Northern to replace four aging compressors

The Paullina compressor station is about five miles south of Paullina, Iowa. (Map: FERC.)

Northern Natural Gas Company plans to replace four aging compressors at its Paullina compressor station in Cherokee County, Iowa, according to documents filed with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The compressor station currently uses five aging Ingersoll Rand gas-fired reciprocating compressors with a total capacity of 4400 hp. The company plans to spend $29.5 million to replace the four units with two 2500 hp Caterpillar 3608TA gas-fired reciprocating compressors, for a total capacity of 5000 hp.

The project will improve emissions from the facility and boost reliability. The new compressor units will operate more more efficiently than the existing units and maintain the station’s equivalent designed capacity, Northern said.

The Paullina compressor station is about five miles south of Paullina Iowa. Northern operates an interstate natural gas pipeline network that extends from the Permian Basin to the upper Midwest. The network includes 55 compressor stations, 14,600 miles of natural gas pipelines and has a capacity of 6.3 Bcf/d.