Performance Evaluation Of A Centrifugal Compressor Operating Under Wet Gas Conditions.

Abstract

This paper presents the results of performance testing of a single-stage centrifugal compressor operating under wet gas conditions. The test was performed at an oil and gas operator’s test facility and was executed at full-load and full-pressure conditions using a mixture of hydrocarbon gas and hydrocarbon condensate. The effect of liquid was investigated by changing the gas-volume fraction between 1.0 and 0.97, which covers the range encountered by the operator during regular gos/condensate field production in the North Sea. Other parameters that were evaluated include the compressor test sped, the suction pressures, and two different liquid injection patterns. During the tests, the machine flowrate was varied from near surge to choke conditions; hence, the evaluation covered the entire operating range of the machine. Although the test was primarily intended to evaluate the effects of the wet gas on the thermodynamic performance of the machine, the mechanical performance was also investigated by measuring the machine vibration levels and noise signature during the baseline dry gas tests as well as during the test with liquid injection.