I N N O V AT I O N S • J A N U A R Y - M A R C H 2 0 1 4
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Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), which
enables the user to program the remote automated
launch of 7 to 10 spheres sequentially at designated
times and intervals, optimizing routine maintenance
and helping to avoid costly operating interruptions
caused when impurities build up.
Because the AutoSphere can be controlled from
a distance, workforce requirements decline.
But those aren’t the only savings possible. The
AutoSphere can also significantly lower carbon
emissions, Zellou says.
“Loading seven pigs at a time means the closure is
opened once, not seven times. That reduces carbon
emissions by 85 percent. If 10 spheres are loaded, the
reduction in emissions is 90 percent,” he explains.
T.D. Williamson’s San Antonio, TX, Service
Center is already fully inventoried to equip
customers in the Eagle Ford. A similar ramp-
up is expected to take place in the Burgettstown,
PA, Service Center for Marcellus Shale
customers. Customer support involves a full
slate of operational and maintenance services,
including installation guidance and supervision,
commissioning, training, pigs and spare part
inventory maintenance, development of a pigging
program, even operation.
“As it increases flow efficiency while reducing
manpower requirements and lowering safety risks,
the AutoSphere can save our customers money.
The service we provide together with the product
eliminates the customer’s risk of operating the
automated unit and helps to increase the efficiency
of pigging,” Kondratieva says.
Saving customers money is always a plus –
but the AutoSphere takes things a step further,
Zellou points out.
“By allowing the capture of NGLs, we’re helping
them make money,” he concludes.
That represents an even greater victory on the
front lines of global shale production.
THE SHALE BOOM IS TIPPING THE GLOBAL TRADE
BALANCE IN FAVOR OF THE UNITED STATES.
That’s according to Abdel Zellou, T.D. Williamson’s
Director of Market Development, Gathering and Midstream,
who cites a recent International Energy Agency (IEA) report.
One example is how the shale gas boom is changing
the competitive landscape for participants in the chemicals
industry value chain. The growth of affordable natural
gas liquids (NGL) that are feedstock for the domestic
petrochemical industry has given domestic manufacturers
of downstream products greater access to low cost raw
materials, which is reducing the cost of manufactured goods.
As a result, the United States is becoming less dependent
upon imported products.
The shale boom has also given the United States an
overall energy price advantage over both Europe and Japan,
Zellou added.
“Natural gas in the United States currently trades at
one-third of import prices to Europe and one-fifth of those
to Japan,” he explained. “Average Japanese or European
industrial consumers pay more than twice as much for
electricity as their counterparts in the United States, and
even China’s industry pays almost double the US level.”
Although shale activity hasn’t yet eliminated the US
need for imported oil, within a few decades, it could.
“Because of shale, the United States, which has long been
the world’s leading consumer of oil, could by 2020 surpass
both Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest producer,”
Zellou explained. “What’s more, by 2030, the IEA thinks North
America, as a whole, could become a net oil exporter.”
Zellou sees worldwide energy demand and development
shifting as India’s population grows. In 10 years or so, India’s
population will surpass that of China, and so will its energy
needs. In addition, new frontiers in shale development are
being explored, from the UK to Indonesia.
“As gathering systems are developed overseas, our
vision is to be involved in supplying energy to the world.
T.D. Williamson isn’t just looking at tomorrow. The question
is, ‘
How can we help our customers capture the globe?
’”
Zellou said.
Capturing the Globe
