RMC-16-32 Wet Gas Recip. Compressor Yoke Failures… The Results of Excessive Gas Forces

Description:

The Wet Gas Compressor in our Coker Unit is a large 1000hp 2 stage 3 throw recip that began to experience back-to-back failures of the yoke and distance piece after many years of semi-reliable operation. After many months of investigation into this repeat issue several solutions were devised to mitigate the problem and improve the machines reliability above and beyond its previous state. This presentation will cover a brief timeline of those events, photos of the failures, a brief discussion of what “gas load” is and how it affects recips as well as the mechanisms put in place to improve the machines reliability.