MAN Diesel & Turbo buys Swiss magnetic bearing specialist Mecos Traxler

03.05.2012
MAN Diesel & Turbo has completed its previously-announced acquisition of Swiss-based magnetic bearing specialist Mecos Traxler. Mecos is the world's largest privately owned and independent company for the development and production of active magnetic bearing systems.

Keywords: MAN Diesel & Turbo has completed its previously-announced acquisition of Swiss-based magnetic bearing specialist Mecos Traxler, the company said on Monday. Following several years of joint research and development and a first successful compressor train installation with Mecos magnetic bearing technology, a further step towards a close partnership has been taken, officials said. The acquisition by MAN Diesel & Turbos oil and gas business unit in Zurich, Switzerland, will further push the joint growth, the company said. Mecos Traxler, based in Winterthur, is the world's largest privately owned and independent company for the development and production of active magnetic bearing systems. Since its foundation in 1988, Mecos has launched magnetic bearing solutions for compressors, turbines and other high-speed rotating machinery serving in various industrial applications such as high-power laser, ultra-high vacuum and gas compression. Mecos will resume its business under its established brand and will continue to serve its existing customer base and develop further partnerships, it said

Dresser-Rand acquires parts supplier Synchrony

01.04.2012 Rotating equipment and solutions supplier Dresser-Rand has closed on its previously-announced acquisition of Synchrony. Synchrony is a technology development company with a portfolio of technologies and products including active magnetic bearings (AMB), high speed motors and generators, and power electronics for rotating machinery. Keywords: Rotating equipment and solutions supplier Dresser-Rand has closed on its previously-announced acquisition of Synchrony, for approximately $50 million net of cash acquired. The agreement includes the potential for additional consideration of up to a maximum of $10 million tied to technical milestones and to business performance, the company said. Synchrony is a technology development company with a portfolio of world-class technologies and products including active magnetic bearings (AMB), high speed motors and generators, and power electronics for clean, efficient, and reliable rotating machinery. A private company founded in 1993, Synchrony is headquartered in Roanoke County, Virginia, where it develops, manufactures, and tests its products in an ISO 9001-certified facility that includes a best-in-class model shop for rapid prototype fabrication and assembly. The agreement was first announced on December 7, 2011.

Dresser-Rand to buy Synchrony

12/13/11

Dresser-Rand Group Inc., a global supplier of rotating equipment and aftermarket parts and services, has recently signed a definitive agreement to acquire Synchrony, Inc. The transaction is expected to close in January 2012. Under the agreement, Dresser-Rand will acquire Synchrony, Inc. for approximately $50 million net of cash acquired. The agreement includes the potential for additional consideration of up to a maximum of $10 million tied to technical milestones and to business performance. The operating costs for this acquisition are already included in the Company's guidance for 2012 previously provided. Synchrony, headquartered in Roanoke County, Virginia, is a technology development company which develops, manufactures active magnetic bearings (AMB), high speed motors and generators and power electronics. According to Christopher Rossi, Dresser-Rand's Vice President of Technology and Business Development, the overall value proposition for eliminating auxiliary oil systems centers around three principles: a) reduced footprint and weight in platform, and FPSO applications which generate overall CAPEX savings in the construction phase, b) oil-lubricated bearings in subsea applications are neither practical nor reliable, and c) lubrication oil in compressor and steam turbine applications in general needs to be reconditioned and ultimately discarded as it is mixed with process gas or steam, thus making it environmentally unfriendly

Dresser-Rand to Acquire Synchrony

by Victor Iannello | December 15, 2011 | 12:10 pm

As was reported in a recent press release, Synchrony Inc. has reached an agreement to be acquired by Dresser-Rand. We expect that the acquisition will be completed in January 2012, and I would like to provide you now with some details about our plans for the future. First of all, our current business activities will continue in their present form after the planned acquisition. We value our relationships and we will continue to provide our customers with leading technology, quality, and service. Synchrony will continue to offer our magnetic bearings, high-speed motors and generators, and power electronics in the defense, HVAC, industrial process, water/wastewater, and renewable energy markets. After the planned acquisition by Dresser Rand, Synchrony's current management team will remain in place and I will continue to lead the business unit. All of our employees will be retained--we recognize that the value that Synchrony offers its customers is derived from the talent and commitment of our employees. Synchrony's main operations will remain in Roanoke, Virginia. The combination with Dresser-Rand will allow us to better serve our customers. Dresser-Rand is recognized globally as a leading supplier of rotating equipment products and services. Its extensive resources and international presence will allow us to more quickly identify and exploit new opportunities with our partners. The planned acquisition will also allow us to expand our offerings in the Oil & Gas market, which is a key market for Dresser-Rand. Already, we are working with Dresser-Rand on compression systems for off-shore production, including "subsea" applications that are located on the seabed. For these applications, Synchrony's magnetic bearing technology offers advantages in performance, reliability, and size. On a personal note, the planned acquisition marks an important milestone for me. I founded Synchrony in 1993 with the belief that magnetic bearings would revolutionize turbomachinery by improving performance, reliability, and value. I am very proud of the success Synchrony has achieved so far and look forward to continuing this crusade as part of Dresser-Rand.

SKF acquires magnetic bearing manufacturer S2M

2007-08-03, 08:47CET SKF, the knowledge engineering company, has expanded its bearings business still further with the acquisition of S2M, a major European manufacturer of specialised magnetic bearings and motors for use in a wide range of demanding applications. SKF has purchased the S2M business from UK based Edwards Limited, by increasing its existing shareholding of 12% in S2M to 100% with an investment of approximately 55 million Euros (37 million). Founded in 1976 and now with an annual turnover of around 27 million, S2M has its headquarters and manufacturing centre in France, where the company employs around 200 people in the design, development and production of highly specialised magnetic bearings and high speed motors. These are based on a combination of proven electromagnetic principles and precise sensor and servo-control technologies, creating products that are extremely energy efficient, reliable and capable of offering an extremely long operating life even under arduous conditions. In particular, the company's latest contact-free magnetic bearings are used in a variety of technically and environmentally challenging applications that include vacuum pumps, small air and gas compressors, turbo expanders and compressors for the oil and gas, semi-conductor and aerospace industries. SKF's chief executive, Tom Johnstone, explains that the electromagnetic technologies developed by S2M are, "Extremely interesting and fast developing. In recent years these have grown from their development phase and are now considered a reliable option in many different applications. The acquisition will therefore give SKF access to a new and exciting range of products that complement our existing magnetic, plain, ball and rolling bearings, and bearing units and housings". Tom Johnstone added that the acquisition of S2M, "Strengthens still further our position as the world's largest manufacturer of bearings and, more importantly, means that we can offer our customers an even wider range of specialised products, backed by the expertise and knowledge of a worldwide team of team of industry experts and dedicated technical support engineers". S2M will become part of SKF's Industrial Division. The acquisition is subject to approval by the relevant authorities.

Middle Eastern And North African Oil Producing Countries Will Invest $525 Billion On Energy Projects From Next Year To 2016 Abu Dhabi , UAE November 8, 2011:
The MIDDLE EAST TURBOMACHINERY & PUMPS EXPO(METPE) the First of its Kind conference to be held in UAE on May-9th and 10th -2012 in Abu Dhabi. With strong demand for upstream oil and gas projects, power generation, and desalination, key markets in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait are driving growth for the multi-billion dollar turbo Machinery & pumps industry, despite setbacks in other regions due to the worldwide slowdown. Middle Eastern and North African oil producing countries will invest $525 billion on energy projects from next year to 2016, Nations such as Saudi Arabia, theUAE, Iran and Algeria have increased spending on energy projects for the next five years as current high oil prices are allowing them to resume projects that were delayed because of to the financial crisis, the Arab Petroleum Investments Corp said. Saudi Arabia will top the list with committed investments of $141 billion, followed by the UAE that is planning to invest $76 billion in that period, according to Apicorp. The MIDDLE EAST TURBOMACHINERY & PUMPS EXPO (METPE) the First of its Kind conference to be held in UAE has announced six instructional workshops for engineers and other technical professionals in the gas turbine & Pumps field. The workshops to be held on June 9th and 10th of 2011, at the Al Raha Beach Hotel, Abu Dhabi. The event will provide hands-on training for professionals seeking to broaden their knowledge and proficiency in various gas turbine & Pumps topics, including maintenance and repair. The training will take place in conjunction with METPE EXPO in Jun 2112. The titles of the workshops for turbines are INTRODUCTION TO GAS TURBINES , VIBRATIONS & PROBLEMS IN TURBO MACHINERY-; LATERAL ROTORDYNAMICS OF PETROCHEMICAL EQUIPMENT, TURBO COMPRESSOR PERFORMANCE AND COMPONENT CONDITION MONITORING; MAGNETIC BEARING IN TURBO MACHINEY-,PREVENTIVE MAINTAINENCE & for the Pumps Workshop the topics are ELECTRONIC DATA EXCHANGE IN PUMPS; HIGH PRESSURE PUMPS- CETRIFUGAL VERSUS RECIPROCATING CONSIDERATIONS; SUBMERSIBLE PUMPS,ALIGNMENT AND VIBRATION FUNDAMENTALS, POSITIVE DISPLACEMENTS ROTARY PUMPS;& MECHANICAL SEALS- VERSUS SEAL LESS PUMPS. The courses will be taught by experts from leading companies and research organizations includes Ali N. Salhi, Chairman Oil and Gas council, Kirkuk Iraq, Dr. Mohammad O. Hamdan Assistant Professor Mechanical Engineering Department, United Arab Emirates University, Riti Singh, Professor, Emeritus Gas Turbine Engineering, School Of Engineering, Cranfield University, Ken Wigley Head of Industrial Development , ,Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation; Prof Longin K Minani, Head of Mechanical Engineering Dept, Kigali Institute of Sciences and Technology; Lev Nelik, Ph.D., P.E., APICS, President / Technical Director, Pumping Machinery, LLC Atlanta, USA; Dr. Chris Carmody, Special Products Manager, AESSEAL , Gustav Radloff Managing Director, Energy Cybernetics & Luis San Andrs ASME Fellow, STLE Fellow, Mast-Childs Tribology Professor ,Turbo machinery Laboratory ,Texas A&M University have all confirmed to shed their expertise to the dignitaries attending the event METPE 2012. The event will bring together engineers and researchers from around the world to discuss recent technology advancements in engine design, materials, operations and maintenance, noise reduction, alternative fuels, combustion diagnostics, and micro-turbines, among many other topics. Organized by Arabian Reach in association with the Kirkuk Energy council, Iraq. The conference will support the exchange of information focused on improving the design, manufacture, operation and maintenance, and environmental impact of gas turbines, turbo-machinery, Pumps, Valves and related equipment. The Turbo Machinery, pump and valve manufacturers and service providers are snuggling up to their lucrative Middle East customer base. In view to the above strong facts, we are organizing this conference in the heart of the Middle East and inviting all the companies and senior professionals those are involved in to the turbo machinery & pumps supply chain; said Raj Menon, General Manager, Arabian Reach FZ LLC, the Host of the event.

Magnetic bearings: an update

By Consultant TOM GIBSON | Oct 1, 2000 12:00 PM Using magnetism to support a shaft within a bearing is an old concept, but it has been put to practical use only in the past 15 years. Now that it has, radically different, magnetic bearings are resulting Originally, magnetic bearing development was done under government research grants for exotic aerospace applications. Later, companies developed the bearings for use by private industry in large custom pieces of turbomachinery. After refining bearings through these efforts, manufacturers are now on the verge of offering standardized, mass-produced magnetic bearings. The principle behind magnetic bearings is simple: Magnets radially surrounding a shaft levitate the shaft and let it spin in air. Its easy to see there are a multitude of benefits to this. But because of high cost, the bearings havent been feasible to date conventional bearings are still cheaper. Most of the cost is in the controls and the magnets themselves. As technology improves, and acceptance and quantities increase, costs should drop to where magnetic bearings are competitive with conventional ones. A small group of companies is involved in development and manufacture of magnetic bearings. Theyre mostly small, R&D-oriented, high-technology firms, and they come from various backgrounds. Presently, the major players are: Advanced Controls Technology (Avcon Inc.), Agoura Hills, Calif.; SatCon Technology Corp., Cambridge, Mass.; Magnetic Bearings Inc. (MBI), Radford, Va.; Mechanical Technology Inc. (MTI), Latham, N.Y.; and Waukesha Bearings Corp., Waukesha, Wis. A few others have come and gone in recent years, and the market continues to shake out. Avcon and MTI have been around longest since the 1970s. Avcon was formed on the basis of its expertise in magnetics. Under NASA and Air Force contracts, it has developed magnetic bearings for jet aircraft engines and a cryogenic fuel pump on the space shuttle. SatCon specializes in active motion control, a larger field which includes magnetic bearings, and was formed by a group of scientists and engineers from MIT. It also has developed bearings for NASA and the military, for refrigeration compressors. MBI was formed solely to make magnetic bearings. It is partially foreignowned by the French S2M company, which developed bearings for the French space program in the early 1970s and later licensed the designs to MBI. MTI comes from a background of producing monitoring, testing, and inspection equipment. Much of this equipment deals with machinery vibration, and the company has extensive experience with turbomachinery. Waukesha was already a bearing manufacturer, specializing in hydrodynamic bearings for large machinery. As part of their commercialization, magnetic bearings have been developed for a myriad of common machines including turbines, compressors, machine tools, pumps, and blowers. MBI and Waukesha have made them for natural gas compressors in pipelines. The bearings are more reliable than conventional ones, so theyre favored in this application because the compressors are often in remote locations.

Waukesha has also concentrated on magnetic bearings for canned-motor sealless pumps, ranging from 10 to 500 hp. In similar fashion to magnetic-drive pumps, the bearings are sealed, along with the motor, and dynamic shaft seals are eliminated. This greatly reduces leakage and extends pump life. SatCon sees a big future for its refrigeration compressor bearings in private industry because of the CFC dilemma. Presently, freon is mixed with oil to lubricate compressor bearings. But new refrigerants cant be mixed with oil. With magnetic bearings, there is no oil. Avcons bearing designs are being adapted for gas laser fans, printing presses, and data memory devices. To date, magnetic bearing development has been on a prototype basis only, and manufacturing capacity has been very limited. But most companies are doing what David Weise, Waukeshas product manager for magnetic bearings says his company is: Were working with customers who have made a commitment to it. Its onesies and twosies for now, with a promise of higher quantities later. Avcon says it is already negotiating production contracts, whereby technology will be licensed to outside manufacturers. Basically, a radial magnetic bearing is like conventional bearings in that the shaft rotates inside a ring. Only instead of a sleeve or rolling elements, the ring consists of magnets. The clearance between a centered shaft and bearing is generally 0.015 to 0.020 in. around the periphery. There are three categories of bearing, based on the type of magnets used. Passive magnetic bearings use permanent magnets. These are unstable in the axial direction and must be used in conjunction with mechanical bearings. Theyre not very common. Active bearings use only electromagnets, while hybrids use a combination of permanent and electromagnets. The reluctance centering hybrid is the simplest and cheapest form of magnetic bearing. But it also has the lowest load and speed capacities, and is generally limited to use on fans and blowers. New on the market is a hybrid using homopolar bias. Avcon has led in developing this promising design, largely because it has developed more-powerful rare-earth permanent magnets. These bearings are lighter, smaller, and more efficient than equivalent all-electromagnet bearings. In this design, permanent magnets levitate the shaft while electromagnets adjust its position under varying load conditions. Avcon claims electrical power consumption is only a few watts when the load is constant, and is overall about 5 W per 100 lb of load. Magnetic thrust bearings are also available. These use a disc-shaped rotor fixed to the shaft. This disc rotates between two stators, one on either side of the disc. Load capacities of magnetic bearings can be made to match those of conventional bearings. A typical magnetic bearing system installed on a piece of machinery has a radial bearing at each end of the shaft, just like with conventional bearings, and a thrust bearing at or near one end. In addition, noncontact proximity sensors are installed at each radial bearing and at the shaft end. The radial-bearing sensors measure shaft displacement in the X and Y directions; the thrust bearing sensor, axial displacement. Two types of sensors can be used, depending on the operating environment; capacitive and magnetic-field.

Active bearing basics. Electromagnetic fields support moving parts without contact; servo control system stabilizes suspended element by increasing supporting force in direction opposite that of any displacement, to restore correct position. Signal outputs from the sensors are fed to electronic servo control amplifiers. Generally, there are five of these; one each for X and Y directions at both radial bearings, and one for the axial direction. The digital amplifiers use pulse width modulation to compare signals they receive with known values and adjust power to the electromagnets accordingly, to keep the shaft centered. In most applications, electronic controls are in a control- room cabinet away from the machine. When power is turned off or theres an electrical failure, the shaft comes to rest on mechanical backup bearings. Sleeve or ball bearings are used for this, and theres about 0.02-in. clearance between bearing and shaft, so theres no contact during normal operation. The biggest advantage of magnetic bearings is near-elimination of friction. Ken Elder, marketing manager at Avcon, says its estimated to be 1,000 times less than that of conventional bearings. With the new hybrid bearing designs, the power saved from reduced rotating resistance is greater than the power used by the bearings. And with so little friction, theres no need for lubrication. Also, lack of bearing-to-shaft contact means less wear, heat buildup, and maintenance, and greater reliability and life. Because of reduced heat buildup and fatigue, higher speeds and greater temperature extremes can be accommodated. Another big advantage of magnetic bearings is in dealing with shaft vibration caused by rotor imbalance. The rotors critical speeds can be programmed into the electronic controls so, as the shaft passes through a critical speed, bearing stiffness in effect, the force holding the shaft centered is relaxed. The rotor is allowed to rotate about its mass center rather than the shafts geometric center, resulting in fewer resonant vibrations transmitted to the machine. Also, the shaft sensors can detect unusually excessive vibration, such as that resulting from a turbine-blade break, and the controls can be programmed to stop the machine.

Radial magnetic bearing (left) and axial (thrust) magnetic bearing. Magnetic bearings can be developed either for new equipment or for retrofitting to existing machinery. For most applications, bearings must be custom- designed. Typically, a bearing manufacturer works with both the owner or end user of a piece of equipment and the OEM who builds it. The bearing manufacturer will, as Mr. Elder says, first study and evaluate the customers design parameters. Then well develop models; this can sometimes be quite sophisticated. We do our own rotordynamics analysis on computer. And we can calculate the load. Sometimes the customer doesnt know this. Then the bearing manufacturer will design a system, prototype it, test it inhouse, install it in the field and test it there, and train the end user on operating and maintenance procedures. Theres been concern about the complexity of operating machinery with magnetic bearings, but their manufacturers claim that plant personnel can operate them easily once trained. Looking to the future, Mr. Elder thinks hybrid magnetic bearings will come to dominate the market, and he foresees a time when magnetic bearings will be common on everyday items such as bicycles. Experts say well also see them in flywheels of new generations of electric vehicles and also in superconducting devices the ultimate frictionless situation. Thomas D. Gibson is a licensed mechanical engineer and owner of an engineering consulting firm in Roanoke, Va. A free-lance writer, he has published articles in Popular Mechanics and several technical trade magazines.

New High Speed Blowers Feature Magnetic Bearings

Anew line of high speed centrifugal blowers using magnetic bearing technologies was developed in 2010 in part as a reaction to the growing importation of foreign high speed air-foil bearing blowers being sold into the U.S. water market. The new blowers were developed using the combined expertise of engineers from Gardner Denver labs in Quincy, IL, and Hoffman headquarters in Peachtree City, GA. High-speed blower imports, using air-foil bearings, could in certain applications, provide energysavings of interest to the customer, said Wes Carl, Hoffmans Director of Centrifugal Technology. We didnt feel, however, that the air-foil bearing technology provided customers with the same level of reliability and robustness that we expect from Hoffman products. Air-foil bearings have surface wear during a routine start-up and prior to reaching normal operating speed. A lift-off speed is achieved at around 4-7,000 rpm as a wedge is formed between the bearing and shaft. The reliability issue with air foil bearings relates to the fact that aeration blowers are a start/ stop application. Every time the unit is started or the bearing touches down on shutdown, wear is taking place and that is going to limit the life of the bearing. Also, the basic plant environment has a practical level of contamination (dirt, dust) build-up that can impact this wear and the air foil bearing life, said Dave Shanahan, Applications Engineering Manager at Hoffman. Marketed under Gardner Denvers Hoffman brand of centrifugal aeration blowers, the new Revolution is an advanced energy management blower system. In addition to the active magnetic bearing technology, the blowers feature patented surge control technology, integrated human machine interface and programmable logic controller, factory prewired and tested in an ergonomically designed sound enclosure. The first in this family of blowers, the R-200 and R-300, are capable of flows from 2,500-8,500 CFM and pressures from 3-15 PSIG. The blower incorporates infinite life cycle active magnetic bearings driven by a permanent magnetic synchronous motor (PMSM), which is controlled by a current source inverter (CSI) type variable frequency drive (VFD). In early 2010, Gardner Denver CEO and President, Barry L. Pennypacker, was adamant that the company not lose market share to the imported high-speed blowers. Our challenge was to launch a new product that would be more energy-efficient than the imports while maintaining the integrity of the quality and reliability of the Hoffman brand, said Brian Cunkelman, Gardner Denver Vice President for the Industrial Products Group. We are very proud that the combined engineering teams responded with vigor to the challenge and were able to design, test and introduce the Hoffman Revolution during the 4th Quarter of 2010 and exceed all the market requirements, he said. The engineering project team began with a Voice-of-the-Customer exercise. The market is asking for increased energy efficiency at partial loads while retaining multi-stage blower reliability standards, said team member Tony Maupin. In April 2010, a break-through was achieved by the engineering team. We discovered a U.S.- designed and manufactured magnetic bearing coupled with a high speed motor that was successful in the HVAC industry. With our design engineering, we felt we could turn this into the blower product the market was looking for, Carl said. At this stage, a group of 10 design engineers, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, test engineers, packaging experts, controls experts, and cooling circuit experts was assembled.

We gave everyone assignments and we were off to the races, Carl said. We did a lot of front-end analysis and concept simulation on this machine to optimize the design and reduce the time to market. Blowers pull ambient air and send it to the wastewater tanks or lagoons. The motors that drive the blowers tend to represent 5075% of the total energy used at a wastewater plant, according to Patrick James, the Hoffman Marketing Manager. An important focus was to be able to run at partial loads using a variable frequency drive (VFD). The overall energy used by the equipment is a function of the individual efficiencies of the components (blower, motor, VFD, etc) that make up the package. The Revolution product uses a high efficiency permanent magnet motor and selecting the correct VFD technology was critical. A Current Source Inverter VFD is used which was determined as the best fit with the PMSM motor and provided the optimal package efficiency and reliability. There are many situations where an older wastewater treatment station is looking to replace a couple of blowers with newer machines. Proper selection and utilization of the Revolution can produce annual energy savings of over 20% versus an existing traditional arrangement. Recognizing these savings is achieved through an understanding of the characteristics of the system demand and how to best apply the technology. In working with the Hoffman sales personnel, these details can be reviewed and the best option for the specific plant can be determined.

Centrifugal compressors: A natural fit for non-traditional gases

Drew Robb 10/05/2011 Centrifugal compressors are finding greater usage in Oil and Gas (O&G) applications. Particularly as less traditional forms of gas become more commonplace, they are tending to displace other types of compressors. Centrifugal turbocompressors more and more replace screw and/or reciprocating compressors in unconventional gas, said Ralf Kannefass, Head of Compression & Solutions Turbo Equipment at Siemens. This can be seen in coal seam gas or shale gas in countries with large coal and gas reserves like Australia. Siemens received an order, for example, for the supply of up to 10 compressor trains to Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) in Queensland, Australia. This will involve the development of coal seam gas fields over a 30-year period and includes construction of upstream gas gathering and processing facilities together with a 450 km main transmission pipeline. Delivery of the compressor trains will start in early 2012. Each train consists of two compressor skids, one low pressure and one high pressure, with both skids carrying two compressors with variable speed drives. Each train is designed to transport around 84 MMSCFD (million standard cubic feet per day) of gas. Projects and applications such as this are necessitating the introduction of new compressor technology, much of it geared towards ease of maintenance and lowered overall costs. Siemens has introduced an integrally geared turbocompressor which has won the company several high pressure CO2 projects in the U.S. Originally, invented in the early 1950s, integrally geared compressors are used in chemical and petrochemical processes, as well as air separation. A new application that is likely to become of major importance is in the compression of CO2 for carbon sequestration and storage (CSS) or enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The main features making integrally geared compressors more efficient than axial compressors or inline centrifugal compressors are: all impellers having an axial flow inlet; an internal gear with a fixed speed drive allowing impellers of different diameter to rotate at their optimum tip speed; and cooling of the air (or CO2) after each compression stage, said Kannefass. This Siemens STC-GV line of integrally geared compressors covers a flow range of up to 600,000 m3/h. With the increase in impeller diameter, and thus of the volutes assembled on the gear casing, the diameter of the bull gear increases to the point that the tip speed of the teeth would exceed the admitted load of present material, explained Kannefass. Thus only an improvement in materials would allow a further increase in capacity. The recent extension of the STC-GC series covers 120,000400,000 m3/h capacities with five casing sizes. Pre-engineering of compressor components has reached 80% and the remaining 20% is covered by customized parts. This approach reduces lead time and cost while offering high efficiency, said Kannefass. A compression ratio of 6.5 is achieved in three stages, with an Inlet Guide Vane (IGV) on the first stage inlet for flow control. The number of heat exchangers is cut to seven by combining the interstage and after cooler units. A compressor control system known as Scaut CPD safeguards the compressor against improper operation conditions. 50 Hz models are currently available with 60 Hz versions coming out at the end of the year. The main reason for this benefit of the integrally geared compressor versus the single-shaft compressor is the higher impeller efficiency with axial flow intake in combination with high head coefficients and the flexibility to adjust the speed for optimum flow coefficients, said Kannefass. In addition, the overall number of impellers in a single-shaft compressor is twelve compared to seven on the integrally geared compressors, which is also due to the reduced head coefficients for single-shaft impellers. Also from Siemens, the STC-ECO is a seal-less compressor for dirty-gas and subsea applications. It features a high-speed induction motor and multistage centrifugal compressor on a single shaft in a single casing. There is no need for auxiliary equipment such as a seal gas system, lube oil system or gearbox.

Reinjection compressors
Amin Almasi 06/22/2011 In order to increase the amount of oil production the enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques based on gas re-injection or gas injection are used. The oil and gas mixture produced from oil fields is separated into oil and gas components at the processing facilities. The gas is recompressed and reinjected again and again until as much oil as economically feasible has been produced from the oil field. Alternative option is injection of gas from other sources to increase oil recovery (for oil fields which have limited gas mixed with oil). Today competent vendors are capable of manufacturing reinjection centrifugal compressors of discharge pressures more than 900 Barg for compression of extremely sour gas (above 20% H2S). Injection compressor Vertically split (or barrel type) casings are generally used for re-injection centrifugal compressors except low pressure initial stage which may use horizontal split casing (below 45 Barg). Casing with heavy bolted head is used for medium pressure. Common-in-use configuration is forged casing with shear ring head. Modern re-injection high pressure compressors generally use closed type impellers with three-dimensional blade profile. Both efficiency and pressure coefficient are higher for three dimensional impellers. Impellers are generally manufactured from low alloy medium strength steels to NACE (National Association of Corrosion Engineers) which can accommodate low and moderate corrosive gases. Impellers tip speed limit is around 15-20% lower than common-in-use non-corrosive gas applications. Critical compressor components in contact with the extremely corrosive gases (for example sometimes sour gas containing more than 10% H2S), are made out of corrosion-resistant alloys. For high pressure re-injection compressors the thrust generated in machine is much greater than can be handled in a thrust bearing. Common design is back-to-back impellers, and using two balance pistons for cancelling the thrust force. Remaining axial force is the difference between forces which are a magnitude larger and advanced double acting tilting thrust bearing is required. High percent of all outages of centrifugal compressors are caused by bearing and seal problems. The shaft end seals in modern re-injection compressors are generally dry gas seals. Oil seals were very common in old designs but they are not used today due to high power consumption, low reliability and many operational problems. There are a few dry gas seal sub-suppliers for extremely high pressure sour gas re-injection services. The seal is generally a tandem seal configuration. Special attention required due to possibility of damage upon rapid depressurization and explosive decompression. Injection train design More than half of gas re-injection compressor trains are driven by gas turbine. While heavy-duty gas turbine drivers have generally been used for compression trains in onshore applications, the majority of high pressure re-injection offshore installations use aeroderivative compact and light weight gas turbine drivers. Electric motor drivers are used in small and medium size gas re-injection trains. One common arrangement is two-end-motor configuration. The train consists of a both ends drive motor (output at both ends of the shaft) installed in the center of the train, two speed increasing gears provided at outer ends, and two compressors outside them. By this configuration, optimum speed can be achieved for each casing and the power loss from speed increasing gears is suppressed to a minimum. The compressor can be opened by drawing out the internal cartridge (barrel) in the axial direction, and it is not required to disassemble the compressor casing. Therefore, maintenance of the compressor is possible without disassembling the main gas piping. Remote injection plant has limited allowance in electric power source capacity considering high power required by injection compressors. Large current flows on direct online start can cause voltage drop and other adverse effects in other power appliances in the district. Usually soft starter is required. Train energy is high, gas handled and site conditions are very risky and compressor surge (aerodynamic instability in low flow) can lead to disaster. Minimization of gas volume between compressor discharge and anti-surge valve is mandatory. Reliable and modern anti-surge loop design is from compressor discharge to upstream of previous stage cooler.

Dynamic of compressor Vibration needs to be minimized at all operating conditions by using very rigid shafts. In high pressure re-injection applications, the fluid density becomes very high and compared with normal atmosphere, the natural frequency of the impeller is lowered, and impeller resonance may occur. Compressor rotor may vibrate unstably. For example in a re-injection machine, the natural frequency is lowered to about 60% of that of normal atmosphere. A small flow rate of high density gas is likely to cause rotating stall. To prevent increase of rotor vibration due to rotating stall, the range of continuous operation is usually narrowed. Another major risk is rotor-dynamic instability of the rotating shaft induced by the interstage and balancing drum seals. Generally various methods are used to eliminate or damp the magnitude and effect of excitation forces. Such special features will normally only be needed at high pressures (let say above 250 bar). These solutions are all mainly based on empirical data, comparison with successful designs and testing at full pressure. A shaker test is required particularly for high pressure stage casings in order to verify the rotordynamic behavior and to determine the damping of the rotor at various operating conditions. For this test, an excitation to the rotor that is frequency independent from the rotor speed is required. For this test, usually the end cover of the barrel carrying the rotor is fitted with a temporary extension designed to host an active magnetic bearing around the rotor shaft extension. The magnetic bearing is then operated in such a way to induce vibrations on the rotating shaft. The overall damping of the compressor is determined by evaluating the rotor vibration response to a non-synchronous unbalance produced by the exciter. Special considerations Specific attentions are required for the rated head to include a margin covering gas property uncertainties, fouling and performance deterioration in re-injection service. Best vendor shop test package for re-injection compressors is the pressurized shop mechanical run test with nitrogen followed by a shop performance test as per ASME PTC 10 type 1 with natural gas. Generally sweet natural gas with some makeup is used in shop performance test. Some vendors offer ASME PTC 10 type 2 with gas mixture of CO2 and helium, or other mixtures to simulate actual gas. It is not recommended since ASME PTC 10 type 1 with natural gas better simulates the site conditions. Shop performance test is more useful if real natural gas used and pressures, compressor speed, capacity, power, etc matched as close as possible to site operating conditions. This test can give very valuable information about the likely behavior of machine such as certain aspects of aerodynamic excitations, operation near limits such as surge or choke, rotor stability, rotating stall, impeller resonance, validity of gas properties prediction, realistic effects of seal or bearing on dynamic behavior, etc. These effects are of concern in high pressure re-injection compressors from even the best-known vendors. Case studies First case study is a re-injection compressor with discharge pressure around 250 Barg and driver power around 15 MW. This compressor is driven by both ends electric motor installed in the center of the train. Two speed increasing gears (at both ends) and two compressors outside them are installed. This train needs soft starter. Performance is satisfactory. It is an example of successful motor driven medium size re-injection machine for small or medium oil field enhanced oil recovery. Second case study is a two barrels sour gas high pressure centrifugal compressor. Each compressor train consists a medium-pressure (MP) casing, a high pressure (HP) casing, a 12 MW, eight-pole, fixed-speed, electric motor driver and step-up gearboxes. The MP casing (six-impellers) receives the gas at around 110 Barg and delivers it at around 240 Barg to the HP casing (five-impellers) which compresses sour gas to the final re-injection pressure around 560 Barg. Machine design, fabrication, testing and site job were faced with some delays, however, machine operation and performance are satisfactory. This case study shows that re-injection machine is complex, needs case by case design and each project has unique features. Considerable preparation, study, planning and coordination, in advance, are necessary for a successful, on-budget and on-time re-injection project. Third case study is a complex gas turbine driven centrifugal compressor for around 650 Barg sour gas (around 20% H2S) re-injection application. Safety and environmental aspect and also material selection requirements for sour gas handling, impact considerably compressor package design and manufacturing. Each train consists, a large frame gas turbine driver (around 32 MW), a gear unit (speed increase to around 10,000 rpm) and three compressor casings. Sour gas pressure is

increased from around 50 barg to around 200 Barg, around 400 Barg and around 650 Barg in three process stages (LP, MP and HP stages respectively). For MP and HP sections, discharge temperatures are limited (below 100oC) to reduce gas harsh effects considering available material technology and long term reliability required. This case study is a successful example of large gas turbine driven high pressure sour gas re-injection trains. Extensive reviews of these three case studies show main risk areas as follows: Rotor-dynamic (high density fluid), rotating stall, train transient and normal behaviors (torsional, surge, etc). Compressor component materials. Seals