Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline, Inc. (Southern Star), a United States-based interstate natural gas pipeline company, and Cooper Machinery Services (Cooper), an Arcline Investment Management portfolio company, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to initiate a joint hydrogen research project aimed at converting Southern Star’s fleet of gas-fired reciprocating integral engines to hybrid gas-hydrogen engines.
This enterprise will be a pioneer in hydrogen development, laying the groundwork for future hydrogen expansion in the gas compression industry.
Cooper and Southern Star will begin modifying a Cooper-Bessemer GMVH-12 compressor station in Hugoton, Kansas in Q1 2022 to run on a mixture of hydrogen and natural gas. Cooper’s HyperBalance IVTM system will be installed on the engine to monitor pressures, collect data, and assure the safety of the equipment during the test. Southern Star and Cooper intend to power the engine with a hydrogen mixture of up to 10%. Both Southern Star and Cooper will give engineering support and will make data available to the industry whenever it is available.
“We are excited to partner with Cooper Machinery for this innovative hydrogen blending pilot program. Their technical expertise and support will help us maximize the potential use of hydrogen blends on our system. The success of this venture will give a baseline of future opportunities for hydrogen for all stakeholders in the energy industry,” said Jimmy Staton, Southern Star President & CEO.
“Cooper has been working on green environmental technology for some time and recently launched an official hydrogen initiative,” said Cooper CEO John Sargent. “We are excited to partner with a forward-leaning and visionary organization like Southern Star who understands the necessity of our industry to embrace hydrogen and reduce its overall carbon footprint. Cooper began offering ‘clean’ technology on our engine-compressors in the 1970’s, and we have converted thousands of engines to some degree of green technology over the years including many to the 0.5 Grams of NOx level. Our Cooper engines can run on up to 10% hydrogen with minimal modifications.”
