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Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fossil fuel substitute for gasoline, diesel fuel and propane. The Ningxia Huashang Natural Gas Co., Ltd. (NHNG), based in the Ningxia region of northwest China has a CNG sub-station at Ninxia's Guyuan bus terminal.
CNG station
In 2011 Atlas Copco supplied an energy saving VIP-HE2-27 CNG compressor to the gas station.
Initially NHNG installed domestic compressor brands to minimize investment costs when financing the CNG sub-station, but experienced extremely high energy costs. “After several years of development and a sharp increase in sales of natural gas, we became increasingly aware how important safety and energy-saving are to a CNG gas station,” relates General Manager Wang Jianguo.
According to our calculations, savings on electricity since then are enough to finance another unit.
Up to 60,000 cubic meters of gas per day
At CIPPE 2011 in Beijing in March 2011, the unique features of Atlas Copco's VIP-HE2-27 frequency inverting CNG compressor attracted NHNG's attention and they invested in this solution. While the output of the VIP-HE2-27 is almost twice that of the other brands, it consumes only two-thirds of the power with a maximum inlet pressure of 15 bars, and can fill up to 60,000 cubic meters of natural gas each day, which similar products cannot match.
Atlas Copco's advanced product selection system for CNG compressing products makes it easy to choose the right solution and achieve maximum energy savings. The customer enters the required operating parameters into the program and a correct product match is generated by the software.
Multi-level alarm system
Safety is a top priority at the CNG gas station. Atlas Copco CNG compressors are equipped with a multi-level alarm system for pressure, temperature, liquid level and density of the natural gas, and other parameters.
Another advantage of Atlas Copco’s VIP-HE2-27 CNG compressor is its compact, space-saving design. Developed by Atlas Copco, a number of the components have been awarded international patents, including the maintenance-free and integrated sewage tank.
Natural gas replacing vehicle fuels in China
Clive Song, Business Line Manager, Oil-Free Air, Atlas Copco: “Projects to replace vehicle fuels with natural gas are being implemented throughout China. With the increased demand, our innovative and energy saving CNG gas compressors have a lot of potential for meeting customers' needs in the future. We are grateful to have the opportunity to serve excellent partners like NHNG.”
Written by Jeff Ren
