Powering innovation in Algeria’s oil sector
Italian generator set experts Coelmo helped one of Algeria’s leading oil companies refine its production processes with a bespoke generator solution supported by Perkins® 4006-23TAG3A engines.
Oil production is a fundamental building block in Algeria’s economy. With significant oil reserves lying within its borders, the sector accounts for nearly 35 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and around two thirds of total exports (OPEC Annual Statistical Bulletin 2017).
It’s a competitive and fast-evolving sector where ambitious oil businesses can benefit greatly from embracing new methods of production.
For one of the country’s leading oil companies, multi-phase pumping has become an increasingly important part of its operations.
The technique allows the business to handle the complete production of oil from a well without needing to separate production processes near or at the wellhead.
Drilling into new opportunities
Streamlining production in this way helps reduce the capital costs associated with installing surface facilities such as separators, dehydrators, heater-treaters and pipes. These cost savings make it more likely that new oil fields can be developed in remote locations while also making previously uneconomical fields more viable.
Since the need to run surface equipment and machinery is reduced, the impact on the environment is also reduced.
With so many convincing reasons to expand the use of multi-phase pumping, the company took the decision to do so.
The business sought the expertise of Italian generator set experts Coelmo, with whom it already had a trusted and established relationship. It asked the company to devise a generator solution to provide baseload power for its expanded multi-phase pumping operations.
With their experience of designing and manufacturing generator sets since 1946, the power experts were well-equipped to help. Today, the company conceives and builds everything from industrial and marine generating sets to lighting towers, DC variable speed, hybrid and full hybrid systems.
“Our advanced design and manufacturing engineering capabilities allow us to develop dedicated products for industrial, residential, oil and gas, construction, telecoms, military and NGO applications – all sold through dealers worldwide.”
Noemi Vitulano, Coelmo Marketing Manager
Reliability in extreme environments
When presented with a detailed technical specification for the work, Coelmo’s experienced technical team devised a solution comprising 12 Coelmo generator sets, each of which is powered by a Perkins® 4006-23TAG3A engine.
The Perkins® 4000 Series is designed to meet the uncompromising demands of the power generation industry. Its 4006-23TAG3A units are turbocharged and air-to-air chargecooled, providing economical and durable operation, excellent power-to-weight ratio and load acceptance, all alongside the proven reliability and performance expected by power generation customers.
With a requirement to reliably operate in working temperatures of up to 55°C, Coelmo knew it could trust Perkins engines, which are built and tested to deliver in the most extreme conditions.
To further safeguard the reliable operation of the generator sets and keep them fully protected in the field, the Coelmo team installed the units inside robust 20 foot containers.
With each generator able to supply 800 kVA, Coelmo’s solution provides all the power, quality and reliability the customer needs to meet its baseload requirement for multi-phase pumping operations.
Mr Vitulano added: “We selected Perkins as our engine of choice for the generator set because the company clearly supplies the best combination of quality and cost anywhere in the market.”
The oil company’s generator sets have been in operation since the end of 2017 and will be called on to provide 4,500 hours of dependable power every year. Coelmo’s solution, powered by Perkins, will help the business continue to thrive in a fast-moving, ever-competitive global oil market.