Compressor performance

Operating conditions all gas lift valves apart from the bottom orifice valve are closed. The energy to the system is delivered by a compressor. The performance of the system is monitored by observing flowrates and the casing and tubing pressures. 

Like steam injection, in-situ combustion is a thermal process designed to reduce oil viscosity and hence improve flow performance. Combustion of the lighter fractions of the oil in the reservoir is sustained by continuous air injection. Though there have been some economic successes claimed using this method, it has not been widely employed. Under the right conditions, combustion can be initiated spontaneously by injecting air into an oil reservoir. However a number of projects have also experienced explosions in surface compressors and injection wells. 

Flow measurements using tracers are performed in all piping systems carrying oil, gas or water including separators, compressors, injector systems, and flares. Calibration of elsewhere difficult accessible flow meters is regularly performed by the tracer methods, which are based on international standards. Tracer flow measurements are also well suited for special purposes... 

Dual-Pressure Process. Dual-pressure processes have a medium pressure (ca 0.3—0.6 MPa) front end for ammonia oxidation and a high pressure (1.1—1.5 MPa) tail end for absorption. Some older plants still use atmospheric pressure for ammonia conversion. Compared to high monopressure plants, the lower oxidation pressure improves ammonia yield and catalyst performance. Platinum losses are significantiy lower and production mns are extended by a longer catalyst life. Reduced pressure also results in weaker nitric acid condensate from the cooler condenser, which helps to improve absorber performance. Due to the spHt in operating conditions, the dual-pressure process requires a specialized stainless steel NO compressor. 

The compressors operating range is between two major regions as seen in Fig. 10-74, which is a performance map of a centrifugal compressor. These two regions are. surge, which is the lower flow limit of... 

FIG. 10-78 Approximate performance curves for a rotary positive-displacement compressor. The safety valve in discharge line or bypass must he set to operate at a safe value determined hy construction. 

The performance of a centrifugal compressor (discharge to suction-pressure ratio vs. the flow rate) for different speeds is shown in Fig. 11-87. Lines of constant efficiencies show the maximum efficiency. Unstable operation sequence, called surging, occurs when compressors fails to operate in the range left of the surge envelope. It is characterized by noise and wide fluctuations of load on the compressor and the motor. The period of the cycle is usually 2 to 5 s, depending upon the size of the installation. 

A more detailed description of compressor performance is shown in the section on the refrigeration compressors. 

Condenser performance should be expressed as evaporating effect to enable matching with compressor and evaporator performance. Condenser evaporating effect is the refrigeration capacity of an evaporator served by a particular condenser. It is the function of the cycle, evaporating temperature, and the compressor. The evaporating effect could be calculated from the heat-rejection ratio qc / e -... 

The performance of the condensing-unit (compressor and condenser) subsystem could be developed as shown in Fig. 11-96 by superimposing two graphs, one for compressor performance and the other for condenser evaporating effecl . 

FIG. 11 96 Balance points of compressor and condenser determines performance of condensing unit for fixed temperature of condenser cooling fluid (flow rate and heat-transfer coefficient are constant). 

FIG. 11-98 Performance of complete refrigeration system (1), when there is reduction in heat load (2), and when for the same ambient (or inlet in evaporator) evaporation temperature is maintained constant hy reducing capacity of compressor/condenser part (3). 

Combustors All gas turbine combustors perform the same function They increase the temperature of the high-pressure gas at constant pressure. The gas turbine combustor uses veiy little of its air (10 percent) in the combustion process. The rest of the air is used for cooling and mixing. The air from the compressor must be diffused before it enters the combustor. The velocity leaving the compressor is about 400-500 ft/sec (130-164 m/sec), and the velocity in the combustor must be maintained at about 10-30 ft/sec (3-10 iTi/sec). Even at these low velocities, care must be taken to avoid the flame to be carried downstream. To ensure this, a baffle creates an eddy region that stabi-hzes the flame and produces continuous ignition. The loss of pressure in a combustor is a major problem, since it affecls both the fuel consumption and power output. Total pressure loss is in the range of 2-8 percent this loss is the same as the decrease in compressor efficiency. 

In a V/f control generally, only the frequency is varied to obtain the required speed control. Based on this frequency, the switching logistics of the inverter control circuit control the inverter s output voltage using the PWM technique to maintain the same ratio of V/f. A W/control is, however, not suitable at lower speeds. Their application is limited to fan, pump and compressor-type loads only, where speed regulation need not be accurate, and their low-spccd performance or transient response is not critical and they are also not required to operate at very low speeds. They arc primarily used for soft starts and to conserve energy... 

Figure 4-17. Typical performance curves for a turbine-driven compressor train in a nitric acid plant.

Caution should be taken to prevent excessive acceleration. One solution is to provide for opening of the compressor discharge vent valve to increase the compressor flow and increase blower horsepower. This is effective with a centrifugal compressor, however, not with an axial compressor unless the compressor is provided with adjustable stator vanes that are reliable. This can be seen from the performance curve. The head versus flow curve for a given vane setting is extremely steep and opening the vent valve is ineffective. However, if the vanes operate fully open and the vent valve opens, the combined effect is satisfactory. The vent valve must not be oversized. 

Turbine and compressor online performance for use in equipment predictive maintenance. 

Off-design performance of an expander-compressor set can be derived from the curves typically provided by tlie equipment manufacturer. Actual... 

This test is performed to verify the struetural integrity of the expander wheels and the eompressor wheels. The expander wheels should be instantaneously oversped during the meehanieal test while assembled on the shaft. Compressor wheels should be oversped during the meehanieal test or, alternatively, in a separate spin test faeility. 

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