Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 51 No. 3 (September 2014)32

Verification Test of 700 bar Super High Pressure
Robust Compressor

SHINICHIRO TOKUYAMA*1

MASAHIRO KOBAYASHI*2

AKIHIRO NAKANIWA*3

SATOSHI SABURI*4

It is expected that the resource and energy field, which accounts for approximately half ofthe compressor market, will continue to grow in the future. In this field, operating experience isimportant, and high robustness and reliability are required of equipment. Among such equipment,
super high pressure range gas injection compressors have higher technical difficulty and therefore
have many technical issues that need to be solved. We have investigated the challenges that need to
be overcome and have developed super high pressure gas injection compressor (hereinafterreferred to as the super high pressure compressor) with high robustness. We have also
implemented verification tests that simulated all on-site operating conditions including CO2
concentration, pressure, rotating speed and changes in gas quantity in order to verify therobustness. This report describes these technological development and verification test results.

|1. Introduction
In the resource and energy field, which accounts for approximately half of the compressor
market, development needs for FPSO (Floating Production Storage & Offloading) offshore gas andoil fields including the Pre-Salt area in Brazil have been increasing significantly. At these plants,
super high pressure compressors have been installed for EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery) and CCS(Carbon Capture and Storage). As development of gas and oil fields has proceeded to deeper sea
areas year after year, there are an increasing number of cases where the pressure requirements forthe compressor exceed 550 bar.
This super high pressure compressor has higher technical difficulty and its robustness andreliability are important. We have therefore clarified its technical issues and special requirements,
developed super high pressure compressors with high robustness by investigating and solving theissues and requirements, and implemented verification tests at 700 bar in order to verify the highrobustness. This report describes the high pressure compressor development concept, the specifictechnological developments and the verification test results.

|2. Development approach and development concept
2.1

Development approach

As the first step of the development of a super high pressure compressor, we studied
literature related to high pressure compressors and clarified the technical issues and latent risks. Asthe second step, we researched and sought solutions to the technical issues that had additional value
unique to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor Corporation (MCO). Table 1 shows theclarification results of the technical issues and their respective solutions. The development*1

Deputy Manager, Engineering & Design Division, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor Corporation*2

Manager, Engineering & Design Division, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor Corporation*3

Chief Staff Manager, Takasago Research & Development Center, Technology & Innovation Headquarters*4

Chief Staff Manager, Hiroshima Research & Development Center, Technology & Innovation Headquarters

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 51 No. 3 (September 2014)33

approach of a super high pressure compressor with high robustness was to solve all these technicalissues.
The black circles in the table represent additional value (features) unique to MCO. The
development proceeded in consideration of not only the creation of a super high pressurecompressor, but also producing competitive and attractive products for customers through theapplication of additional value unique to MCO.
Table 1 Solutions to technical issues
Key factor

Applied technology and its verification method● Employment of low diffuser diameter ratio
impeller stage○ Three-dimensional FEM analysis
High pressure○ Review of method and material of casing seal
○ Hydrostatic test (1.5 x casing design pressure)○ Gas leakage test
● Employment of grooved hole pattern seal
○ Element test of grooved hole pattern seal
● Employment of high boss ratio impeller stage○ Rotor dynamics calculation (stability/lateral)
High density gas○ Sensitivity analysis for stability○ Compressor soundness check through full loadtest○ Rotor stability check through vibration test
- Inadequate aerodynamic○ Estimation of aerodynamic performance andperformancerotating stall- Decrease of operating range○ CFD analysis
Aerodynamic
caused by rotating stall
performance○ Single stage performance test of development
matrix○ ASME PTC-10 Type 1 performance test
- Insufficient strength of rotating ○ FEM analysis (resonance estimation, response
objectanalysis)
Impeller strength○ Element test (check of fluid compound naturalfrequency)- High thrust force● Employment of back-to-back impeller
arrangement
Thrust load
● Employment of double-balance piston○ Measurement of thrust force through full load
test
- Defect of gas seal body and ○ Standardization of gas seal main dimensions
failure of control system(structure allowing seals from other vendors tobe used)
Seal system○ Verification test using actual seal and controlsystem

2.2

Technical issue- Insufficient strength ofstationary parts- Deformation of stationaryparts- Leakage of machine internal
gas from seal
- Destabilization of rotor(high destabilization force)

Development concept

Figure 1 shows the specifications and a three-dimensional drawing of the developedmachine. The developed machine has three impellers for each low and high pressure section in a
back-to-back arrangement in order to minimize the thrust force and internal leakage. This
compressor was developed so that it could deal with gases with a wide range of molecular weight,
from methane-rich gas to CO2 gas, based on the assumption of various kinds of actual operating
environments.
Figure 2 shows the design concepts and enhanced technologies from the conventional design
which were applied to the developed compressor. To provide a competitive and attractive
compressor, the five design concepts were set as countermeasures to the technical issues, andadvanced technologies were employed to attain the concepts. The concepts and the corresponding
technologies are also shown below.
A) High stability design: Step hole pattern seal (high damping seal), high boss
ratio impellerB) High efficiency design: High boss ratio impeller, wide flow path impeller
stageC) Compact design: Short length diffuserD) Wide range operation design : Vaned diffuser
E) Low thrust force design: Double-balance piston

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 51 No. 3 (September 2014)34

Figure 1

Specifications and three-dimensional drawing of developed machine

Figure 2

Design concepts and advanced technologies of developed compressor|3. Technological development
3.1

High stability design

The super high pressure compressor deals with high density gases and then generates a large
destabilization force. Therefore a rotor design with high stability that enables stable and robust
operation under all on-site operating conditions is essential. For the attainment of such a rotor
design, the developed machine employed a high rigidity shaft and enhanced the damping of theshaft system.
3.1.1 High boss ratio impeller
Figure 3 shows the concept of high boss ratio impeller. The employment of a high boss ratio
impeller intended to enlarge the shaft diameter and then improve the rotor rigidity. Figure 4 shows
the relationship between the impeller boss ratio and the rotor logarithmic decrement/the relative
polytropic efficiency. The impeller boss ratio was optimized so that high efficiency can bemaintained (refer to Section 3.2) while ensuring the compressor rotor logarithmic decrement of 0.2
or more (not taking into account the hole pattern seal effect). As a result, rotor rigidity
approximately 30% higher than the conventional design has been attained.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 51 No. 3 (September 2014)35

Figure 3

Concept of high boss ratio impeller

Figure 4 Relationship between impeller boss ratio and rotor logarithmic
decrement/polytropic efficiency

3.1.2 Step hole pattern seal
Figure 5 shows a step hole pattern seal used for the developed super high pressurecompressor. The developed machine employed a hole pattern seal in order to enhance the dampingof the shaft system. In addition, the hole pattern seal used for the developed machine has a hybrid
construction of a hole pattern seal and a step labyrinth seal in order to reduce the leakage rate. In
the development of this seal, parameter studies for hole diameter, hole depth, etc., were performed
using CFD in order to determine the optimum seal shape for the leakage and dynamiccharacteristics. In addition, a component test with the optimum shaped seal was performed in orderto verify the accuracy of the CFD analysis.
Because the properties of the supercritical carbon dioxide in the high pressure compressor arein the region between compressive and incompressive and its density is close to water, thiscomponent test used water as the test fluid to evaluate the level of effect of seal clearance and theexistence of swirl at the seal inlet on the leakage rate and the dynamic characteristics of the seal.
Figure 6 compares the component test results and the CFD analysis results, and indicates that thetest results were favorably equivalent or better than the CFD analysis results for both the leakageand dynamic characteristics.
The stability under on-site operating conditions was calculated using the calculation model
shown in Figure 7. As a result, it was verified that the rotor had high stability that could maintainsufficient logarithmic decrement under all on-site operating conditions of CO2 concentration,pressure, rotating speed, changes in gas quantity, etc. (For the dynamic characteristics and thelabyrinth exciting force of the hole pattern seal, the CFD analysis results were used.)Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 51 No. 3 (September 2014)
36Figure 5

Photograph and CFD analysis of step hole pattern seal (high damping seal)

Figure 6 Comparison between results of CFD analysis and component test of step holepattern seal (high damping seal)

Figure 7

Stability analysis model and picture of super high pressure compressor rotor

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3.2

High efficiency design

One of the factors that lower the efficiency of a high pressure compressor is the growth offrictional loss on the wall surface of the narrow passage impeller stage and the increase of labyrinth
leakage caused by high pressure difference. As a countermeasure, the developed machine
employed a wide flow passage impeller stage and a stepped labyrinth. Figure 8 compares the flow
coefficient and the impeller efficiency and indicates that the efficiency improves when theoperating point is shifted toward the higher flow coefficient side. An effective way to increase theflow coefficient is to increase the rotational speed, but this also leads to the destabilization of therotor. However, by increasing the impeller boss ratio by 30% and employing a hole pattern seal forthe further improvement of stability, the developed machine ensures sufficient stability and allows
for high rotation speed operation. Typically, the increase of the boss ratio causes the deteriorationof efficiency as a result of an increase in Mach number at the impeller inlet. However, by shifting
the operating point toward the higher flow coefficient side and through the employment of a wide
flow passage impeller stage and a stepped labyrinth, we have developed an impeller with anincreased efficiency of 10% or more in comparison with conventional machines (Figure 9). Thedeveloped impeller can change the commonly held belief that increasing the boss ratio causes thedeterioration of efficiency.

Figure 8

Relative comparison of flow coefficient and impeller efficiency

Figure 9 Comparison of polytropic efficiency between conventional and improved
structures

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3.3

Compact design

For offshore plants including FPSO plants, one important factor is the reduction of theweight and footprint of the compressor. To attain this, the employment of an impeller stage with ashort length diffuser was considered. However, the decrease of the diffuser length led to thedeterioration of the efficiency of the compressor and a decrease in the operating range in terms ofstatic pressure recovery. As a countermeasure, the developed machine employed a vaned diffuser toallow the impeller stage to enable sufficient static pressure recovery even with a short length
diffuser and to ensure high efficiency. Figure 10 compares the cross-sectional views of theconventional design and the developed machine, and indicates that the employment of an impeller
stage with a short length diffuser has successfully enabled a decrease in the diameter of thecompressor by 30% or more and a reduction in the weight of the whole machine by half (50%) incomparison with the conventional design.

Figure 103.4

Comparison of weight between conventional and developed machines

Wide operating range design

One of the operating range restricting factors of a high pressure compressor is the rotatingstall. As described in Section 3.2, the developed machine employed a wide flow passage impeller
stage to improve efficiency, but it led to a decrease in the impeller outlet angle and the promotionof rotating stall. As a countermeasure, the developed machine employed a vaned diffuser that canshift the originating point of rotating stall to a lower flow rate and can achieve a wider operating
range than the conventional design. Figure 11 shows the results of a single stage performance testof the developed impeller stage (impeller stage with high boss ratio and short length vaneddiffuser). These results indicate that an impeller stage that has a peak efficiency of 70% or more
and a stability range of 35% or more has been successfully developed.

Figure 11 Single stage performance test results of impeller stage with high boss ratio
and short length vaned diffuser

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3.5

Low thrust force design

A super high pressure compressor is required to flexibly deal with changes in gas properties
and gas generating quantity at a well site. Because of high pressure, even a slight change inoperating conditions may cause unbalanced thrust force and make continuous operation difficult.
However, the employment of a double-balance piston structure instead of the conventional
single-balance piston structure (Figure 12) has allowed thrust balancing in each of the low andhigh pressure sections and minimized the unbalance of thrust force caused by changes in gas
properties and gas generating quantity (Figure 13). The developed super high pressure compressor
is equipped with this double-balance piston structure and also attains high robustness againstchanges in thrust force.

Figure 12 Comparison of single-balance piston structure and double-balance piston
structure

Figure 13

Comparison of thrust load between various molecular weights|4. Verification test at 700 barAn actual scale super high pressure compressor equipped with the technologies describedabove was manufactured and a verification test that simulates the on-site operating conditions wasimplemented. In this verification test, all possible on-site operating conditions were simulated using
high pressure town gas and high pressure CO2 gas, as well as changing the CO2 concentration,pressure, rotation speed and gas quantity. We then checked the soundness of the compressor andMitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 51 No. 3 (September 2014)40

verified its high robustness (Table 2). In addition to measuring the performance and shaft
vibration, the measurement of pressure fluctuation to determine the occurrence of rotating stall,load cell measurement to check thrust force and the measurement of hydraulically excited casing tocheck rotor stability were performed.
Table 2
Test Item

Verification test items

Test-1
Test-2
Test-3Test-4Test-5Test-6
Test-7
Test-8No Load Type.2 P/T Type.1 P/T FL/FS/FP Type.1 P/T FL/FS/FP High Dens. Overhaul
M/T(MW=28) (MW=23) (MW=23) (MW=31) (MW=31) (MW=44) Inspection

Exp.
Pressure
Vacuum(barG)Exp. Power0(kW)Exp. Speed
12,500(rpm)Gas
VacuumProperty

340

550

680

550

680

650

－

1,500

7,000

8,800

8,000

9,800

9,800－

7,400

11,90012,50010,91011,8009,600－

CO2－N2City Gas + City Gas + City Gas + City Gas +CO2
CO2CO2CO2

Figure 14 shows the results of ASME PTC-10 Type 1 performance testing that simulated
on-site operating conditions. The total efficiency of the compressor including the internal leakage
was approximately 70% and a stability range of 30% or more was ensured.

Figure 14ASME PTC-10 Type 1 test resultsFigure 15 shows the trend of shaft vibration and bearing metal temperature in the full load
test under conditions with a molecular weight of 23. These test results prove that very stable
operation was achieved with the shaft vibration level of 5 μm P-P or less and the metal temperatureof 90 °C or less (the allowable limit was 120 °C) under all operating conditions.
During the verification test, a rotor stability test using the casing excitation method shown in
Figure 16 was conducted to measure rotor logarithmic decrement and verify the validity of thelogarithmic damping calculated by the stability analysis. Figure 17 shows the results of logarithmic
decrement measurement in the no-load running test and the full load test. The logarithmic
decrement in the no-load running test was 0.4, while the vibration response was very small and thelogarithmic decrement increased to 2.5 in the full load test. The measured value was close to thecalculation results and this indicates that the hole pattern seal was effective and the stability
calculation method was reasonable.
Figure 18 shows the measurement results of thrust load in several load tests. The measured
thrust load was 10 bar or less under all operating conditions from an overload condition to a surge
range and well below the allowable limit.

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Figure 15

Mechanical data trend in actual load test

Figure 16

Casing excitation test method

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Review Vol. 51 No. 3 (September 2014)42

Figure 17

Measurement results of logarithmic decrement in casing excitation test

Figure 18

Measurement results of thrust load in full load test

|5. Conclusion
MCO developed and manufactured a super high pressure compressor for use in EOR andCCS, and performed extensive verification testing at pressures up to 700 bar. As a result, thedeveloped compressor can achieve highly reliable and highly robust operation successfully under
all operating conditions from a methane rich gas condition to a 100% CO2 gas condition, while
having the following features:(1) High stability design: Shaft vibration of 5 μm P-P or less, Logarithmic decrement of
2.5 or greater(2) High efficiency design: Approximately 70%(3) Compact design: Reduced by 50% in comparison with the conventional design(4) Wide range operation design: Turndown range of 30% or greater(5) Low thrust force design: 10 bar or less
We conducted the verification test in the presence of our customer to dispel all concerns
about technical issues and successfully received an order for a gas injection compressor with adischarge pressure of 550 bar from Petrobras/ MODEC.
We are willing to continue to improve efficiency and reliability further in order to offer
compressors with high robustness to customers.