END USER FEATURE / EMISSIONS
1. Full closure of the main fuel gas supply valve during GCP shutdown, with retention of pilot valve functionality, effectively eliminates standby fuel combustion without compromising restart readiness or operational safety.
2. The approach is implementable through targeted DCS / SIS logic modifications and procedure updates, with no requirement for capital-intensive hardware changes.
3. Estimated fuel savings of 299.63 MMSCF per all unit per annum and CO2 avoidance of approximately 15000 tones per all units per annum represent significant economic and environmental value.
4. The methodology is transferable to comparable gas compression facilities across the Middle East and globally, offering substantial aggregate impact if adopted at scale. 5. The initiative aligns with corporate decarbonisation commitments( DEEP), national sustainability goals( Vision 2030, NDC), and international sustainability frameworks( UN SDGs 7, 12, 13).
Recommendations
Based on the outcomes of this initiative, the following recommendations are made for consideration by operators of similar facilities:
• Maintain a systematic review of existing GCP shutdown procedures to identify opportunities for main fuel gas valve closure during non-operational period based on lessons learned.
• Engage DCS / SIS vendors to evaluate the feasibility of logic modifications within existing control system architectures( Installing Smart control valve on the Flare headers instead of existing regulator).
• Establish a metering and monitoring program to quantify baseline standby fuel consumption prior to implementation, enabling accurate post-implementation benefit measurement.
• Incorporate fuel gas optimization during shutdown into standard MOC review criteria for new compressor station designs.
• Explore integration with intelligent valve management platforms to enable dynamic fuel optimization across varying operational conditions.
• Minimizing Compressors downtime by sharing the load across other compressor stations.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Central Area Pipelines Department( CAPD) at Saudi Aramco for providing the data and operational support necessary for this study. We also thank the Engineering Division for their technical review and the Safety Department for their assistance in validating the safety integrity levels associated with this initiative.
About the author
Farid Bellahdid is a Senior Environmental Engineer with nearly two decades of experience driving sustainability and engineering excellence across the world’ s largest energy operations. Based at Saudi Aramco’ s Central Area Pipelines Department( CAPD), Farid spearheads high-impact initiatives in GHG reduction, flaring mitigation, and environmental compliance, serving as a key contributor of Aramco’ s flagship DEEP( Decarbonizing Energy, Efficiency, and Production) program. Farid. bellahdid @ aramco. com & Bel-farid @ hotmail. com
www. valve-world. net Valve World October 2026 47