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How To Estimate Compressor Efficiency - Campbell Tip of The Month
How To Estimate Compressor Efficiency - Campbell Tip of The Month
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
Where:
November 2015
ηIsen = Isentropic efficiency
October 2015
h1 = Suction enthalpy calculated at P1, T1, and composition (zi)
September 2015
h2 = Discharge enthalpy calculated at P2, T2, and composition (zi) August 2015
h2Isen = Isentropic discharge enthalpy at P2 (or T2), S2Isen =S1, and composition (zi) July 2015
June 2015
= Mass flow rate
May 2015
The computation compressor efficiency or power involves two steps
April 2015
1. Determination of the ideal or isentropic (reversible and adiabatic) enthalpy change (h2Isen-h1) of the compression
process.
March 2015
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October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
Solving the above equation for the polytropic path coefficient (n): June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
Similarly, the actual discharge temperature based on a polytropic path can be estimated (ηPoly) by:
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
The isentropic head is calculated by
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
Similarly, the polytropic head is calculated by December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
For an isentropic (reversible and adiabatic) process the power is calculated by June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
Or for a polytropic process the power is calculated by December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
Alternatively: June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
Where:
January 2008
Head = Compressor head, m (ft)
December 2007
Power = Compressor power, kW (HP) November 2007
R = Universal gas constant, 848 kg-m/(kmol-K) or (1545 ft-lbf/(lbmol-°R)) October 2007
PS = Standard condition pressure, kPa (psia) September 2007
P1 = Suction pressure, kPa (psia) August 2007
July 2007
P2 = Discharge pressure, kPa (psia)
June 2007
TS = Standard condition temperature, K (°R)
May 2007
T1 = Suction temperature, K (°R)
April 2007
T2 = Discharge temperature, K (°R) March 2007
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qS = Gas volumetric rate at the standard condition, Sm3/d (scf/day) February 2007
Za = Average gas compressibility factor = (Z1+Z2)/2 January 2007
Z1 = Gas compressibility factor at the suction condition December 2006
November 2006
Z2 = Gas compressibility factor at the discharge condition
October 2006
MW = Gas molecular weight
September 2006
The power calculation should be made per stage of compression and then summed for all stages connected to a single
driver. August 2006
The step-by-step calculation for shortcut method
July 2006
June 2006
a. Calculate the isentropic exponent (k) by Equation 3 using the average temperature defined by T = (T1+3T2)/4.
This form of average temperature was defined to obtain better match between the rigorous and shortcut method May 2006
results.
April 2006
b. Calculate the isentropic efficiency (ηIsen) by Equation 5.
March 2006
c. Calculate the polytropic coefficient (n) by Equation 7. February 2006
d. Calculate the polytropic efficiency (ηPoly) by Equation 8. January 2006
e. Calculate the isentropic and polytropic heads by Equations 9 and 10, respectively. December 2005
f. Calculate the required power per stage by either Equation 11 or 12. November 2005
Case Study
October 2005
September 2005
A natural gas mixture is compressed using a three-stage centrifugal compressor. The process flow diagram is shown in
Figure 1. For each stage, the measured pressure, and temperature are presented in Table 1. The measured feed August 2005
composition, flowrates, and calculated molecular weight and relative density are presented in Table 2.
July 2005
June 2005
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Figure 1. Process flow diagram for a 3-stage compression
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Table 1. Measured temperature and pressure for the three stages of compression
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Table 2. Gas analysis and flow rate for the three stages of compression Log in
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* Calculated
The process flow diagram shown in Figure 1 was simulated by ProMax software [5] to perform the rigorous calculations
using the SRK EOS. The program calculated polytropic and isentropic efficiencies, heads, and compression power. The
program also calculated the isentropic path exponent (k), and polytropic path exponent (n). These calculated results are
presented in Table 2 for all three stages under SRK headingings. The calculations performed by ProMax are very similar
to the step-by-step of a through h described in the rigorous section. Table 2 also presents the shortcut caculation results
for the corresponding values under the shortcut heading. The shortcut calculations are based on the step-by-step of a
through f described in the shortcut method section. The error percent between the rigrous method and the shortcut
methods for each stage are presented in Table 2, too. Table 2 indicates that excellent agreements are obtained for stages
1 and 2. However, larger deviations are obseved for the isetropic and polytropic exponents of stage 3 due to high pressure
operation which deviated too far from ideal gas state conditions.
Conclusions
Table 2 indicates that there are good agreements between the shortcut and the rigorous results. The differences between
the rigorous and shortcut method results for facilities calculations and planning purposes are negligible. For stage 3, due
to high-pressure operation and deviating too far from the ideal gas state condition, a larger error is observed for the
isentropic exponent (k).
The calculated isentropic exponent (k) in the ProMax [5] is not the ideal gas state heat capacity (CP/CV) ratio. It is the
value of the isentropic exponent that is required to yield an isentropic path from inlet to outlet. Its value is calculated as an
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integration of that path. Thus it is somewhat of an “average” value representing the true isentropic path. For ideal gases,
the value would be equal (CP/CV) ratio.
This error in ‘k’ also illustrates the importance of specifying which correlation is to be used when ordering a performance
test (ie, refer to ASME PTC-10 for additional details), so that client and vendor are on the same agreement moving
forwards with regard to molecular weight (MW) and k for the test fluid. For further detail refer to reference [6] and August
and September 2010 TOTMs [7, 8].
It may also be worth noting that when trending ‘n’ and the polytropic efficiency to evaluate machine condition, the relative
accuracy of measurement instrument/equipment (temperature and pressure transducers) and mapping of compressor
performance to the original performance curve (actual gas volume flow rate vs speed), introduces many potential
erroneous sources into this daily evaluation.
Note that the accuracy of the shortcut methods is dependent on the values of k and n. The definition of average
temperature in the shortcut method was adjusted to obtain a better match between the isentropic path exponent (k)
calculated by rigorous method.
To learn more about similar cases and how to minimize operational problems, we suggest attending our G4 (Gas
Conditioning and Processing), PF4 (Oil Production and Processing Facilities), ME46 (Compressor Systems–
Mechanical Design and Specifications) and ME44 (Fundamentals of Pump and Compressors Systems), courses.
PetroSkills offers consulting expertise on this subject and many others. For more information about these services, visit
our website at http://petroskills.com/consulting, or email us at consulting@PetroSkills.com.
Reference:
1. Maddox, R. N. and L. L. Lilly, “Gas conditioning and processing, Volume 3: Advanced Techniques and Applications,”
John M. Campbell and Company, 2nd Ed., Norman, Oklahoma, USA, 1990.
2. Campbell, J.M., Gas Conditioning and Processing, Volume 2: The Equipment Modules, 9th Edition, 2nd Printing, Editors
Hubbard, R. and Snow–McGregor, K., Campbell Petroleum Series, Norman, Oklahoma, 2014.
3. Soave, G., Chem. Eng. Sci., Vol. 27, pp. 1197-1203, 1972.
4. Peng, D. Y., and Robinson, D. B., Ind. Eng. Chem. Fundam., Vol. 15, p. 59, 1976.
5. ProMax 3.2, Bryan Research and Engineering, Inc, Bryan, Texas, 2014.
7. Honeywell, J. “Important Aspects of Centrifugal Compressor Testing-Part 1”, Tip of the Month, August 2010
8. Honeywell, J. “Important Aspects of Centrifugal Compressor Testing-Part 2”, Tip of the Month, September 2010
23 comments
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2. Francis says:
December 28, 2015 at 9:30 am
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Please may I know the equation seven. I cannot find the formula for calculating the polytropic path exponent(n).
Please can u write the formula for calculating polytropic path exponent
Laurent says:
February 25, 2016 at 8:37 am
Laurent:
You are correct, both temperature and pressure ratios should have been ln(T2/T1) and ln(P2/P1).
Thanks.
3. Daniel says:
April 22, 2016 at 3:51 am
Hello, used these equations with preos… did not work, gave me an efficiency of 4000…
CAE350 compressor analyzing system is a low cost portable system to test the capacity,power efficiency and unit
air consumption of the compressor
5. Panos says:
June 17, 2016 at 4:19 pm
Here is the link of a new article, which describes the rigorous calculation of the polytropic efficiency based on
thermodynamics of real gases. A comparison with data shown on this website (!) can also be found, under:
http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/tjj.ahead-of-print/tjj-2016-0029/tjj-2016-0029.xml?format=INT
Arif says:
November 2, 2016 at 12:55 pm
Arif says:
November 2, 2016 at 12:56 pm
Compressor efficiency is very important factor for any business. Thanks for sharing this detailed calculations.
http://www.zahroofvalves.com
I built an air compressor with a quick return mechanism and a bike pump. So obviously it is a single stage
compressor. But for the calculation of efficiency should I follow these equations? If I want to neglect the
temperature change(too low) which equations should I follow?
M. Azarakhshi says:
July 1, 2017 at 8:30 am
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12. Greg Janse van Vuuren says:
May 17, 2017 at 1:32 pm
Would these equation work for an oil injected twin rotary screw compressor?
when I try to calculate the polytropic exponent with the T1 = 40.6, T2 = 129.4, P1 = 793.1, P2 = 2275.9 the n =
1.808666. but in the table the value is n = 1.3097. Please clarify me why i am getting wrong.
I tried using the same formulas for calculating the compressor efficiency but results are good in one case but in
other cases error is more than 20 %.
Efficiency was calculated for high pressure compressor with suction pressure 60 kg/cm2.
Did you design this weЬsite yourself оr did yоu hire someone t᧐ do it
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to find out wһere u got this from. kսdos
can anyone please help that how to calculate the efficiency of rotary screw air compressor..????
The correlation of heat capacity ratio (Eq 3) is valid for light hydrocarbon mixtures. It is not valid for air. Air
heat capacity ratio is about 1.4 in the range of -40 deg F to 200 deg F.
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