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PREPAREDBY:MUHAMMADYOUSAF
EXECUTIVEPRODUCTION(CO)
CENTRIFUGALCOMPRESSOR OPERATIONANDMAINTENANCE CCCCCGYYYYHHHJJUUJJJJJJJJJJJJ`
A five days course on Centrifugal Compressor Operation and Maintenance was conducted by General Electric (GE) Oil and Gas Company at Florence Learning Center, Italy (October 18 to 22, 2010).Iwasoneoftheparticipantsamongmanyprofessionalsfrom different countries of the world having wide range of experience in thefieldofCentrifugalcompressors. Thiscoursehasgivenmetheopportunitytoenhancemyknowledge & capability to understand compressors operational dynamics & maintenancerelatedaspects. I therefore recommend this particular course to other individuals & especially with GE (Nuovo Pignone) which has vast experience in Centrifugalcompressorsmanufacturing&maintenance. Some of the Salient Points have been covered in this report with pictorialdisplaytoservebetterunderstanding&trainingpurpose.
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Surging
Compressorsurgeisanunsatablephenomenonwherethegas flowsforwardandbackwardacrossthemachinealternatively. This phenomina occurs at certain conditions of flow, pressure ratio and rotational speed. As a consequence some damages canoccure.g. Shaftvibration. Instabilityinaxialthrust Bearingsseizure. Sealsdamge.
Surgingfeatures
Flowreversesin20to50milliseconds. Surgecyclesatarateof0.3secondto3secondsper cycle. Compressorvibrates. Temperaturerise. Whooshingnoiseorclankingnoise. Conventionalinstrumentsandhumanoperatorsmayfail torecognizesurge.
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Factorsleadingtosurge Duringnormaloperation; Highdischargepressure(increaseofplant resistance). Reductionofsuctionpressure. Increaseofsuctiontemperature. Gascompositionchanges(decrease molecularweight) Startup. Shutdown.
Antisurgesystem Anti surge system avoids that the machine operation falls on the surge line. Substantially the protection consists in the opening of control valve [Link] consequence a part of flow outgoing from the machineisrecirculated.
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This causes an increase in the suction flow and so the operatingpointmovesawayfromthecriticalcondition.
WhatisChocking?
Whentheflowrateincreasesbeyondacertainvalue it may happen that in some duct is achieved the speed of sound. This phenomenon determines the pressuredropduetofrictionandhighincidenceof the flow on the fix and mobile ducts. As a consequence there is an enormous reduction in efficiency.
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Drygassealsystem
Theaimofthissystemistominimizetheescapeofthegasfroma [Link] [Link] high stability operation. It is self regulated in the way to keep constantthegasleakage
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Whatisavibration?
Vibrationissimplythemotionofamachineormachinepartback andforthfromitspositionofrest. Thecauseofvibrationmustbeaforcewhichischangingineitherits [Link],and theresultingcharacteristicswillbedeterminedbythemannerin whichtheforcesaregenerated.
Somedefinations
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Theamplitudeandfrequencyoftherotorvibrationsare [Link] measureofthemechanicalbehaviorofacompressor.
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Therotorvibrationamplitudemustnotcause
Contactbetweenrotorandstator. Oilsealsanddrygassealsoverloading. Fatigueinthebearings.
Vibrationclassification
Thetypicalvibrationsofthecentrifugalcompressorscanbe generallyclassifiedwithrefrencetothenatureofthe vibration,causeandthefrequency. Accordingtothenatureofvibrationcause,thevibrations maybeclassifiedin: Free Forced Selfexcited
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Freevibration
Freevibrationsareexcitedbyanimpulseorstepforceappliedto [Link]; Internalrubs. Looserotorsystemcomponents. Surge. Slugofliquid. Thevibrationcanoccurwithoneorseveralsystemnatural frequencies.
Forcedvibration
o Forcedvibrationstakeplacewhenanexternaltimedependent forcetransfersenergytotherotorbearingssystemthatreacts [Link] ofexcitationare o rotorbow o Unbalanceintherotorsystem o Couplingmisalignment o Aerodynamiccrosscouplingforces Whentheexcitationfrequencycoincideswithoneoftherotornatural frequency,resonanceoccurs.
Selfexcitedvibration
Self excited vibrations are typical of a rotorbearing system whentheappliedactionsarerelatedtorotordisplacementand velocity. Resulting forces have components which are prependicular to shaft motion. Such forces are consequences of the circumferential pressure variations in the annulus chambers,variationsdeterminedbyaneccentricshaftrotation inthepresenceoffluids Page#17/20
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Compressorpartswherethesephenominamaytakeplaceare Journalbearings. Oilsealsrings. Gaslabyrinthseals.
Problemsofvibration
The main problem that we have to consider when a rotor bearing systemissubjecttoperiodicforcesisthephenomenonofresonance
Whatisresonance?
A system is in resonance when vibration displacement becomes maximum. This occurs when the frequency of a periodic force (excitation frequency) applied to a rotor bearing support system correspondstoanaturalfrequencyofthatsystem
Howwecanavoidthis?
A complex system like a centrifugal compressor rotor has many natural frequencies that we call critical speeds the most important are the first and second. It is necessary to determine the field operation speeds that avoid the resonance. Generally a centrifugal compressorworksbetweenfirstandsecondcriticalspeed.
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T H E E N D
