10TH EFRC CONFERENCE 2016
Compressor Experts: Technology Update
The 3rd International Rotating Equipment Conference/10th EFRC Conference in Düsseldorf, Germany was a great success. We were able to perform two different presentations and one major technology update. Now, we would like to share some insights of the latest updates in compressor technology with you.
Hard Particle Contamination in Reciprocating Compressors
Session 41-2
The reliability of process gas compressors has never been more in the focus of plant managers and process equipment engineers. Often, the presence of gas contaminants in the form of abrasive particles is not taken into consideration during the design stage.
The sign of accelerated wear due to hard particle contamination is only usually observed after an unscheduled process gas compressor shutdown. In many cases, condition based monitoring is a valuable aid in detecting early signs of accelerated wear. During operation, problems due to hard particle contamination are most often indicated indirectly by valve failure.
Interactions Between Valve Flow Characteristics, Valve Pocket Geometry and Compressor Performance
Session 49-2
The need to reduce overall pressure losses is one of the most important challenges in meeting the increasing demand for high-efficiency reciprocating compressors. Although in most compressor designs valve losses amount to a bit less than half of the overall pressure losses, the contribution of the valve pockets to the overall losses may be higher than the valve losses in some cases. Therefore pocket losses are far from being insignificant. The losses of both valve and valve pocket are dependent on the pocket geometry since the valve pocket affects the flow in the valve and vice versa.
About the EFRC
The European Forum for Reciprocating Compressors (EFRC) was founded in June 1999 as non-profit association to support European users, manufacturers and scientists working in the field of reciprocating compressors in terms of technology, exchange of experience, formation and enforcement of standards and precompetitive research. Since then its geographical reach has grown from Central Europe to entire Europe and recently to the US. The small crowd of 8 initial members has grown to 45 in 2016. The initiative was to build a vivid forum incorporating the principles of commercial conferences as well as of an institution promoting the interest of compressor users and compressor industry.
