Centrifugal Compressor

Centrifugal compressor is one of the driven equipment of gas turbine package. Below is some of
its application in oil and gas industry:

Application:

Upstream Sector Gas Transmission

 Gas Injection  Gas Pipeline Compression

 Gas Lift  Gas Storage / Withdrawal
 Gas Boosting / Export Compression

Centrifugal compressor achieve compression by applying inertial forces to the gas using
rotating bladed impellers, continuously impacting and performing work on the gas during
operation.

Gas flow in centrifugal compressor:

Gas moving in an axial direction

 Flow changed to radial direction then

Impeller accelerated in peripheral direction.
 Adding energy to the gas by producing
centrifugal force.

Diffuser  Convert velocity energy and centrifugal force

into static pressure.

In single-stage compressor, gas is then discharged.

In multi-stage compressor, flow returned to the eye
of next impeller.
Types of compressor:

1. Barrel

o Consists of circular vertical retaining flange at the casing perimeter or ends that
can be sealed with ring-type gaskets.

o Barrel casing construction is simple and accessible on smaller single and two-
stage machines.

o Used in natural gas gathering, storage, lift and reinjection service worldwide.

o Ex: model RB8B

 R rotating compressor
 B frame size 161/2 inches impeller diameter
 8 8 impellers
 B vertical split

2. Pipeliner

o A vertically split casing with in-line flanges which provides the ability to replace
all compressor internals without removing any station piping.

o Engineered for peek efficiencies.

o Used series/parallel gas storage units and transmission service.

o Ex: model RFA36

 R rotating compressor
 F up to 4500 Bhp
 A Rotor design  axial inlet, overhung
 36 36 inches nominal flange diameter
Components of centrifugal compressor:

Components Function

Impellers  Impart energy to the gas by means of centrifugal force

Shaft  Rotating element on which the rotating parts are mounted

Balance piston  To prevent contact under normal operating conditions

Thrust disc  Transmit rotor thrust to thrust bearing

Inlet guide  Reduce turbulence in the gas stream and to direct the flow
vanes

Diaphragm  Dividing wall between individual impellers of a multi-stage

compressor.

Diffuser  Stationary passage surrounding an impeller in which velocity

imparted to the gas by the impeller is converted into static
pressure.

Internal seals  Used between rotating and stationary parts to separate and
minimize gas leakage between areas of unequal pressure.

Shaft seals  To isolate the gas stream from the atmosphere and from the
journal bearings.

Journal bearing  To support the rotor load (steady state and dynamic), provide
stiffness and damping, and to control rotor position.

Thrust bearing  To prevent axial motion of the rotating shaft, thereby

maintaining the axial position of the rotor assembly within the
compressor.
Auxiliary system as support system:
Auxiliary
system

Seal oil Seal gas Main lube oil

system system system

1. SEAL OIL SYSTEM

 To keep compressed gas from entering the bearing assembly and escaping from the
compressor to the atmosphere.
 Consist of three major levels of operation:
Seals :
 Labyrinth seal is one of the components that will reduce pressure of gas
across the seal.
 Oil film seal cartridge is two free floating rings. The seals are bench
assembled as a cartridge. Each end of compressor equipped with a seal
cartridge. Clean high pressure oil is squeezed between the rings and shaft
and out both direction. As long as the oil pressure is greater than the gas
pressure, the seal will not allow gas to escape.

Oil supply :
 Seal oil is supplied and flows between the seal rings.
 The majority of oil will flow to the low pressure side of the seal cartridge
and the rest will go to high pressure side of the seal cartridge.
 Oil supply is maintained at greater pressure between seal rings than
compressor suction to ensure a positive seal.

Oil return :
 Oil flowing to bearing side (low pressure) of the seal cartridge I not
contaminated with gas and returns directly to the reservoir.
 Oil flowing to the process side (high pressure) of the seal cartridge is
contaminated with gas and goes to degasser system.
 Reservoir

Cooler

Filter

Compressor Seal Overhead Tank

Excessive Flow Valve Trap Demister

Degasser tank

 Trap : A vessel that is level controlled and ported. Oil is enters the trap and is given
some time to allow the gas to separate from the oil, until the level of oil becomes too
high and is drained.

 Flow valve : To keep the seal from flooding when the compressor case not pressurized.

 Degasser tank : Second stage of removing gas from the oil

 Seal overhead tank : To make sure a greater oil pressure supplied to the seal than the
gas pressure against the seal.
2. SEAL GAS SYSTEM
Discharge
compressor

2 simplex filters

(Compressor)
Primary stage of
seal cartridge

 A portion of the filtered gas (gas from discharge compressor) is lost across the
inboard labyrinth into the process thus preventing the process gas (unfiltered) in
the compressor from entering the seal cartridge.
 When compressor rotor rotate, portion of filtered gas drawn into the seal by
spiral-groove pattern.
 Pressure dam that build up when the spiral-groove stops will only allow portion of
filtered gas to pass through seal for cooling the face of the seal (mating rim and
rotating rim) then vented to atmosphere.
 If primary stage failed, there is secondary seal to prevent process gas from
entering compressor building.

3. MAIN LUBE OIL SYSTEM

FILTER
POWER TURBINE GEAR COMPRESSOR

COOLER

RESERVOIR

 Lube oil supply to bearings and couplings at compressor for lubrication and cooling
purpose.
Compressor operating map:

Above is Compressor Operating Map. The operating range of a centrifugal compressor is

restricted by a condition called surge, and a condition called stonewall. The surge limitation is
most critical of the two operating conditions. Operating point must not reach surge line and
stonewall.

Stonewall

 Happened at high flow rate

 The impellers raise the velocity of gas until it reaches sonic speed.
 No more gas can forced through compressor. When this occurs, shock waves exist and
reduce the pressure rapidly.
 The compressor operating curve map will reflect maximum flow in acfm (atmospheric
cubic feet per minute) or as percent capacity. It will appear at the far right of the
operating curve map.

Surge

 Happened at low flow rate and high compression ratio.

 At these conditions, discharge gas will backflow through the compressor. As soon as
backflow occurs, the discharge pressure drops, and forward flow starts again. When
discharge pressure rises to the surge point, flow reversal occurs again.
 Anti-surge control valve is installed in the discharge from the compressor system
(primary prevention). The valve is regulated with a flow controller that senses the flow
rate of gas entering the compressor. The set point on the flow controller is set above
the flow rate that surge occurs. If the flow to the compressor is less than the set point in
 the controller, the controller signals the anti-surge control valve to open and allow
enough recycle gas to flow into the suction line so that the total flow to the compressor
is above its surge point.
 Secondary prevention support primary prevention by increasing the flow of recycles gas.

Capacity control

 Control the flow of gas in order to maintain acceptable operating point.

 To get constant flow capacity.
 Affected by speed and compression ratio.
 Capacity is controlled on variable speed machines by adjusting speed and compression
ratio.
 Capacity is controlled on constant speed machines by adjusting the compression ratio
that can be determined by equation below:

 Compression ratio can be adjusted using one of the methods:

 Throttling suction/discharge control valves

Throttling valves can also be used in suction gas piping to get rid of excess
compression ratio at reduced capacity and operation at 100% speed.

 Recycle gas

Recycling some discharge gas back to the suction of compressor.

 Adjustable guide vanes at the compressor inlet

Pre-rotate gas entering impellers. This may load or unload an impeller

depending on the pre-rotation of the gas in relation to impeller rotation which
results in changing the capacity of the machine.
Instrumentation:
Instrumentation present in compressor is used to assess mechanical performance, time
aerodynamic performance and trend of any critical parameter of various components or
systems at a specific point. Below are the critical instrumentations for compressor:

 Rotor shaft vibration

- Two probes at each journal bearing
- One key phasor probe

 Rotor shaft axial

- One or two probes at the non-drive shaft end

 Bearing temperature
- One single RTD in two drive-end journal bearing
- One single RTD in two face-end journal bearing
- One single RTD in two thrust pads on both sides of the thrust bearing

High temperature detected by RTD usually due to high vibration in the compressor. In order to
find out the cause of raise in temperature, trending for vibration need to be analyzed. If the
trending show normal behavior, its indicate the reading is wrong or not accurate. This may due
to RTD’s failure or transmitter out of calibration.

Mitigation for instrumentation:

 Calibrate the transmitter

 Constantly do the trending and analyzing the data
 Check cable connection
Conclusion

Centrifugal compressor is the driven part of gas turbine package. Increased in discharge
pressure results from a combination of centrifugal force and velocity changes imposed on the
gas. It uses impellers to convey energy to the gas by accelerating the gas. The flow then go
through the diffuser where the velocity imparted to the gas by the impeller is converted into
static pressure. For multi-stage centrifugal compressor, the gas will flow to the next rotating
impeller and the process repeated for every stage. The stationary components such as guide
vanes designed to control the overall aerodynamic flow of gas, convert velocity energy into
pressure energy.

There are two types of centrifugal compressor which are barrel and pipeliner. Both are differ in
efficiency and design of the compressor. Instrumentations present to monitor rotor shaft
vibration, rotor shaft axial and temperature are probes and RTD’s. Main lube oil, seal oil and
seal gas system are auxiliary system that used to support the operation in the compressor.
Operating range for centrifugal compressor is restricted by surge line and stonewall in the
compressor operating map. In order to avoid operating point from reaching both lines in the
map, surge control and capacity control must be performed.
APPENDICES

Anatomy of Centrifugal Compressor

Diaphragm
Diffuser

Thrust Disc
Impeller Spacer
Troubleshooting

Problems Cause Corrective Action

Low speed Check speed and increase to that required.
Check surge or recycle controller and reset set
Too much recycle gas point above surge point.

High compression ratio. a. Calculate compression ration to ensure it is up.

LOW Suction pressure is low and/or b. Determine cause of low suction pressure or
COMPRESSOR high discharge pressure discharge pressure is up and correct it.
CAPACITY

Fouled impellers or diffusers,

this condition usually builds Conduct an internal inspection, verify and repair.
slowly over a period of time.

Suction temperature has risen Check temperature of inlet gas, and correct if it is
up.
Calculate compression ratio. Determine cause of
HIGH DISCHARGE
Compression ratio has risen increase – suction pressure is down and/or
TEMPERATURE
discharge pressure is up – and correct.
Fouled impellers or other Inspect and repair.
internals.
LUBE OIL SYSTEM a. Low level in oil reservoir. Check level and add
oil.
b. Oil pressure regulator set too low. Raise
pressure setting.
c. Worn bearings. Unit vibrates. Drain oil from
bottom of tank and
check for bearing cuttings. Conduct oil analysis.
Low oil pressure Inspect
bearings and repair.
d. Oil pump failure. Start stand-by pump. Check
automatic start up.
e. High oil temperature. See below.
f. Filter is plugged. High pressure drop indicated.
Switch and change
filter elements in first filter.

a. Heater in oil tank is on. Turn it off.

b. Cooling fluid flow to oil cooler is low. Fan
problem. Temperature Control Valve [TCV]
problem. Check inlet and outlet temperature
High oil temperature of oil and cooling fluids, and check pressure
drop of fluids. Fouling is in fluid with high
pressure drop. Clean cooler. Test TCV valve
operation per vendor instructions. Repair or
 replace. Determine status of fan operation.
Check vibration and lubrication. Repair or
replace as required – check cooler louver
control operation.

a. Set point on level controller on head is set too

low. Raise set point.
b. Level control valve stuck open. Stroke valve.
c. Seal oil pump failure. Start stand by pump.
d. Excessive seal leakage. Flow out dump line
from one or both drain
Low level in head tank. pots is high – traps are cycling time frequent –
possible seal ring wear -
Inspect seal and repair.
e. Filter is plugged. High pressure drop indicated.
Switch and change
filter elements in first filter.

a. Set point on level controller is set too high.

Lower set point.
SEAL OIL SYSTEM
b. Level control valve is stuck closed or plugged.
High level in head tank Stroke valve. Repair
Valve if it will not stroke.

a. Heater in oil tank is on. Turn it off. [mainly for

separately seal oil systems]
b. Oil cooler is fouled. Check inlet and outlet
temperature of oil and cooling fluid, and check
pressure drop of the fluids [tube type cooler].
High seal oil temperature Fouling is in the fluid with high pressure drop.
Clean cooler.
c. Cooler fans problem. Check operation. Check
vibration. Lubricate or repair / replace as
needed.
 Outside diameter or inside The cartridge needs to be removed following the
diameter o-rings are blown maintenance instructions

a. Maintain the integrity of the dry gas seal system

at all times through good preventive
DRY SEAL maintenance of the filters and flow controllers
SYSTEM Primary ring is lift in its b. Make sure that vents are free flowing and
orientation to the mating ring flowing the correct amount of gas.
c. Dry gas seals must be re-installed to rotate in the
right direction.
d. Dry gas seals require correct axial position in the
compressor.