Design improvements and features to increase reliability and

reduction of the downtime of reciprocating compressors.

Synopsis
AP 618 is the standard for the design of reciprocating compressors. t describes briefly the
design of machine and auxiliary equipment, and application of materials. A further guideline
described in this standard is that compressors shall be designed for a minimum service life of
20 years and an uninterrupted operation of at least 3 years.
The 20 years service life is generally not a problem when the machine and equipment is well
maintained. However, 3 years of uninterrupted operation is mainly determined by the wearing
parts such as valves, stuffing boxes, rider- and piston rings.
As maintenance and downtime reduce plant production, the Thomassen Compression
Systems approach in design and development, has been aimed at increasing reliability by
reduction of vibrations, designing the machine with limits well below the fatigue limits, and the
development of special features to reduce rider ring wear, etc.

Subjects in this lecture are:
a brief description of compressor design, stresses in various parts
a case history of an offshore compressor package with a vibration free mounting on
an offshore production platform
developments to improve the status monitoring of stuffing boxes
development to increase rider rings lifetime
development of special tools for handling and installation of compressor parts.


1. Compressor Design

Reciprocating compressors are machines that are subjected to mainly dynamic forces These
dynamic forces are able to induce a variety of vibrations in many areas.
The reasons for keeping vibrations at a low level are:
They can be a source of concern for operators
Are generally a source of sound production,
May induce instrumentation failure
May induce accelerated wear of moving parts, etc.

The major forces that cause vibrations are:
Gas forces on the piston and piston rod
nertia forces and moments.
Gas pulsation forces.

To increase the overall reliability TCS takes comprehensive measures to keep the vibrations
as low as possible.

nertia forces and moments result from the reciprocating and rotating mass inertia forces
acting on the foundation. When the concrete foundation is improperly designed, this can be a
factor in the generation of high vibrations.
The reciprocating masses, which accelerate and decelerate, produce forces in the horizontal
direction. They are
mainly of the first and
second order.

The rotating masses
produce 1
st
order forces
in horizontal and vertical
directions.
TCS philosophy is to
minimize these forces
by balancing (added
weight to the crankshaft
and/or crosshead, and
/or piston).
Besides that these
forces are required by
the civil engineer
designing the
foundation, they are also used to determine the crankshaft loading.

Gas forces
The presence of gas forces in a compressor can be noticed at the outside, in the way the
frame and crosshead guide deform when loaded. As a result, the cylinder cover will vibrate
along the cylinder axis, and this is commonly referred to as "cylinder stretch These are low
order vibrations, and can only be limited by a rigid design of the frame and crosshead guide
assembly.

Pulsation forces
Unbalanced pulsation forces in the pulsation dampers can have frequencies up to 20 times
the compressor speed. These frequencies can be dangerous for instrumentation. A pulsation
damper design combined with cylinder configuration is a tool to minimize the pulsation forces.

1.1 Crankshaft loading
During operation, a crankshaft is subjected to fluctuating bending moments and torques due
to gas and mass forces. The load of a compressor is dependent on many variables, such as
the number of cylinders, type of cylinders, pressure ratios, compressor speed, unloading
conditions etc. The shape and loading of a crankshaft make it a complex stress analysis
problem.
FREE COUPLES BY
SHAFT TORQUE
VARATONS
VERTCAL FREE
FORCES
VERTCAL
FREE
COUPLES
HORZONTAL
FREE
COUPLES
HORZONTAL
FREE FORCES
The maximum rod load of a crank varies, depending on the duty and load of a cylinder. For
example for the first picture the maximum load is at 133, 65% tension and 324, 59%
compressive and for the second picture at 81, 39% tension and at 273, 74% compressive.

During one crank revolution the load variation
characteristic is different for every compressor.
Multiple cylinder compressors especially show
great variations in the combination of loads on
different cranks and different unloading
conditions per cylinder. For example: eight
cylinders with two cylinders per stage already
have sixteen possible load configurations for
the 75% load case when only HE is unloaded.
t is virtually impossible to design a crankshaft
for the worst case condition. A piston rod for
example is designed to withstand the rated rod
load but designing a crankshaft for the rated
rod load is not sufficient. Compressors with
heavily loaded cylinders need not necessarily
yield the highest load for the crankshaft. The
crankshaft loading is dependent on the
combination of loading on different cranks.
This means that a crankshaft should be checked for every specific compressor and load
condition. This results in numerous calculations per compressor, which is time consuming,
especially when Finite Element models are used. (See figure)

An easy to use analytical calculation method
for calculating crankshaft stresses is therefore
an attractive option, and this has therefore
been recently developed by TCS to tackle this
effectively.

Crankshaft stresses mainly comprise of
a. Bending
Bending is caused by the lateral forces on the
crankshaft.
b. Torque variations and compressor speed
irregularity,
The torque variations generated by the
crankshaft cause dynamic stresses and speed
irregularity. The irregularity should be kept to a
minimum to minimize current variations in the
E-motor driver The way to reduce the
irregularity is to increase the inertia of the
system by means of a flywheel.
A heavy overhung flywheel however induces
an extra bending moment in the crankshaft,
and therefore additional dynamic bending
stresses.

The Gough quarter ellipse figure shows how
the bending and torque stresses can be
combined and compared to the allowable
values for a certain material. On the horizontal
axis the bending stress is plotted and on the
vertical axis the torsion stress.

Figure: Gough quarter ellipse





Maximum Torque/Power

A frame size is determined by its maximum rod load and maximum driving torque. The
crankshaft is designed to accept this. The crankshaft coupling flange is designed for the
bending moments and the maximum driving torque, with substantial extra margins for upset
conditions such as driver short- circuit and reconnection torques



1.2 Piston rod loading

The piston rod, and in particular the joint to piston and crosshead, are critical in the design of
a piston rod. The figure below shows the connecting flange to the crosshead and the
hydraulic jacking system to attach the piston rod to it at the required pretension. This solution
gives the most favourable condition for the reduction of the dynamic stresses.


1.3 Bolting
Compressors are assembled from parts which are bolted together. These bolts must be of
high quality are therefore always supplied with rolled threads. The loading is mostly of a
dynamic nature, which is taken into account in the dimensioning of the bolts. Examples of
major bolted joints are:
Crosshead guide frame
Crosshead guide cylinder
Cylinder cover

The preload of the bolts should be accurately defined. The highest reliability is obtained,
when the bolts are tensioned with hydraulic tools. n the larger frame sizes of TCS
compressors, all major bolted joints are fitted with this technique. The required hydraulic tools
are supplied standard with the machine.

Figure: piston rod fit on crosshead
flange
Figure: critical cylinder bolts
Summary of stresses

A relatively simple but reliable way to judge the design of separate parts of any one
compressor is to compare the stresses of the various frame sizes at like locations. The bar
diagram below shows the stresses in various parts when loaded at the rated value of the
respective frame size. The 100% value is the design limit for the used materials of the
respective parts, including the required safety factor.
When the values of all frame sizes show comparable values, it will give the designer
confidence in the design, as it is based on proven technology, design and testing procedures
and the benefit for the user will be that he will obtain a reliable machine that will not fail due to
design errors.


2. Case history: dynamic study of an offshore package

During the lifetime of a well the gas pressure diminishes and production resultantly reduced.
On the existing D15 platform, owned by Gaz de France and located in the D15FA/FB field,
195 km NW of Den Helder (The Netherlands), a depletion compressor was to be installed as
the well capacity was declining more steeply than anticipated, indicating limited reservoir
connectivity and requiring a rapid response in field performance review and likely further
development activities.
Although apparently simple, the solution on the existing platform became a real challenge due
to physical and other restrictions.
Several types of compressors could theoretically be selected for this purpose e.g. screw,
turbo and reciprocating. A centrifugal compressor was unsuitable due to the wide range in
suction and discharge pressures, in addition to its rather low efficiency. A screw compressor
was unable to handle therequired high pressure levels.
The result of a feasibility study, made by the operator, concluded that the solution for handling
the required conditions could only be with a single stage reciprocating compressor, it being
the best choice for flexibility, available power, and efficiency.

The principal question was whether the sound and vibration levels in the living quarters would
exceed the allowable limits after installation of the reciprocating compressor system.
A feasibility study was carried out to investigate the possibility of mounting a reciprocating
compressor on rubber anti vibration mounts (AVMs) on the main deck in such a way that the
increase in noise in the living quarters would be less than 2 dB(A). From extensive study it
was concluded that it was indeed possible to mount a reciprocating compressor system on
the existing platform without exceeding the allowable noise levels in the living quarters.
As the compressor was required be able to run from full flow until down to actual (lower) flow
conditions, in addition to part load conditions, all this had to be incorporated in these
analyses.

0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
C-7 C-12 C-25 C-35 C-45 C-85
%

o
f

D
e
s
i
g
n

S
t
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e
s
s
Crosshead guide
bolting
Piston rod
bearings
crankcase
crankshaft
After installation and testing the compressor, measurements during operation confirmed that
the vibrations levels were, as foreseen in the studies, very low and within specification.



3. Status monitoring Stuffing box

The condition of a stuffing box can be monitored by measuring the following parameters:
Flow in the vent line
Pressure of the vent line
Temperature stuffing box itself or in the vent line
The pressure in a vent line is determined by the back pressure, and will yield much effective
information.
Flow measurements are relatively expensive, and flow measuring devices tend to
contaminate rapidly. The status of a stuffing box is generally monitored by the measuring
temperature.
Stuffing box temperatures can be measured by an inserting a thermometer in the housing, or
by measuring the vent line temperature.

Measuring the inside the housing


Heat is principally generated by the friction between the sealing elements and the piston rod.
The greater part of the pressure drop is usually across a single sealing element. The other
elements are more or less "idling. This means that the heat is generated locally in the casing
and will cause local temperature rise. As it will not always be the element near the tip of the
Figure: Compressor, motor and auxiliary skid
installed on anti vibration mounting
sensing device, an insert element will therefore measure at the wrong location most of the
time. The indicated temperature is a measure of how much heat is generated rather than
information on the of the sealing elements.

Vent line temperature if measured at the right location, can yield more relevant information .
TCS has developed a standard adapter for all frame sizes, installed on the outside of the
distance piece. This has the advantage that the thermo element is accessible without
removing covers etc. When there is very low leakage, this device will indicate a temperature
fairly closely related to ambient temperature. With increasing leakage and increased leak gas
temperature will be indicated. Trending in this case will give optimum information.


4. ncreased reliability of rider rings:

Horizontally opposed reciprocating compressors require regular maintenance, especially with
non-lubricated cylinders. Nevertheless oil free compressors are to be preferred over
lubricated ones. Gas or valve pollution by oil is eliminated. Further, changing process and
environmental requirements favour use of non-lubricated cylinders. Compressor valves will
generally have a longer life in non lubricated cylinders.
A disadvantage is however that non-lubricated compressors may require more maintenance
than lubricated compressors due to the unpredictable wear rate of rider rings. Extending
lifetime by material improvement only remains an elusive goal. Thomassen, having the wish
to achieve a consistent and substantial improvement in wear band life, has taken a radical
approach to solve this problem.

Gas bearing technology
More than a century ago the principles of gas bearing were formulated. Kingsbury then wrote
a publication on externally pressurised bearings, describing a method to separate two
surfaces by means of pressurised gas. None were made at that time, due to lack of accurate
Figure: temperature monitoring of vent gas
Figure: Stuffing box
and temperature
sensing element
manufacturing facilities. Gas bearings may be divided into two categories, aerodynamic and
aerostatic. n aerodynamic bearings the surface shape in combination with a velocity
difference generates a gas film between the two surfaces. Aerostatic bearing load capacity
follows from an external pressurised gas supply in combination with the surface area. The
aerostatic gas bearing principle is used for the Free Floating Piston design. A pressure
difference between the gas supply and the bearing environment causes a gas flow and a
certain pressure distribution. The pressure carries the load on the bearing, the flow
determining the gap between the surfaces. Since a certain pressure distribution is only
capable of carrying one specific load, stiffness is introduced to be able to compensate for
changes in load. Flow resistance nozzles are integrated to ensure this necessary
characteristic. The Free Floating Piston design is world patented.
This design, introduced in the year 2000, has proven its reliability. t is now been incorporated
in more than 150 cylinders of Thomassen compressors, not including a substantial number
installed as revamp items in non TCS compressors.

5. Special Tools
Almost all compressor parts, especially those of the larger frame sizes cannot be handled by
human force only. Notorious in this field are the discharge valves. To reduce maintenance
time and effort, TCS has developed special tools, for all TCS cylinder types, for the assembly
of discharge valves.
For assembling and disassembling the crosshead, stuffing box, and crosshead guide
partitions, TCS has taken time and substantial effort to design ergonomic tools to facilitate
these activities.

Figure: Gas bearing between rider ring and cylinder wall
Figure: Special tools for crosshead, stuffing
box and screens.
Special tools for valve
assembly
6. Conclusions:
Reliability is mainly determined by the wearing parts
Low machine and auxiliary vibration contributes to the reliability of the complete
system.
When vibration fighting is a topic with solutions sought and implemented in the design
stage, the user will not be faced with problems that must be solved in the field.
When cylinder lubrication can be avoided, valve life time will generally increase. The
increased wear rate of rider rings can be prevented by applying gas bearing, FFP
technology.
The optimum location for monitoring the condition of a stuffing box is not in the casing
itself, but at a suitable location in the vent line.
Special tools as required by the AP standard must be designed to make things
easier for the maintenance personnel and not only an exercise to meet the
specifications.