Guideline

Sales & Application Centre NEA INDIA

Client/Contractor IOCL / thyssenkrupp
Compressor Item 057-K-001A/B
Site Paradip, Orissa
Reference Number 990503

Design Guideline
Process Gas Pipe Systems equipped with
Reciprocating Compressors

00 18th July 2019 990503 S.B.Y.

Revision Date Reference Number Issued By
Number
 Design Guideline
Process Gas Pipe Systems equipped with Reciprocating Compressors
1. Purpose

Reciprocating compressors, different from other machines, create significant dynamic forces of both gas
dynamical and mechanical origin. In order to minimize the probability of gas pipe system vibration issues, this
design guideline should be considered.
The design proposals of this data sheet provide generic and specific best practice advices.

2. Small Bore Connections (SBC)

SBCs are not evaluated in the pulsation study and require special design considerations, which are addressed in the
following guidelines:
• Design Guideline for Small Diameter Branch Connections, Gas Machinery Research Council (GMRC)
• Guidelines for the Avoidance of Vibration Induced Fatigue and Process Pipework, Energy Institute (EI)
It is of utmost importance to design SBCs in accordance with one of these guidelines or any other guideline about
SBC in reciprocating compressor systems in order to keep the probability of vibration issues low. SBCs are dfined
as follows:

branch
Definition of Small Bore Connections
NPS/inch DN/mm
5 125 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
4 100 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SBC
3 1/2 90 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SBC SBC SBC
3 80 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC
2 1/2 65 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC
2 50 - - - - - - - - SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC
1 1/2 40 - - - - - - SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC
1 1/4 32 - - - - - SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC
1 25 - - - - SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC
3/4 20 - - SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC
1/2 15 SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC SBC
NPS/inch 2 2 1/2 3 3 1/2 4 5 6 7 8 10 12 14 16 20 24 26 28 30 32 34 36 38 40
main pipe
DN/mm 50 65 80 90 100 125 150 175 200 250 300 350 400 500 600 650 700 750 800 850 900 950 1000

3. Separation of multiple compressor units

In order to prevent dynamical interaction between multiple compressor units running in parallel, the following
recommendations shall be followed:
• The compressor systems shall be acoustically decoupled by a volume e.g. diameter increase of the
header pipe. A volume is considered sufficient if
o its inner diameter D is larger than 3 times the pipe diameter and
• There shall be no common foundation for two or more compressors. Every compressor unit shall have
its own foundation that is isolated from other foundations.
• Common piping of several compressor units shall isolate mechanical interaction by applying
respective fixed points of the piping.

Form ZT – 07th Feb. 2019 990503_Recommendations-gas-piping Rev_00.docx Page 2 of 4

 4. Supports
4.1 Supports locations

• Heavy equipment such as weighty valves shall be supported on both ends.

• If the support is mounted on a beam, use stiffest beam orientation in force direction (mostly axial)
• Use spring-hold down supports if there are conflicts with the thermal elongation

4.2 Maximum span between the supports and support stiffness

API 618 demands for a Design Approach 2 study (see API 618 clause 7.9.4.2.3.6 and 7.9.4.2.5.3.2), that the minimum
natural frequency of the piping system has to be greater than 2.4 x rotating speed. The following table of various
pipe sizes indicates the maximum allowable span (based on the maximum compressor operating speed) between
piping supports as a function of pipe diameter.
To accurately predict and avoid piping resonances, the supports and clamps must dynamically restrain the piping.
This is achieved by a support with the minimum stiffness in all translational directions as indicated in the most right
column of the below table. The stiffness is 2.3 times the value in API 618 5th Edition Annex P.. It is required to create
a vibration node and thus, according to GMRC Project: Pipe Support Stiffness 2015, the API 618 value has to be
increased.
For pipe runs with heavy equipment or heavy insulation, the pipe spans may need to be reduced and the support
stiffness may need to be increased.
Maximum Compressor Speed [RPM] 330

L A
L

A
L
L=A+A

In Plane In Plane In Plane Out of plane

Min. Support Stiffness
Nominal Pipe size [´´] Max. pipe span L [mm] Max. pipe span L [mm]2 Max. pipe span L [mm]3 Max. pipe span L [mm]6
[N/mm]
1 2376 2970 1838 2345 893
1.5 2931 3663 2267 2893 1928
2 3314 4141 2564 3270 3068
2.5 3632 4539 2810 3584 5102
3 4046 5056 3130 3993 7716
3.5 4520 5648 3496 4460 5802
4 4634 5791 3585 4573 13097
5 5189 6484 4014 5121 20529
6 5675 7092 4390 5600 30969
8 6566 8205 5080 6480 48818
10 7360 9197 5694 7263 78630
12 8073 10088 6245 7967 103946
14 8369 10459 6475 8259 162416
16 8950 11185 6924 8833 225280
18 9497 11868 7347 9372 300676
20 10021 12524 7753 9890 390553
22 10512 13136 8132 10374 485982
24 10973 13712 8489 10829 610494
26 11873 14838 9185 11717 165920
28 12302 15374 9517 12141 230769
30 12744 15925 9859 12576 256511
32 13157 16442 10179 12985 310742

Remark: In the piping design, when clamps are used to avoid mechanical resonances, the thermal flexibility
effects should also be considered. The effect of different pipe wall thickness is neglected and considered in a
conservative way.

Form ZT – 07th Feb. 2019 990503_Recommendations-gas-piping Rev_00.docx Page 3 of 4

 4.3 Support types

• Use clamp type supports instead of guide and rest type supports
• If thermal stresses will exceed the pipe code limits, use hold down type supports

Example of a clamp type support1

Example of a hold down type support which does not allow thermal motion in vertical direction of the pipe (left)1
Example of a spring hold down type support which allows thermal motion in the vertical direction of the pipe (right)1

1API 688 1st edition, 2012

5. Pressure safety valve (PSV) installation

PSV shall be installed close to the main gas line and best of all near a volume (like a pulsation damper vessel).
Long length means low acoustic natural frequencies which are more likely in the range of the dominant
excitations

6. Vertical vessels

• Vertical vessels like separators or knock-out-drums shall be skirt mounted rather than beam mounted.
• Avoid heavy valves on top of separators

7. Flow Measurement

Pulsation can have a significant impact on the accuracy of flow meters. Thus, the flow meters should be as far
away as possible from the compressor. It is recommended to have at least two volumes between the flow
measuring device and the compressor (e.g. pulsation bottle and scrubber).

Form ZT – 07th Feb. 2019 990503_Recommendations-gas-piping Rev_00.docx Page 4 of 4