CENTRIFUGAL COMPRESSOR PROLONGED LOW FLOW OPERATION CONSIDERATION FOR OPERATORS

Abstract

Centrifugal compressor is the heart of upstream and downstream oil and gas operation as its ability to move large volume of fluid to its end destination. Centrifugal compressors are designed at certain range of operation. One of the biggest concerns is operating the machine at low flow, where the surge is expected to happen. Many research and references addressed the surge phenomenon and how it contributes to enormous damage to centrifugal compressor in seconds. However, to the authors’ experiences, there are other situations, where comprehensive attention shall be given by the machine operators. When centrifugal compressor operates near to the predicted surge line for a long time, there are concerns to the centrifugal compressor and its driver, which are further addressed and elaborated in this paper. In summary, prolonged operation at low flow region can contribute to failure to anti-surge valve, increase in suction and discharge temperature, waste of energy, failure of driver and initiation of a diffuser stall. If these potential failures went unnoticed, it may fail the centrifugal compressor promptly without any warning.