ROTATING EQUIPMENT/MAINTENANCE
Controlling coupling guard leakage
Novel design eliminates curing time and lowers temperatures
K. M. WORRELL and A. O. AL KHOWAITER, Saudi Aramco, Uthmaniyah Gas Plant,
Udhailiyah, Saudi Arabia
C
oupling guard oil leakage on critical gas compressor
trains can be a problem causing delays in startup after
repairs due to sealant curing times, and a daily tiuisance
to operators. At Saudi Aramco's Uthmaniyah Gas Plant facility,
three 25,000-hp sales gas compressors are considered critical
to the plant's daily output of 2.500 MMscfd natural gas. The
machines were installed almost 25 years ago with a standard
split-line multistage coupling guard enclosing a diaphragm
coupling between the gearbox and the
compressor (Fig. 1).
This coupling guard design uses gaskets • We found
between the split lines and the flange faces
to reduce oil leakage. Due to expansion presented by Michael M.
from heat and distortion over time, the Caiistrat in his book were
gaskets were not effective at controlling
011 leakage. To control leakage, a sealant particularly appropriate
compound was applied between the flange
faces. This added an additional curing for the design we were
time that delayed return to operations by
12 hours and had a negative impact on pursuing
production of 150 MMscf of sales gas per
occurrence.
Uthmaniyah Gas Plant engineers made a decision to redesign
the coupling guards to eliminate the leakage and reduce the out-
of-service time required for sealant curing. The first step was to
inquire about new coupling designs offered by the compressor
manufacturer. Review of these designs and costs associated with
those offered did not meet the expectations of the local design team, performance, which necessitated a smooth transition of the flow
so the decision was made to proceed with an in-house design.
To meet this objective, a three-piece design was created
that eliminated the need for horizontal split-line gaskets. This
design included an expansion bellows and circumferential
flanges with O-rings. While the design met many of the objec-
tives, it was too heavy and still had problems with flanges due
to sag. The second design (Fig. 2) introduced the concept of
a telescopic sliding fit, and the expansion bellows was elimi-
nated to reduce weight. 1 his design proved practical In terms
of eliminating the split lines and using O-
ring sealing throughout. However, some
the ideas flange leakage due to sag occurred at the
mid-position, posing a problem as well as
pressurization of the guard. The team went
back to the drawing board one more time
with a new approach.
After researching coupling enclosure
designs, we found that the ideas presented
by Michael M. Caiistrat in his book Flex-
ible Couplings: Their Design Selection and
Use, were particularly appropriate for the
design we were pursuing. Since the origi-
nal design was to eliminate the require-
ment for curing time with an oil-tight enclosure, we had failed
to address the need for cooling and the problem of sag.
A third modification was added that included additional air
flow by installing two lV4-inJ air inlets and a single 2-in. drain.
The turbulent flow of air inside the enclosure was critical to
angle from the inlets to the drain. Placement of the inlets and
Collapsible
Item Assembly drawing, coupling
Existing compressor side Material Aiuminum steel
Quantity One requiied
The second design used a telescopic stiding fit.
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING FEBRUARY 200
107 129
ROTATING EQUIPMENT/MAINTENANCE

preventing any leakage from theflanges.The additional benefit

of lower temperature was an unexpected surprise.
When the compressor was shut down, we tound that we still
had a leakage problem. With no coupling rotation, no vacuum
was present and the main joint bet\vecn the two halves of the
coupling leaked due to sag. The solution proved to be a simple
design that has been used for many years to seal packing leaks. A
slip flange was Installed on one half of the joint and aflangering
was welded co the larger-diameter side of the joint. One row of
packing was installed and squeezed between the twoflanges.This
design eliminated all problems with leakage due to sag.
Just as putting a man on the moon was an act accomplished
by teams of engineers working with ideas developed and
improved upon by others, the successful design implemented
at the Uthmaniyah Gas Plant was the result of many engineers
building upon others' ideas and successes. HP

K e i t h M . W o r r e l l is the supervisor of reliabilily and techni-

drain was blended into the structure to accomplish smooth flow
without need for an oil deflector. In fact, the trailing edges of
Carolina State University,
the iniet and drain acted as a deflector. This design (Fig. 3) was
built and installed In the summer of 2005. Performance exceeded
our expectations. Not only did the coupling not leak, but it also
lowered the overall coupling enclosure temperature by lOO^R We
discovered that this design was pulling a vacuum while the cou-
pling was rotating causing a drop in temperature and effectively
cal support at Saudi Aramco's Uthmaniyah Gas Plant in Saudi
Arabia. He has been involved in maintenance engineering for 32
years, with the past 15 years concentrated on reliability and condi-
tion-based maintenance. Mr Worrell is a 1974 graduate of North
A , O. Al K h o w a i t e r is a machinery consulting engineer in the
idi Aramco Consulting Services Department in Dhahran. Saudi
•I lUia. He has been involved in rotating equioment engineenng for
}8 years. Mr. Al Khowaiter is a 1987 graduate of the King Fahad
University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

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