The thesis is concerned with multi-criteria evaluation of alternatives of modernization of compressor station for natural gas. This thesis is divided into practical part and theoretical part. The theoretical part will introduce historical development of the gas industry and the current state of the gas network in our country. The following describes a method for operating a compressor station, its technology units and existing operational processes. The theoretical part is a chapter that describes methods of multi-criteria evaluation of alternatives and a way of specifying the methods suitable for constructing weights of the criteria. The fifth chapter contains an application example, the aim of which is to choose the suitable way of modernization of the compressor station that would meet the requirements of planned projects. Creating recommendations for the management of the company fulfilled the goal of this thesis.

Gas supplying process for consumers needs sufficient share of energy for upstream, midstream and downstream purposes. In spite of a huge amount of great investments into the industry it is still available to improve the efficiency of energy usage inside the industry. The biggest share of energy consumption is within transportation sector. Optimization of operating conditions of gas pipeline is a one of the cheapest ways for reducing energy consumption. Optimization doesn’t need any investments into the industry. It works only within operating parameters. Adjustable operating parameters of a gas pipeline are operative pressure, rotation speed of compressors, amount of operating units, gas temperature after a compressor station and others. The energy consumption depends on the combination of the parameters which determine an appropriate operation mode to provide the particular gas flow through a pipeline, the maximum capacity, the minimum energy consumption and others. From energy saving point of view it is possible to reduce energy demand in the gas industry due to optimization of the operation mode. A few approaches to achieving energy reduction through optimization are investigated in this work and presented in this article, such as saving energy through changing of loading between compressor stations, varying the depth of gas cooling and changing the loading of gas pumping units. The results of analyzing inside the study model reflect the possibility for improving efficiency of gas trunk pipelines.

With hydrogen playing a major role for reaching net zero emissions, the main challenge will be the integration of the energy carrier. This includes solutions for storage, production and transportation of the gas. Alternatives for hydrogen transportation could include either train, truck or boat. However, the current most economical and promising technology is pipeline transmission, especially in northern Sweden, with new green projects suchas H2 Green Steel and HYBRIT. They will create a market that needs a hydrogen infrastructure, which hydrogen pipelines could provide. This thesis will cover a techno-economic evaluation of hydrogen piping, involving material, compressor technology and pipeline dimensions. Hydrogen is briefy covered in its main production, applications and transportation options in the beginning of the thesis. This will ultimately converge into a in-depth analysis of hydrogen piping. This analysis includes alternatives for compressors, materials for pipes and main technical challenges. The gathered information concluded that hydrogen transport will most likely use either reciprocating or centrifugal compressors. Centrifugal compressors have the advantage of managing high gas flows, and the reciprocating compressors are mature and have a high capacity for pressure. For materials, embrittlement is the main challenge when transporting hydrogen gas, and standard ASME B31.12 provides current directions for hydrogen piping. A yield strength of 30% is required in the material, to compensate for hydrogen’s attributes. Generally the higher the strength of the material, the higher the risk of embrittlement and pipe damage. Careful selection has to be made in termsof micro structure, strength and coating to minimise leakage. To realise how hydrogen infrastructure could be constructed, three scenarios where created. These scenarios were based on assumptions and article values to best illustrate future hydrogen transportation. Main scenario settings include a pressure ratio of Pratio < 1.5, and length between compressors of maximum 135km. These assumptions help keep fnal results within a reasonable dimensions. The results from the initial calculations yielded an optimal diameter of 0.35m for Scenario A. At this diameter, an operational pressure of 85 bar and one compressor with 40 MWe optimally transported the gas. With compressor cost decreasing as pipe cost increases, a trade of in price is found at the lowest cost. For a higher diameter, optimising fow resulted in a lower OP, and a lower power consumption for compressors. Scenario B resulted in a diameter of 0.3 m, an OP of 150 bar, four compressors for a total of 405 km pipes. The lowest possible diameter yielded the lowest cost. If other factors are to be considered, a larger diameter could be used for a lower OP, thus reducing stress on material and compressors. Comparison with electricity (Scenario C) mainly resulted in a higher CAPEX for Hydrogen infrastructure, but a lower transmission cost per MWe per km. This concludes that hydrogen piping is better suited for carrying the energy, due to the large decrease in transfer cost. Finally, for material selection low strength carbonsteels are currently the best alternative for transportation of hydrogen. This is due to its commercial use, good composition, high strength and availability.