Compressor station at Ashuganj starts test run

A compressor station to maintain gas pressure in pipelines has started test operation at Brahmanbaria’s Ashuganj.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will formally inaugurate the station this month, said the site’s in-charge Biswajit Nandi.

Two pipelines supply the gas produced from the eastern regions of Bangladesh to Ashuganj Manifold Station of the gas transmission company.

The gas is then distributed to Brahmanbaria, Dhaka, Chittagong and Rajshahi through four pipelines, said Nandi.

The pressure of gas, at 1,000 psi when lifted, gradually reduces with distance due to the natural resistance of the pipelines.

It comes down to 750 psi when it reaches Ashuganj through the grid line from the gas fields in Brahmanbaria and Habiganj. Gas pressure in and around Dhaka is usually 500 to 600 psi.

The pressure is weaker in Khulna and Rajshahi, being just 400 psi or less.

Nandi said pressure reduction will no longer hamper distribution to consumers once the station begins to function fully. It will work to keep gas pressure high at fertiliser and power plants.

It will also ease the gas crisis of domestic users in Dhaka, Chittagong and Rajshahi, he said.