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COMPRESSORS

Select the Right


Compressor
Making the best choice means
understanding how flows and
pressures relate to available
machines, and seeing if your
process can be adjusted to
D. Gregory Jandjel,
Gardner Denver meet the capabilities of units
Engineered Packaging Center
that are readily available,
reliable, and inexpensive.

I n any process, numerous compo-


nents are required to make the en-
tire concept work. As with any ve-
hicle, processes require an engine
and, where gases are involved, the motive force
is usually a compressor. This article will at-
tempt to shed some light on the different types
that do arise are
from items such as
poorly sized cool-
ers, pump failures,
and so on.

The process
of compressors, how they can be selected, and engineer’s role
the differences between air and gas units. The packaging
The gas compressor holds a special place in decisions should
most mechanical and chemical engineers’ be left to the rotat-
minds, and thoughts can range from admiration ing-equipment, me-
to hatred. The reason for this is that compres- chanical, or mainte-
sors are usually the most complex mechanical nance engineers on
units in a process; as a result, they must be un- any project. The pro-
derstood and selected carefully. A poorly select- cess itself and the appli-
ed unit will not only be unreliable in its own cation of the right com-
right, but also it will be less flexible to the in- pressor fall squarely on the
evitable changes that occur when most process- shoulders of the process en-
es evolve from theory to practice. gineer. If a flow scheme is al-
Compressor engineers will tell you that the ready fixed, and the conditions
majority of problems associated with the units required of a compressor are unre-
in service can be traced to the process, the se- alistic, then there is very little that the
©Copyright 2000 lection of the compressor itself, or to poor pack- mechanical engineer can contribute after
American Institute aging. For the uninitiated, packaging refers to the fact. Thus, a rudimentary knowledge of
of Chemical Engineers. all of the components that allow a compressor what existing, commercially available compres-
All rights reserved. to operate. These include drivers, couplings, lu- sors can do is necessary for a good process de-
Copying and brication and sealing systems, controls, and fil- sign. Keeping the numerical possibilities in
downloading permitted tration. If a plant is operating as planned, and mind while forming pressure/temperature/flow
with restrictions.
the proper compressor is chosen, most issues relationships can save a company a tremendous

Chemical Engineering Progress July 2000 15


COMPRESSORS

amount of both its time and money.


Compressor inlet pressures P1 are
as important as the discharge pres-
sures P2, since many commercial ma-

rge
Su
chines are limited on the inlet side.

d
Rated Point

cte
For example, there are numerous rel-

Discharge Pressure, P2

pe
atively inexpensive, oil-injected

Ex
screw (OIS) compressors suitable for Preswirl
process gas duties that are limited to
values of P1 of 100 lb/in.2 (psi) (all
pressures here are gage, i.e., psig, un- -12
less otherwise noted). Specialized
OIS compressors can accept a P1 of 45
60 30 0
700 psi, but these are more costly
and have longer deliveries. 75
Most oil-free screw (OFS) units Approximate IGV Positions, deg.
designed for gas applications are lim-
ited to 150 psi at the inlet. There are Inlet Volume
special cases when they can achieve a
P1 as high as 225 psi, but these must ■ Figure 1. Example of “curved” performance on centrifugal compressors.
be checked on a job-to-job basis. Re-
ciprocating (recips) and centrifugal
types are available at nearly all inlet
pressures, but the centrifugals can be- 15,000
come costly under P1 and P2 condi- Diaphragm 15,000 psig/100 acfm
tions where special pressures or mul- Reciprocating 6,000/6,000
5,000
tistaging is required. These will be
discussed in the centrifugal section
below. 3,000
Discharge Pressure, P2,psig

Gas compressors
1,000
The compressor industry is seg- Centrifugal 5,000/4,000 (Start 200)
mented into numerous sections and 3,000/10,,000
2,000/30,000
subsections, and recent economic 800 1,500/100,000+
conditions have created considerable
crossover as compressor suppliers Oil-Injected Rotary Screw
600 870/10,000 (Start 150)
jockey for position on their next sale.
Fundamentally, there are two major
areas: gas and air. 400
Gas compression is the more diffi-
Oil-Free Rotary Screw
cult, since the processes they drive 400/50,000 (Start 250)
are normally very expensive and 200
gases must be handled delicately to Rotary Vane 150/4,000
avoid leakage, unwanted condensa- 0
tion, other phase problems, and flash 0 100 500 1,000 5,000 10,000 50,000 100,000
points. Different gases also have Flow Rate, acfm
varying market demands, which af-
fect the way a compressor is built and ■ Figure 2. Cost-effective sizes for commercially available gas compressors.
purchased.
Industries with high demand and curately predict, the global number of and volume, but standardizing the
volume will have gas compressors standardized refrigeration units sold machines is difficult, since their
“built for duty” and numerous com- (for ammonia, propane, propylene, P1/P2/flow relationships are widely
petitors, resulting in low prices. Re- Freon-replacements, and Freon) fall varied and inconsistent. Hydrogen is
frigeration is the best example. While well into the thousands annually. a good example where there are many
the exact numbers are difficult to ac- Other industries have fair demand applications, but disparate flows and

16 July 2000 Chemical Engineering Progress


pressures make it very difficult to de- Table 1. Minimum sizing information
sign one set of off-the-shelf equip-
ment to cover the variations. required by compressor vendors.
Some of the major gas compressor
markets, and uses, include vapor re- Gas Compressors
• Site elevation above sea level
covery (which can also be subdivid-
• Gas inlet pressure
ed into many sections), production,
• Gas composition (or molecular weight (MW)), heat capacity at constant pressure Cp, k-
transmission, fuel gases (power gen- value, compressibility Z (for budgetary considerations); also indicate the water content in
eration and boilers), refrigeration, the gas
and processing. The refrigeration, • Gas flow
fuel gas, and gas transmission indus- • Gas discharge pressure required
tries are very large and consistent, • Discharge temperature limitations
hence, many standardized compres- • Drive selection:
sors have been created to reduce cost For gas engines or turbines, provide the fuel gas lower heating value (LHV),
temperature, and pressure
and gain market share. Even these in- For steam turbines, provide the steam temperature, inlet pressure, and acceptable
dustries find that conditions upon backpressure
which gas compressors are sized • For air or water cooling, provide the design temperature of the medium
vary to such an extent that it is diffi- • Level of specification:
cult to produce equipment to cover Manufacturer’s standard
“Near” API
the entire market. API specifications with client inputs
As a result of the different gas Client’s specifications
conditions found in the marketplace, Oil level permitted in discharge gas
broad ranges of customized compres-
sors are available. These will typical- Air Compressors
ly cost more than standard units, such • Site elevation
as those built for air or the more com- • Ambient air temperature range (winter low and summer high)
mon refrigeration and wellhead gas • Relative humidity at high temperature
service. The delivery times for these • Discharge pressure required
units are also longer, as most are built • Discharge temperature limitations
from the moment a purchase order is • Oil level permitted in discharge air
• Drive selection
placed, unlike air units, which are
• Air or water cooling
built ahead of time based on market
• Level of specification
estimates. All API-based compres-
sors, except for American Petroleum
Institute (Washington, DC) API 11P
recips, are custom builds, so that the sent. However, air is drawn from the from those handling process gas.
user should expect deliveries in ex- atmosphere, and if a compressor Only some reciprocating units (in-
cess of 35 weeks for a package. Cen- leaks, there is little harm. With a P1 cluding some made by GD) have
trifugal and OFS options, built to API variance of roughly 11.2–14.7 psia found success in crossing over. How-
standards, often have deliveries ap- and well over 90% of applications ever, despite using the same frame,
proaching one year from order. (Since using a P2 of 100–150 psi, it has been even these units have differences in
many API standards will be men- relatively easy for the world’s air internal construction, depending on
tioned here, their titles and content compressor manufacturers’ to “dial- whether air or gas is used.
will not be mentioned. For more in- in” their designs. They have complete An aero-derivative screw com-
formation, see API’s Web site: lines of products that are built with pressor has made inroads in the gas
www.api.org/.) considerable capacities, using compo- production arena, specifically well-
nents that are only acceptable to air head gas. Once again, these units are
Air compressors or nitrogen. Companies such as Gard- constructed differently from the stan-
Although air is a gas, the incredi- ner Denver (GD) produce thousands dard air units; they are engineered
ble volume and competition in the air of OIS compressor air-ends per year. such that they service wells that typi-
market has bred an entirely different Air compressors are normally cally have 5–7 year lives.
line of compressors. From a corrosion lightweight and use materials, such as Process gas compressors should be
standpoint, air is actually a very diffi- bronze, which would not be accept- selected from the moment the process
cult gas. It contains two oxidants (O2 able for most gases. Thus, air units design begins. Operating companies
and CO2), and water is normally pre- should always be treated separately that are successful with their com-

Chemical Engineering Progress July 2000 17


COMPRESSORS

Table 2. How the four basic types of compressors stack up.


Type of Compressor OIS OFS Centrifugal Reciprocating
Principle of operation PD-OIS PD-OFS Dynamic PD
Maximum P1, psi 700 225 Close to P2 Close to P2 (Depends on rod load, as well)
Maximum P2, psi 865 400 1,500–5,000 6,000
Maximum flow, acfm 10,000 47,000 100,000+ 6,000
Maximum T2,°F 250* 400–500 350–500 300–400
Pulsation None None None Large
Surging No No Yes No
First critical speed Below Below Above Below
Maximum pressure ratio/stage 23:1 5:1† 1.5–3:1 5:1
Design point efficiency 70–85% 70–85% 70–88% 75–92%
Off-design efficiency Excellent Fair Poor Fair
Oil-free status Filters needed Oil-free Oil-free Filters‡
Polymer gas applications No Yes Difficult No
API continuous run, h 16,000 24,000 24,000 8,000
5-yr reliability/uptime 98–99.5% 99–99.5% 97–99.5% 90–95%
Standby required§ No No No Yes
Installation area X 2X 2X 4X
Noise level (with enclosure) 85 dB 85 dB# 85 dB 90 dB
Vibration level Small Small Small Large
Sensitive to vibration No No Yes No
Capacity control 15–100% Recycle 70–100% Step or recycle
Discharge accumulator No No Yes Yes
Discharge temperature control Yes Possible No No
Variable inlet pressure Yes Yes No Limited
Method of P1 variance Slide valve Recycle PCV¶ SVU**/PCV¶
Part-load power Low High High High
Gas composition effect Small Small Large Small–medium
Lowest molecular weight 2.0 2.0 10.0 2.0 (Special distance piece)
Starting torque Low Low High High
Installation costs Low Medium Medium High
Spare parts cost Low Medium High High
Operation cost Low Low Low–medium Medium–high
Maintenance required Low Low Low Medium–high
Notes:
* OIS compressors are cooled by oil injection. Most lubricants break down at 280°F.
† OFS units can achieve 8:1 ratios with liquid injection.
‡ Or nonlubricated with distance piece and purge.
§ Standby requirement can also depend upon level of specification.
# OFS noise level with silencers.
¶ PCV is pressure control valve.

** SVU is suction valve unloader.

pressors normally try an iterative pro- ment engineer, or an engineering con- inlet flow, and gas characteristics.
cess. The engineer designs an initial sultant. In the end, process engineers Positive displacement (PD) types,
process that fits the range of what the should know a little about what com- which consist of all models other than
market has available, then these con- pressors can do, and mechanical engi- centrifugals, are sized on actual inlet
ditions are sent to various compressor neers should know a little about what volume (actual ft3/min (acfm)).
vendors and feedback is provided on a process’ needs and limitations are. For most reciprocating and rotary
issues of feasibility, availability, screw applications, the discharge pres-
price, and delivery. The process engi- Compressor sizing sure becomes almost secondary in the
neer than incorporates the revised information selection of the physical size of the
pressures, temperatures, and flows Important sizing information, re- unit. However, knowing the discharge
into a workable process model. quired by compressor vendors and pressure is necessary, since it will dic-
Naturally, this procedure may in- packagers, is listed in Table 1. Com- tate whether the compressor is capable
volve mechanical and maintenance pressors are sized on absolute inlet of the desired pressure, whether the
engineers, a corporate rotating-equip- pressure (psia), inlet temperature, gas will remain gaseous throughout

18 July 2000 Chemical Engineering Progress


out the curve). In fact, if a PD blower
1,600 is sized properly for the pressure ratio
required, the flow might drop by a
few percentage points if the ratio is
1,400
increased or decreased by more than
Reciprocating 1,500 psig/300 acfm 10%, due to volumetric efficiency.
1,200 600/400 Table 2 compares the four basic types
300/2,000 of compressors.
Discharge Pressure, P2,psig

1,000
Forestalling against surge
By the same token, while PD units
800
can produce 20% higher discharge
pressures (or more) with only per-
600 centage-point changes in flow, dy-
Oil-Injected Rotary Screw 250/100-3,000 namic units can only rise in pressure
marginally with a heavy payment in
400 Centrifugal
250/200-3,000
flow and a very great danger of ap-
200/150-2,000 150/3,000-40,000 proaching surge. Surge is when a cen-
200 trifugal compressor approaches the
Dry Screw end of its curve at the left (Figure 1).
0 200 400 1,500 2,500 5,000 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 It is best to keep the compressor op-
100 300 500 3,000 eration at least 5% (by flow) to the
right of this line.
Flow Rate, acfm Physically, as the compressor ap-
■ Figure 3. Air compressors — cost-effective units that are commercially available. proaches surge, vibration begins and
increases as you approach the surge
line (a line drawn by connecting all
the compression cycle, the number of gle-stage units by “preswirl,” which the left-most points on the IGV
stages required, and what the power is possible by reversing the IGVs. curves). Vibration is quite severe and
requirement for the unit will be. Centrifugal units can be seen as can heavily damage a compressor
Centrifugal compressors are dy- fixed-ratio compressors, which means whose impeller(s) may be spinning
namic, which means that their perfor- that only a ±5% change in inlet pres- anywhere from 7,000–50,000 rpm.
mance is “curved” and depends sure is normally allowed for a fixed For this reason, all centrifugals should
tremendously upon inlet flow and dis- discharge pressure. Dynamic com- be purchased with a surge system,
charge pressure requirements. Figure pression results from the conversion which unloads the machine via recir-
1 shows the typical pressure volume of gas velocity to pressure. Thus, culation, as conditions approach surge.
relationship for these devices. Note molecular weight (MW) plays a key Reciprocating, screw, and other
the P2 curves downward as the flow role, since the selection of the com- PD compressors will push the inlet
increases; this is found in all dynamic pressor is directly related to the head gas against whatever system resis-
compressors. The multiple curves are calculation for the process. This is tance exists at the discharge. This is
for different inlet guide vane (IGV) why centrifugals are not used for hy- why high-pressure shutdown and re-
settings on a single-stage compressor. drogen, or other low-MW gases. The lief valves are so important. PDs will
IGVs are pneumatically actuated head is simply too high for a cost-ef- continue to push until the system is
vanes at the entrance of the compres- fective solution when the MW dips satisfied, or something else gives
sor that alter the gas flow and create a below 10. When the MW is below 5, (system resistance, unloader setting,
pressure drop. Unlike butterfly a centrifugal selection is almost im- recycle setting, alarms/shutdowns, or
valves, they are quite efficient at possible, since the head may be at or the relief valve). Apart from volumet-
80–100% of compressor-design flow well over 100,000 ft. ric efficiencies, which can vary from
rates. The amount of turndown ob- The main difference that a user 70–95% depending upon the selec-
tained by using IGVs depends upon sees between PD and dynamic com- tion vs. requirement relationship, a
staging. Single-stage units will typi- pression is that the former’s compres- PD unit will compress the same
cally be capable of 65–105% of flow sors do not provide a significant in- amount of actual flow through its
range with IGVs, while the effect is crease in flow with a drop in dis- cylinder, regardless of pressure, tem-
closer to 90–100% on multistage ma- charge pressure, whereas dynamic perature, or MW.
chines. The 105% is achieved on sin- compressors do (this is called riding Naturally, one could get into se-

Chemical Engineering Progress July 2000 19


COMPRESSORS

mantics over the issue of volume con- On PD units, the k-value directly af- thumb will be presented to help guide
sistency in PD equipment, but when fects the power requirements, and the the process engineer through the
you compare a 25% variance with the calculation of it, for bidding purposes. availability and selection process.
100+% found in dynamic units, the Heavy hydrocarbon gases, such as This becomes necessary since nearly
argument holds true. Thus, a com- propane, butane, and propylene, have every compressor manufacturer has
pressor system vendor must know the k-values around 1.14 under most inlet equipment with different pressure and
inlet absolute pressure and inlet tem- pressure/temperature conditions. Air, flow capabilities. However, the mar-
perature, along with the flow to cal- nitrogen, and hydrogen are typically ketplace will always dictate what is
culate the acfm and peg the proper at 1.4. Helium can be higher than 1.6. purchased and what is a fringe player,
compressor sizing. If there were two processes, one with and any good engineer must have
Reciprocating unit flow results propane and one with air, using iden- bottom-line sensitivity in this day and
from the multiplication of cylinder tical numbers except for gas compo- age. Figure 2 shows the general area
volume (based on stroke and diame- sition, the power used by a PD com- where the various types of gas com-
ter), number of cylinders, actual rpm, pressor could be 5–10% higher for pressors are cost-effectively available
and volumetric efficiency. Screw unit the air than the lower k-value in terms of pressure and flow. Figure
flow is based on swept volume times propane. This can often mean a frame 3 does this for the air machines.
rpm times volumetric efficiency. This break in the compressor driver, and The main types of compressors
illustrates the need for an acfm calcu- this has a significant impact on the used in the industry are reciprocating,
lation by the vendor and the fact that temperature rise across the compres- rotary screw, and centrifugal; lesser
the voltage must be known for motor sor. A frame break is a jump from one selected are rotary-vane, liquid-ring,
drives, since the calculation depends size to another. If the jump is from and diaphragm machines. Only the
on rpm, and many PD compressors smaller to larger, then it can be costly. major ones will be discussed at length
are direct driven. Temperature rise affects oil cooling in this article.
The compressor vendor, due to skid and gas cooling, so the entire system
pressure drops across each side of the can be affected if cost estimates are Reciprocating compressors
compressor, should calculate the acfm. based on a 1.15 k-factor, and the final In the U.S., from the 1900s to the
Vendors prefer to be given the process design balloons to 1.3, for example. 1960s, the reciprocating compressor
flow requirement in standard ft3/min There is one final note about the became the workhorse for all com-
(scfm), (normal) nm3/h, lb/h, or kg/h, gases lighter than 10 MW, specifical- pression (Figure 4). These have been
to ensure accuracy in sizing. This is ly hydrogen and helium. Although used in nearly every application, in al-
why the gas composition or character- PD compressors, notably reciprocat- most every conceivable way. Although
istics are so important. ing and screw units, are the best for their population is dwindling, and an-
these low-MW gases, these lighter nual sales volumes have been in
Effect of k-value gases are “slippery” and tend to result steady decline since the 1970s, these
If the buyer’s gas composition is in lower volumetric efficiencies in the machines’ capability in handling large
yet to be finalized, the buyer’s guess 70–85% range. “Slip-
on MW, the ratio of heat capacity at pery” means that the gas
constant pressure to that at constant molecules are small and ■ Figure 4.
Bare Y-type
volume Cp/Cv, and the compressibili- their density is light, so it reciprocating
ty Z will still be much better than the is difficult to “capture” compressor.
vendor’s. The MW and Z are obvious- the gas and make it go
ly necessary for flow calculations, where you want it to go.
particularly if the flow is provided in Thus, when compared to
the desired standardized or mass-flow a typical natural gas
format. However, Cp/Cv, often known (MW of 17 and k-value
as the k-value, is crucial as well. of 1.28), hydrogen and
The k-value is used in various cal- helium will require a
culations, including horsepower and roughly 10% larger ma-
mechanical volumetric requirements chine, due to lower volu-
for PD compressors. On centrifugal metric efficiency, and
types, the MW is critical, since the 5–10% more horsepow-
head calculation is so heavily affected er, due to the higher k-
by this number (the larger the MW, values.
the lower the head), and the head di- For the purposes of
rectly affects the power requirement. this article, some rules of

20 July 2000 Chemical Engineering Progress


■ Figure 5.
Three identical, horizontal
recips, packaged on a
common skid, illustrate
how large and customized
a packaged unit can be.

pressures and small flows, along with


single-body/multistage availability,
will keep them a necessary part of the
landscape for the foreseeable future.
Another benefit that reciprocating
units provide is their ability to be ation percent-
used as nonlubricated. This means age over 5 yr) is
that no oil is injected into the cylin- among the lowest of the
der. If the distance pieces are long compressors available, and
enough and purged, then there should that the repairs themselves can be
be no introduction of oil vapors into costly. Most reciprocating units fall in
the process either (reciprocating units the 92–95% reliability/availability
produce a tremendous amount of oil range, while screws and centrifugals
vapors, which can slip around the can achieve 98–99.5% levels. tion, but has no
rings, if the cylinder is not designed Another problem that users have cylinder. The piston
to stop them). The result is that non- encountered is the pulsation and un- rod actually moves a plate
lubricated recips are often a cost-ef- balanced forces created by the recipro- back and forth, creating compres-
fective solution in providing a low-oil cating, or piston motion. This requires sion via the moving diaphragm. These
content (vapors), or oil-free gas. (Dis- special foundations and pulsation sup- movers can achieve the highest avail-
tance pieces define the length be- pressors, while the other types do not. able pressures in the marketplace,
tween where compression takes place Mainly, reciprocating compressors roughly 15,000 psi. However, the
(the piston area) and the location of are most cost-effective when the pro- largest unit can barely handle 100
the oil (the crankcase).) cess P2 is above 865 psi at the dis- acfm. Small flow is simply the nature
These devices are also the most ef- charge and the flow is less than 2,000 of this unique form of machine.
ficient method of compressing gas at acfm. These devices are also good for Diaphragm units are used mostly
a specific condition (under a given pressures above 500 psi, if the flow is on high-pressure gases in R&D or
P1, T1, and P2). They can be multi- less than 300 acfm. In general, recip- other small-flow processes. They are
staged easily, and if the unit is lubri- rocating units are the most competi- sometimes used as the final booster in
cated, then adiabatic efficiencies in tive type at any pressure, if the flow a chain of compressors to achieve a
the 80–92% range can be achieved. is less than 200 acfm. pressure above 5,000–6,000 psi.
Figure 5 shows three machines staged The nonlubricated forms are very Capacity control is normally han-
together in parallel, used for boosting competitive across the range, as well. dled through recirculation of gases, or
natural gas in a cogeneration facility. Recent innovations in OFS and filtra- blowing off of air. As the compressor
Figure 6 presents two recips used for tion technology have resulted in the only sees the full design flow under
natural gas peak–demand shaving. use of OFS and OIS compressors on these circumstances, part-load power
Unfortunately, if the process has many oil-free applications. is the same as for full load. Stepped-
many off-design points or if the com- In processes that involve low unloading is available, through the
pressor is oversized, the efficiency MWs, typically below 10, with pres- use of various suction and cylinder
gains at design are lost at part-load. sures above 350 psi, recips are still valving techniques. By disabling or
This is why variable-speed drivers and very popular. Above 870 psi, they are enabling suction unloader valves in
unloading valves have become popular, the only solution, due to the above- different cylinder combinations, vary-
and sometimes expensive, alternatives mentioned difficulties that centrifugal ing flows can be achieved.
to the standard recycle system setup. units have. Unloading normally come in three-
The one major negative, which step (0–50–100%) or five-step
maintenance people are well aware of, Diaphragm compressors (0–25–50–75–100%) jumps, and the
is that reciprocating compressors are A variation of the reciprocating method is especially popular for the
maintenance-intensive. This means compressor is the diaphragm machine. API 618 compression units. Unfortu-
that their reliability percentage (oper- This derivation uses reciprocating mo- nately, field personnel are forced to

Chemical Engineering Progress July 2000 21


COMPRESSORS

It is not unusual for piston rings to


wear and be replaced annually. The
cylinder valves should last longer,
somewhere between 1–2 yr. In both
cases, the nonlubricated cylinder parts
would have shorter lives than the lu-
bricated ones in the same application.
Reciprocating compressors come
in three formats:
1. Low-speed (300–500 rpm),
long-stroke (7 in. and more), per API
619.
2. Medium-speed (500–800 rpm),
medium-stroke (5–7 in.), GD/Joy-
type units.
3. High-speed (900–1,800 rpm),
small-stroke (2–6.5 in.), per API 11P.
■ Figure 6. Two radial-type recips packaged on a single skid used for natural gas peak-demand shaving. Reliability is not too different be-
tween the types, but preferences and
features will guide the buyer toward
one or the other. The important thing
live with the decision of using step un- and flow will load a compressor more to remember with recips is that aver-
loading, which is often unreliable. It is or less. By verifying the load of a age piston speed is important, not the
not unusual for operations personnel specific application against the pub- actual rpm. Piston speed is a function
to disable or remove reciprocating un- lished maximum for the compressor of rpm and stroke length. Normally,
loaders sometime during their operat- chosen, the mechanical engineer can users will accept piston speeds in the
ing life, to reduce maintenance costs verify mechanical loading. 600–800 ft/s range. Nonlubricated
and increase running time. Typically, reciprocating compres- process applications would normally
Another solution for the capacity sor cylinders can handle pressure ra- be sized below 600 ft/s, per API 618.
control issue is using a variable speed tios of up to 5:1 in a single stage, and The GD-type and API 11P units
drive. At first glance, this is the best so- can generally be offered in up to six are the most cost-effective and have
lution for efficiency and power savings. stages, depending upon the gas and steadily gained market share over the
However, 21st century budgets are rod loading. Both gas temperature and traditional “slow rollers” that API
tighter than ever and variable frequency rod loading become issues, which as- 618 specifies, but the traditional ma-
drives (VFDs) for motors are expen- sist the compressor engineer in decid- chine is still popular in high-
sive. Also, when using VFDs, it is im- ing whether multistaging is required. end/high-dollar processes. As high-
portant that a transient torsional study Note that API 618 does not allow any end processes have been the last to
be done to avoid rod load problems on cylinder to have a discharge tempera- see recent budget demands, and the
the compressors at certain speeds. ture above 300°F. However, many dwindling API 618 market has caused
wellhead gas applications have used ferocious competition between the
Mechanical loading lubricated cylinders to a maximum of numerous suppliers that remain, this
Reciprocating compressor frames 350°F per cylinder. In the air market, may not change for some time.
are no longer rated by horsepower, some vendors have approached 400°F
since the piston rod load rating is a per cylinder, on lubricated cylinders, Centrifugal compressors
far more accurate predictor of the me- to reduce staging and increase cost The centrifugal compressor is ex-
chanical strain on the unit. It is com- benefits to the client. tremely popular, mostly because near-
mon for corporate specifications to The main problem with elevated ly all are oil-free. Centrifugals also
state that rod load shall not exceed temperatures is that ring-life and have oil-vapor and aerosol problems,
90% of the continuous operating de- valve-life are reduced; in some cases, but most process units can be consid-
sign for the frame. Rod load capabili- dramatically. Newer materials have ered oil-free, due to the special seal
ties increase with the size of com- allowed the recent elevations, but any arrangements that are used. Another
pressor, so actual numbers would not lubricated cylinders operating over tremendous advantage these machines
be relevant or helpful to this article. 325°F, or nonlubricated cylinders have over all others is the enormous
What is helpful is knowing that cer- above 300°F, should be examined flows (100,000+ acfm) that some
tain combinations of pressure ratio carefully. units can compress in a single body,

22 July 2000 Chemical Engineering Progress


with a high-pressure (1,500–5,000 gear boxes, API 541 motors, API 671 units run above their first critical
psi) capability. couplings, and API 614 lube/seal sys- speed; the critical speed is where the
Centrifugals are dominant in the tems. When steam turbines are used, first harmonic vibrations occur for ro-
large gas-pipeline transmission indus- API 611 (general purpose) or 612 tating equipment, and is normally in
try, where hundreds of thousands of (special purpose) turbines come into the 8,000–12,000 rpm range for most
cfm must be compressed to 1,000 psi the equation. equipment. If you reduce the speed
after considerable line losses. They API 617 centrifugal compressors on a centrifugal operating at its de-
are typically placed every 100 miles typically operate in the 8,000–15,000 sign point, you will often find a criti-
of pipe, or closer, and are critical to rpm range and use gear boxes driven cal disturbance at around 70–75% of
the transmission of natural gas by the main driver. There is another the run speed. The variable speed
throughout the world. specification, API 672, for integrally driver would then be programmed to
In process use, they are used for geared centrifugals. Machines made ramp through this speed quickly and
large flows, high pressures, and to this standard are intended for air avoid it by at least 5% on each side.
heavy-MW gases, and are popular on service only, but some users have The difference would have to be re-
the critical process paths found in purchased them for clean gas applica- circulated from a greater speed, if
most petroleum refineries and petro- tions, such as pipeline-quality natural process off-design of normal flow or
chemical plants. These are locations gas boosting. The main problem with other part-load point were needed.
where you find the larger flows and, the 672-type units is that they are The main negatives associated
with the extensive use of catalysts, bullgear driven by 2-pole motors and with centrifugal compressors are their
the oil-free feature is important. the impeller/pinion operates at comparative costs in pressure/flow
From a cost standpoint, centrifu- around 30,000–50,000 rpm. The in- ranges covered by screws and recips,
gals seem to do best when flows are ternal gearing, high speeds, and limit- their pressure ratio inflexibilities, en-
larger. There is not much choice with ed shaft seal designs make this type ergy consumption due to difficulties
the other types above 50,000 acfm. of centrifugal less reliable (98–99% at part-loads, extreme sensitivity to
As Figure 2 shows, there are also range) than the traditional API 617 vibration, and the size of the installa-
many combinations of high pressures variety. tion required if full API auxiliaries
with even larger flows that simply Bullgears are large gears where are required.
make the centrifugal the only choice. the shaft is driven by the driver. They Typical stages can only operate to
In the psi/acfm coverage areas have smaller gears, often, multiple roughly 2:1, so multistaging is often
where all the types meet, centrifugals gears, called pinions that can spin required, but intercooling need only
are normally used in specific process- very quickly due to their size vs. that take place every second or third
es that have fixed pressure ratios and of the bullgear. stage. These units are available in up
require oil-free gas, particularly with Centrifugal units are the latest type to eight stages in a single body. Thus,
pressures above 400 psi. Normally, if of compressor to be released by the pressure ratios of 28 are possible.
a centrifugal is similar in cost to a re- manufacturers, in bare form, to pack- Many vendors also have drive-
ciprocating unit, the centrifugal agers. The use of packagers has great- through designs that allow two com-
should be chosen for its reliability in ly reduced the final cost of the com- pressor bodies to be connected and
service and relatively large mainte- plete skid to the user and may bring use a single driver. This allows for
nance intervals. Still, while centrifu- about greater use of centrifugal units more than the standard eight stages.
gals are costly to fix, particularly any- in more competitive industries such Stage pressure ratio balancing and
thing involving the rotor/impeller or as refrigeration and fuel gas boosting. impeller selection are critical when
seals, lifetime costs are normally Capacity control is achieved by using two bodies at one speed.
below those of the recips. inlet throttling (valve or IGV), vari- Standard centrifugal air compres-
The reliability advantage is a sig- able speed, or recirculation. On sin- sors normally come in a three-stage
nificant point for both screw com- gle-stage machinery, IGVs are the format (Figure 7). This allows dis-
pressors and centrifugal units. Recip- most cost-effective solution, coupled charge pressures up to 150 psi, from a
rocating compressors must often be with a recirculation system that can normal sea level inlet (14.7 psia); for
“spared,” i.e., with a standby spare also handle surge. On multistage longevity, it is best to use them at 125
unit, due to their low reliability per- units, recirculation and variable speed psi. High-pressure ratios can be
centage. Centrifugal packages built to are the best options. achieved across each air stage, since
API standards are intended to be used The only problem with using vari- the bullgear design allows for pinion
without spares, and have done so able speed on centrifugals is that, in velocities above 20,000 rpm. Al-
with reliability in the 99%+ range. most applications, the compressor though this is fast, and would be
These high-reliability units are nor- cannot operate over the entire speed questionable on all process gas appli-
mally built to API 617, using API 613 range available from the driver. These cations, it is very normal on air and

Chemical Engineering Progress July 2000 23


COMPRESSORS

■ Figure 7.
GD-Turbo centrifugal for air contains
three stages.

has been the standard design


for air centrifugal units for 20
years.

Oil-free rotary screw


compressors
The original screw com-
pressor was oil-free. Designed
in the 1930s by Dr. Lyceum of
Swedish Rotary Machines
(SRM), the first working pro-
totype was built in Europe in
1939. Commercial use of the
screw compressor did not
begin until 1946, due to World
War II, but its popularity was
enormous in post-war Europe during
the rebuilding process. The rotors can be
In 1948, a group of American busi- made from different grades of steel,
nessman obtained a license to build different grades of stainless steel lems, since the coating either unbal-
screws from SRM. Americans used (such as 13-4 and 17-4) and even ances the impeller or grows out
these compressors predominately in more exotic materials such as In- from the casing walls to meet the
the steel industry, for coke-oven and conel. It is all a matter of what the coating on the impeller, causing a
kiln gas applications. The steel indus- buyer can afford. API 619 is the rubbing effect. The coating also re-
try was a dominant player in the post- specification that covers OFS units. duces diffuser and volute areas in
war U.S., as the country built its infras- In contrast, recips have little flexi- centrifugal units, which hinders per-
tructure and the car industry developed bility in materials choices, with the formance. For this reason, centrifu-
into the major player it is today. only major changes normally found gal compressors used in low-density
The OFS compressor was, and still in cylinder liners, if they are used in and high-density polyethylene
is, favored for these “dirty” applica- the design of the unit. Centrifugals (LDPE and HDPE) service must
tions since it has the unique ability to can also be made in a variety of mate- continually be shut down and
pass 200 micron-sized particles contin- rials similar to OFSs. OIS models cleaned, often chemically. This
uously and without incident. Particles normally use cast iron casings, with downtime is expensive, not to men-
would settle into reciprocating cylin- most companies offering options to tion the actual cleaning costs in ma-
ders and cause severe damage to the use ductile iron (sometimes called terials and labor.
rings and cylinder walls, and sludging nodular iron) and cast steel. OIS ro- The OFS compressor actually im-
of the oil. The particles in these gases tors are manufactured in either duc- proves over the life of the polymer
would create a sandblast effect on cen- tile iron or steel. coating. These machines are designed
trifugal impellers and cause excessive so that their timing gears ensure that
wear, vibration, and downtime. OFSs with polymers the two rotors do not actually make
OFS compressors can also be built Polymerizing gases are truly physical contact. However, for effi-
using exotic metals. The standard where OFS units shine. Gases such cient compression, the rotors must be
machine normally has a cast iron cas- as styrene or butadiene tend to coat as close to one another as possible.
ing with forged steel rotors. Howev- any contacted metal with polymer As a polymer coats the rotors and
er, casings can be made from ductile over time. This is disastrous to re- cylinder walls, these clearances close
iron, cast steel, and Type 316 stain- ciprocating units, since the cylinder up and increase the efficiency. The
less steel. More importantly, an ordi- and crankcase become overgrown rubbing-effect is not a problem, ei-
nary cast iron or steel casing can be with polymer, and there is a sludg- ther. OFS units are solid and probably
nickel-plated to provide a high level ing effect of polymer in the oil. the least sensitive to vibration.
of corrosion resistance and hardness. Centrifugals have vibration prob- Thus, as the polymer coating rubs

24 July 2000 Chemical Engineering Progress


■ Figure 8. add better filtration to the newer ap-
Bare OFS compressor, plications, or use OFS compressors,
awaiting packaging. despite their greater cost.
The machine will be OFS machines can accept
used in hydrocarbon
vapor recovery.
mist/aerosol entrainment and the
higher discharge temperatures associ-
ated with oil-free units flash liquids
and keep the unsteady gases in the
gaseous phase. Also, the pressure
limitations would force the user into
interstaging, with cooling and filter-
ing, creating a better environment for
the compressor.
The National Oil Company of Mex-
ico (PEMEX) has long used OFS units
against itself, pieces smaller than 100 mally condensed during cooling prior to boost the gas from near atmospheric
µm break off and are released to the gas compressor are not at high- to discharge pressures of 50–70 psi.
through the discharge without inci- er temperatures. Other companies are still trying to
dent. Polymer applications have On northern sites, the typical inlet achieve the 100–125 psi levels they are
built-in filtration and scrubbing sys- gas temperature falls in the 60–90°F accustomed to with their OIS compres-
tems throughout the piping, since range with the majority of tempera- sors, but this would mean two stages in
polymerized pieces can be formed tures at or below 80°F. In the Gulf of an OFS compressor and significantly
and released in the piping, vessels, Mexico and offshore Brazil, this tem- higher cost.
and other components as well. perature ranges from 80–130°F and is The solution is in the process engi-
Recently, the OFS compressor has mostly 100–120°F. This temperature neers’ hands. If the process is de-
become popular in vapor recovery, par- difference allows hydrocarbon heav- signed to operate at the highest dis-
ticularly offshore. Figure 8 shows an ies, such as decanes and higher, to re- charge pressure achievable by a sin-
API 619 OFS bare unit, waiting to be main in the gas in sufficient quanti- gle-stage OFS unit, then the final dis-
packaged. The machine will be used ties to condense at the discharge and charge pressure can be achieved by
for mixed-hydrocarbon recovery vapor mix with the lubricating oil. modifying the already expensive
recovery in the Gulf of Mexico. The More importantly, since most of equipment on the back end. Recircu-
compressor will be motor-gear driven these applications are water-saturated, lation processes can be adjusted by
at 6,260 rpm by an 800 kW motor. water becomes a big issue as the inlet increasing size of vessels and pipe to
Offshore heating tank vapors are temperature moves above 100°F. The limit pressure drop.
no longer flared, but, rather, they are water content of saturated gas at 120°F By the same token, if the process re-
drawn by a compressor and boosted is nearly thrice that at 80°F. Typically, ally needs the higher pressure, then the
to 100–150 psi. The resultant gas is this means that the gas should not be engineer should design to the limit of a
cooled, filtered, and further com- compressed beyond 70 psi to avoid two-stage OFS setup, which can be in
pressed to the local sales gas pressure condensation at the low temperatures the 175–225 psi area starting from at-
(1,000 psi in the U.S.). at which OIS units operate. mospheric conditions. This would
In locations such as Alaska and the The combination of lower temper- allow full use of the more expensive
North Sea, OIS compressors have atures and greater funds spent on the two-stage OFS units and drop the cost
dominated the vapor recovery unit early North Sea platforms yielded of any compressors that follow, since
(VRU) gas booster market that has process conditions that were not du- they would be much smaller, due to a
developed through environmental plicated in the Gulf of Mexico. How- higher P1. In recirculation processes
concerns and regulations. As the ever, existing processes are hard to let where there may not be further com-
North Sea generally was first in most go of. pression, the vessels and piping can be
offshore developments, the Brazilian This is why some major oil com- sized much smaller, since the compres-
and Gulf of Mexico offshore plat- panies have had trouble with equip- sor could now overcome much larger
forms have been designed with OIS ment in hotter climates, when the pressure drops across the system.
compressors, as well. Unfortunately, very same machines, using the same
the hotter climates have caused high- process (with lower temperatures) OFSs and liquids
er inlet temperatures to the first stage worked so well in colder regions. The Liquid entrainment is also a prob-
of compression, which has caused solution is to correct the process tem- lem for all other compressors. In
problems in that gases that are nor- peratures and pressures, as well as many saturated gases, there is a

Chemical Engineering Progress July 2000 25


COMPRESSORS

steady stream of mist or aerosol in cost decrease of as much as 50% in manufacturer that offers it. In the 4/6
the inlet gas. On centrifugal units, certain instances. In addition, opera- configuration, a male rotor has the
this causes erosion similar to partic- tions needs only worry about one set input shaft, the female rotor is beside
ulate bombardment. On recips, this of bearings and seals, not two. it. They are “mated” for fit and must
liquid forms in the cylinder and pro- be replaced as a set.
duces a variety of problems from oil OFS capacity controls Note that tip-speed limitations are
dilution to excessive corrosion and The advantage do not end there. more easily achieved by large male
wear. OIS compressors may have OFS compressors are similar to mul- rotors, say 630 mm dia., than smaller
problems when the liquid does not tistage centrifugal units in the meth- ones, which can go down to 127 mm.
flash off in time and slowly accumu- ods by which capacity control is Some manufacturers have offered 91
lates in the lubrication system until it achieved. The three major forms of mm dia. versions, but these are very
either replaces or dilutes the injec- control — inlet throttling, gas recir- small and would have to be run in ex-
tion oil. culation, and variable speed — still cess of 12,000 rpm to achieve perfor-
In OFS systems, the liquid entrain- apply. However, OFS compressors mance-efficient tip speeds.
ment is easily flashed off due to the typically operate in the 3,000–8,000 OFS compressors are shown on
450–500°F maximum temperature for rpm range, so they are well below the P2/flow chart (Figure 2). They are
a compressor that can sometimes their typical first critical speed of good to inlet pressures of 150 psi,
achieve 5:1 ratios (with low k-value 12,000 rpm. This makes them excel- and, in some cases, to 225 psi. They
gases) in a single stage. This misting lent variable speed machines. They can be used to discharge pressures of
liquid capability was used by engi- can be operated down to roughly 50% 350 psi and, sometimes, 400 psi. Re-
neers in the actual design of some of design speed, depending upon the cent developments have allowed
process systems. application, and the entire range can flows up to 80,000 m3/h or 47,000
Capital costs for OFS machinery be used unless an unusual vibration is acfm. These higher flows can only be
are always competitive to API cen- found at one of the speeds in between realized with discharge pressures of
trifugal and API reciprocating units, (this is rare). 200 psi or less, but this has made a
as long as they can be kept in a single As mentioned previously, the great impact on hydrogen recircula-
stage. What industry has found is that styrene process uses water. It also tion and styrene.
certain gases can accept the introduc- uses steam, so the existence of boilers One disadvantage that the OFS
tion of liquids, such as water in allows for over-sizing and use of units have is that they use four shaft
styrene, since, many times, the liquid steam turbine drivers. Unlike cen- seals. Centrifugal compressors use
is a part of the process anyway. trifugal compressors, which require one (single-stage) or two (multistage)
For example, with styrene, it is gear speed increasers most of the seals, while OIS types need only one.
commonplace in both the Badger time when steam turbines are used, Four seals are expensive, necessitat-
(now Raytheon) and Lummus (now OFS units often run near the steam ing the use of dynamic dry gas seals.
ABB-Lummus Global) processes to turbine (backpressure, single-stage Four of these and a buffer system can
inject water into the OFS inlet. Water type) effective speed of 4,000–6,000 add $250,000 or more to the cost of a
is shot in as a mist and the flow rate is rpm. For styrene, this has allowed the compressor.
set to achieve a specific discharge use of direct-driven OFS compressors OFS compressors are very good
temperature from the OFS compres- with steam turbine drivers. process machines. Unfortunately,
sor, while increasing the pressure OFS compressors depend upon they have been underused in the U.S.,
ratio to 6:1 to 7:1, due to the dis- their rotors’ ability to capture gas and due to operators’ lack of experience
charge temperature drop created by push it through a smaller space at the with them as opposed to centrifugal
the energy required to flash the water discharge. This means that the most and reciprocating types. They would
during compression. important variable in the aerodynam- make excellent ethylene and
In low k-value gases such as iso- ic equation is the rotor tip speed. polyethylene units, compared with
butane, 8:1 pressure ratios can be Users should not be concerned that most centrifugals that are used in
achieved by reinjecting condensed i- smaller OFS units run at these processes today. In a recent
butane from the discharge into the 7,000–10,000 rpm, since the smaller comparison, an OFS screw package
suction. Each stage of an OFS com- rotor diameter reflects a desired tip was bid at $800,000 for a single-
pressor is basically a separate ma- speed. In most cases, OFS compres- stage, direct-driven unit vs. a $1.5
chine, with its own compressor body sors should operate in the 80–110 m/s million centrifugal. However, the ro-
and driver. Therefore, cramming the tip speed range. Anything over 110 tating engineer recommended the
application into one stage by either m/s, on a standard 4/6 male/female centrifugal, due to his comfort level.
using the temperature maximums or lobe configuration, should be exam- He had never used an OFS before,
liquid injection can yield a capital ined carefully and be proven by the but had used centrifugal units often.

26 July 2000 Chemical Engineering Progress


The company basically paid
$700,000 more for a compressor
based on this inexperience.

Oil-injected rotary screw


compressors
OIS compressors were introduced
in 1958, and their most famous fea-
ture, the slide valve, was invented in
1959. Once again, both developments
occurred in Europe, so that the U.S.
has been behind the times ever since.
API 619 did not include this type of
compressor until the very latest edition
(3rd), which was released in 1997.
The OIS compressor was first ap-
plied in the air market in the 1960s,
and, by the 1980s, these units were ■ Figure 9. Packaged OIS for boiler off-gas at a liquefied propane gas facility.
dominant. In the 1970s, they entered
the refrigeration market, and became pressors received a bad reputation ppm were either not possible or ex-
principal by the late 1980s. A decade among U.S. engineers, and were not pensive — but this is no longer so.
later, acceptance grew in the fuel gas taken seriously until the 1990s. With better inlet filtration, OIS
market, and, by the 1990s, they were Custom lubricants came about in the compressors can now be used more
used on fuel gas wherever they could, 1980s and the landscape changed. frequently with gases that contain
only limited by their own pressure ca- Now, air compressors run longer, cor- particulates, such as carbon fines.
pabilities. rode less, and require fewer oil change- These fines normally fall in the 1–10
Figure 9 is a packaged OIS sys- outs than before. Hydrocarbon gases no µm range, so they would pass
tem, rated 250 hp, for compressing longer dilute the lubricant beyond use- through traditional inlet filters. Now,
boiler off-gas at a liquefied propane fulness and water can be controlled. filters can be designed for 0.5 µm and
gas (LPG) facility. The compressor is Lubricants have evolved from hy- will stop the smaller 1 µm particles.
at the right of the photo, and the box drotreated mineral oils to synthetics,
at the left is a fan cooler. such as polyalpha olefins (PAOs), poly- Ensuring oil-free service
OIS compressors will likely be- ol esters (POEs), and polyalkylene gly- More importantly, oil/gas separa-
come the machines of choice in most cols (PAGs). Currently, there are also tion has evolved to such an extent that
vapor recovery, fuel gas, and other additives that can be used, such as an- gas compressor packages can now
process gas industries by 2015. Three tioxidants, antihydrates, and anticorro- cost-effectively guarantee an oil con-
engineering developments have oc- sives. Lubricants are even available in tent of 0.01 ppm or less in the gas
curred to make this so: lubricant ad- various viscosity grades, so that dilu- stream leaving the skid. A standard for
vancement, gas filtration to levels tion can be planned and accounted for. oil-free was set by the International
below oil-free standards, and pres- The industry maximum acceptable Organization for Standardization
sure/flow improvements. dilution rate is 20% by gas to oil. OIS (ISO), Geneva (www.iso.ch/). The or-
Until the mid-1980s, OIS units compressors should not operate ganization’s ISO 8573-2, “Com-
were heavily limited by lubrication. below 12 cSt, or higher than 300 cSt, pressed Air for General Use — Part 2:
The lubricants available would easily so an established range can be main- Test Methods for Aerosol Oil Con-
be oxidized, diluted, and broken tained by a specific lubricant and vis- tent,” (1996) is a specification created
down, unless used on gases that were cosity grade. This has allowed exten- to standardize what process engineers
innocuous, such as ammonia. Air sive use of OIS compressors in hy- consider being oil-free and how the
would oxidize the oil, water would drocarbon service. value can be verified. Although this
cause foaming, and hydrocarbons Most recently, filtration companies specification is written for air, the 0.01
would dilute the lubricant. These ini- that were players in the medical field ppm figure put forward by this docu-
tial issues caused reliability problems. have entered the commercial gas filtra- ment has widely become accepted as
The fact that mechanical engineers tion arena, and another evolution will the value to which equipment should
and operators were accustomed to re- result. In the past, effectively cleaning be designed to achieve oil-free status.
ciprocating compressors did not help inlet gas to 0.3–1.0 µm, or reducing The figure is no accident; oil
either. For these reasons, screw com- oil carryover in the gas to less than 1 smokes (mostly aerosols) fall into the

Chemical Engineering Progress July 2000 27


COMPRESSORS

0.01–1.0 ppm range. They could not costs by one-half on the OIS com- The OIS compressor can take the
be filtered by coalescing and filtra- pressor package. A bare OIS unit is entire range and unload at the high end
tion elements until very recently. shown in Figure 10. to reduce energy consumption by 60%.
Thus, entrained oil would be cap- The fuel gas market is a good ex- A regulating valve is not required, ei-
tured, but aerosols (or smokes), ample of how the newer OIS machines ther. Thus, the OIS compressor not
would get through and could contam- can be used to great advantage over re- only offers the same capital cost as an
inate a gas up to 1.0 ppm by weight. cips and centrifugals. Most power gen- API 11P reciprocating unit, but the
If 0.01 ppm is achieved, the gas is erating facilities built today use gas- client could purchase a unit that is
basically oil-free. fired turbines. The incoming natural more efficient over the entire range of
Oil-free is a truly a misnomer. Oil- gas from the utility normally fluctuates compression and more reliable, as
free screw compressors and centrifu- and must be regulated to the turbine well. The added flexibility of the slide
gals used on air are not necessarily oil- pressures. Unfortunately, the pressure valve also reduces the size of the recir-
free. This is because most industrial air often dips below the turbine require- culation cooler and saves water.
is drawn at a petroleum refinery, or a ments and compression is required. OIS units are sometimes called oil-
chemical or petrochemical plant, and On a recent project, the incoming flooded, but this term is entirely inac-
the atmospheric air is not free of oil natural gas ranged from 310 psi to curate. The oil is literally injected, at a
there. Granted, oil is not introduced, 600 psi and the desired discharge was pressure higher than discharge, into
but a sensitive process, such as phar- several key areas of the compressor to
maceutical production or processes provide lubrication, sealing, and cool-
using catalyst beds, would be ruined by ■ Figure 10. ing. Nearly two-thirds of a fully in-
Bare OIS gas
the oil that is drawn in air. Filtration is compressor jected screw compressor’s oil goes to-
the only solution to ensure air, or even with inlet wards cooling, not lubrication. This is
gas, quality. The goal is 0.01 ppm. valve why OIS units can produce pressure
Reciprocating compressor vendors mounted. ratios as high as 23:1 in a single stage.
accepted their inability to achieve oil- Most companies do not use these
free status long ago. That is why they machines at ratios above 10:1, since
are called nonlubricated reciprocating they become extremely inefficient with
compressors, instead of oil-free. Of adiabatic efficiencies dropping to 50%
course, nonlube recips often do intro- at 15:1 ratios. Normal adiabatic effi-
duce oil into the process, since ciencies for screws, at a single de-
reciprocating units produce sign point, are 70–80%. Howev-
considerable amounts of oil er, their true installed efficiency
vapors. remains close to those percent-
The third major reason is ages, since OIS units are con-
pressure and flow design. Until sidered among the most effi-
1990, OIS units could not ex- cient compressors for overall
ceed 4,500 acfm in a single operation at different points, due
compressor body, now there are to the slide valve.
units that can do 10,000 acfm. Until This valve is an internal ca-
the late 1980s, the discharge pressure pacity control device, and is built into
was limited to 350 psi, however, recent all reputable gas machines, without
innovations have brought standardized 650 psi. A centrifugal must be de- incurring an additional cost. In fact, it
units up to 520 psi and special designs signed for the worst case, so an inlet is part of the design. The slide valve
to 865 psi. The latter units accept a 700 pressure regulator was required to en- literally recirculates the compressed
psi inlet pressure, hence, their recent sure that it always received 310 psi, gas before compression is completed.
in-roads in the fuel gas market. ±5%. Thus, if the incoming gas were That means that only a little energy is
Depending upon the differential at 600 psi, energy would be wasted, required to boost the gas enough so
pressure across the compressor, and since the gas would be reduced then that it can be internally recirculated to
the flow, the inlet pressure may be recompressed. the internal suction of the machine.
pushed to 120 psi on ratios below 4:1 On a reciprocating compressor, the Most slide valves can operate in
or be limited to 70 psi on ratios above entire inlet range could not be accept- the 10–100% range, so 0% flow is
7:1. In many instances, a process de- ed, due to rod load problems at the achievable with a very small recircu-
sign inlet pressure of 125 psi can be high end. Again, a regulator or expen- lation system; GD recommends a
reduced to 100 psi without great im- sive unloaders would be required, and 25% size. This removes the need for
pact. This small change can reduce the latter are not always reliable. inlet throttling, full-size recirculation,

28 July 2000 Chemical Engineering Progress


■ Figure 11. To sum up
Landfill gas In the end, the process conditions
compression. First
stage is handled by
and gas will dictate which is the best
a blower; second compressor for a particular applica-
and third by two- tion. If a process engineer properly
stage OIS unit. uses the information presented here,
then the choice for the right compres-
sor will become abundantly clear.
The engineer must understand
where the flows and pressures are in
relation to available equipment, and
see if the process can be adjusted to
meet the capabilities of units that are
readily available, reliable, and inexpen-
sive for the application under study.
Working with the mechanical depart-
ment and compressor vendors, the
right compressor will lead to the right
final process conditions, or vice-versa.
or variable speed control. In fact, OIS custom pricing does compare favorably The most important advice is to
units do not make good VFD units, with most recips. The great advantage is keep an open mind, and use an itera-
since their efficiency is so closely that standard OIS units can allow for tive selection process. Any systems
tied to tip speeds in the 50–60 m/s skid deliveries in the 20–26 week range. engineer or economist will tell you
range, and reducing the machine’s Figure 11 shows a two-stage OIS, that working in a closed loop without
speed would reduce its tip speed. preceded by a blower, all skid mounted. feedback will lead to ruination. Open
The slide valve can be instructed to Special casings would push this out to that external loop, gain that external
load or unload based on either P1 or 35 weeks, while custom (API 619) ma- feedback, and a marginal process can
P2. Thus, the process has a very sim- chinery normally takes about 40 weeks. become a great one. CEP

ple capacity control device, based on All these delivery times are shorter than
system pressures. The slide valve has those for centrifugal and API 618 recip-
also been proven to be very reliable. rocating machinery. D. G. Jandjel is product manager, gas
compressor systems, for The Gardner
The fact that screw compressors The inexpensive screw compressors
Denver Engineered Packaging Center
use injection oil for cooling is another can achieve discharge pressures of 520 (formerly Allen-Stuart Equipment), Houston
positive for process design. If a pro- psi, with some cost-effective modifica- ((713) 896-6510 ext. 131; Fax: (713) 896-
cess engineer would like to maintain a tions. Standard OIS gas units can 1154; E-mail: g-jandjel@allen-stuart.com).
He is involved in all aspects of marketing,
discharge temperature, or if the gas achieve 350 psi at the discharge, and
sales, and management of the company’s
condenses at a known temperature, this pressure level provides the buyer gas compressor division, and is responsible
then the oil injection can be throttled with many market options and creates for major accounts, worldwide. His technical
to maintain a preset discharge temper- a healthy competitive bid situation. duties include reviewing engineering data,
selecting the most appropriate systems for
ature. Using a control valve on the The main negative found in OIS
bidding, and client liaison throughout
main injection line and a temperature units is that they do require fairly production and testing. He has conducted
signal from the discharge does this. clean gas at the inlet during normal seminars for over 50 major clients and has
We recommend that a process stay operation. They handle upsets better extensive experience in specifying, costing,
troubleshooting, and engineering
18°F (10°C) above the discharge dew than recips and centrifugals, but they
compressors. Prior to his current
point for water, and 25°F (14°C) for cannot do so on a continuous basis. employment, he was a manager for both
hydrocarbon gases. Once the gas Oil carryover is really no longer an Howden Compressors and A-C Compressor
makes it through oil/gas separation, issue with the improvement in filtra- Canada, Inc. He began his career as a
mechanical engineer with Ingersoll-Rand
there is no the danger of fouling the tion technologies. However, polymer-
Canada, Inc. Jandjel holds three degrees: a
lubricant and harming the compressor. izing gases are still a problem, so DEC in pure and applied science from John
OIS compressors can operate up to styrene and butadiene applications Abbott College, a bachelor’s in mechanical
10,000 acfm in a single body unit, how- where these gases are above 20% engineering from McGill University, and an
MBA, also from McGill.
ever, the most cost-effective and com- content are definitely not recom-
petitive area is at 5,000 acfm and below. mended. Even antipolymerizing
Standard compressors are generally agents have been unsuccessful on All photos courtesy of Gardner Denver, Inc.
one-half the price of custom units, but OIS units.

Chemical Engineering Progress July 2000 29

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