APPLICATION NOTE

STONEWALL AND ITS PREVENTION

What’s stonewall?
Stonewall occurs in a centrifugal compressor when the velocity of the gas in at least one stage reaches the speed of
sound (Mach 1) at the gas conditions in that part of the machine. In a centrifugal compressor, this usually occurs
near the eye of the impeller. When the velocity of the gas reaches Mach 1, the flow will no longer increase, regardless
how much the pressure ratio drops across the stage.

Figure 1 - As the pressure ratio across a compressor stage drops the

flow increases. This increase in flow is accompanied by an increase
in velocity throughout the compressor stage. The highest velocity
is usually in the region just beyond the entrance to the blade path.
When the velocity reaches Mach 1, the flow becomes choked,
preventing any increase in flow with further drops in the pressure
ratio across the stage.

Stonewall in a centrifugal compressor was once thought to be an insignificant event. This is no longer the case.
Compressor manufacturers have found that prolonged operation of the compressor in stonewall can lead to fatigue
failures of the impeller cover and blades. There is also an increase in the compressor discharge temperature due to
the increase in entropy across the region of sonic velocity.
It is not always possible during the process design stage of a project to evaluate whether or not a compressor will
be susceptible to stonewall operation just by reviewing the compressor characteristic curves and the process design
data. A high fidelity dynamic simulation of the compressor and associated process can be very useful in determining
whether or not a stonewall control system is warranted.

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 APPLICATION NOTE
STONEWALL AND ITS PREVENTION

Surge Limit
Figure 2 - When the velocity of the gas reaches Mach 1 somewhere
in the compressor, the flow will not increase as the head drops. The
slopes of the characteristic lines become vertical when the head
drops below the stonewall limit. This happens because the pressure
information downstream of the region of sonic velocity cannot pass
upstream to tell the upstream gas to pass more flow. This pressure
Head

Characteristic Lines information passes through the gas at the speed of sound, so when it
reaches the region of sonic velocity, this lower pressure information
Stonewall Limit in the downstream section hits an impasse.

There is an increase in the entropy as the gas passes through a region

of sonic velocity, causing the discharge temperature to increase.

Inlet Flow

How can you prevent stonewall?

In general, the only way to prevent stonewall is to increase the pressure ratio across the compressor. This usually
means a valve must be installed in the discharge that can be modulated to keep the compressor pressure ratio from
dropping too much. The usual compressor control and protection schemes are not effective for preventing stonewall
and adjustments to speed or recycle are usually ineffective in preventing stonewall.

In order for a control system to be able to prevent operation in stonewall, the following are required:
1. A discharge flow control valve
2. Flow meter that measures the total flow through the compressor section
3. Suction and discharge pressure transmitters
4. Stonewall limit line prediction algorithm

The control system uses the suction flow and the pressure ratio to predict the location of the stonewall limit. As the
stone wall limit is approached, the control system modulates the discharge control valve to prevent the pressure ratio
from dropping any further.

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 APPLICATION NOTE
STONEWALL AND ITS PREVENTION

Example Application
There are certain ethylene plant designs that include a side draw from the discharge of the third stage of a four-stage
propylene refrigeration compressor (PRC). The gas extracted from the PRC is used for heat in a reboiler for the C2
splitter. If this flow is excessive, the third stage can be pushed into stonewall and the fourth stage can be driven into
surge. All the flow through the fourth stage comes from the third stage and if the third stage is operated in stonewall,
the discharge pressure of the third stage will drop significantly and consequently the fourth stage pressure ratio will
increase significantly. This increase in the fourth stage pressure ratio will push the fourth stage back to its surge line,
but no additional flow will be available for the fourth stage because it’s all passing through the side draw port of the
third stage.

To Condenser
Figure 3 - In certain ethylene plant processes, some of the gas from
the discharge of the third stage of the propylene refrigeration
compressor (PRC) is extracted for heating of the C2 splitter reboiler.
This gas is cooled by the reboiler and returned to the suction of the
4 3 2 1 second or third stage of the PRC. If high flows are possible through
this loop, it may be necessary to include a stonewall control valve
that can restrict the amount of gas that is extracted from the
Heat for
discharge of the third stage.
C2 splitter
Stonewall
reboiler
Control
Some of these PRC installations will include a recycle line (with
Valve control valve) from the third stage discharge to the third stage
Anti-surge Recycle

suction. These valves are used to provide start up flow for the third
stage when the reboiler is not ready to accept the heating gas from
the third stage of the PRC.

From Chillers

Surge
Surge Limit Controller
Setpoint
Figure 4 - Similar to the technique used for preventing surge, a
stonewall prediction algorithm is used to calculate the pressure ratio
at which stone wall will occur for a given reduced flow. A setpoint is
established that gives the stonewall controller an operating margin
so that it can act in time to prevent excessive flow without acting Characteristic Lines
Pd/Ps

too abruptly.
Stonewall
Controller
Setpoint

Stonewall Limit

h/Ps

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