Aspen HYSYS Multi-Stage Compressor

Surge Analysis

A Quick Tutorial
Version Number: V9
May 2016
Copyright (c) 1984-2016 by Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved.

Aspen HYSYS, AspenTech, aspenONE, the aspen leaf logo and Plantelligence and Enterprise Optimization are
trademarks or registered trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc., Bedford, MA.

All other brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

This document is intended as a guide to using AspenTech's software. This documentation contains AspenTech
proprietary and confidential information and may not be disclosed, used, or copied without the prior consent of
AspenTech or as set forth in the applicable license agreement. Users are solely responsible for the proper use of
the software and the application of the results obtained.

Although AspenTech has tested the software and reviewed the documentation, the sole warranty for the software
may be found in the applicable license agreement between AspenTech and the user. ASPENTECH MAKES NO
WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO THIS DOCUMENTATION,
ITS QUALITY, PERFORMANCE, MERCHANTABILITY, OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Aspen Technology, Inc.

20 Crosby Drive
Bedford, MA 01730
USA
Phone: (1) (781) 221–6400
Website: http://www.aspentech.com
Multi-Stage Compressor
Surge Analysis Feature: A
Quick Tutorial

Test Case
TwoStageCompressor.hsc
Activating the Dynamic Compressor
To activate the dynamic compressor:
1 Open the case TwoStageCompressor.hsc.
Note: This test case contains two turbine driven compressors with 500kg
mass with a radio of gyration of 1m, which you can view by selecting the
Inertia page of the Rating tab on the compressor property view.
2 On the Home ribbon tab, from the Analysis group, select Compressor
Surge .
The Compressor Surge form appears.
3 Click on the Add button. The Compressor Surge: Dynamics dialog box
appears.
4 On the Compressor Surge: Dynamics dialog box, change the number of
stages to 2. In the Unit table, select compressor for the compressor name
cell from the drop-down list of all available compressor names. Make sure
the order of the compressors is in the same sequence as in the main
flowsheet.

Testing the 2-Stage Compressor with

Cooler on discharge side
The tested template includes two separated powered compressors with each
compressor loop having two sets of degrees of freedom.
The degrees of freedom for each compressor are:
• the surge controller and anti-surge valve size
• the hot-bypass valve size and overall discharge volume size

To select the 2-Stage compressor with Cooler on

discharge side template:
1 From the Template drop-down list, select the 2-Stage compressor with
Cooler on discharge side template type.
2 Click the Enter Flowsheet button to create the dynamic sub-flowsheet. A
Compressor Surge entry appears in the navigation pane with sub-nodes
listing the different dynamic that were created. The Compressor Surge:
TwoStage-K-101 window appears.

Running Scenarios
From the ribbon, you can access the Summary button on the Dynamics tab
to view and, if necessary, modify the default settings from the Summary view
before running scenarios. On the Summary property view, select the Run
Controls tab. You can view a Run Time length of 30 minutes = 1,800
seconds and a Step Size of 50 milliseconds = 0.05 seconds.
Select the Compressor Curves tab. The Compressor Curve Status
appears as Input Complete. If you select the Edit Curves button, the
Curves page of the Rating tab of the compressor property view appears.
The single criterion for success or failure is based on the trail of the
compressor operating point in the compressor map that is generated during
the particular test scenario. Select the Plot Curves button to show the map.
The recommended settings are those in Figure 1 below. You can also access
the Flow Limits page of the Rating tab from the compressor property view to
verify your selections. You should clear all the check boxes for preliminary
studies, as shown below in Figure 2. These actions apply to both
compressors.
Figure 1. Default settings and appearance of the compressor curve profiles at
steady-state (or initial time).

Figure 2. Default settings of the compressor flow limits options.

Select the Strip Charts tab of the Summary view. For consistency with the
graphical display settings in Figure 1, the settings of the strip charts are
20,000 samples every 100 milliseconds.

To run the Discharge Valve Failure scenario:

1 On the Dynamics ribbon tab, from the Select Scenario drop-down list,
select Discharge Valve Failure.
Note: You can select the Event Scheduler button on the Dynamics tab
of the ribbon to view further details regarding this scenario.
2 On the Dynamics ribbon tab, click the Run button. Make sure that the
Real Time option is cleared.
The test does not need to be run until completion of the 30 minute
setting. You can manually stop it after 5 minutes by selecting the Stop
button on the Dynamics ribbon tab.
Figure 3. Left figure is for K-101 and right one is for K-102. Two Compressor
maps indicating that the default settings do not lead both compressors into
surge
This test has passed, since the operation point did not go beyond the surge
curve boundary. A real compressor crossing into the surge region, on the left
side of the surge curve, is at potential risk of severe damage.

Note: For this scenario, only the surge compressor and anti-surge valve
settings are used to avoid this situation.

To run the Emergency Shutdown scenario:

1 The Emergency Shutdown scenario relies mostly on the Cv value of the
anti-surge valve. The surge controller plays no role, since the anti-surge
valve will fully open manually as the compressor power is shut down. The
Event Scheduler is also set to open the hot-bypass valve. In a first pass,
you want to avoid the interaction of both valves, so select the Dynamics
ribbon tab, select Summary, and then select the Equipment Sizing tab.
Set the conductance of the hot-bypass valve to zero, as shown below in
Figure 4.

Figure 4. Setting the Cv of the hot-bypass valve to zero will result in no

flow recirculation through it.

2 On the Dynamics ribbon tab, from the Select Scenario drop-down list,
select Emergency Shutdown.
3 On the Dynamics ribbon tab, click the Run button.
4 To test the impact of a larger Cv, adjust the anti-surge valve Cv of
Compressor K-101 to 600 USGPM and run the scenario again. The larger
Cv moves the operating point trail closer to the stonewall region.
Figure 5. Trails for two compressors with the anti-surge valve conductance at
500 and 800 USGPM

Figure 6.Operating point trail for Discharge Valve Failure scenario with large
anti-surge valve
Figure 6 now shows the impact of this larger Cv on the Discharge Valve
Failure scenario. Notice that the minimum compressor flow is now slightly
higher than the one in Figure 3. In conclusion, a larger Cv will avoid surge,
but you can only increase it to some maximum value before stonewall takes
place. This test case does not require the hot bypass valve to handle these
two scenarios.

To run the Controlled Shutdown scenario:

This scenario takes the compressor towards a minimum-of-governability
compressor speed, which is usually accepted as equal to 70% of the speed at
steady-state conditions. After this goal is met, the anti-surge valve is fully
opened and the compressor power is shut down. Both final actions occur at
the same time for electric motor driven compressors. For the case of turbine
driven compressors, such as the current case, a 1 second delay between the
valve opening and the compressor shutdown is the norm. Occasionally, when
these two events take place simultaneously, a sudden power shutdown may
take the compressor into surge.
1 Leave the anti-surge valve Cv values as 500 and 800 USGPM.
2 On the Dynamics ribbon tab, from the Select Scenario drop-down list,
select Controlled Shutdown.
3 On the Dynamics ribbon tab, click the Run button.
With your settings, the results are satisfactory, as shown in Figure 7. You can
view how the surge controller is overridden after the angular speed of the
compressor has reached 70% of its initial value. This is done by means of the
speed controller SC which is set into Auto mode from the Event Scheduler and
then back into Man at the end of the compressor trip.
Figure 7. Successful controlled shutdown with no hot bypass required

Testing the 2-Stage Compressor with

Cooler on Suction side.
The tested template includes two separated powered compressors with same
properties as in the Cooler in Discharge side template.

To select the 2-Stage compressor with Cooler on suction

side template:
1 From the Template drop-down list, select the 2-Stage compressor with
Cooler on suction side template type.
2 Click the Enter Flowsheet button to create the dynamic sub-flowsheet. A
Compressor Surge entry appears in the navigation pane with sub-nodes
listing the different dynamic flowsheets that were created. The
Compressor Surge: TwoStage-K-101 window appears.

Running Scenarios
From the ribbon, you can access the Summary button on the Dynamics tab
to view and, if necessary, modify the default settings from the Summary view
before running scenarios. This template has the same scenarios as in the 2-
Stage compressor with Cooler on discharge side template. Please follow
the same steps to run these scenarios.
Test Case
ThreeStageCompressor.hsc
Activating the Dynamic Compressor
To activate the dynamic compressor:
1 Open the case ThreeStageCompressor.hsc.
Note: This test case contains three turbine driven compressors with
500kg mass with a radio of gyration of 1m, which you can view by
selecting the Inertia page of the Rating tab on the compressor property
view.
2 On the Home ribbon tab, from the Analysis group, select Compressor
Surge .
The Compressor Surge form appears.
3 Click the Add button. The Compressor Surge: Dynamics dialog box
appears.
4 On the Compressor Surge: Dynamics dialog box, change the number of
stages to 3. In the Unit table, select Compressor for the Compressor
Name cell from the drop-down list of all available compressor names.
Make sure the order of the compressors is in the same sequence as in the
main flowsheet.

Testing the 3-Stage Compressor with

Cooler on discharge side
The tested template includes three separated powered compressors with each
compressor loop having two sets of degrees of freedom.
The degrees of freedom for each compressor are:
• the surge controller and anti-surge valve size
• the hot-bypass valve size and overall discharge volume size

To select the 3-Stage compressor with Cooler on

discharge side template:
1 From the Template drop-down list, select the 3-Stage compressor with
Cooler on discharge side template type.
2 Click the Enter Flowsheet button to create the dynamic sub-flowsheet. A
Compressor Surge entry appears in the navigation pane with sub-nodes
listing the different dynamic flowsheets that were created. The
Compressor Surge: ThreeStage-K-101 window appears.
Running Scenarios
From the ribbon, you can access the Summary button on the Dynamics tab
to view and, if necessary, modify the default settings from the Summary view
before running scenarios. This template has the same scenarios as in the 2-
Stage compressor with Cooler on discharge side template. Follow the
same steps described in the “Testing the 2-Stage Compressor with Cooler on
discharge side” section to run these scenarios.

References
[1] Douglas, James M. “Conceptual Design of Chemical Processes.” McGraw-
Hill, Inc., 1988.
[2] Luyben, William L. “Plantwide Dynamic Simulation in Chemical Process
and Control.” Marcel Dekker, 2002, Chapter 2.