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Specialised compressor for refinery

PROCESS GAS COMPRESSOR
The R11-million compressor forms part of Sasol’s expansion project

PROCESS GAS COMPRESSOR The R11-million compressor forms part of Sasol’s expansion project

5th September 2014

By: Donna Slater

Features Deputy Editor and Chief Photographer

  

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A large-capacity process gas compressor was delivered in July to energy and chemicals group Sasol’s synfuels catalytic cracker plant, in Secunda.

Secunda-based pumps company AES Pump throughtout sales and marketing director Neil Britz tells Engineering News the US-made Sundyne LMC314F model compressor is scheduled for commissioning during November and December. AES Pump is the sole authorised distributor of Sundyne equipment in South Africa.

The R11-million compressor forms part of the equipment package for a Sasol expansion project.

The compressor is a 160 kW single-stage centrifugal machine and forms part of a range of single- and multistage designs for service in API 617-certified applications and general industrial applications.

Britz explains that the new compressor will be essential to reducing plant downtime and maintenance. “Sundyne’s integrally gear-driven centrifugal compressors have set the industry standard for high-head, low-flow technology, overlapping many high-pressure positive displacement designs.”

Featuring a modular design with an independent gearbox and process end, the compressor offers ruggedness, reliability and a compact footprint.

The Sundyne compressor is configured with a 450 hp/335 kW gearbox and features a six-inch flanged suction and three-inch flanged discharger. “The gearbox enables the compressor to deliver multistage performance with single-stage compact simplicity,” says Britz, adding that the gearbox further allows for fewer parts, thereby minimising costly special metallurgy processes.

Several design elements of the compressor had to be reviewed prior to the installation at Sasol, which included minor modifications to the skid-isolating valves and the fitment of a rerated heat exchanger.

The Sasol plant-specific design stipulated full compliance with SANS 347-2012 second-edition and pressure-equipment regulations. “All pressure equipment was supplied in full compliance with American Society of Mechanical Engineers VIII Division 1 with U-stamp coding,” he says.

Further, the compressor’s open impeller design, which eliminates efficiency degradation and frequent adjustments, enhances reliability.

Britz states that Sundyne engineers custom-built every compressor to meet the best efficiency point of each customer’s application, thus increasing the mean time between failures.

Sundyne supplied similar compressors to Sasol in 2005, which included the 293KC-8501 and 293KC-8502 models of the petrol CDHydro vent recycle compressors.

AES Pump and Sundyne have been involved from the start of the recent Sasol project, participating in several design review meetings regarding the mechanical flow design and hazardous operability review. Premanufacturing meetings were also held at Sundyne’s works in Dijon, France, where AES Pump, Sundyne and Sasol, as well as engineering, procurement and construction company Kellogg Brown & Root, completed a design review.

Training AES Pump provided training for Sasol compressor technicians so that they could gain a better understanding of the Sundyne compressor operating system. The training included a review of the cause and effect of failures, and of the compressor’s main components. Possible troubleshooting and procedures to be followed during equipment failures were also reviewed.

Training will continue throughout the installation process and the start- up phases of the project. Britz adds that this extensive training will enable Sasol plant- operating maintenance personnel to fully understand how to operate the compressor skid safely .

Edited by Megan van Wyngaardt
Creamer Media Contributing Editor Online

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