Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline and Cooper Machinery Services have signed an MOU to launch a joint hydrogen research project aimed at converting Southern Star’s fleet of gas fired reciprocating integral engines to combination gas-hydrogen fired units.

Starting in Q1, 2022, Cooper and Southern Star will modify a Cooper-Bessemer GMVH-12 at Southern Star’s Hugoton, Kansas compressor station to run on a blend of hydrogen and natural gas. The engine will be equipped with Cooper’s HyperBalance IV system to monitor pressures, collect data, and ensure equipment safety during the test. Southern Star and Cooper plan to run the engine on a mixture of up to 10% hydrogen. Southern Star and Cooper will both provide engineering support and plan to publicize data to the industry once it becomes available.

“We are excited to partner with Cooper Machinery for this innovative hydrogen blending pilot program. Their technical expertise and support will help us maximize the potential use of hydrogen blends on our system. The success of this venture will give a baseline of future opportunities for hydrogen for all stakeholders in the energy industry,” said Jimmy Staton, Southern Star President & CEO.

“Cooper has been working on green environmental technology for some time and recently launched an official hydrogen initiative,” said Cooper CEO John Sargent. “We are excited to partner with a forward-leaning and visionary organization like Southern Star who understands the necessity of our industry to embrace hydrogen and reduce its overall carbon footprint. Cooper began offering ‘clean’ technology on our engine-compressors in the 1970’s, and we have converted thousands of engines to some degree of green technology over the years including many to the 0.5 Grams of NOx level. Our Cooper engines can run on up to 10% hydrogen with minimal modifications.”