SwRI will be exhibiting at the GMRC Gas Machinery Conference, booth no. 613.
Please join us for the following sessions:
Monday, Oct. 2
8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Short Course
“Advanced Topics in Acoustics and Vibrations,” Eugene Broerman, Sarah Simons, Ben White
This short course will cover advanced topics in pulsations and acoustics in piping systems. Topics include equations of state, wet gas compression and pulsation bottle design with liquid carryover from suction separators, valve noise and vibration problems; high frequency pulsation and vibrations from blade pass excitation, valves or instrumentation in centrifugal compressor systems; alternate methods of pulsation control for high pressure systems, advanced pulsation attenuation devices, pump pulsation mitigation, mixed compression, screw piles, and the impact of changing gas compositions for reverse direction flow on pulsations and horsepower requirements.
1:15 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
“A GMRC Technology: Field Testing an Improved Device Design - The Virtual Orifice,” Eugene Broerman
It has become standard for compressor installations used in pipeline and many other applications to include an orifice (pressure loss device) in each cylinder nozzle of each reciprocating compressor for pulsation control. GMRC-funded research from 2005 to approximately 2009 resulted in the development of a device called the Virtual Orifice (VO) that eliminates the standard cylinder nozzle orifices and nearly eliminates the associated losses, while maintaining similar or better pulsation control. GMRC-funded research from 2020 to the present has produced a standardized VO design, and this technical paper describes the most recent research that included a field evaluation of the pulsation, vibration, and performance characteristics of the standardized VO.
1:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m., Room 108 A/B
Short Course
“Field Performance Testing and Instrumentation of Centrifugal Compressors,” Nathan Poerner
This short course provides an overview of technical aspects related to field performance testing for centrifugal compressors. Specific topics discussed will Include instrumentation selection and location, installation and measurement accuracy, test methodology, and calculations. As well as uncertainty calculation methods of accounting for non-ideal conditions and typical instrumentation available in the field.
Tuesday, Oct. 3
8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Short Course
“H2 Blending Panel and Research Summary” Eugene Broerman, Sarah Simons
The first half of this course consists of a series of presentations by various pipeline operators discussing their research and plans for hydrogen blending. The second half of the course is a presentation of various consortium-funded research SwRI has performed to evaluate hydrogen blending in compressor stations, gas property testing, and domestic meter testing.
9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Mini Short Course
“An Introduction to Root Cause Failure Analysis for Industrial Machinery,” Justin Hollingsworth, John Macha
This course will review the methodology associated with the Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA) process as it applies to common failures affecting industrial machines such as reciprocating and centrifugal compressors, electric motors, and turbines. In addition to a review of the formal RCFA method, several engineering concepts that are useful in failure investigations will be discussed, as well as the use of metallurgy in the RCFA process.
2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
“Using a Dual Drive Compressor as an Energy Management Tool to Generate Revenue and Maintain Pipeline Reliability,” Kelsi Katcher
This study presents the benefits of operating a dual drive compressor, packaged with both an electric motor and a natural gas fired reciprocating engine. In this study, the cost benefits of having both drivers available are explored including (1) reduction in maintenance cost on the reciprocating engine, (2) peak electricity cost avoidance during extreme demand events, and (3) sell ancillary services to ERCOT through the Load Resource (LR) program. The scope 1 and scope 2 emissions are also compared for an electric motor drive, a recip engine drive, and a dual drive system. It was shown that a dual drive system can provide significant reduction in emissions (approaching the electric motor levels), while substantially improving operating costs.
2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
“Can an Acoustic Filter be Hidden Underground and Still Protect Station Flow Meters?,” Eugene Broerman
Excessive pulsations and vibrations were experienced and reported at the meter runs that operate in parallel with the suction side of some reciprocating compressors. After an acoustic filter was designed and installed underground between the compressors and flow meters, a post installation field study was conducted, which determined the vibrations were reduced by 50 to 96 percent. This technical paper describes the problem, ‘before’ field data, the methods used to analyze the problem, the resulting solution that was implemented, and ‘after’ field data for this unique compressor and flow meter system layout.
Wednesday, Oct. 4
8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
“Validation and Field Testing of a Methane Recovery Skid for Reciprocating Compressor Packing Gas Leakage and Blowdowns,” Kelsi Katcher
A novel methane mitigation skid was developed by Archrock to collect and reinject fugitive emissions associated with packing gas leakage and compressor blowdowns. This paper presents an overview of the methane mitigation skid design philosophy, system validation testing at SwRI, and field-testing results.
1:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
“Emissions Reduction Panel Session,” Eugene Broerman Brandon Ridens, Sarah Simons
The first half of this session consists of a series of presentations by various pipeline operators discussing their research and plans for hydrogen blending. The second half of the session is a presentation of various consortium funded research SwRI has performed to evaluate hydrogen blending in compressor stations, gas property testing, and domestic meter testing.
For more information, please contact Ben White.