Compressor and Valves from

the Same Source

Georg Samland
Markus Lehmann
Georg Samland received his degree in aerospace engi-
neering (Dipl.-Ing.) in 1987 from the Technical University
in Stuttgart, Germany.
He then started his professional career at the "Staatliche
Materialprüfungsanstalt Stuttgart" where he was engaged
in several research projects.
In 1991 he joined the Research & Development (R&D)
group of Burckhardt Compression in Switzerland.
Since 1997 he is the head of the R&D department.
His main projects are in the field of finite element
analysis, computational fluid dynamics and mechatronic.
In 1998 he graduated as a Dr.-Ing. in power engineering
at the Technical University in Stuttgart, Germany.

Markus Lehmann received his degree in mechanical

engineering (Ing. grad.) in 1972 from the Technical
University in Zurich, Switzerland.
His studies concentrated on micro engineering and static
technology. Furthermore, he studied materials science.
M. Lehmann started in Sulzer's department Materials
Development & Tribology.
In 1985 he changed to the product development group
of Sulzer.
He joined Burckhardt Compression in 1990 to work in
Research & Development for new valve designs.
Compressor and Valves
from the Same Source
Georg Samland and Markus Lehmann, Burckhardt Compression,
Switzerland, describe the advantages and disadvantages for the
most significant valve types.
alves are a key component for the suc-
V cessful operation of a piston compressor.
They are the most stressed components
of the compressor. Their perfect operation is
decisive for the delivery of the gas. According
to a study, more than one third of all compres-
sor-related shut-downs are caused by valve
problems.
This article lists the most important valve types
– plate, ring and poppet valves – and defines
their advantages and disadvantages, as well as
the latest developments and field experience.
The common feature of these valves is that
they are self-acting, i.e. by means of differen-
tial pressure. The principal components are the
valve seat, stroke limiter and central bolt to-
gether with sealing elements in the form of
plates, rings or poppets and their associated
spring elements and spacer rings.
Reciprocating compressors from Burckhardt
Compression are usually equipped with valves
produced by the company itself. This enables
the compressors and valves to be matched in
an optimum manner and helps to avoid prob-
lems during operation. In addition to the plate
and ring valves that have proven successful
over many decades, Burckhardt Compression
now offers poppet valves too.
Plate Valves
The plate valve is the oldest self-acting design.
Concentric rings joined together by radial con-
nections with the appropriate spring constitute
the sealing element. Depending on the design,
one or more damper plates are employed.
Metal or plastic material is used for the valve
and damper plates. Only Burckhardt Compres-
sion plate valves can be converted without ad-
ditional machining from metal to plastic valve
plates (and vice versa). This can be a decisive
advantage for the operator.
Plate valves have large flow areas, but they
have unfavorable flow characteristics. The gas
has to be deflected twice through 90°, which
leads to corresponding valve losses.
Ring Valves
The sealing elements of ring valves comprise
single rings that are always made of plastic.
Ring valves are among the most flow-effective
valves, because gas can flow through the valve
with only slight deflections. This leads to lower
losses, despite their smaller flow areas. Further
advantages of this valve are its simple assem-
bly and the stable form of the sealing elements,
which reduces the risk of fracture. A further
positive feature is that foreign particles can
embed themselves in the plastic material, and
so they are more robust than comparable
metal-plate valves. Moreover, there is less dan-
ger of clogging by condensing gases or gases
containing hard particles.
The machining of the valve seats during refur-
bishing of ring valves is even more complex.
In addition, plastic is not suitable as a ring
material for some gases, and high-temperature
plastic rings cost considerably more than
metal plates.
Burckhardt Compression offers Manley® ring
valves manufactured under license.
1
 Poppet Valves
Poppet valves were recently introduced into the
Burckhardt Compression valve range (Fig. 1).
Their characteristics are very similar to those
of ring valves. They also have effective flow
characteristics, i.e., the losses in the sealing
gap are lower than those of plate valves. The
poppets are always made of injection molded
plastic and therefore cost-effective. Poppet
valves are less likely to leak at higher tempera-
tures, because geometric distortions and ther-
mal expansion of the poppets do not have any
negative effects.
One disadvantage, however, is the larger num-
ber of sealing elements, with which the failure
probability of a single element increases. Nev-
1 Valves are the key elements of a piston compressor.
Burckhardt Compression now offers poppet valves too.
2
ertheless, this point can also be viewed in a
positive manner, because further operation is
possible even if individual poppets should fail
for a certain period of time.
Avoidable Problems
In principle, all moving parts of a valve are sus-
ceptible to failure. This can be avoided, how-
ever, in many cases. As a manufacturer of
valves, Burckhardt Compression makes the
necessary provisions for the right design, the
most suitable material, optimal manufacture
and also the correct layout. However, it is the
operator’s responsibility to avoid improper use.
Problems are minimized when the same manu-
facturer supplies the valves and compressors:
Errors or defects can then be determined much
more effectively and remedied a lot faster.
Burckhardt Compression therefore recommends
that its compressors should be equipped only
with their OEM valves.
Design and Choice of Material
Design modifications, material changes and
new manufacturing processes are critical
points, which can lead to valve problems. By
means of consistent quality surveillance, how-
ever, Burckhardt Compression is able to avoid
errors wherever possible in the design phase
and by the choice of material. As the example
of a third-party valve sent to Burckhardt Com-
pression for overhaul shows, incorrect thermal
treatment of the valve seat led to intercrys-
talline corrosion and thus to a very porous sur-
face (Fig. 2). This impaired the sealing of the
valve and concealed the danger of a valve
failure.
Burckhardt Compression uses corrosion-re-
sistant steel (X20Cr13) for valve seats and
stroke limiters, and Nimonic 90 or Hastelloy
for valve springs. In the case of the metallic
materials for the valve and damper plate, a
17%-CrNi steel has proven successful as a
standard and is employed for temperatures
ranging from minus 200 °C to plus 250 °C.
A Hastelloy version is used for very corrosive
gases.
For the plastic sealing elements, the palette of
materials extends from nylon (up to 120 °C)
through polyimide (up to 250 °C) to PEEK
(polyetheretherketone, up to 220 °C). A new
PTFE-similar material (polytetrafluorethylene),

2 Severely pitted surface of a valve seat belonging to a
valve from another manufacturer, which was received by
Burckhardt Compression for overhaul.
Fabrication Optimization
An example of the manufacture of metal plates
shows how the life cycle has been extended
through an improvement of quality by laser
cutting: The valve and damper plates are cut
from chromium steel plates with a laser beam
at Burckhardt Compression works. Thanks to a
new laser-cutting machine, it is now much eas-
ier to obtain a more evenly cut surface than in
the past. In addition, it is completely free of
any oxidation products (Fig. 3). With the aid of
in-house fatigue strength tests, it was shown
clearly that the scatter of the fatigue load
cycles can be drastically reduced within a test
series (Fig. 4).

which can be employed almost anywhere, is

also available. With this material, it is possible
to use plastic valve plates in pure oxygen for
the first time. A certificate has been issued for
these valve plates by the Bundesanstalt für Ma-
terialprüfung, Berlin, and field tests have
proven extremely successful. 3 With the new laser-cutting process (right) employed in
the manufacture of valve plates, the cut surface is much
Since the characteristics of metal and plastic smoother than that achieved by the old one (left).
plates differ quite considerably in some cases,
an appropriate evaluation of the valve type and
plate material can only be made reliably by the Some valve manufacturers have not yet intro-
manufacturer. The operating conditions prevail- duced new laser-cutting techniques, because
ing in the customer’s plant are of great impor- people are still unaware of the negative influ-
tance (table 1, simplified overview of the expe- ence that the former process has on the relia-
rience acquired by Burckhardt Compression). bility and the service life of the highly stressed
valve components.

Table 1 Fields of Application for Metal and

Plastic Valve Elements

Gas/medium Metal Plastic

valve plate valve element

Air wet/dry + o
Oxygen wet/dry + o
Nitrogen wet/dry + o
Inert gases (Ar, He) + o
Carbon monoxide o +
Carbon dioxide + +
Hydrocarbons o +
Ammonia + –
Hydrogen o +
Hydrogen sulphide + o
Freons + o
Chlorine dry + – 4 Life cycle fatigue of guiding spring.

+ suitable
o possible
– unsuitable
3
 Correct Design
The principal design factors are the selection of
the optimum valve type (plate, ring or poppet
valve) for the customer and the selection of the
valve stroke and spring forces. Simulation pro-
grams enable Burckhardt Compression to find
5 The professional valve service of Burckhardt Compression
ensures a cost-effective, fast and reliable valve overhaul.
the best compromise between low valve losses
and long life cycles. Valve-dynamic programs
are routinely employed for the design of new
machines (see Sulzer Technical Review
4/1995, p. 38) and can nowadays also consider
the influences of the neighboring compression
and gas-collection spaces.
Avoidance of Improper Applications
Most valve problems are attributable to im-
proper application or application problems. Im-
proper applications occur when the operator
changes the boundary conditions of his
process, e.g. the composition of the gas, or if
maintenance work is not performed according
to the recommendations.
Application problems are common. On the one
hand, they result from non-specified gas con-
tamination through liquids or solids, which
were not considered in the design stage and
thus lead inevitably to problems. On the other
hand, there are process-related contaminations
or deposits which, in general, cannot be
4
avoided. Figure 6 shows a typical example,
which occurred in a polypropylene plant where
the products of polymerization have adhered to
the valve.
Valve Service with Guarantee
A painstaking valve service (Fig. 5) is of great
importance especially where the process
causes contamination. Burckhardt Compres-
sion has valve service stations throughout the
world which recondition contaminated or dam-
aged valves and return them with an "as-new”
guarantee.
6 A heavily contaminated valve after several thousand
operating hours in a compressor serving a polypropylene
plant (left) not only looks new again (right) after the valve
service, but is also provided with a guarantee.
Contact
Burckhardt Compression AG
Lucy Heller
Postfach 65
CH-8404 Winterthur
Switzerland
Phone +41 (0)52 262 57 09
Fax +41 (0)52 262 03 48
E-mail info@burckhardtcompression.com
Gas Flow under Control
Compressor valves
• Suction and discharge valve dimensions according to
API specifications to prevent incorrect assembly in cylinder
• Valve plate or ring dynamics optimized by computer calculations
• State-of-the-art manufacturing process

To ensure long operating times, Burckhardt Compression offers the

appropriate valve.

Burckhardt Compression plate valves

• Maximum availability and reliability for clean and dry gases
• Designed and manufactured by Burckhardt Compression (OEM)
• Frictionless valve plate guiding
• Identical internal parts for suction and discharge valves
• Seat and guard made of stainless steel or nickel alloy
• Plate materials made of heat treated stainless steel, nickel alloy
or temperature-resistant plastic

Burckhardt Compression poppet valves

• Similar characteristics as ring type valves
• Designed and manufactured by Burckhardt Compression (OEM)
• Seat and guard made of stainless steel
• Poppets made of injecting molded plastic
• Tightness insensitive to thermal expansion of plastic material
• Easy maintenance

MANLEY® valves, licensed by Burckhardt Compression

• Maximum availability and reliability for gases bearing liquid or
hard solid particles
• Original MANLEY ® rings, buttons and springs
• Seat and guard made of stainless steel, manufactured in-house
under Cook Manley®, USA license
• Different ring materials available to suit various operating
conditions
 Milestones of our Company History
1834 Sulzer was founded
1844 Engineering works Burckhardt
established in Basel
1935 First labyrinth piston compressor (Laby®)
1940 First Laby for oxygen
®
1951 First hyper compressor for ldPE
production at 1500 bar
1971 First Laby® for LNG boil-off at
minus 160 °C
1982 Merger of Sulzer and Burckhardt
piston compressor businesses to
form Sulzer-Burckhardt Engineering
Works Ltd.
1982 First Laby® for IldPE and PP
1998 First hermetically sealed, oil-free high-
pressure compressor package for
hydrogen
1999 World’s most powerful hyper compressor
with 23'500 kW
2000 Consolidation of all business activities in
Winterthur; manufacturing facilities and
offices in Basel closed-down
2002 Legal independence through a
management buy-out, Sulzer-Burckhardt
Engineering Works Ltd. becomes
Burckhardt Compression AG

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