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Engineering Practice
Optimizing Reciprocating
Compressors for CPI Plants
Follow this guidance to Connecting rod Piston rod Piston
R
eciprocating compressors — tor of three by adding the proper coat- may consider installing additional
the most commonly used type ing (tungsten carbide is a widely used clearance pocket(s) on the first-stage
of compressor throughout the coating material for piston rods). cylinder(s) and using part-load opera-
chemical process industries Interstage cooling is required when tion via the compressor control logic.
(CPI) — are flexible and efficient, the machine or gas being compressed By selecting the right interstage de-
and they can generate high head has a temperature limit. In this case, sign pressure, users can ensure proper
(from several bar to several thou- as the gas cools, any liquid that may operation in the face of part-load op-
sand bar) independent of gas density. form is separated in interstage fa- eration and variation in suction pres-
Worldwide, the installed recipro- cilities and then the gas is returned sure. In general, the interstage de-
cating compressor horsepower is to next compressor stage for further sign pressures should be around 15%
approximately two times that of cen- compression. Each compressor stage higher than the interstage basic de-
trifugal compressors. may consist one or more cylinders. sign values for applications that are
However, the maintenance costs as- Vendors usually offer a range of in- working with common part-load steps
sociated with reciprocating compres- terstage pressures. The ability to opti- (such as 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%
sors are approximately three times mize interstage pressures can help to capacity) and are expected to experi-
greater than those for centrifugal com- minimize the total cost of ownership ence a variation in suction pressure of
pressors (due to valve, unloader and for the compressor and interstage fa- around +/- 7% during operation.
packing-maintenance requirements). cilities. This optimization can be done In some applications, reciprocating
This article provides practical recom- by evaluating the initial cost and compressors must be designed to op-
mendations for users to consider in an operating costs of compressors and erate reliably in the face of consider-
effort to improve the selection, opera- interstage facilities for various inter- able suction pressure variations while
tion and maintenance of reciprocating stage pressures. still providing full design flow at the
compressors in CPI applications. During operation, interstage pres- desired discharge pressure. These
sures will increase during part-load operating requirements will have a
Compressor design operation (that is, operation at lower direct impact on compressor sizing,
Figure 1 shows the basic design of a flow that results when an unloader especially the frame rating and motor
reciprocating compressor. Close at- device is used; this is discussed below) power required for the unit.
tention to the selection of the piston combined with variation in pressure Figure 2 shows load curves for the
rod packing can improve performance, at the suction inlet. connecting rod of a reciprocating com-
because this is a common source of In a typical reciprocating-compres- pressor in petroleum refining service.
reliability problems associated with sor design, the first stage may contain Variation in suction pressure (in this
reciprocating compressors, and is a one or more cylinders and a clearance case, a roughly 7% reduction in suc-
common path for the leakage of po- pocket. An additional bottle may be tion pressure) results in a higher load
tentially hazardous process gases. added to the cylinder with an actu- on the rod. As a general rule, the com-
Experience shows that packing life ated on/off valve. To avoid unwanted pressor should be designed so that
can be extended by as much as a fac- interstage pressure increases, users the maximum-anticipated rod load
Chemical Engineering www.che.com December 2010 39
Engineering Practice 0.8
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