China’s first shale gas gathering and transmission station, the Baitao Gathering and Transmission Station, has achieved 10 consecutive years of safe and stable production, cumulatively pipeline-transmitting over 45.5 billion cubic meters of shale gas, benefiting more than 70 large and medium-sized cities, thousands of enterprises, and over 200 million households along the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
Located in the Baitao Industrial Park, Fuling District, Chongqing, the Baitao Gathering and Transmission Station is the final station in the first phase of the Fuling Shale Gas Field’s capacity construction and the largest commercial gas export station from the Fuling Shale Gas Field. The station has two dehydration stations with a total of six dehydration units, undertaking 70% of the shale gas gathering, processing, and export tasks, with an annual processing capacity of 6 billion cubic meters.
Fuling shale gas has a methane content of over 98%, making it a clean and efficient fossil energy source, but it still requires deep dehydration treatment before being transported to downstream users through pipelines. The Baitao Gathering and Transportation Station employs a triethylene glycol solvent absorption method for dehydration. The main unit consists of three skids: an absorption skid, a regeneration skid, and a solution storage tank skid. It is currently one of the most technologically advanced, fully equipped, and highly automated dehydration systems in China.
To ensure safe and stable operation, the Baitao Gathering and Transportation Station focuses on daily equipment inspection and maintenance. Utilising information technology, it monitors equipment operation 24/7 and routinely conducts activities such as “I Diagnose Safety,” “Five Things I’m Most Concerned About,” and “Special Inspections of Low-Quality, Ageing, and Malfunctioning Equipment.” This has resulted in safe, stable, long-term, full-capacity, and high-quality equipment operation, with ten consecutive years of zero accidents, zero injuries, and zero pollution. The station has successively won titles such as National Worker Pioneer and National “Safety and Health Cup” Competition Winning Team.
Multiphase pump for shale gas transport >>>
The natural gas produced here is sulfur-free, has higher thermal efficiency than conventional natural gas, and meets the national Class I gas standard. A portion is used by local residents and industrial enterprises, while the vast majority, after being pressurised at the booster station, is transported along the Sichuan-East Gas Pipeline to East and Central China, reaching as far as Shanghai, becoming raw material for industrial production lines and fueling the fires on ordinary households’ stoves.
As of now, the Baitao Gathering and Transmission Station has a daily processing capacity of 16.5 million cubic meters, enough to supply 30 million households daily, making a positive contribution to ensuring national energy security and building a beautiful China.
(Source: China National Radio)
