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Characteristic Curve of Centrifugal Compressor

The instant compressor starts, the inlet and discharge pressure will be equal because of the prior equilibrium. As the mass of gas in the receiver continues to increase the pressure also increases providing greater pressure differential from inlet to discharge of the compressor. This point shown as point 4 on the characteristic curve is called as surge point. The operation beyond stone wall point is unpredictable because of the vertical slope their curves operate the compressor before they reach the vertical section.

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87 views

Characteristic Curve of Centrifugal Compressor

The instant compressor starts, the inlet and discharge pressure will be equal because of the prior equilibrium. As the mass of gas in the receiver continues to increase the pressure also increases providing greater pressure differential from inlet to discharge of the compressor. This point shown as point 4 on the characteristic curve is called as surge point. The operation beyond stone wall point is unpredictable because of the vertical slope their curves operate the compressor before they reach the vertical section.

Uploaded by

royalputtar
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The head verses capacity curve is shown below.

The instant compressor starts, the compressor inlet and discharge pressure will be equal because of the prior equilibrium. So there is essentially on resistance to flow and the pressure raise from inlet to discharge is zero. This point is plotted in the characteristic curve as point 1. As the mass of gas on receiver starts to increase the pressure in the receiver will start to rise providing some resistance. At first the flow will drop very slightly this point is plotted in the characteristic curve as point 2. It is called as a stone wall point. The stone wall point is the maximum stable compressor flow point. Consequently it is the maximum head point under stable compressor operation. The operation beyond stone wall point is unpredictable because of the vertical slope their curves operate the compressor before they reach the vertical section. The manufactures only extend the curve as for as they can reasonably predict the performance.

Centrifugal Compressor Characteristic Curve

As the mass of gas in the receiver continues to increase the pressure also increases providing greater pressure differential from inlet to discharge of the compressor and at the same time a great resistance to flow (it is becomes more difficult to cram the air in to the receiver). This shown as point 3 and is a typical compressor operating point. As the mass of gas in the receiver increase further, a pressure is eventually obtained above which the compressor cannot deliver stably. This point shown as point 4 on the characteristics curve is called as surge point.

Performance curve of centrifugal Compressor:

Compressor Performance Curve

The performance characteristic curve of centrifugal is shown above using the nomenclature of API 617. The term frequently used to define the performance of the centrifugal compressor is stability range and percent stability with reference to the above figure. QD Compressor rate point at 100% speed. QA Specified operating point at 100% speed. QS Flow at surge point at 100% speed. The compressor stability is expressed in terms of percentage.

Centrifugal compressor recognize actual inlet cubic feet per minute (ACFM at the inlet condition). Normally the performance curve is plotted by using ACFM. This mean the curve is drawn at some specific set of suction condition, if any change in the condition will affect the validity of the curve. The performance of the centrifugal compressor can be affected by the molecular weight of the compressed gas. For a rough estimation of molecular weight change of less than 10% the pressure ratio on the curve can be simply multiplied by the new molecular weight over the original molecular weight. Unless there is a gross change in the gas compositions cause large change in the specific heat ratio. Remember that any change could increase the density of the gas at the inlet will increase the discharge pressure and the horse power. Also the unit tend to surge at slight higher inlet volume.

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