Central Area Transmission System
Encyclopedia
The Central Area Transmission System (also known as CATS pipeline) is a natural gas transportation system from the Central North Sea
to Teesside
in England
.
. The CATS pipeline was completed in 1993, receiving gas from two of Amoco's fields: Everest and Lomond, now owned by BG
. Further processing facilities were added in 1997. Plans for the site began from the discovery of BP
's Lomond field in May 1972. In addition, other fields were discovered in the Central Graben Area of the North Sea.
In July 2007, the CATS pipeline was damaged by the anchor of the vessel 'Young Lady'. The pipeline was shut-in for two months.
operated Everest gasfield
in the Central North Sea, some 230 kilometres (142.9 mi) east of Aberdeen
, to Teesside in England. The pipeline reaches the shore at Coatham Sands near Redcar
where it meets a Beach Valve Station. The gas travels under the River Tees
in a 5 miles (8 km) long pipeline to the gas terminal.
The CATS pipeline was originally conceived to carry natural gas from the Everest and Lomond fields and was built oversized to accommodate future production from fields in the surrounding area. The CATS pipeline now transports gas from other fields such as Fleming, Judy, Jade, Maria et al through six connection points, known as 'tees' (T1 to T6), and seven CATS hubs.
The pipeline has a diameter of 36 inches (914.4 mm) and a capacity of 17.5 billion cubic meter (bcm) of natural gas per year. The outside of the pipe is coated in concrete.
has a 51.18% interest in the CATS pipeline. Other partners of the pipeline are Hess Corporation
(17.72%), ConocoPhillips
(0.66%), Eni
(0.34%), Total
(0.57%) and BP (29.53%). The operator is BP.
(borough of Stockton on Tees) on the North Sea
coast. It is not just a storage facility, but processes the gas, about 12% of the North Sea's production. It is situated in the middle of Teesmouth's petrochemical area, between an oil terminal to the north, and a chemical works and the Teesside Oil Refinery
(to the south).
cold finger
regeneration system. One unit passes through a turboexpander
and the other through a Joule-Thomson Valve
which reduces the pressure.
In the Low Temperature Separator, gas plant also produces the natural gas liquids
propane
, butane
and liquid oil products (also known as natural gas condensate
). These are fed into a fractionation system with a stabiliser column
(where methane and ethane
are removed), a de-propaniser and a de-butaniser.
The NGLs are transported by pipeline to petrochemical companies in the Teesmouth area. The propane and butane goes to the Phillips Norsea plant, and the condensate goes to Sabic North Tees on the former ICI
site at Wilton and to the Tees Storage site owned by Vopak
in Seal Sands.
) 1875MW Teesside power station
next to the former ICI plant at Wilton, Redcar and Cleveland
.
, and eventually enters the National Transmission System
. It follows a four-mile (6 km) NTS feeder pipe to a pressure reduction station at Cowpen Bewley
in Stockton-on-Tees
, where gas can enter the Regional Transmission System. Further along the NTS feeder pipe, the gas enters the National Transmission System
at Bishop Auckland
.
The site has two tall chimneys and one taller flare stack
. The site belongs to the Teesmouth Industry and Wildlife Partnership.
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
to Teesside
Teesside
Teesside is the name given to the conurbation in the north east of England made up of the towns of Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar, Billingham and surrounding settlements near the River Tees. It was also the name of a local government district between 1968 and 1974—the County Borough of...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
History
The receiving terminal site for the system was built between 1990 and 1993. It was originally run by AmocoAmoco
Amoco Corporation, originally Standard Oil Company , was a global chemical and oil company, founded in 1889 around a refinery located in Whiting, Indiana, United States....
. The CATS pipeline was completed in 1993, receiving gas from two of Amoco's fields: Everest and Lomond, now owned by BG
BG
- Companies and organizations :* British Government, the government of the United Kingdom* Bergdorf Goodman BG.com, department store on 5th Avenue, New York* Biman Bangladesh Airlines IATA airline code* Bord Gáis, Bord Gáis Éireann, the Irish Gas Board...
. Further processing facilities were added in 1997. Plans for the site began from the discovery of BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
's Lomond field in May 1972. In addition, other fields were discovered in the Central Graben Area of the North Sea.
In July 2007, the CATS pipeline was damaged by the anchor of the vessel 'Young Lady'. The pipeline was shut-in for two months.
Route
The pipeline runs from CATS Riser Platform adjacent to the BG GroupBG Group
BG Group plc is a global oil and gas company headquartered in Reading, United Kingdom. It has operations in 25 countries across Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, North America and South America and produces around 680,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. It has a major Liquefied Natural Gas ...
operated Everest gasfield
Everest gasfield
The Everest gasfield is located in the Central North Sea, east of Aberdeen, Scotland. It lies in the United Kingdom Continental Shelf blocks 22/9, 22/10a and 22/14a. The gasfield was discovered by Amoco in 1982 with first gas produced in 1993. Until 2009, the field was operated by BP...
in the Central North Sea, some 230 kilometres (142.9 mi) east of Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
, to Teesside in England. The pipeline reaches the shore at Coatham Sands near Redcar
Redcar
Redcar is a seaside resort in the north east of England, and a major town in the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire. It lies east-northeast of Middlesbrough by the North Sea coast...
where it meets a Beach Valve Station. The gas travels under the River Tees
River Tees
The River Tees is in Northern England. It rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines, and flows eastwards for 85 miles to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar.-Geography:...
in a 5 miles (8 km) long pipeline to the gas terminal.
The CATS pipeline was originally conceived to carry natural gas from the Everest and Lomond fields and was built oversized to accommodate future production from fields in the surrounding area. The CATS pipeline now transports gas from other fields such as Fleming, Judy, Jade, Maria et al through six connection points, known as 'tees' (T1 to T6), and seven CATS hubs.
Technical description
404 kilometres (251 mi) long natural gas pipelineThe pipeline has a diameter of 36 inches (914.4 mm) and a capacity of 17.5 billion cubic meter (bcm) of natural gas per year. The outside of the pipe is coated in concrete.
Ownership
BG GroupBG Group
BG Group plc is a global oil and gas company headquartered in Reading, United Kingdom. It has operations in 25 countries across Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, North America and South America and produces around 680,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. It has a major Liquefied Natural Gas ...
has a 51.18% interest in the CATS pipeline. Other partners of the pipeline are Hess Corporation
Hess Corporation
The Hess Corporation is an integrated oil company based in New York City. The company explores, produces, transports, and refines crude oil and natural gas. Vertically completing the logistical chain, about 1,360 Hess branded filling stations market gasoline to consumers in 16 states along the...
(17.72%), ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips Company is an American multinational energy corporation with its headquarters located in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas in the United States...
(0.66%), Eni
Eni
Eni S.p.A. is an Italian multinational oil and gas company, present in 70 countries, and currently Italy's largest industrial company with a market capitalization of 87.7 billion euros , as of July 24, 2008...
(0.34%), Total
Total S.A.
Total S.A. is a French multinational oil company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world.Its businesses cover the entire oil and gas chain, from crude oil and natural gas exploration and production to power generation, transportation, refining, petroleum product marketing, and...
(0.57%) and BP (29.53%). The operator is BP.
CATS Terminal
The Central Area Transmission System Terminal (also known as the CATS Terminal) is the connection point and processing facility for the CATS pipeline. It is based in Teesmouth at Seal SandsSeal Sands
Seal Sands is a 294.37 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Cleveland, England, notified in 1966.Situated in the mouth of the River Tees next to Greatham Creek and Seaton-on-Tees Channel, and accessible from the A178 road running between Seaton Carew and Port Clarence.- Source...
(borough of Stockton on Tees) on the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
coast. It is not just a storage facility, but processes the gas, about 12% of the North Sea's production. It is situated in the middle of Teesmouth's petrochemical area, between an oil terminal to the north, and a chemical works and the Teesside Oil Refinery
Teesside Refinery
The Conocophillips oil and gas Refinery, sometimes referred to as Teesside Refinery, is situated just south of Seaton Carew on the River Tees in north east England....
(to the south).
Gas processing
The gas terminal processes about 34 million standard cubic metres of natural gas a day in two units. The gas is dried in dehydration towers with a triethylene glycolTriethylene glycol
Triethylene glycol, TEG, or triglycol is a colorless odorless viscous liquid with molecular formula HOCH2CH2OCH2CH2OCH2CH2OH. It is used as a plasticizer for vinyl. It is also used in air sanitizer products, such as "Oust" or "Clean and Pure." When aerosolized it acts as a disinfectant...
cold finger
Cold finger
A cold finger is a piece of laboratory equipment that is used to generate a localized cold surface. It is named for its resemblance to a finger as is a type of cold trap....
regeneration system. One unit passes through a turboexpander
Turboexpander
A turboexpander, also referred to as a turbo-expander or an expansion turbine, is a centrifugal or axial flow turbine through which a high pressure gas is expanded to produce work that is often used to drive a compressor....
and the other through a Joule-Thomson Valve
Joule–Thomson effect
In thermodynamics, the Joule–Thomson effect or Joule–Kelvin effect or Kelvin–Joule effect describes the temperature change of a gas or liquid when it is forced through a valve or porous plug while kept insulated so that no heat is exchanged with the environment. This procedure is called a...
which reduces the pressure.
In the Low Temperature Separator, gas plant also produces the natural gas liquids
Natural gas processing
Natural-gas processing is a complex industrial process designed to clean raw natural gas by separating impurities and various non-methane hydrocarbons and fluids to produce what is known as pipeline quality dry natural gas.-Background:...
propane
Propane
Propane is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula , normally a gas, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used as a fuel for engines, oxy-gas torches, barbecues, portable stoves, and residential central...
, butane
Butane
Butane is a gas with the formula C4H10 that is an alkane with four carbon atoms. The term may refer to any of two structural isomers, or to a mixture of them: in the IUPAC nomenclature, however, butane refers only to the unbranched n-butane isomer; the other one being called "methylpropane" or...
and liquid oil products (also known as natural gas condensate
Natural gas condensate
Natural-gas condensate is a low-density mixture of hydrocarbon liquids that are present as gaseous components in the raw natural gas produced from many natural gas fields....
). These are fed into a fractionation system with a stabiliser column
Stabilizer (chemistry)
In chemistry a stabilizer is a chemical which tends to inhibit the reaction between two or more other chemicals. It can be thought of as the antonym to a catalyst...
(where methane and ethane
Ethane
Ethane is a chemical compound with chemical formula C2H6. It is the only two-carbon alkane that is an aliphatic hydrocarbon. At standard temperature and pressure, ethane is a colorless, odorless gas....
are removed), a de-propaniser and a de-butaniser.
The NGLs are transported by pipeline to petrochemical companies in the Teesmouth area. The propane and butane goes to the Phillips Norsea plant, and the condensate goes to Sabic North Tees on the former ICI
Imperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries was a British chemical company, taken over by AkzoNobel, a Dutch conglomerate, one of the largest chemical producers in the world. In its heyday, ICI was the largest manufacturing company in the British Empire, and commonly regarded as a "bellwether of the British...
site at Wilton and to the Tees Storage site owned by Vopak
Vopak
Royal Vopak N.V. is a Dutch company that stores and handles various oil and natural gas-related products. The company was created by the merger of Van Ommeren and Pakhoed in 1999. In 2002, the distribution of oil and natural gas related products was split off; a new company Univar was created for...
in Seal Sands.
px terminal
Since 1999, gas that is not processed by the CATS Terminal goes to the plant next-door owned by px Ltd. Also some of this gas goes through the px Ltd plant to the (former EnronEnron
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, Enron employed approximately 22,000 staff and was one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas, communications, and pulp and paper companies, with...
) 1875MW Teesside power station
Teesside power station
Teesside Power Station is a partially mothballed gas-fired power station, in Redcar & Cleveland, England. Situated near the Wilton chemical complex, the station has combined cycle gas turbines and open cycle gas turbines , however in 2011 the operation of the CCGT part of the station was suspended...
next to the former ICI plant at Wilton, Redcar and Cleveland
Wilton, Redcar and Cleveland
Wilton is a small village in the unitary authority of Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England.-Geography:It is located between Redcar and Eston at the base of Eston Hills - to the east of Eston Nab. The village is noted for its golf course and castle, Wilton...
.
Distribution
The natural gas is metered, removed of hydrogen sulphideHydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless, very poisonous, flammable gas with the characteristic foul odor of expired eggs perceptible at concentrations as low as 0.00047 parts per million...
, and eventually enters the National Transmission System
National Transmission System
The National Transmission System is the network of large-diameter gas pipelines throughout the United Kingdom that supply gas to 40 power stations from natural gas terminals situated on the coast, and also gas distribution companies which lead indirectly to homes.-Similarity to the National...
. It follows a four-mile (6 km) NTS feeder pipe to a pressure reduction station at Cowpen Bewley
Cowpen Bewley
Cowpen Bewley is a village within the borough of Stockton-on-Tees and ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It is situated to the east of Billingham....
in Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees (borough)
Stockton-on-Tees is a unitary authority area and borough in the Tees Valley area of north east England, with a population in 2001 of 178,408, rising to 185,880 in 2005 estimates....
, where gas can enter the Regional Transmission System. Further along the NTS feeder pipe, the gas enters the National Transmission System
National Transmission System
The National Transmission System is the network of large-diameter gas pipelines throughout the United Kingdom that supply gas to 40 power stations from natural gas terminals situated on the coast, and also gas distribution companies which lead indirectly to homes.-Similarity to the National...
at Bishop Auckland
Bishop Auckland
Bishop Auckland is a market town and civil parish in County Durham in north east England. It is located about northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham at the confluence of the River Wear with its tributary the River Gaunless...
.
The site has two tall chimneys and one taller flare stack
Gas flare
A gas flare, alternatively known as a flare stack, is an elevated vertical conveyance found accompanying the presence of oil wells, gas wells, rigs, refineries, chemical plants, natural gas plants, and landfills....
. The site belongs to the Teesmouth Industry and Wildlife Partnership.