Conversion of a Horizontal Split Centrifugal Compressor with a Closed Impeller to an Open Face Impeller with a One Piece Diaphragm
Abstract
A 1970 vintage polyethylene plant faced a market driven requirement to improve its
polyethylene grade.
The improved, new grade required a new highly reactive catalyst and needed to be ready for
customer’s product trial in less than 12 months.
The catalyst licensee recommended that a new replacement compressor would be required for
the new grade however this would require a high capital outlay, a three week outage for
installation and 18 months lead time.
A review of the original horizontally split compressor and its suitability to be converted to an
open face non fouling design was made. This included the potential to use a one piece inlet
diaphragm. This approach resulted in an upgrade that was 60% the cost of a new compressor, a
fast tracked delivery in 9 months and a conversion that was completed in a 1 week outage.
Description
Case StudiesCollections
Citation
Mayne, Trevor (2018). Conversion of a Horizontal Split Centrifugal Compressor with a Closed Impeller to an Open Face Impeller with a One Piece Diaphragm. Turbomachinery Laboratory, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /172445.