Gas Compressors

Compression Requirements
 Compressor Stations Location
Five types of compressor stations are generally utilized in the
natural gas production industry:
1. Field gas-gathering stations to gather gas from wells in which
pressure is insufficient to produce at a desired rate of flow into
a transmission or distribution system. These stations generally
handle suction pressures from below atmospheric pressure to
750 psig andvolumes from a few thousand to many million
cubic feet per day.
2. Relay or main line stations to boost pressure in transmission
lines. They compress generally large volumes of gas at a
pressure range between 200 and 1,300 psig.
 Compressor Stations Location
3. Repressuring or recycling stations to provide gas pressures as
high as 6,000 psig for processing or secondary oil recovery
projects.
4. Storage field stations to compress trunk line gas for injection
into storage wells at pressures up to 4,000 psig.
5. Distribution plant stations to pump gas from holder supply
to medium- or high-pressure distribution lines at about 20 to
100 psig, or pump into bottle storage up to 2,500 psig.
 Compressors?
 Compressors used to increase the pressure of a gas
(compressible fluid)
 Examples
 Compressors increase the pressure for instrument air systems
(to get control valves to operate),
 transport gases such as hydrogen, nitrogen, fuel gas, etc. in a
chemical plant
Types of Compressors
 Types of Compressors
(On the Basis of Application)
 Positive Displacement (PD) : Operate by trapping a specific
volume of gas and forcing it into a smaller volume
 Two Basic Designs for PD Compressors
 Rotary
 Reciprocating
 Centrifugal : Operate by accelerating the gas and converting
the energy to pressure
 Two Basic Designs for Centrifugal Compressors
 Centrifugal
 Axial
 Positive Displacement
Compressors: Rotary Design
 Rotary compressors (get their name from the rotating
motion of the transfer element) compress gases with
lobes, screws, and vanes into smaller volumes.
 4 Primary Types of Rotary Compressors:
 Rotary Screw
 SlidingVane
 Lobe
 Liquid Ring
 Commonly used in industry.
 Rotary Screw Compressors
 It operates with 2 helical rotors that rotate toward each
other, causing the teeth to mesh.
 As the left rotor turns clockwise, the right rotor rotates
counterclockwise. This forces the gases to become trapped
in the central cavity.
 The 2 rotors are attached to a drive shaft and drive that
provide energy to operate the compressor.
 Have an inlet suction line and outlet discharge port.
Rotary Screw Compressors
 Sliding Vane Compressors
 Uses a slightly off-center rotor with sliding vanes to
compress gas.
 Inlet gas flows into the vanes when they are fully extended
and form the largest pocket. As the vanes turn toward the
discharge port, the gases are compressed.
 As the volume decreases, the pressure increases until
maximum compression is achieved. Then the gas is
discharged out the compressor.
Sliding Vane Compressor
 Lobe Compressors
 Characterized by 2 kidney-bean shaped impellers used
to trap and transfer gases.
 The 2 impellers move in opposite directions on
parallel mounted shafts as the lobes sweep across the
suction port.
 Compressed gases are released into the discharge line.
 The lobes do not touch each other. A few thousands of
an inch clearing exists between the casing and lobes.
 Lobe Compressors

 Designed to have constant volume discharge pressures

and constant speed drivers.
 Lobe Compressors can be used as compressors or
vacuum pumps.
Lobe Compressor
 Liquid Ring Compressors
 It has one moving transfer element and a casing that is
filled with water or seal liquid.
 As the rotor turns, the fluid is centrifugally forced to the
outer wall of the elliptical casing. An air pocket is formed
in the center of the casing.
 As the liquid ring compressor rotates, a small % of the
liquid escapes out the discharge port. Make up water or
seal liquid is added to the compressor during operation.
The liquid helps cool the compressed gases.
 Liquid Ring Compressors

 Used to compress hazardous and toxic gases as

well as hot gases.
Positive Displacement: Reciprocating
Compressors
 Most common type of compressors.
 Work by trapping and compressing specific volumes of gas
between a piston and a cylinder wall.
 The back and forth motion incorporated by a
reciprocating compressor pulls gas in on the suction (or
intake) stroke and discharges it on the other.
 Spring-loaded suction and discharge valves open/close
automatically as the piston moves up and down in the
cylinder chamber.
 Positive Displacement Reciprocating
Compressors
 Basic Parts of are:
 Piston
 Connecting Rod
 Crankshaft
 Diver
 Piston Rings
 Suction Line
 Discharge Line
 Spring -Loaded Suction and DischargeValves
 Positive Displacement:Reciprocating
Compressors

 Can have 1 to 4 cylinders. One shown only has one cylinder.

 Multistage Compressors

 Discharge from Stage 1 is suction for Stage 2

 Centrifugal Compressors
 Centrifugal compressors accelerates the velocity of the gases
(increases kinetic energy) which is then converted into
pressure as the gas flow leaves the volute and enters the
discharge pipe.
 Usually operate at speeds > 3,000 rpm.
 Deliver much higher flow rates than positive displacement
compressors.
 Centrifugal Compressors
 Two Types of Centrifugal Compressors
 Single- Stage : Compress the gas once
 Used for high gas flow rates, low discharge pressures
 Multi- Stage : Take the discharge of one stage and pass
it to the suction of another stage
 Used for high gas flow rates, high discharge pressures
 Centrifugal Compressors
 Basic Components
 Impellers, Vanes, Volutes, Suction Eyes, Discharge lines, Diffuser
Plates, Seals, Shaft, Casing
 Suction Vane Tips = Part of the impeller vane that comes into
contact with gas first.
 Discharge Vane Tips = Part of the impeller vane that comes into
contact with gas last
Axial Compressor
Centrifugal Compressor
Centrifugal Compressor: Axial Design
 Composed of a rotor that has rows of fanlike blades.
 In industry, axial compressors are used alot high flows and
pressures are needed.
 Gas flow is moves along the shaft.
 Rotating blades attached to a shaft push gases over stationary
blades called stators.
 Stator blades are attached to the casing.
Centrifugal Compressor: Axial Design
 As the gas velocity is increased by the rotating blades, the
stator blades slow it down. As the gas slows, kinetic energy is
converted into pressure.
 Gas velocity increases as it moves from stage to stage until it
reaches the discharge.
 Multi-Stage axial compressors can generate very high flow
rates and discharge pressures.
 Axial compressors are usually limited to 16 stages (due to
temperature/material limitations)
 Pound for pound, axial compressors are lighter, more
efficient, and smaller than centrifugal compressors.
 Ejectors
 Ejectors are “thermal” compressors that use a high velocity
gas or steam jet to entrain the inflowing gas, then convert the
velocity of the mixture to pressure in a diffuser.
 They use a jet of high-pressure gas as an operating medium to
entrain a low-pressure gas, mix the two, and discharge at an
intermediate pressure. Gases can be steam, air, propane, and
others.
Ejectors
Compressor Selection
 The Advantages of a Centrifugal
Compressor Over a Reciprocating
Machine
 Lower installed first cost where pressure and volume
conditions are favorable,
 Lower maintenance expense,
 Greater continuity of service and dependability,
 Less operating attention,
 Greater volume capacity per unit of plot area,
 Adaptability to high-speed low-maintenance-cost drivers.
The Advantages of a Reciprocating
Compressor Over a Centrifugal
Machine
 Greater flexibility in capacity and pressure range,
 Higher compressor efficiency and lower power cost,
 Capability of delivering higher pressures,
 Capability of handling smaller volumes,
 Less sensitive to changes in gas composition and density.
 Reciprocating
Compressors: Sizing
 Reciprocating Compressors
Rating and Pressures

Ratings
Reciprocating compressor ratings vary from fractional to
more than 40,000 hp per unit.
Pressures
Pressures range from low vacuum at suction to 30,000 psi
and higher at discharge for special process compressors.
 Reciprocating Compressors
Number of Stages
 Reciprocating compressors are furnished either single-stage or
multi-stage.
 The number of stages is determined by the overall
compression ratio.
 The compression ratio per stage (and valve life) is generally
limited by the discharge temperature and usually does not
exceed 4, although small-sized units (intermittent duty) are
furnished with a compression ratio as high as 8.

Multi Stage machines have intercoolers to reduce the

temperature developed because of gas compression
 Reciprocating Compressors
Codes and Standards
Reciprocating compressors are typically designed to one of the
following industry standard specifications:
 API Standard 618 "Reciprocating Compressors for
Petroleum, Chemical, and Gas Industry Services."
 API Specification 11P "Specification for Packaged
Reciprocating Compressors for Oil & Gas Production
Services."
Comparison of API 11P and 618
Compressors
 Thermodynamics of gas
compression
The actual compression process is often compared to one of
two ideal processes:
 isothermal compression (when the temperature is kept
constant during the compression process)
 isentropic compression (no heat is added to or removed
from the gas during compression and the process is
frictionless. With these assumptions, the entropy of the gas
does not change during the compression process.)
 polytropic compression (described as an infinite number
of isentropic steps; each interrupted by isobaric heat transfer.
This heat addition allows the process to yield the same
discharge temperature as the actual compression process.)
Thermodynamics of gas
compression
 Isentropic Model
 For an isentropic compression, the discharge temperature is
determined by the pressure ratio as

where k (isentropic exponent) is ratio of the heat capacities of

gas at constant pressure and temperature (k = Cp/Cv), P1 is
suction pressure, and P2 is discharge pressure.
 Isentropic Model
 The performance of a compressor can be assessed by
comparing the actual head (which directly relates to the
amount of required compression power) with the calculated
head for an ideal, isentropic compression. This defines the
isentropic efficiency (ns) as follows:

 For ideal gases, the actual head can be calculated from

 and further, the actual discharge temperature (T2) becomes

 Polytropic model
 Since polytropic compression is similar to adiabatic
compression, we can easily calculate the discharge gas
temperature in polytropic compression by substituting
polytropic exponent (n) for “k” :

 The polytropic efficiency (hp) is constant for any

infinitesimally small compression step, which then allows us
to write

where dTs is elemental temperature rise for isentropic

compression, and dT is elemental temperature rise for actual
compression.
 Polytropic model
 Relation between n and k:

 The polytropic head (∆hp) can be calculated from

In the above equation, Zave is the average compressibility factor

for the gas.
 Then the actual head of compression is

 the isentropic and polytropic efficiencies are related by

 Hydraulic Horse Power
As far as power calculations are concerned, either the approach using a
polytropic head and efficiency, or using isentropic head and efficiency will
lead to the same result:
 Brake Horse Power Per Stage
 The detailed calculation of BHP depends upon the choice of
type of compressor and number of stages. The BHP per stage
can be determined from:

where BHP is brake horsepower per stage; Zave is average

compressibility factor; QG,SC is standard volumetric flow rate of
gas, MMSCFD; T1 is suction temperature, oR; p1 and p2 are
pressure at suction and discharge flanges, respectively, psia; E is
parasitic efficiency (for high-speed reciprocating units use
0.72–0.82; for low-speed reciprocating units use 0.72–0.85;
and for centrifugal units use 0.99); and n is compression
efficiency (1.0 for reciprocating and 0.80–0.87 for centrifugal
units).
 Typical Compressor System

Other equipment needed in a process system.

 Typical Compressor System

 Safety valves and pressure relief valves used to remove

excess pressure that could damage equipment and people.
 Silencers are mounted on the inlet and outlet of a
compressor to ‘reduce’ the noise. Compressors are very
noisy. Exxon had one for a refinery light ends stream
nicknamed “Old Snort” by the technicians.
 Typical Compressor System

 Demister removes moisture (liquid) from the gas stream.

The liquid falls to the bottom of the demister and is
removed.The clean gases goes out the top of the demister.
 Dryer sometimes used on the compressor discharge line to
remove any liquids (moisture). Silica gel and molecular
sieves (3A mole sieve) often used.
 Typical Compressor Start Up
Procedures
 Check valve line up on the compressor and associated
equipment.
 Check compressor oil levels and bearing cooling water
systems.
 Be sure all the compressor controls are set correctly.
 Turn on the compressor.
 Monitor equipment and process until conditions ‘steady’
out.
 Calculations from
Natural Gas
Engineering Handbook

Chapter 9
Example 9.1 and 9.2
Selection of Reciprocating Compressors
Volumetric Efficiency
Stage Compression
 Calculate the Outputs for
Centrifugal Compressor using the
Inputs Given in the Table Below
3rd Stage 3rd Stage 3rd Stage 3rd Stage 3rd Stage
Original Original Original Original Original
Input Design Design Design Design Design
Mw 59.01 27.72 44.00 27.72 44.00 28.00 28.00
k,cp/cv 1.08 1.40 1.40 1.40 1.40 1.25 1.25
Zsuction 0.97 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00

Psuction, psia 19.50 14.70 14.70 14.70 14.70 225.00 225.00

Tsuction,°F 138.00 140.00 100.00 140.00 100.00 100.00 100.00

Pdischarge, psia 66.40 115.00 115.00 65.00 65.00 650.00 651.00

Zdischarge 0.94 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00

Isoenthalpic,eff 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75 0.75

Flow
Rate,MMSCFD 240.00 32.86 3.11 32.86 3.11 500.00 500.00
Output

Density, suction
lb/ft³ 0.18 0.06 0.11 0.06 0.11 1.05 1.05
Ts,°R 597.70 599.70 559.70 599.70 559.70 559.70 559.70

Tdisch, Pred °F 215.55 779.61 696.95 563.12 494.90 276.39 276.67

W,Lb/min 25,915.68 1,666.61 250.40 1,666.61 250.40 25,618.50 25,618.50

W, Lb/Hr 1,554,941 99,997 15,024 99,997 15,024 1,537,110 1,537,110
r (Pd/Ps) 3.41 7.82 7.82 4.42 4.42 2.89 2.89

ACFM 140,539.43 26,318.24 2,325.00 26,318.24 2,325.00 24,421.27 24,421.27

MMSCFD 240.00 32.86 3.11 32.86 3.11 500.00 500.00

Head 19,198.76 93,579.40 55,022.72 61,906.07 36,399.47 36,498.59 36,557.30

Gas Horsepower 20,102.98 6,301.42 556.68 4,168.61 368.26 37,779.37 37,840.14

 Calculate the Outputs for
Reciprocating Compressor using
the Inputs Given in the Table Below
3rd Stage
Original 100 WNGL

Input Design Relief Case required

Mw 59.01 42.74 42.74
Displace (ft³/min) 804.50 804.50 804.50
Clearance vol/Piston Vol 19.80 19.80 19.80
Valve Losses % 4.00 4.00 4.00
k,cp/cv 1.082 1.123 1.123
Zsuction 0.973 0.978 0.978
Psuction 19.50 30.00 25.80
Tsuction,°F 138.00 143.00 143.00
Pdischarge, psia 66.40 75.00 75.00
Tdisch,°F (estimated) 200.00 200.00 200.00
Zdischarge 0.938 0.960 0.960
Iso,eff 0.750 0.750 0.750
Area Piston , in² 153.94 153.94 153.94
Area Rod, in² 3.14 3.14 3.14
Output
Density, suction lb/ft³ 0.184 0.203 0.174
Ts,°R 597.70 602.70 602.70
W,Lb/min 72.19 110.32 85.10
W, Lb/Hr 4331.18 6619.15 5105.97
r (Pd/Ps) 3.405 2.500 2.907
VE 48.66 67.66 60.68
ACFM 391.47 544.28 488.21
MMSCFD 0.67 1.41 1.09
Head 19198.76 20345.25 23893.61
Gas Horsepower 56.00 90.69 82.15
Tdisch, Pred °F 215.55 227.58 242.33
Load in Compression 7281.05 7021.55 7654.90
Load in Tension 7011.18 6691.68 7338.23
 Reference
 “ The Process Technology Handbook”, by Charles E.
Thomas, UHAI Publishing, Berne, NY, 1997.
 Natural Gas Engineering Handbook