Patent ID: 8596954

Claim:
A compressor, comprising: an inlet for receiving a process gas, and an outlet for discharging a high-pressure process gas; a shaft extending from a first end of the compressor to a second end of the compressor, the shaft having one or more compression stages disposed about the shaft and rotatable therewith, wherein the one or more compression stages are configured to receive and compress the process gas; a seal assembly disposed about a portion of the shaft and defining a blow-down seal chamber, the seal assembly including at least one gas seal in fluid communication with the blow-down seal chamber; a blow-down line communicably coupled to the blow-down seal chamber to reference the blow-down seal chamber to a separate compression unit and thereby reduce a pressure which the at least one gas seal must seal against; and a valve disposed in the blow-down line and configured to regulate a flow of process gas leakage through the blow-down line.