FLUID FLOW Cpfias a. D. Hurlete Adevall y Understand centrifugal Hh balls D. sockea AB oKy rt compressor, equipment interaction Operating scenarios provide insights into predicting behavior during changes K. Majumdar, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., Abu Dhabi, UAE, any compressor operators often find difficulty Mb ieserssitne mires teri th respect to system changes, particularly when coupled with other operational changes. An example is how to predict possible flow increase when there is, still some room for a speed increase. Where will the new operating point be if a change is made—will it shift, along the constant pressure line to the right, along the system curve or along the compressor curve itself? How are power consumption and efficiency predicted in such cases? For the benefit of operators, compressor behavior with respect to the connected systems and related problems are presented for common operating, Fig. 1 shows a typical arrangement of a compressor operating in a process system. The compressor is taking, suction from a source, point A at pressure Py, and dis- charging at pressure P» at point B into a process system consisting of pipelines, valves and equipment. The gas, is transported through this system to be delivered to point C at pressure P;. The line pressure drop, (Py-P,), is usually denoted as AP (delta P) of the system. System curve. The plot of prossure drop versus flow gives the system curve (Fig. 2a), The total pressure drop has two components, the superincumbent pres- sure or static pressure difference between points B and C, and the dynamic pressure drop, i.e., the drop due to friction, velocity change, etc. The static pres- sure drop of any system is eonstant and is indepen- dent of the flow through the system, whereas dynamic pressure drop varies directly as the square of the veloc- ity or flowrate. ‘The system curve is independent of the gas supply souree or the equipment that is delivering gas into the system. The curve remains unchanged unless any com- ponent of the system is changed, like opening a manual ora control valve, pipe size change, etc. As a valve in the Fig. 2a, Total pressure drop has two components. system is opened, flow increases, ie., the pressure drop decreases, shifting the system curve to the right (curve b in Fig. 2a). When the valve is throttled, the system curve moves to the left (curve c) Compressor curve basics. The flow, Q, head (or dif- ferential pressure, P) and speed, N, relationship of a centrifugal compressor is very similar to that of a cen- trifugal pump (Fig. 2b). The major difference is that a HYDROCARBON PROCESSING / AUGUST IW 55Compressor Fig. 2b. Compressor operating limits are between surge stonewall, Fig. 20. ‘tem and compressor curves. pump handles liquid, which is a noneompressible fluid Hence, density and volumetric flow remain unchanged throughout the flow process. A compressor handles only gas, which is compressible. As the pressure of a gas stream changes during compression or flow, den- sity or specific volume changes correspondingly. ‘As shown in Fig. 2b, centrifugal compressors have continuously falling pressure-flow characteristics. A family of parallel curves represents compressor opera- tion at different speeds. For a compressor operating a constant speed, the pressure increases as the flow decreases and vice versa. If reduction in flow contin. ‘ues, at one point compressor operation becomes unsta- ble and a momentary flow reversal takes place. This, leads to a very rapid pulsating flow backward and for- ward through the compressor internals, resulting in severe vibration and consequent damage. This phe- ‘nomenon is known as surge and the flow at which surge occurs is the surge point for that particular speed. The surge point shifls to the right as speed increases (Fig. 2b). The line joining the surge points of curves at dif- ferent speeds is the compressor surge line. To avoid Fig, 8. In this configuration, a compressor operates sinlary 10 a ‘motor-driven pump. surge, compressors are always operated at flows greater than surge point, i., at a reasonable distance to the right of the surge line. ‘As flow increases, a point is reached at the right- hand extreme of the compressor curve after which the ‘low can not increase no matter what changes are made ‘on the outlet side. This point is known as stonewall for ‘the compressor for that particular speed. Like the surge point, the stonewall point also shifts to the right as, speed increases (Fig. 2b). However, unlike surge, no adverse effect occurs to the compressor at the stonewall, point. Therefore, the operating regime of a compressor 1s confined between these two limits, ie., surge and stonewall, The set of curves including the limit lines is, also known as the compressor operating map. Relationship between compressor and system ‘curves. When a compressor is connected to a 5 the operating point can be obtained by superimposing, ‘the system curve Fig, 2a) on the compressor curve (Fig. 2b), resulting in Fig. 2c. The point at which the com- pressor curve for a particular speed meets the system curve represents the compressor operating point for ‘that speed. That means the compressor would deliver flow and pressure corresponding to the intersection point in Fig. 2¢. Under no circumstances can the com- pressor deliver any other flow or pressure (at that speed), unless a ehange is made in the system. Only when some change is made in the connected system say, change in valve opening, pipe size, length, ete.), does the operating point shift along the compressor curve, Otherwise, the compressor will continue to oper- ate at that fixed flow and pressure So, it can be noted that although a system is quite independent of its upstream source equipment, in this, cease the compressor, compressor operation is very much dependent on its downstream connected system. Compressor behavior in common applications. ‘The figures shown later are only schematics of the most ‘common compressor configurations. They are neitherLompressor curves, D8 Operating paint Static prossure line surge BS yy Compressor curves Reduced | it now 1 vi A a, a a ‘Suction Naw Fig. da. As the contol valve closes, the system curve shits tothe lott complete in all details, nor do they represent all possi- bie configurations. Several variations and different, control system arrangements are also possible, although not shown here. 1, Single-speed compressor drive with suc- tion/discharge pressure control. Fig. 3 shows the typical arrangement of a single-speed (motor-driven) compressor. In this configuration, a compressor oper- ates similarly to a motor-driven pump. The compres- sor takes suetion from the suction dram and discharge into the piping system. ‘The main objective of any compressor control is to maintain a balance between discharge and incoming flows. This is done by tracking pressure in the suction, drum by means of a pressure controller, which resu- lates a control valve mounted either on the suction or discharge line. In some installations, a pressure con- troller is also installed on the compressor discharge line, which works in conjunetion with the suction side pressure controller through a signal selector or a micro- processor-based control module. In case of low pres sure gas, it is mare common to provide the control valve on the discharge line. Scenario 1.1: Incoming flow to compressor decreases. Consider that at a particular instance flow coming into the drum drops. Outgoing flow being higher than, incoming flow, suetion dram pressure falls momentar- ily. The pressure instrament mounted on the suction, drum senses this drop. ‘The pressure controller takes, action by elosing the control valve on the discharge line (or suction line) to reduce the flow. As the control valve closes, the system curve shifts to the left (Fig. 4a). Consequently, the operating point (a) also shifts to the left along the compressor curve to the point of inter- section (b) with the modified system curve, where the compressor flow equals the reduced incoming flow. So, in this type of arrangement, compressor capacity eo trol is achieved by shifting the system curve along the compressor curve backward and forward, as shown by arrows in Fig, 4a. Scenario 1.2: Incoming flow drops below surge control point. As incoming flow drops, the compressor will try to find the operating point in the way described in sce- nario 1.1. If, however, flow drops below the surge con- Inlet flow is never allowed to fall Below the surge control Compressor curves io Stonewall 1°” Shifted sys. ‘curve ‘Static pressure tine Te ao eo ‘Suction now: “Tho onine valve at the consumer end is throttled to achieve the detired flow reduction trol point, the compressor surge control system sends a signal to the recycle valve (also called antisurge valve (ASV), a quick-acting control valve) to open. Part of the outlet flow is then returned back to the suction side ia the ASV. Thus, the inlet flow (incoming + recycle) is never allowed to fall below the surge eontrol point to avoid surge (Fig, 4b), In this ease both the ASV and pressure control valves mounted on the compressor discharge line take action simultaneously, ie., the former opens and the latter closes. Scenario 1.3: Gas demand decreases at the consumer end. In most of these cases, the online valve at the con- sumer end is throttled, either manually or through the process control system, to achieve the desired flow reduction, For example, in ease of gas supply to a boiler, heater or gas turbine, the control valve at the inlet of the equipment is throttled matching the equipment load. The valve may even close if the equipment trips This event in effect changes the system curve, shifting the ‘operating point to the left until the desired lower flow is, achieved (similar to scenarios 1.1 and 1.2). The control valve on the compressor outlet line will, however, open, HYDROCARBON PROCESSING /AUGUST im 57