Case study
F l u c t u at i o n o f S e a l G a s S u p p l y
D i f fe re nt i a l P re s s u re o f D r y G a s S e a l s
Rotating Equipment Engineer Sr. Rotating Equipment Engineer
Qatargas Operating Company Qatargas Operating Company
Outline of Case Study
• Problem statement
• Compressor service overview
• Description of sealing system
• Problem description
• Troubleshooting
• Findings
• Remedial Actions
• Result
• Q&A
Fluctuation of Seal Gas Supply Differential Pressure of Dry Gas Seals
Problem Statement
• After commissioning of lean gas centrifugal compressors,
Seal gas supply DP and flow to both ends of the
compressor was fluctuating excessively
• Seal gas supply DP fluctuation was hitting DP low alarm
• Potential adverse impact on dry gas seal reliability and
associated production loss
• Pulsations were temporarily controlled by pinching the root
valve on the seal gas reference line
Fluctuation of Seal Gas Supply Differential Pressure of Dry Gas Seals
Installation Reference
• Qatargas is one of the world’s largest LNG producing
companies
• It operates four Lean LNG (LLNG) mega trains, each having
a capacity of 7.8 MTA
• The mega trains were commissioned within the last 3-1/2
years
• Last train was commissioned in December 2010
Fluctuation of Seal Gas Supply Differential Pressure of Dry Gas Seals
Compressor Ser vice Over view
• Lean gas compressor Compresses lean gas for feed to
refrigeration section at constant discharge pressure
• Single suction centrifugal compressor driven by a
extraction / condensing steam turbine
• Centrifugal compressor suction received from
discharge of two upstream expander compressors
Fluctuation of Seal Gas Supply Differential Pressure of Dry Gas Seals
Description of Sealing System
• DGS’s in tandem arrangement with intermediate N2 supply
are installed on the compressor
• Primary seals are continuously supplied with filtered gas
from the compressor discharge
• SG pressure is kept slightly higher than cavity pressure
downstream of the balance drum
• Differential pressure controller controls the DP between SG
cavity and SG supply pressures to maintain the required gas
flow to dry gas seals
Fluctuation of Seal Gas Supply Differential Pressure of Dry Gas Seals
D e s c r i p t i o n o f S e a l i n g Syste m
Seal Gas Supply
Pneumatic
Control Valve
Pressure Differential
PDC
Controller
PT
Pressure Differential PDT
Transmitter
Reference Gas
Steam
C
ST
Extraction
Condenser ASV
Fluctuation of Seal Gas Supply Differential Pressure of Dry Gas Seals
Problem Description
1. Seal gas supply pressure was fluctuating excessively (0.5bar
– 1.2bar) due to hunting of the differential pressure control
valve
2. DP controller at the seal gas supply was fluctuating leading
to item #1
3. Potential adverse impact on DGS reliability
4. Pulsations were temporarily damped (0.8bar-1.2bar) by
pinching the root valve on the seal gas reference line
Fluctuation of Seal Gas Supply Differential Pressure of Dry Gas Seals
Problem Statement
Seal Gas Supply
Pneumatic
Control Valve
Pressure Differential
PDC
Controller
PT
Pressure Differential PDT
Transmitter
Reference Gas
Steam
C
ST
Extraction
Condenser ASV
Fluctuation of Seal Gas Supply Differential Pressure of Dry Gas Seals
Troubleshooting
• DP fluctuation was persisting even when the control valve
was on manual mode
• Possible causes of DP fluctuations
Pressure fluctuations on seal gas reference line
Pressure fluctuation on primary seal gas supply line
• Temporary arrangement was installed on the LP sensing
line of the DP controller to obtain pressure trend on DCS
Fluctuation of Seal Gas Supply Differential Pressure of Dry Gas Seals
Troubleshooting
Seal Gas Supply
Pneumatic
Control Valve
Pressure Differential
PDC
Controller
PT
Pressure Differential PDT
Transmitter
Reference Gas
Steam
C
ST
Extraction
Condenser ASV
Fluctuation of Seal Gas Supply Differential Pressure of Dry Gas Seals
Troubleshooting
Fluctuation of Seal Gas Supply Differential Pressure of Dry Gas Seals
Cause-Effect Analysis
Process Instrument/Controls
Suct./Disch.
Pneumatic Control
Pressure
Valve Malfunctioning
fluctuation
Rotor Axial Pressure Differential
Movement Controller Tuning Fluctuation of
Seal Gas
Seal Gas Supply Inadequate Seal Gas Supply DP
Pressure Fluctuations Supply System Sizing
Seal Cavity
Pressure
Fluctuations
Discarded
Comp. Sealing System Design Low Probability
High Probability
Fluctuation of Seal Gas Supply Differential Pressure of Dry Gas Seals
Findings
1. Seal cavity pressure was fluctuating
2. Slight fluctuation in seal gas supply pressure was also
present
3. As a result of item #1 & 2 seal gas DP was fluctuating
Conclusion
1. Reference gas pressure pulsations were identified as root
cause of the seal gas supply DP fluctuation
2. The DP fluctuations were attributed to process fluctuations
Fluctuation of Seal Gas Supply Differential Pressure of Dry Gas Seals
Remedial Actions
Per OEM’s recommendation after risk review:
• Self cleaning pulsation dampeners were added on both
seal gas reference and seal gas supply tubes going to PDT
• Volume bottles were added on both the impulse tubes of
pneumatic controller
• Purpose of adding pulsation dampeners and volume
bottles was to dampen the pressure signals
Fluctuation of Seal Gas Supply Differential Pressure of Dry Gas Seals
Problem Resolution
Seal Gas Supply
Pneumatic
Control Valve
Pressure Differential
PDC
Controller
Volume Bottles
PT
Pressure Differential PDT
Transmitter
Pulsation Dampeners
Reference Gas
Steam
C
ST
Extraction
Condenser ASV
Fluctuation of Seal Gas Supply Differential Pressure of Dry Gas Seals
Pulsation Dampening Hardware
Self Cleaning
Pulsation Dampener
Volume Bottle
Fluctuation of Seal Gas Supply Differential Pressure of Dry Gas Seals
Results
Proposed change implemented on compressor for trial purpose
• Trends were taken again to compare the change in pressure
fluctuations
• Differential pressure control valve hunting minimized
• Differential pressure fluctuations reduced to acceptable level
• The reliability of dry gas sealing system improved
• Modification was also done on other similar compressors
because of same issue of DP fluctuation
Fluctuation of Seal Gas Supply Differential Pressure of Dry Gas Seals
Post Modification Trends
Fluctuation of Seal Gas Supply Differential Pressure of Dry Gas Seals
Fluctuation of Seal Gas Supply Differential Pressure of Dry Gas Seals
Q & A
Fluctuation of Seal Gas Supply Differential Pressure of Dry Gas Seals
