52,000 hp injects 70 billion cu. ft. of gas for underground storage

Southern California Gas Co.'s Aliso Canyon injection/withdrawal station, likely the world's largest underground natural gas storage facility, is now operational. The facility expects by 1975 to be storing some 70 billion cu ft of gas. To inject such a large volume of natural gas into Aliso Canyon's deep (to 8,000 ft) underground storage stratas, more than 52,500 hp will be on line when, in April 1974, the plant marks its first operational year. Already on line are six 2000-hp Ingersoll-Rand 512 KVS, 12-cylinder, 4-stroke cycle reciprocating engines with 2-stage integral compressors. Currently, they are daily injecting about 125 Mcf of natural gas into deep strata storage at from 2,000 to 2,400 psig. The 6 gas engine compressors represent 12,000 hp of the facility's total. Daily injection capacity will be more than tripled to 450 Mcf with addition of 3 GE/Dresser Clark gas turbine compressor packages, each rated 12,500 hp and adding another 37,500 hp to the total. The 3 gas turbine-powered compressors will boost injection pressure to 3,500 psig, which is the underground storage field's ultimate design pressure.