Professional Documents
Culture Documents
TYPES OF
COMPRESSORS
C H A P T E R
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FOREWORD
as compressors play a critical role in supporting the vital infrastructure and economic well-being of
G today’s society. Every air conditioner, refrigerator, and freezer has some type of compressor. From
automobile repair shops to industrial plants, air compressors are powering air tools, supporting production
lines, or operating complex processes. Natural gas is gathered and transported from the wellhead through
many miles of pipelines to the burner tip by multiple industrial compressors of various sizes and types.
Compressors are integral to the processing of hydrocarbons into gasoline and fertilizer and to transform-
ing chemicals into raw materials used to make all kinds of plastics, household cleaning products, pharmaceu-
ticals, industrial products, and much more. The list of compressor applications goes on and on.
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types of compressors. Although not every one of them needs to be an expert in all aspects, a fundamental
understanding of compression equipment and technology is important, and often very necessary, for those
individuals’ success. There are few texts that focus on basic compression theory and equipment, but most
focus on niche compression applications such as air or chemical processes. In particular, the emergence of
compression training programs at various colleges around the US in the past decade has exposed the need
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decades of industrial experience to develop this primer on gas compression equipment and technology
with a special focus toward heavy industrial compressors applied in the oil and natural gas industry.
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applied and the fundamental technical principals that govern their application. Subsequent sections drill
further into the construction and the detailed technical principals for reciprocating, centrifugal, and rotary
screw compressors, which are the most prevalent types used for compression applications in the oil and
natural gas industry.
Each monthly issue of Gas Compression Magazine will include approximately one chapter of this text. In
this way, for individuals who want to learn more about gas compression, the series can serve as an extended
“short course.” At a later date, it is planned that all the individual chapters and sections will be combined
into a comprehensive text book that will include sample problems and even some homework assignments.
1
CHAPTER
TYPES OF COMPRESSORS
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pressure by inducting and trapping a volume of gas in a cham- pressure, phase changes, and system losses also factor into the
ber, reducing the volume of the chamber and thereby increas- HIXIVQMREXMSRSJXLI½REPTVIWWYVI
ing the pressure of the gas by approximately the ratio of the
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X]TIWSJMRHYWXVMEPGSQTVIWWSVWFIKERXSIQIVKIMRXLI½VWX ing from small sizes that require a few horsepower to large
half of the 20th century. By the 1950s, they were increas- sizes requiring thousands of horsepower.5 Currently manu-
ingly a preferred alternative to reciprocating compressors JEGXYVIH VIGMTVSGEXMRK GSQTVIWWSV FVERHW MRGPYHI %&'
for many applications. %NE\%VMIP%VVS[%XPEW'STGS&PEGOQIV&SVWMK&YVOLEVHX
Today, all the basic types of compressors are commonly &YV XSR'SVFPMR 'M4 'SQTVIWWGS 'SVOIR (VIWWIV6ERH
found in industrial applications. Figure 1.3 is a generalized +) ,76 +) 2YSZS4MKRSRI +)7YTIVMSV ,EYK ,SJIV
VITVIWIRXEXMSR XLEX GSQTEVIW XLI ¾S[ VEXI SV GETEGMX] Howden, Ingersoll-Rand, Knox-Western, Kobelco, LeROI,
and discharge pressure capability of the various compressor 01* 1ILVIV 2IYQER
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types.4 These range from axial compressors, which can pro- 7-%(ERH7YTIVMSV0IKEG]FVERHWXLEXEVIRSPSRKIVQERY-
HYGII\GITXMSREPP]LMKL¾S[VEXIW[MXLPMQMXIHTVIWWYVIVEXMS factured, but many units can be found still operating, include
and discharge pressure capability, to diaphragm compressors, %PPI] 'PEVO 'LMGEKS4RIYQEXMG 'SSTIV&IWWIQIV 'VISPI
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discharge pressures. Reciprocating, single-stage and multi- +VMJ½R ,EPP .S] /RMKLX 2SV[EPO 4IRRW]PZERME8LSQEWWSR
stage centrifugal, rotary screw, rotary straight lobed, rotary and Wor thington.
sliding vane, and liquid ring compressors cover parts of the Currently manufactured rotary compressor brands include
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reciprocating compressors generally cover the broadest area (IRZIV ,S[HIR ,]GSQT -RKIVWSPP6ERH /SFIPGS 0I63-
of the spectrum. 1%28YVFS 1MXWYM 1E]IOE[E 1]GSQ
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Each of these types will be covered in more detail in Chap- torcomp, Sullair, TM.P., Vilter, and VPT.
ters 2 through 5. In addition, multi-chapter sections will drill Currently manufactured centrifugal compressor brands in-
deeply into the important mechanical and performance as- GPYHI %XPEW 'STGS &SVWMK 'SQSXM 'V]SWXEV (VIWWIV6ERH
pects of reciprocating, centrifugal, and rotary screw compres- )PPMSXX *-1% *7)PPMSXX +EVS +) 2YSZS4MKRSRI ,ER[LE
sors, which are the most prevalent types of compressors 8IGL[MR ,MXEGLM ,S[HIR -RKIVWSPP6ERH /SFIPGS 1%2
found in the oil and natural gas industry. Turbo, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Solar Turbines, Sundyne, Rolls-Royce,
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There are many brands of each type of compressor, rang- IV6ERH)PPMSXX+) 2YSZS4MKRSRI1%28YVFSERH1MXWYM
REFERENCES
1
Nisenfeld, A.Eli, Centrifugal Compressors, Principals of Operation and Control (Research Triangle Park,
NC: Instrument Society of America, 1982).
2
Frick Company, Celebrating a Century of Engineering Service: The Story of Frick Refrigerating, Air Condi-
tioning, Farm and Sawmill Machinery (Kyle Printing, 1952).
3
Maples, D.A., The Natural Gas Industry in Appalachia (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2005).
4
GPS Engineering Data Book, vol. 1, 11th ed. (Tulsa, OK: Gas Processors Suppliers Association, 1998).
5
CTSSnet.net, Compression Technology Sourcing Supplement, 2016.