SDT + Artesis at oil & gas compressor stations

A compressor station is one of the most sensitive nodes in gas-transport and oil-production infrastructure: an unplanned stop of a gas compressor unit (GCU) means uncompressed volume, penalties under transport contracts, and — in many cases — a hazardous-area asset going down. SDT340 finds gas leaks and bearing defects without stopping equipment, while Artesis e-MCM monitors electric-driven compressors through current and voltage analysis.

Industry overview: SDT by industry · Artesis by industry. Related topic — leak detection in oil & gas.

Compressor station map

Component	Risk	Tool
Electric-driven centrifugal compressor	Motor stator/rotor defects, imbalance	Artesis e-MCM
Gas-turbine GCU	Bearings, gearbox, flange leaks	SDT340
Reciprocating compressor	Leaks through valves and packing	SDT340 (passive ultrasound)
Process piping and flanges	Natural gas leaks	LeakChecker
Switchgear and 6–10 kV panels	Corona, tracking, arcing	SDT340 (electrical)
Auxiliary cooling pumps and fans	Bearings, lubrication	SDT340 + LUBExpert

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Gas leaks: what you can't see but can hear

A natural gas leak through a flange joint, valve packing or compressor gasket often produces no noticeable smell and isn't visible, but it always generates ultrasonic noise from turbulent gas flow through the micro-gap. SDT340 with a directional probe or a Bionic Ear pair finds such a leak in seconds from several meters away — especially valuable in a hazardous area where approaching the source for a contact check is undesirable.

Economics: at compressor stations without regular ultrasonic surveys, typical gas losses through valve and flange leaks run from 1 to 3% of transported volume per year — a significant sum for a mid-sized station even before factoring in the accident risk.

→ The economics of compressed-air leaks · LeakChecker

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Electric-driven compressors: diagnostics without a stop

Electric-driven centrifugal compressors at a CS, typically 1–8 MW, are the station's most capital-intensive asset. A spare drive isn't always available, and a planned shutdown of the compressor shop is coordinated at the gas-transport dispatch level weeks in advance. Artesis e-MCM connects at the terminals of a running motor and, through electrical signature analysis (ESA), detects:

Defect	What ESA sees
Stator inter-turn short	Sidebands around the line frequency
Broken rotor bar	Slip sidebands in the current spectrum
Rotor eccentricity	Spectrum asymmetry
6–10 kV supply power quality issues	Harmonics, phase imbalance

For remote compressor stations on a pipeline's linear section — where a reliability engineer physically can't visit every week — Artesis IoT provides continuous monitoring of critical drives with data sent to a central dispatch center.

→ e-MCM + SDT340: two levels of drive diagnostics · Centralizing the fleet with Artesis IoT

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GCU mechanics and reciprocating compressors

Gas-turbine GCUs and reciprocating compressors remain in many stations' fleets alongside electric-driven units. Support bearings, gas-turbine drive gearboxes and reciprocating-compressor valves are diagnosed with ultrasound using the same logic as any industrial site — adjusted for the explosion-proof equipment rating required in the hazardous area.

→ Gearbox diagnostics · Pump and fan bearing lubrication

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Medium-voltage switchgear

The compressor shop's 6–10 kV switchgear is checked for corona, tracking and partial discharge with ultrasound, contactlessly through the panel's inspection window — with no de-energization and no risk to personnel.

→ SonaVu: electrical reliability and NFPA 70B

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Why a CS needs both tools

	SDT340 (mechanics + leaks)	Artesis e-MCM (electrical)
Gas leaks through flanges, valves, packing	Yes	—
GCU bearings, gearboxes	Yes	Indirectly
Compressor stator winding, rotor eccentricity	—	Yes
Requires stopping the drive	No	No
Works in a hazardous area	Yes (contactless)	Yes (at terminals outside the zone or via IS)

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90-day rollout

Month	Focus
1	Gas leak audit across compressor-shop flanges and valves
2	ESA baseline on compressor drive motors
3	SDT340 route for bearings and switchgear, plan to move critical drives to Artesis IoT

A similar rollout: SDT 90-day route · e-MCM 90-day pilot.

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KEG TRK — SDT and Artesis for the oil & gas industry in Kazakhstan. SDT catalog · Artesis catalog