MAN Diesel & Turbo has built an open air test bed at its Oberhausen, Germany, facility to test large compresssor trains.

The 17,200 sq.ft. (1600 m²) area is adjacent to its indoor test building. Construction was completed at the end of year and customer tests will start in May.

The open air test bed (known as Muenster) has two sections, each capable of hosting a large size compressor train or, if requested, three medium size trains across the two sections.

Ground load capacity at the new bed is 22 tons/10.8 sq.ft (20 tonnes/m²) and overhead crane lifting capacity is 55 tons (50 tonnes). The test bed is sized for up to 33,250 hp (25 MW).
With the Muenster adddition, the Oberhausen faciltiy has 25 test stands. The plant is 1.2 miles (2 km) from the canal harbor, allowing for easy transportation of fully-assembled compression systems.