.
The Northern Black Forest line of terranets bw runs for just under 70 km from Au am Rhein via Ettlingen and Pforzheim to Leonberg. The first 15-kilometer section from Au am Rhein to Ettlingen was built in 2014. The second, 54-kilometer section between Ettlingen and Leonberg, was completed in 2015/16. The ceremonial commissioning took place on 22.01.2016.
The Nordschwarzwald pipeline will give terranets bw a further connection to the Trans-European Natural Gas Pipeline (TENP). The TENP, which transports natural gas from the Netherlands to Switzerland and Italy, is one of the largest and most important pipelines for secure natural gas supplies in Europe.
Despite pipelines with a large circumference and the use of heavy equipment, the construction of a natural gas pipeline still requires real manual labor – here during the construction of the Nordschwarzwald pipeline of terranets bw.
The Northern Black Forest line of terranets bw runs for just under 70 km from Au am Rhein via Ettlingen and Pforzheim to Leonberg. The first 15-kilometer section from Au am Rhein to Ettlingen was built in 2014. The second, 54-kilometer section between Ettlingen and Leonberg, was completed in 2015/16. The ceremonial commissioning took place on 22.01.2016.
The Nordschwarzwald pipeline will give terranets bw a further connection to the Trans-European Natural Gas Pipeline (TENP). The TENP, which transports natural gas from the Netherlands to Switzerland and Italy, is one of the largest and most important pipelines for secure natural gas supplies in Europe.
A dispatching center is the heart of every pipeline network: Here, the entire (long-distance) pipeline network is monitored and controlled 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The control center receives the necessary data via fiber optic cables installed along the natural gas pipelines, which provide signals as to where anomalies or malfunctions are occurring.
Since gas pipelines run underground and after their construction the area can be renaturalized, the course of the pipeline is marked by these yellow signs.
To meet the changes in the market, Ontras has had a mobile compressor station designed. This consists of two trailers to provide enough space for all necessary assembly, maintenance, cable, escape and rescue routes. It is also equipped for all applications in the Ontras gas network.
The mobile compressor unit achieves a gas delivery rate of at least 800 Nm³/h at all different and specified pressure ratios. The station, with a length of 9 meters and a maximum weight of 40 tons, is regularly approved for road traffic.
The Bobbau network hub, which was rebuilt and expanded from 1998 to 2001, is located in the network of ONTRAS Gastransport GmbH, a subsidiary of Verbundnetz Gas AG. Six long-distance gas pipelines converge there and can be switched as needed. The compressor station maintains the gas to be transported at 55 bar, thus stabilizing the pressure level in the ONTRAS pipeline system.
In addition to on-site control, the plant’s degree of automation also enables remote monitoring and remote control from the Leipzig control center.
As a component of the Gas Network Development Plan, the MONACO long-distance natural gas pipeline from Burghausen to Finsing makes an active contribution to maintaining security of supply for Bavaria and the southern German region and to meeting the growing demand for gas transport capacity in Germany and Europe by connecting national and international pipeline systems. The commissioning took place in 2018.
In addition to providing heat, natural gas and its green substitutes are playing an increasingly important role in the transportation sector. Via the existing network, the gas reaches the filling stations directly, where it is also available to motor traffic. There, CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) can be easily refueled like the conventional raw materials diesel or gasoline.
Pipes that will later be used to build a gas pipeline are transported to their destination by train.
The compressor station in Dornstadt-Scharenstetten is an important transport hub in the terranets bw network. Commissioned 30 years ago, a fourth compressor unit was added to the plant in spring 2017, increasing the station’s capacity by about 30 percent. The next expansion stage will increase the capacity of the compressor station by a further 20 percent. To this end, one of the existing compressor units will be replaced in 2020/2021 with a modern, more powerful prime mover.
The compressor station in Blankenloch, near Karlsruhe, is located at an important junction. It ensures that the right pressure is maintained for gas transport in the Rheintal-Nord-Leitung 1, Rheintal-Nord-Leitung 3, Rheintal-Nord-Leitung 4, Rheintal-Süd-Leitung 1 and Schwaben-Leitung pipelines. The gas is compressed with the help of an electricity powered gas compressor and three gas powered gas compressors.
The compressor station in Blankenloch, near Karlsruhe, is located at an important junction. It ensures that the right pressure is maintained for gas transport in the Rheintal-Nord-Leitung 1, Rheintal-Nord-Leitung 3, Rheintal-Nord-Leitung 4, Rheintal-Süd-Leitung 1 and Schwaben-Leitung pipelines. The gas is compressed with the help of an electricity powered gas compressor and three gas powered gas compressors.
The photo shows the measurements of the electric-powered gas compressor.
Nowega GmbH’s dispatching headquarters are located in Münster. From there, the approximately 800-kilometer-long pipeline network and the connected natural gas storage facilities are monitored with the help of modern communications and information technology. The necessary data is transmitted to Münster via fiber optic and copper cables installed along the gas pipelines. The process control system, a special software, visualizes the measured values and system messages and enables electronic control via computer.
The so-called lateral construction caterpillars lower the pipeline into the trench excavated for this purpose. For this purpose, each side tree bead holds a loop in which the pipe. After laying in the trench, the loops are removed again. Trenchless methods such as microtunneling or direct pipe are also used for undercrossings of roads or rivers. Natural gas pipelines are mainly laid underground so that nature can be almost completely restored after pipeline construction.
When building natural gas pipelines, rivers also have to be crossed – in this case the Elbe for the construction of the EUGAL (European Gas Link Pipeline). Pipelines that run under water are called culverts. The Elbe culvert is 230 meters long and was laid in December 2018.
To ensure transport over long distances, natural gas is compressed to up to 100 bar. On the way to the consumer, the pressure is then reduced again to a few millibars overpressure. This pressure reduction requires a so-called gas pressure control and measuring system. This measures and regulates the gas volume flows and serves to safeguard the different operating pressures in the adjacent lines.
The Bobbau network hub, which was rebuilt and expanded from 1998 to 2001, is located in the network of Ontras, a subsidiary of VNG (Verbundnetz Gas AG). Six long-distance gas pipelines converge there and can be switched as needed. The compressor station maintains the gas to be transported at 55 bar, thus stabilizing the pressure level in the VNG pipeline system.
In addition to on-site control, the plant’s degree of automation also enables remote monitoring and remote control from the Leipzig control center.