Sulphur 413 Jul-Aug 2024
31 July 2024
100 years of Comprimo
COMPANY PROFILE
100 years of Comprimo
As Comprimo celebrates its 100th anniversary, we explore the group’s history from its earliest days in the Netherlands in the 1920s to its current status as a global leader in gas treatment and sulphur recovery technology.
The name “Comprimo” is one very familiar to those involved in the gas treating and sulphur industry. Nearly all gas plants and refineries worldwide operate at least one unit designed by Comprimo, which represents more than 60 percent of licensed sulphur recovery units globally and has played a major role in reducing H2 S and SO2 emissions since the 1950s. Comprimo, founded 100 years ago in Amsterdam, derives its name from the Dutch term “comprimeren,” which refers to industrial cooling by gas compression.
Comprimo is part of a rich history of engineers and engineering companies in the Netherlands and world renowned for its expertise and legacy in the sulphur industry. Through multiple mergers and acquisitions over the years, the Comprimo name remains to recognise the company’s legacy. It has survived 100 years of industry change and disruption, a testament to its enduring significance and contributions to the field of engineering.
The beginning
On the 16th of July, 1924, Mr G. L. Tegelberg, Director of N.V. Geveke & Co., and Mr J. Muysken, Director of N.V. Nederlandsche Fabriek van Werktuigen en Spoorwegmaterieel founded N.V. Comprimo, a company specialising in refrigeration and chemicals. The company’s main shareholder was initially N.V. Geveke, while the first director of Comprimo was Mr. G. Cattaneo. Comprimo’s first office was established at N.V. Geveke’s headquarters in Amsterdam at De Ruyterkade 113, in five rooms on the second floor of the building, with “the lovely view of the railway complex” noted in articles on the founding of the company.
After demonstrating expertise in designing industrial-scale refrigeration units and their associated compressor units, Comprimo soon grew and expanded its horizons into new projects. It gained contacts with nearly all major companies in the Netherlands and Europe at large, helping Comprimo become a multifaceted engineering services provider for the energy and chemicals industry. In particular, the so-called “Edeleanu units” were instrumental in transforming Comprimo into the first multi-disciplinary engineering contractor in the Netherlands. By the 1950s and ‘60s, Comprimo’s contributions to the oil and gas industry were widely recognised and the company had expanded to having multiple offices in both Europe and the Middle East. Additionally, Comprimo developed subsidiaries to specialise in endeavours like nuclear energy and district heating.
At Comprimo’s 50th anniversary in 1974, a collection of Comprimo’s achievements and capabilities was assembled, displaying its expertise in nearly every discipline of technical knowledge and application. Attention was further drawn to its involvement in the many projects that shaped the industrial landscape of both the Netherlands and world at large. Some of the landmark projects that followed in the 1980s and ‘90s were the Per+ expansion of the Shell refinery in Pernis and Demkolec gasification plant in Buggenum. These achievements further raised Comprimo’s distinguished reputation.
Comprimo as a technology licensor
The company today known as Shell became one of Comprimo’s customers during the 1930s; at the time, it was called “de Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij.” This cooperation intensified after the Second World War during the 1940s and ‘50s and eventually led to Shell becoming a major shareholder in Comprimo. Some of the major projects to come out of Comprimo’s work with Shell were efforts to fight acid rain, the result of when sulphur-related emissions, like SO2 and H2 S, are “washed” out of the sky by rainfall. This creates sulphuric acid that damages crops and buildings, and acidifies various water sources. Comprimo’s work with
Shell on projects such as this built a relationship that eventually led Shell to invite Comprimo to manage the licensing of Shell technologies to third parties. Thus, Comprimo as a technology licensor for sulphur recovery units was born.
In the years that followed, Shell and Comprimo further developed the modified Claus process and created additional technologies to clean natural gas and industrial off-gases from sulphur, its related elements, and other contaminants dangerous to the atmosphere. As countries developed legislation on emission criteria, Shell and Comprimo became industry leaders in designing and deploying emission reduction technologies. While initially done via Shell facilities, this endeavour soon expanded internationally.
As Shell developed technologies to enhance its various production facilities, other oil and gas producers inquired about using this technology themselves. This led Shell to commercially license out its technologies. Comprimo was asked to oversee the licensing of technologies related to gas processing, sulphur recovery, and emission reduction. Among them were Shell’s sour gas treating and tail gas treating solutions, predominantly amine-based absorption regeneration technologies. Together, Shell and Comprimo further developed and optimised the Claus sulphur recovery process, helping them become global leaders in developing and commercially licensing these technologies. This leadership position led both companies to play a major role in fighting acid rain issues during the 1970s and ‘80s. The technologies and processes developed during this period still form the basis of gas treating and sulphur recovery projects today across the world.
Comprimo in the last decades
Comprimo’s journey as a technology licensor started in the mid-1950s. Ever since, the Comprimo team has worked to improve the technologies it licenses and increase sulphur recovery efficiency. However, first and foremost its goal is to reduce SO2 emissions into the environment. Sulphur recovery and gas treating remains crucial to refinery and gas plant operations, and as a result, is a necessary cost required to stay in business. Because of their importance, these units must be extremely robust with the highest safety and reliability requirements.
The constant drive for better energy efficiency and tighter emission norms have pushed the Comprimo team to develop technologies that comply with industry regulations, while being widely available to the companies that require their use.
In the 1980s, Comprimo developed the SUPERCLAUS process, providing operators with an affordable, fully catalytic solution that was compliant with contemporary emission expectations. This technology is still widely used and has seen constant improvement over the years. Other developments of the 1980s are the low temperature tail gas treatment and sulphur degassing technology, both developed with Shell.
In 1995, Comprimo became a part of Stork Engineering & Contractors. During this period, the name “Comprimo” was phased out as the group was assimilated into the “special projects” department at Stork Engineering, where the SRUs they developed were sold internationally as a lump sum turn key (LSTK) solution. In 2000, another acquisition had the Dutch Stork Engineering offices, which included Comprimo, become part of Jacobs Engineering Inc. The Comprimo name was restored, in appreciation of its legacy and value among licensees and potential new customers. “Comprimo” as a name had become associated with sulphur recovery units as a recognition of the quality, robust technology behind them.
Additionally in 2000, Jacobs acquired Delta Hudson, a Canadian company active in the gas treating and sulphur recovery field. To better serve markets in the Americas, a Comprimo department was established in Calgary. By this point, Comprimo as a name was fully reintroduced to the industry. The new full official name was “Jacobs Comprimo Technology Solutions,” but the shortened “Comprimo” remained its name in common conversation.
The specific skills of the Comprimo team, which involved preparing high quality process design packages that allow FEED and EPC contractors to build Comprimo-designed plants, soon gained notice in the industry. Requests came in to provide these services across the field; these requests grew in volume with the acquisition of Aker Solutions by Jacobs. In 2012, a team was formed to provide services for third party licensing and technology scaling. The Comprimo team has since been working on providing one-of-a-kind process design packages and technology scale-up designs for newly developed technologies.
During this period, Comprimo’s sharp growth and subsequent increased workload created a need for highly skilled technical workers that traditional technology centres could no longer provide. As a result, Comprimo began a close cooperation with offices in India. Since 2006, a dedicated team there has been trained to help support Comprimo’s global technology business.
Reducing emissions and enabling sustainable energy production
Recently, Comprimo, as a part of Jacobs’s Energy Chemicals and Resources business, was acquired by Worley. This brought together the two major players in the field of technology licensing for gas treating and sulphur recovery: Comprimo Sulphur Solutions and WorleyParsons Gas Treating and Sulphur Group. Jointly, these two groups have licensed more than 1,200 units for their global customer base; some of these units are among the largest in the world, producing over 3,000 t/d of sulphur in a single train. These accomplishments have made Comprimo a leading global voice for advice on gas processing and reducing both SO2 emissions and CO2 footprint.
This legacy places Comprimo at the heart of the challenging balancing act faced by global energy suppliers: the demand for cleaner energy that simultaneously appreciates developing countries’ intense energy requirements to create a higher standard of living. In the coming decades, these demands will require unseen new heights for technologies and cooperations, providing an environment where the Comprimo spirit of cooperation and technical excellence is key to success.
Currently, Comprimo is working on some of the world’s biggest initiatives for gas and LNG production while simultaneously supporting its customers to reduce CO2 emissions and conduct hydrogen recovery. In tandem, Comprimo is working with many of its existing licensees to optimise their energy use, reduce emissions and process new energy sources like bio feedstocks to produce biofuels. Comprimo is also working on developing and deploying novel technologies like plastic recycling, small-scale gas cleaning, affordable CO2 capture, and hydrogen recovery.
A front runner in solutions for sustainable fuel and hydrogen production
The engineering office in the Netherlands, now called Worley Nederland B.V., has grown to an entity of more than 1,200 people with a long history of both large and small projects in the energy and petrochemical industry. The enduring relationship with Shell is still strongly maintained, and Worley has also developed partnerships with many of the world’s largest oil, gas, chemical, and energy companies. As a result, Worley is now a frontrunner in developing and realising flagship projects related to new energies and renewable chemicals. The teams in the Netherlands, together with Worley’s worldwide network, are now at the centre of a global movement toward cleaner energy that maintains efficiency.
Comprimo now has four branch offices in Los Angeles, Calgary, London, and The Hague. All comprise a part of the global Worley organisation with a total strength of more than 50,000 employees. Comprimo is part of the Technology Solutions group within Worley and works together with the Worley engineering and consulting departments. The group’s spirit of collaboration and innovation has ultimately created an environment where close cooperation and flexibility defines its approach to scope, development, and implementation, and supporting Worley’s purpose of delivering a more sustainable world.
