Crestwood utilizes GE’s APM to increase availability

You hear a lot of talk about extracting natural gas from shale fields. But once all that valuable fuel is above ground, what’s the best way to get it to market quickly, efficiently, and safely? That’s the job of companies like Crestwood Midstream.

A generation ago, nobody could have predicted that the Marcellus shale natural gas reserves would have enough gas to last 100 years. Now that region is a major gas supplier to the Northeastern United States. Today, Crestwood Midstream and GE are embarking on a co-creation journey to customize systems that can predict the performance of Crestwood’s Waukesha power-producing engines, improving their efficiency, availability, and cost profiles.

Crestwood uses its energy to compress and ship gas to large utility and industrial customers. The rail and pipeline delivery business is very competitive. This new operating culture will lower costs and increase availability, helping the company bid more competitively to win more business, while also increasing margins.

What’s the information engine behind this ambitious plan? Crestwood’s Waukesha engines themselves. Sensors and monitors on the engines feed real-time facts to a customized version of GE’s Predix Asset Performance Management (APM) software. Using historical performance data, current conditions, and Crestwood’s power needs, the system identifies potential problems before they happen, reducing unscheduled downtime. Shifting to data-based decision making also increases service intervals, reducing scheduled downtime as well.

Flexibility and customization increase this APM solution’s effectiveness. Unlike standard, off-the-shelf products, GE and Crestwood have co-created a dynamic watch-and-manage system focused on the key performance indicators that make the most sense for Crestwood’s operations, such as:

• Uninterrupted gas gathering
• Enhanced performance and increased availability
• Compressor package performance and health visibility
• Management update readiness

Initial results as the project ramps up are so encouraging that Crestwood is comfortable forecasting an 8% availability increase and up to a 10% operating cost decrease.