Protecting compressors with dynamic

simulation
Dynamic simulation supports reliable operation of compressor installations
to deliver maximum plant availability and productivity
NICHOLAS BROWNRIGG
AspenTech

ntegrated dynamic simulation of gas processing and

petroleum refining processes
is vital in the prevention of
catastrophic equipment occurrences. The protection of
compressors from mechanical
failure is essential to maximise
operating time and ensure
safer operations.
This article highlights how
dynamic engineering software
successfully
meets
tighter
product specifications through
improved understanding of
plant operability issues and
ensures faster, safer plant startups to help avoid unplanned
downtime. The results deliver
maximum plant availability
and productivity.

Better understanding leads to

better plant control

Understanding the process is

the first step in the design of
an effective control strategy. To
prescribe a solution, the
process control engineer must
analyse all variables, process
dynamics and unit interactions.
First principle models (steady
state and dynamics) provide a
better understanding of the
process dynamics and its inter-

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actions, enabling engineers to

evaluate and tune strategies
before implementation. Using
dynamic simulation early in
the design phase can help identify important operability and
control issues and influence the
design accordingly.
Compressors used to increase
the pressure of a gas are necessary in many process designs.
They are highly specific pieces
of equipment and often custom
designed and, therefore, expensive to purchase. Compressors
operate with fast dynamics,
meaning that a small disturbance can disrupt a compressor
away from steady state performance very quickly.
When steady state performance
is
interrupted,
a
compressor can experience a
phenomenon known as surge.
This can lead to malfunctioning
or,
worse,
induce
major
compressor damage requiring
equipment replacement. In
addition, a compressor surge
can harm individuals working
near compressors or release
noxious
gases
into
the
surrounding atmosphere.
Using dynamic simulation
can help to predict compres-

sors deviation in behaviour

from steady state that could
cause
compressor
surge.
Dynamic control schemes can
also be modelled to limit
steady state deviations if a
disturbance is experienced in
the plant.
The first step in any dynamic
simulation is obtaining a
steady state model. A steady
state compressor model shows
undisturbed compressor operation or, in other words, how
the compressor would ideally
operate if uninterrupted, given
the process parameters. To
generate the steady state
compressor model in process
simulation, the inlet streams of
the compressor model must be
defined, as well as one of three
compressor specifications: the
change in pressure across the
compressor, the compressors
pressure ratio or the energy
supplied to the compressor.

Model based operations

improve decision support and
safety

Compressors are vital to gas

processing and similar operations, so it is important that
models include a built-in

Gas 2014 1

23KA001:
surge controller
VLV-100
23FE1015
5

dP
scrubber

MIX-100

dP and vol
23Lxxxx

N2

Bath tube
strainer

V-100

Q-100

E-100

23L1005-03

VLV-101
7

23KA001

TEE-101

Q-23KA00

VLV-102 2
PIC-100

3
23FE1015
1900
Molar flow
Pressure drop
1.073
Feed pressure
192.7
Percentage open 100.00

kgmole/h
kPA
kPA
%

23KA001
Compressor speed 6285
Power
3725
Capacity *
26159.5
Feed pressure
183.6
Product pressure
1220

rpm
kW
ACT_m3/h
kPA
kPA

* Actual feed volume flow

Figure 1 Steady state model in Aspen Hysys

response to potential disturbances, such as a compressor

surge. Dynamic compressor
models can optimise design
and operational performance to
achieve the following:
Analyse a range of process
disturbance scenarios
Add a proper control scheme
to appropriately respond to
process disturbances

Perform
process
safety
studies
Finely tune process parameters to achieve improved
production results.
Process
engineers
use
AspenTechs aspenONE solutions to achieve model based
operations for decision support
and safety. In particular, Aspen
Hysys
Dynamics
extends
Aspen Hysys steady state
models into dynamic process
models, enabling design and
verification of process control
schemes, safety studies, relief
valve sizing and rating, failure
analysis and development of
start-up, shutdown and operating mode changes. Engineers

2 Gas 2014

can create steady state and

dynamic models all within the
same simulation environment,
which saves significant time
and effort (see Figure 1).
Extensive
numerical
and
graphical results are generated
for dynamic models in Aspen
Hysys Dynamics, which allows
for in-depth analysis to be
performed on each completed
simulation (see Figure 2).
Many compressor disturbances can be explored,
including
decreasing
or
increasing the feed rate to the
compressor and modifying the
composition or physical properties of the compressor feed
stream, among others. Control
schemes and parameters can
also be modified, yielding
more or less robust compressor
control, depending on the
users requirement. It is a
powerful tool that can be
utilised to ensure safe and
proper
functioning
of
a
processs compressors.
Engineers can broaden their
ability to design safer, more

operable
plants,
without
over-designing, by learning to
do the following:
Use data visualisation to help
optimise performance
Implement and test control
schemes

Schedule events to study
safety scenarios, start-up and
more
Switch steady state models to
dynamic mode for greater
accuracy and flexibility.
Reported
benefits
using
dynamic modelling can generate $15 million savings through
improved and faster start-up
procedures. Also, the avoidance
of over-designing relief systems
can achieve $10 million in capital cost savings, improved
safety through better operational procedures, better control
system design and proper
relief-valve
sizing
delivers
enormous benefits. Operators
can achieve better design decisions through detailed analysis
of the trade-offs between
process operability and process
integration.

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Safety and controllability

mitigates equipment
malfunction

By understanding dynamic
plant behaviour, many production processes in the oil and
gas, energy and chemicals
industries
will
experience
significant improvements in
control and safety. Knowing
the dynamic response of a
compressor is important when
designing or operating a
process,
and
engineering
dynamic software is a tool that
allows users to perform
dynamic simulations to obtain
this information. Engineering
modelling software provides
multiple outlets to view and
tabulate the dynamic response
for equipment and controllers,
including strip charts, tables
and compressor curves. When
Hysys and Hysys Dynamics
are properly utilised conjointly,
compressor surge can be
avoided. Therefore, through
better understanding of plant
behaviour, companies will save
equipment costs.

Verifying safe operation of a

plant revamp

Petronas, a Malaysian oil and

gas company, is one of the
worlds largest and most profitable companies. Petronas
operates a liquefied natural gas
(LNG) plant that underwent a
revamp. While designing the
revamp, Petronas turned to
Aspen Hysys Dynamics to
verify that the new operating
conditions
and
control
schemes, as well as start-up
and shutdown procedures,
would not lead to compressor
surge in one of the plants
many compressor units.1
In Hysys Dynamics, models
were constructed that repre-

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Figure 2 Simulation of a compressor installation in Aspen Hysys Dynamics

sented
actual
equipment
operation, piping arrangements
and potential control schemes.
Of note, a realistic emulation of
a controller used by Petronas
for anti-surge control in
compressors was replicated. In
addition, vendor predicted and
as tested operating curves for
the axial and centrifugal
compressors in the plant were
input into the package for
enhanced
prediction
of
compressor behaviour.
During revamp studies, a
variety of new operating conditions and failure scenarios for
the plant was considered. The
use of dynamic simulation
allowed for the testing of the
operating conditions to ensure
that they would not cause
disruptions with equipment
performance and, in particular,
compressor
surge.
Failure
scenario
analysis
enabled
Petronas to view the operating
limits of the compressors along
with specific circumstances that
would directly lead to surge in
order to better avoid them.
Failure scenario analysis also
helped to confirm that relief
valves were adequately sized
to handle peak relief loads.
While performing dynamic

simulation, it was elsewhere

discovered that a propane
compressor did, in fact, experience surge upon the closure of
suction valves on a chiller and
also during a trip of a cryogenic heat exchanger. This risk
was quickly mitigated since it
was uncovered early in the
design process, before implementation of equipment. In all,
over 45 different scenarios,
along with the start-up and
shutdown conditions of the
plant, were simulated and
analysed in an iterative process
utilising the event scheduler
feature inside Hysys Dynamics.
Using the package to carry out
dynamic simulation for the
revamp of the plant ultimately
lent a better insight into the
dynamic performances that
new plant designs would
exhibit.
By knowing where potential
dangers in the process lay,
Petronas was able to better size
and operate equipment in
order to avoid the occurrence
of a catastrophic event.

Operability analysis for

emergency system responses

Wood
Group
Production
Services
Network
(Wood

Gas 2014 3

Group PSN) is a consulting

group that assists oil and gas
companies in attaining better
performance and production,
from process development to
operational diagnostics. Due to
the complex nature of safety
systems, performing safety
system analysis is a task that
Wood Group PSN often
executes.
Safety systems are often
designed more conservatively
than required in order to
protect against worst case
scenarios. However, the worst
case scenario calculation is a
poor representation of actual
process circumstances and it
does not offer any insights
regarding how a process
behaves on its way to reaching
the worst case. Safety systems
performance and sizing can be
vastly
improved
through
dynamic simulation to ascertain
answers
into
how
processes actually respond to
disturbance. For this reason,
Wood Group PSN was tasked
with creating dynamic simulations to model the response to
steady state disturbance of
emergency systems present in
a plant with the goal of ultimately enhancing the safety of
the process. To accomplish this,
the company chose to use
Hysys Dynamics.
A comprehensive model of
the plants safety system was
developed to investigate equipment failures as conditions
moved away from the steady

4 Gas 2014

state and to evaluate alternative process configurations

towards bettering safety system
effectiveness.
Compressors
were heavily featured in many
of the dynamic models created,
and the performance and efficiency
curves
for
the
compressors, as well as the
inertia and friction profiles for
each
compressor,
were
included to better tailor the
model to fit the actual process.
Studying failure scenarios
allowed Wood Group PSN to
view which circumstances initiated compressor surge and to
what degree. Accordingly, the
safety margins of the compressor units were increased until
confirmed to protect against
the occurrence of surge. Using
dynamic simulation enabled
the safety margins to be
increased up to the critical
level of protection based on
predicted process responses
and eliminated the need for
over-design to provide a blanket protection.
A colour scheme was implemented on the dynamic
simulations to easily identify
when material became trapped
and caused pressure build-up
when malfunctions occurred.
Identifying where blockages in
operation take place helped to
prevent surge, since flow
disruptions is one of the main
causes
for
breakdown.
Additionally, using dynamic
simulation eliminated the need
for the installation of a hot gas

bypass that served to prevent

compressor
malfunctioning.
This reduction in design saved
over $3.2 million in capital
expenditure for the plant. The
requirement of the hot gas
bypass is an example of the
over-design that can materialise when worst case scenario
analysis is used for the creation
of safety systems and how the
use of dynamic simulation can
help determine where unnecessary components of the safety
systems exist.
The models created in Hysys
Dynamics were also able to
serve as a basis for operator
training and on-going development in the plant. With an
improved knowledge of how
the plant runs, operators were
better at steering the process to
avoid
perturbations
from
steady state and how to best
remedy situations that have
left steady state operation.
References
1 AspenTech Global Conference, 2010.
2 AspenTech User Conference, 2009.
Nicholas Brownrigg is Dynamics Product
Manager, AspenTech.

LINKS
More articles from the following
categories:
Process Modelling & Simulation
Reliability & Asset Management
Rotating Equipment

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