The Central Area Transmission System (known as CATS) is a natural gas transportation and processing system that transports natural gas through a 404 kilometre pipeline from the Central North Sea to a reception and processing terminal at Teesside in the North East of England.
[3] Due to increased demand within the Central North Sea, the decision was taken to provide a processing service to future users of the CATS pipeline, enabling delivery of their gas into the National Transmission System.
[5] The 36-inch diameter pipeline runs from the CATS riser platform, which is located in Block 22/10a of the Central North Sea, 230 kilometres (140 mi) east of Aberdeen, to Teesside in England.
[5] The pipeline reaches the shore at Coatham Sands near Redcar where there is a Beach Valve Station, remotely operated from the CATS terminal.
The CATS pipeline now transports gas from over 30 producing fields including J-block, MONARB, ETAP, Erskine, Armada, Andrew, Huntington, Banff, Stella, Culzean and Everest.
The incoming gas from Everest and other fields connected by separate pipelines including Armada, Lomond and Erskine, is aggregated on the riser platform.
The inside of the pipe is lined with an epoxy film, which reduces friction and corrosion, thus maximising its capacity and prolonging the life of the pipeline.
A European private equity company focused on infrastructure investments, Antin acquired a controlling interest in CATS in July 2014.
In April 2015, Antin agreed terms with BP to acquire their share in the CATS business, taking their stake to 99 per cent.
[8] Kellas Midstream (formerly known as CATS Management Limited), is accountable for setting the strategy and delivering safe and efficient operational and financial performance, along with growing the business.
It is located in Teesmouth (54°36’43”N, 1°11’45”W) at Seal Sands (borough of Stockton on Tees) on the North Sea coast, and occupies a 29-hectare site.
[6] The purified natural gas is metered and enters the National Transmission System at an above ground installation (54°36’37”N, 1°11’48”W) in the south-west corner of the terminal site.
This power station was de-commissioned in 2015 and subsequently demolished,[11] only the 2 x GIS (gas insulated substations) 275kV feeder points to the National Grid remain.
NGL goes to the deethanizer fractionation column which removes ethane, this is mixed with the methane and is supplied to the National Transmission System.
Vapour from the slug catcher is cooled and chilled in a gas-to-gas heat exchanger, then by a refrigerant system, and a Joule-Thomson pressure reduction valve before the, now two-phase, mixture passes to a separator.