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The New 328,000 sq.ft. (30,500 m2) Facility Houses Enerflex Manufacturing, Enerflex Power Systems and the Enerflex Systems Corporate Group
Technically it was autumn, this fine day on September 23, but the temperature stubbornly hovered
around 86ºF (30ºC) as P. John Aldred stepped forward to cut the wide, red and blue ribbon, his
spirits likely soaring with the mercury. With a snip of the scissors, the founder of Enerflex
Systems Ltd. (EFX), officially opened the new $38-million gas compression package manufacturing
facility in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, before a supportive crowd of 500 customers, suppliers and
staff members.
In his remarks to the crowd, Aldred recalled that when he established the company in
1980, EFX occupied a 200-sq.ft. (18.6 m2) shop offering compressor parts and service. Since
then, it has grown into a $314.5-million-a-year business with this new 328,000
sq.ft. (30,500 m2) facility housing Enerflex Manufacturing, Enerflex Power Systems and the Enerflex
Systems corporate group.
Enerflex Systems Ltd. is among the global market leaders in the custom design, manufacture,
servicing and leasing of compression systems for the production and processing of natural gas.
Reacting to customer demand and the changing requirements of the industry over the past 19 years,
Enerflex Systems pioneered and continuously advanced the design and engineering of modular, portable
compression and power generation systems. Part of Enerflex's Mission Statement states, "Our success
is measured by our customers' belief that they receive good value for their money." EFX's need for
an expanded facility illustrates the success with which it has achieved this objective. Not
only has the volume of its projects increased, but the scope of many of the projects has also grown.
"We needed to expand our working space," says Malcolm Cox, president and chief operating officer,
"to deal with our increased volume as well as the fact that many of our projects involved larger and
heavier pieces of equipment . . .
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Pyramid Corporation offers an extensive line of electrical and instrumentation products
The word 'pyramid' brings to mind an imposing structure with a substantial supporting base,
converging to a single point. Pyramid Corporation reflects that same image. Pyramid is an
electrical and instrumentation business whose operation encompasses all of Western and central
Canada, as well as the Northwest Territories, with an extensive and diverse product and service
offering that all culminate into a single objective—superior customer satisfaction.
"Whether it’s an oil and gas producing or compression facility in Western Canada, a diamond mine
in the Northwest Territories, a pulp and paper plant in Saskatchewan, an oriented strand board plant
in Alberta, or any type of industrial facility," says Don Basnett, president and chief executive
officer of Pyramid Corporation, "our goal is to exceed our client's expectations. Our business is
extremely competitive and the way we differentiate ourselves is by providing outstanding service to
our clients. Our network of 30 field offices, expertly-trained personnel and the availability of
service seven days a week, 24 hours a day, have been key drivers to our success over the past nine
years."
Pyramid has earned its success through a focused approach to the marketplace. It has channelled
its efforts into three distinct avenues to differentiate itself: providing exemplary service,
providing top-quality trained people, and specializing in one industry.
"The strength of our company is our locations," explains Basnett. "We have developed an extensive
network of field offices and staffed each one with high-performing employees. We have centralized our
manufacturing and fabrication facilities into a single site and have developed in-house expertise in
all manufacturing processes—from design through to final testing and delivery. Since we have all the
expertise in-house, we can exploit it to our client's advantage while minimizing the cost to the
project." Pyramid exclusively services the industrial and heavy industrial sectors. These sectors
include the petroleum, petrochemical, mining, wood products and industrial industries. How does Pyramid provide exemplary service to its clients? The first step
was to structure itself . . .
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Regardless of the direction from which you approach both the city and county of Red Deer, expansion and development are prominent everywhere. “Not only is the county open for business, we’re doing business,” says Gary Buchanan, director of community and planning services. “We’ve experienced a growth rate of four per cent over last year, and expect the county’s population to top 18,000 by year end.”
The county encompasses 4,042 square kilometres, stretching south of Bowden, north to the Blindman
River, east to the Red Deer River, and almost to Caroline in the west. In all, there are 60
residential and eight industrial/commercial subdivisions, four towns, two villages, two summer
villages, seven hamlets and eight trailer parks in Red Deer County.
“Several new businesses were established in the county during the past year,” says Buchanan.
“Leon’s Furniture Warehouse & Showroom, Scott’s Parable Christian Bookstore, and Uncle Ben's RV &
Auto Centre are now open. These stores are located in Gasoline Alley.”
Gasoline Alley is a stretch of road along Highway 2, south of the City of Red Deer where numerous
service stations and restaurants are located. Many of these have recently completed expansions or
renovations to accommodate the growing number of travelers along Highway 2. New businesses are also
locating in this prime location with its abundant exposure and easy access.
Two new industrial parks are currently under construction near Gasoline Alley with many lots
presold. Demand for rural industrial land remains strong. Businesses continue to be attracted to
the county because of lower taxes, available transportation facilities, and a central location within
the province.
Complementing these advantages is the availability of trained employees. Red Deer College is
celebrating 20 years of offering apprenticeship programs in nine major trades . . .
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Aerzen Model VRa 736 L Installed at Martin Hills Gas Plant to Pre-Boost Feed Gas
“We spend countless hours searching the Internet, calling various equipment vendors and
manufacturers from all over the world, looking for a solution,” said Dale Schmidt, senior project
engineer for BP Canada Energy Company. “We found many potential solutions, but each had limitations
that pre-empted their use, since our requirements were so specific. It wasn’t until the Calgary
Petroleum Show in 2000 that we found something that would work.”
The Martin Hills gas plant is located 62 mi. (100 km) east of Slave Lake in Alberta, Canada. The
plant comprises three 1100 hp (820 kW) Superior reciprocating booster compressors for low-pressure gas,
feeding 14 reciprocating units used for sales gas compression, followed by a dehydration and gas
sweetening train. The three booster compressors are single-stage, while the sales gas compressors
are configured for two-stage compression. High-pressure gas enters inter-stream between the boosters
and the sales gas units.
Over the years, field pressure for low-pressure gas has been dropping. It’s now at a point where
the three reciprocating boosters are operating at minimum suction pressure, resulting in very high
discharge temperatures. During summer when ambient temperature is high, these compressors often run
close to their maximum discharge temperature. As well, the compressors have increased vibration
because of low suction pressure. Although many options were investigated (such as re-staging the
boosters), none provided a suitable solution. “We felt the best option was to place a booster
compressor before the three reciprocating units,” explains Schmidt. “We’d increase the pressure of
the gas feeding the three reciprocating machines, allowing them to operate closer to design.” To do so, many operational requirements had to be met. First was processing. The low-pressure
stream requires compression for 706,300 actual cubic feet per hour (20,000
m3/hr), with pressures for suction of 3 psig
(21 kpag/.21 bar) and discharge of 29 psig (200 kpag/2.0 bar). This means that a new booster
compressor would be processing high gas flows with a comparatively low compression ratio. As well,
while the stream is generally methane, the compressor must be capable of handling 60 ppm H2S
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