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T R A N S A C T I O N S ~°'
Abstract
Implementing advanced centrifugal compressor control systems that minimize recycle (or blow-off) requires
consideration for a broad range of operating conditions. The compressor control must not only offer efficient and
reliable anti-surge control; but it has to provide overload protection, load sharing (in case of multiple machines),
capacity control, process decoupling and in some cases auto sequencing and other station controls (ESD, SOE and
aux equipment controls). This paper describes advanced control concepts for achieving interactive compressor
control that result in significant energy savings while operating safely over wide varying process conditions.
Key words: Advanced control; Compressors; Surge control; Dynamic decoupling; Load sharing; Overload prevention;
Energy savings
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usually result in a 'hunting' action of the control the piping configuration of the network between
loops. The control oscillations can be significant the compressor suction and the anti-surge valve.
since each controller fights its counterpart. In In some compressor systems there is a signifi-
non-decoupled loops, this interaction can exist cant delay, after the recycle valve opens, before
whether the control is on suction pressure, dis- the gas reaches the compressor inlet and the flow
charge pressure or flow. To provide control sta- through the compressor increases. This dead time
bility there are two configuration/tuning alterna- is especially common in turbine driven multi-
tives. Either detune (slow down) the controllers stream compressors with large suction drums
which decreases their effectiveness, or provide (such as propylene or ethylene refrigeration com-
decoupling between the interacting control loops. pressors). The dead time can be decreased by
The decoupling action normally consists of a con- temporarily increasing the turbine speed simulta-
trol phase shift of the throughput/capacity con- neously with the anti-surge valve opening.
trol (in this case discharge pressure) based on the
rate and magnitude of the anti-surge control out- 1.2. L o a d sharing
put. A shift of 0.5 to 3.5 seconds usually provides
adequate decoupling, considering that these in- When centrifugal compressors are operated in
teraction control problems are normally associ- parallel, the problem of properly sharing the load
ated with low volume process systems. is usually present. The solution is particularly
Another reason for loop decoupling is associ- challenging when the compressors have dissimilar
ated with dead time in the anti-surge loop. These characteristics. But even when the characteristics
process response time delays can be caused by are supposedly identical, load sharing should be
156 R. Rammler / ISA Transactions 33 (1994) 153-157
provided because minor manufacturing differ- digital peer-to-peer link. After all compressors
ences and piping configuration affect the operat- have crossed the load-share enable line they are
ing envelope. An effective system for load sharing kept equidistance from their surge limits, thus
can keep compressors at a relative distance from helping to minimize recycle or blowoff costs. The
the surge control line but load sharing is normally equal distribution of the load within the active
activated only once all compressors have reached region (below the load-share enable line) is ac-
the load-sharing enable line. This load sharing complished by calculating the average distance
strategy assures that all compressors reach their from the surge line of all compressors on load
surge control lines simultaneously. The concept sharing and then biasing each compressor in the
produces the widest range of operation with no proper direction.
recycle (or blowoff) and the minimum recycle/
blowoff to produce any required load. In addi- 1.3. Prevention o f driver overload
tion, the strategy can optimally divide the load
whenever the load changes, when a compressor Variations in gas (or air) density significantly
goes off or on line, or when efficiency changes. affect compressor performance. The compressor
Conventional load sharing strategies employ- driver, a motor or a turbine, is sometimes tightly
ing pressure-to-flow cascade or biasing the output sized and may require load limiting control to
of a single pressure controller are usually ineffec- prevent the compressor driver from overload trips
tive. Base loading, another common method, is during high density demand times. In typical ap-
also not energy efficient. plications (as shown in Fig. 1) the compressor
Load sharing may be accomplished by the ma- controller overload algorithm will override the
nipulation of a suction valve (as shown in Fig. 1), signal of the throughput/capacity controller to
by speed changes (if the compressor is turbine modulate a suction valve. In case of a motor
driven), or by guide-vane positioning. Thus, there driven unit, the motor power is limited to a
are many possible configurations for simultane- setpoint that represents the maximum power that
ous approach to the surge control line. the motor is allowed to draw. Feedback selection
Since compressors may differ in capacity and is used to provide a bumpless transfer between
characteristics, the absolute distance of the oper- the throughput/capacity control, the load-shar-
ating point from the surge control line can be ing control, and the overload control.
meaningful. For compressors with almost identi- For applications that experience fast density
cal characteristics, it is recommended that the changes, an additional suction pressure override
compressors are allowed to operate unrestricted control which operates as a pre-act protection
until the operating point reaches the load-sharing may be used. This offers further insurance against
enable line, a line usually set 10% from the surge nuisance driver (motor, turbine) trips.
control line. For compressors with dissimilar Since speed variation is often the most effi-
characteristics, it is usually preferable to set the cient method for controlling compressor load,
load share enable line near the normal operation turbine driven machines are commonly in use.
points; or in other words, the parallel machines These turbines represent a piece of complex ma-
operate at equidistance from the surge control chinery by themselves and incorporate safety sys-
line over the complete operation range. tems (exhaust temperature limits, etc.), to elimi-
Each compressor controller's load share algo- nate, or at least to minimize the possibility of
rithm engages once the compressors operating damage due to overload or in the event of other
have crossed the enable line and holds the unusual operating conditions.
t h r o u g h p u t / c a p a c i t y control output (suction
valve, turbine speed or guide-vane) in its position 1.4. Series or parallel machine surge control
until all load sharing compressors have reached
the enable line. Communication between com- When two or more compressors are connected
pressor controllers is normally via a high speed in series, using surge control on each individual
R. Rammler/ ISA Transactions 33 (1994) 153-157 157
machine provides the best protection. This, how- of the compressor in accordance with the com-
ever, requires a recirculation or blowoff valve for pressor manufacturer's specification and in com-
each compressor. In many designs (especially in pliance with the process requirements.
large pipeline applications) the individual recycle Typical s t a r t u p / s h u t d o w n features are
control architecture may not be very practical due - Startup and Purge Sequences. The recycle valve
to common cooler systems and therefore one is kept at either 100% or 0%, as required for
common 'cold' recirculation valve is often pro- shutdown or purge. After the compressor is
vided. Duration of reverse flow and thrust bear- started, opening of the valve is determined by
ing load exposure during compressor trips should the anti-surge controller.
be examined for common valve or individual ma- - S t a r t u p Sequence. After the compressor is
chine configurations with consideration given to started the control maintains the minimum tur-
automatic o n / o f f 'hot' recycle control. In special bine speed (for turbine driven units) for a
designs, each machine may require complete 'hot' preselected time delay and then ramps the
recycle control (manipulating, not o n / o f f ) in ad- governor to a position required by the system.
dition to the 'cold' recycle control. - Startup Sequence. Startup ramp by the control
In some series compressor configurations, two is aborted when either the check valve into the
compressors are driven by the same prime mover. system is open (typically sensed by a differen-
These machines are sometimes considered as a tial pressure switch across the checkvalve) or
single unit and the installation usually includes upon reaching a preset pressure.
only one anti-surge valve. - Shutdown. On compressor shutdown, the recy-
When two or more compressors are working in cle or blowoff valve is opened 100%.
parallel, the greatest surge protection and effi- - S h u t d o w n . On compressor shutdown, the
ciency results when both units operate equidis- throughput/capacity control ramps down the
tant from their respective surge control lines after output to prepare for future startup. The con-
the operating points have crossed the loadsharing troller is also transferred to auto mode.
enable lines (this has been described previously).
It is, of course, assumed that each compressor is
provided with its own recycle/blowoff valve. In 1.6. Summary
some parallel applications (such as pipeline sta-
tions with common cooler arrangement), each The challenge in regulating a centrifugal com-
machine may have a 'hot' recycle valve to provide pressor is to match its throughput to the process
rapid and short-term protection, while one com- requirements while keeping total flow high
mon 'cold' recycle valve provides the normal enough to prevent surge. This goal is often com-
anti-surge control. plicated by the variable nature of the minimum
safe flow rate and process configuration of the
1.5. Startup / shutdown features compressors. While it is of course important to
provide good anti-surge control for each com-
Both the anti-surge and the t h r o u g h p u t / pressor, in most cases only a complete unit con-
capacity controls often include additional algo- trol approach results in smooth operations and
rithms to provide for startup and shutdown mode provides significant energy savings.