Non-traditional vibration mitigation methods for reciprocating compressor system

Non-traditional vibration mitigation methods for reciprocating compressor system

Eijk, A.
de Lange, T.J.
de Vreugd, J.
Slis, E.J.P.

2016

Reciprocating compressors generate vibrations caused by pulsation-induced forces, mechanical (unbalanced) free forces and moments, crosshead guide forces and cylinder stretch forces. The traditional way of mitigating the vibration and cyclic stress levels to avoid fatigue failure of parts of the reciprocating compressor system (piping, separators, dampers, and compressor) is to stiffen the structures by e.g. the installation of additional pipe supports or steel structures. This is becoming more and more challenging because compressor speeds are increased, resulting in higher frequencies to be mitigated. Higher frequencies require stiffer structures which is often not possible because the available space and the absence of stiff structures in the vicinity is limited. This is especially the case for high elevated pipe systems, e.g. the pipe between the separator and suction damper. At mechanical resonance, the damping ratio determines the amplitude of the vibration: more damping decreases the vibration and cyclic stress amplitude leading to lower fatigue failures. Mitigating vibrations of rather low damped systems is possible by applying the concept of constrained layer damping (CLD). The technique has been used for decades in other industries such as the space and automotive industry, but is not often (if at all) used in reciprocating compressor systems up to now. Another way of mitigating vibrations is the application of a tuned mass damper (TMD) system which is often used in ships, building and bridges. The disadvantage of TMD systems is that fatigue failure of the TMD can occur if not damped sufficiently. This paper presents the investigative work performed on the potential of using CLD and a TMD for a U-pipe configuration and a pulsation damper. The application of CLD to increase the damping of the TMD to avoid fatigue failure of the TMD is also discussed into detail. Detailed, material characterization, FE calculations and design optimization has been performed, followed by experiments. By means of measurements it is shown that a large reduction in vibration and cyclic stress levels can be achieved. Reduction factors between 13 and 42 have been achieved with a TMD system and 20 for a CLD application. This paper explains the principle and optimized design of a CLD and damped TMD systems and will show the effectiveness for two different parts of existing reciprocating compressor systems.

Fluid & Solid Mechanics Nano Technology Fluid & Solid Mechanics
HTFD - Heat Transfer & Fluid Dynamics OM - Opto-Mechatronics SD - Structural Dynamics
TS - Technical Sciences
Mechanics
Industrial Innovation

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574777

10th EFRC Conference and 3rd International Rotating Equipment Conference (IREC) Pumps, Compressors and Vacuum Technology, 14-15 September 2016, Düsseldorf, Germany

conference paper