Safe, Reliable, and Cost-Efficient Compressed Natural Gas Refueling
Systems Use Revolutionary Ionic Liquid Pistons
Flowserve Corp. (NYSE: FLS), a leading global provider of flow control
products and services for the global infrastructure markets, today
announced it has entered into a joint venture agreement with The Linde
Group, a world-leading gases and engineering company, to commercialize
and deploy iKompressorTM natural gas and biogas
refueling systems.
Called Flowserve Compression Systems GmbH, the joint venture plans to
deliver at least 70 iKompressor refueling systems by 2009 to Germany,
Austria, and neighboring European Union (EU) countries. The iKompressor
systems are designed to reduce energy costs by up to 20 percent at
low-inlet pressures, substantially reduce maintenance costs, and deliver
high system reliability. As a result, station owners should be able to
profitably deliver compressed natural gas to customers.
“The joint venture between Flowserve and The
Linde Group demonstrates our continued engineering and manufacturing
leadership as well as our focus on technology growth opportunities,”
said Lewis Kling, Flowserve President and Chief Executive Officer. “In
addition, delivering safe, cost-efficient and environmentally friendly
natural gas refueling systems to EU countries signifies our commitment
to environmental sustainability.”
Flowserve believes that iKompressor’s ionic
compressor represents a significant leap in technology for multistage
gas compression technology. The iKompressor’s
breakthrough design includes two ground-breaking concepts: the use of
innovative and proprietary ionic liquid as a liquid piston instead of a
conventional fixed metal piston, and efficient gas compression at near
isothermal conditions.
“Combining Linde’s
pioneering technology with leading engineering, manufacturing and
service from Flowserve should revolutionize how compressed gas is
delivered to consumers driving natural-gas vehicles,”
said Tom Ferguson, President of Flowserve Pump Division. “The
Flowserve service and support network is prepared to provide the world’s
most sophisticated compression technology, at the lowest total cost of
ownership.”
“The demand for alternative fuels continues
to increase. In order to meet customer needs, the iKompressor is
designed to deliver the critical element to deliver reliable, safe
service at compressed natural gas and biogas refueling systems,”
said Dr Aldo Belloni, a member of the Executive Board of Linde AG and
responsible for the European business and global engineering operations. “We
are glad to team up with Flowserve in this promising joint venture and
bring in our longtime technology expertise in the further development
and environmentally friendly use of both fossil and alternative fuels.
This joint venture is another example how Linde technology contributes
to preserve our environment and to boost alternative fuels.”
According to recent reports from the European Commission, the EU is
targeting the use of renewable energy at 20 percent, by 2020, when
compared to its total energy consumption. This includes a 10 percent
biofuels target.
