Sapphire Technologies designs, develops and manufactures highly engineered FreeSpin® In-line Turboexpanders (FIT) for natural gas processing and distribution systems. The FIT extracts energy from the pressure reduction required at various stages of gas distribution and allows for the generation of electricity with no added pollution.
- Sapphire’s Turbo Expander 300 kw = 2.6 gigawatts per year
- Fit-FreeSpin® In-line Turbo Expander (FIT)
- Make use of wasted natural gas pressure letdown
- Produce electricity free of input costs
- Green electricity
- Quick return on investment
- No carbon emission
Sapphire Technologies Overview
FreeSpin In-Line turboexpander (FIT)
Conversion of wasted pressure energy into clean electric power
- High-pressure gas enters FIT
- Kinetic energy is converted to rotational energy in the wheel
- The wheel spins a PM generator creating voltage in a stator
- Current is transmitted from the stator to a variable speed drive (VSD) via power cabling
- Conditioned power is sent from the VSD to the load
- Active magnetic bearings levitate rotor during operation
- No friction
- Low life cycle cost with 20-yr design life
- Expanded (cooled) gas exits wheel and flows-through generator section
- No additional cooling required
- Hermetically sealed, no-leak housing
- Flange-connected into pipeline
- No penetrations for lubrication or cooling
Use Cases Pressure Letdown
Flow Schematic Natural Gas Pressure Letdown
