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T
he growth in use of centrifugal
compressors in chemical process
industries (CPI) applications in Figure 1. This cutaway diagram shows the internals of a process centrifugal com-
recent decades has been brought pressor with a multi-impeller, between-bearing design
about by four factors: 1) advances
in dry gas seal technology; 2) mod- (Figure 2) is commonly employed. usually three-dimentional semi-open
ern aerodynamic, rotor-dynamic and Maintenance of the horizontally split types, which are highly efficient. There
thermodynamic knowledge and tech- compressor is relatively simple com- is usually no need to accommodate a
niques; 3) advanced manufacturing pared to other designs. When the shaft in the eye of the impeller. It is,
methods to producing accurate rotat- pressure is high (say above 40 bars) on very rare occasions, constructed in
ing parts and various complex com- to maintain a proper joint seal or for the multistage form, but an overhung
ponents with reasonable costs; and 4) low-molecular-weight gas services, machine has no more than two im-
the ability to simplify the control and another style commonly used is re- pellers. The overhung compressor is
anti-surge systems of a centrifugal ferred to as a barrel-type compres- most often more competitively priced
compressor (and its driver) through sor (or vertically split type). For large than the between-bearing compressor
the use of modern control and vari- machines, a vertically split casing is design. Careful applications must be
able-speed technologies. sometimes used for above around 25 made because the overhung impeller
With these advances, and because bars, and for hydrogen-rich gas, even configuration is more sensitive to im-
of their simplicity, reliability, light- above 14 bars. In the multi-impeller balance than the between-bearing de-
weight, and compact design, centrifu- configuration, the impeller-assembly signs. If impeller fouling is anticipated,
gal compressors have become much is constructed with a removable, hori- the overhung design may not be ac-
more popular for use in CPI plants. zontally split inner barrel (known as ceptable. Some overhung compressors
As CPI plant sizes increase, the a bundle) that permits the removal do not permit the removal of the rotor
pressure to improve reliability is very of the rotor assembly without remov- without first removing the impeller.
high because of the large economic ing the impellers (removing rotor as- Compressor boosters, such as the
impact of a nonscheduled shutdown. sembly as a single piece). one shown in Figure 3, are usually
Today, the run time between centrifu- The single-stage centrifugal com- constructed with the axial inlet and
gal compressor overhauls is three to pressor can be arranged in an over- outlet opposite each other in the hori-
six years or more. hung style. The flow usually enters zontal plane. Sometimes it is with
axially and exits in a tangential direc- horizontal side nozzles (both suction
Centrifugal compressors tion. Duties requiring one wheel (one and discharge).
Figures 1 and 2 show examples of cen- impeller) are usually coped with by Cast iron construction is used for
trifugal compressors. the use of a single overhung impel- low pressures, whereas cast steel is
For low-pressure applications (say ler. Often a step-up gear system, as a required when hazardous gases are
below 2535 bars), the horizontally gear unit or as a part of compressor, handled. Vertically split (or barrel)
split-casing centrifugal compressor is required. Overhung impellers are casings, in cast steel, fabricated or
42 Chemical Engineering www.che.com May 2012
Figure 3. This sin-
gle-impeller centrifugal
compressor with axial
(horizontal) inlet and
vertical discharge, is
an example of a cen-
trifugal compressor for
a process booster ap-
plication