RoTechBooster helps to guarantee uninterrupted gas transportation.
One compressor in the network of an North America gas provider was having challenges to meet the required uptime. Several seal failures had occurred which led to a gas supply interruption. On top of this the seal failures were costly due to seal repairs, manpower and consequential compressor damages.
Process gas contamination frequently caused dry gas seal failures with unplanned, costly compressor shutdowns.
SOLUTION:
Consulting engineering, and implementation of a reliable seal gas supply during all conditions.
A major natural gas provider in North America was experiencing frequent dry gas seal failures on one of their pipeline compressors. This interrupted gas transportation, causing challenges to meet customer demands, along with unplanned and costly maintenance.
The pipeline company builds and operates, safe and reliable energy infrastructure, which includes a 93,300 km (57,900 miles) natural gas pipeline network. This network provides more than 25% of the clean-burning natural gas consumed daily across North America for heating homes, fueling industries, and generating power.
One compressor in the network was having challenges to meet the required uptime. Several seal failures had occurred which led to a gas supply interruption. On top of this the seal failures were costly due to seal repairs, manpower and consequential compressor damages.
Assessing the situation there were two concerns identified by the user: One was the seal gas supply loss during pressurization and standby operation. The second concern was the high contamination content in the seal gas, which was overburdening the existing seal gas filters.
In search of a solution, the pipeline company‘s technicians turned to EagleBurgmann’s compressor sealing experts. After jointly researching and investigating the causes, it was decided to implement the RoTechBooster, an electrically driven seal gas booster to remedy the situation. A proven seal gas booster that keeps dry gas seals reliably clean not only during standby conditions, but any time insufficient seal gas flow occurs. The rotating design includes the ability to maintain an unlimited pressurized hold.
A suitable RoTechBooster model was selected according to the prevailing operating conditions. The high seal gas contaminant content was managed with a coalescer filter with the additional of a cyclone to remove most of the debris and liquids. This allowed the coalescing filter to manage the remaining fine debris and aerosols more effectively.
A skid was designed with these requirements in mind for delivering the most effective solution. As the seal gas system incorporated fixed orifices for controlling seal gas flow during normal operation, they produced too much restriction for the RoTechBooster to deliver sufficient seal gas flow when operating. The RoTechBooster system was designed to bypass these orifices to ensure sufficient seal gas supply (6 AM3/H) to the seals. The system was designed for the required conditions and manufactured by EagleBurgmann.
In June of 2019 the RoTechBooster with the additional filtration was installed at the site. As there was no major restriction in the seal flow path (fixed orifices bypassed) when the RoTechBooster was operating, the flow produced was 10 Am3/h. The flow was manageable by the filters and the additional consistent flow provided increased assurance the dry gas seals weren’t exposed to dirty process gas.
The RoTechBooster ensures abundant, reliable, and consistent seal gas flow, through fluctuating operating conditions; thus, clean and dry gas is supplied to the gas seal in every situation.
Result
After 2 years of compressor operation, numerous stops and starts and over 5,000 RoTechBooster operating hours no change in seal leakage has occurred, indicating the dry gas seals are contamination free.
The seal gas filter inspection verified they were in excellent condition, which is a big difference from inspections previous to the RoTechBooster skid installation. All pipeline contaminants were effectively being removed with the cyclone added to the filtration system.
RoTechBooster helps to guarantee uninterrupted gas transportation in North America.
Between June 2017 and March 2019 the Hengli Group constructed an integrated refining and chemical complex in the Chinese harbor town Dalian where 20 million tons of crude oil are processed every year. EagleBurgmann advised the company Hengli concerning the selection of mechanical seals and supply systems for the whole plant and supplied more than 95 % of the components in use.
In Great Britain, a shortage in natural gas supply has severe consequences: Since the country switched from coal-fired to gas-fired power stations, a gas supply shortage makes households and industrial consumers not only vulnerable to failing heating and gas stoves, but also to power outages. Companies along the value and transportation chain of natural gas are therefore especially dependent on reliable equipment.
Things get hot in rotary kilns, very hot in fact. In the production of cement, for example, the thermometer measures more than 1,000 degrees Celsius. Sealing systems from EagleBurgmann, a company of the Freudenberg Group and EKK, make sustainable contributions to environmental protection, energy efficiency and process reliability under these "fiery" high-temperature conditions.
Our modern civilization is quite literally built upon cement. Today, building materials made from cement are used in buildings, roads, bridges, dams etc. Cement production is a heat-intensive process and causes thermal expansion in duct systems. To compensate this, Indian cement producer Ramco Cement needed fabric expansion joints with a diameter of several meters for two of their plants. On the basis of a close collaboration, EagleBurgmann was able to design components that increase the efficiency of the plant in the long run.
Frequent starts and stops are a severe test for gas-lubricated compressor seals. Installed in an Argentinean combined cycle power plant is an EagleBurgmann supply system that provides a continuous gas flow rate for the seals and adapts it to changing conditions. Since then, the operational reliability of the compressors has increased significantly.
Seals are a risk factor in the production of liquid crystals. If there is even the slightest contamination of the liquid crystals, this will later affect the image quality of the display. Read on to see which sealing solution Merck KGaA uses in paddle dryers for the production of liquid crystals.