Compressor Piping Layout: Compressor Piping Design

whatispiping.com/centrifugal-compressor-piping

Anup Kumar Dey

This article is intended to serve as a guide in the development of equipment

layout and piping layout for centrifugal compressors and their associated
equipment, with the goal of producing safe, operable, economical and
maintainable installations.

Compressors are machines, which are used to increase the pressure of a gas by
mechanically reducing its volume within the compressor casing.

Compressor Types
Positive Displacement Compressors
Reciprocating compressor
Screw Compressors
Centrifugal compressors
Pipeline compressors

Type of Compressor Drives

Following are the various types of Compressor drives:

Electric Motor Drives

AC Squirrel Cage Induction Motor
Synchronous AC Motor
Gas Turbines
Steam Turbines
Variable Speed Drives
Variable Frequency Drive
Variable speed (Hydraulic Coupling) Drives

Auxiliary Equipment’s
Lube Oil Cooler (Supplied by Compressor Vendor)
Lube Oil / Seal Oil Console (Supplied by Compressor Vendor)
Surface Condenser
Condensate Pump
Inlet Air Filters (Supplied by Compressor Vendor)
Suction Scrubber (Upstream of Compressor)
Air Cooler (Downstream of Compressor)
Discharge Scrubber (Downstream of Air Cooler)

Compressor Layout

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 When locating compressors, consideration must be given to accessibility,
maintenance, and loss prevention requirements.
There must be Vehicular (Crane / Fork Lift Truck) Access-way on at least one side of
the installation. Refer Fig. 1

A compressor is generally located

inside Shed with the provision of
Mono-Rail or EOT Crane for
Maintenance. The capacity of the
crane to be decided based on 150%
of the highest weight of the
component to be lifted. To be
checked with the compressor
vendor.
A compressor can be installed in
Series and Parallel arrangement.
Minimum Distance between two
Adjacent Compressors shall be 10m. Fig. 1: Figure showing the requirement of
Generally, Compressors are Grade Crane Access

Mounted (Fig. 2). But Process

criteria/requirement will decide if it should be grade mounted or elevated

Fig. 2: Grade mounted Centrifugal

Compressor

Compressor Piping Layout

Suction & Discharge Piping (Fig. 3)

Compressor Suction Piping Shall be as Short as Possible.
Compressor Suction Piping should have Inlet Filter / Strainer. It can be Temporary
or Permanent
Suction Piping should be sloping/free draining towards Inlet Scrubber

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 Suction lines require a minimum straight run of piping upstream of the suction
nozzle which varies between 3 and 8 times the normal pipe size. (Vendor
requirement)
All operating valves must be readily accessible, preferably from grade.
All line to Compressor shall be provided with break-up flanges for Maintenance.
Compressor Suction Line Flowmeter: Suction routing shall be such that
Upstream and Downstream straight length shall be sufficient for the performance of
Flowmeter
Isometrics – Both Suction and Discharge piping should have noted for “Pickling
and Passivation” i.e. Chemical cleaning of Lines before commissioning.

Anti-Surge Valve Is Designed

and Supplied by Compressor
Vendor.
Input to Compressor Vendor
for Designing / Sizing the Anti-
Surge Valve is given by piping,
by providing suction and
discharge length.
Anti-Surge Valve is located on
Anti-Surge line which is
basically a by-pass /
recirculation line between
Compressor Suction and Fig. 3: Suction and Discharge Piping
Discharge Piping for Surge
control
Anti-Surge Valve shall be located at Highest Point and shall be free
draining on both side

Lube Oil Cooler & Piping (Fig. 4)

Lube Oil Cooler Shall be Accessible from Road.
Lube Oil Cooler Shall be located as close to Compressor as Possible.
Lube Oil Cooler Piping Should Not Interfere with Access and Maintenance space.
Lube Oil Cooler line must be Free Gravity flow requirements.
Lube Oil Cooler Piping Should have Break-up Flanges for Maintenance purpose.
Lube Oil Cooler Isometric should also have noted for “Pickling and Passivation” i.e.
Chemical cleaning of Lines before commissioning.

Supporting of Compressor Piping

First support from Compressor Suction and Discharge nozzle is either Spring
support or Adjustable support for Alignment during Construction / Erection.

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 Compressor piping should never be
supported by the Compressor
foundation. Pipe supports must be
provided with independent
foundations to avoid transmission
of vibration.
Compressor Suction / Discharge
Piping should be routed in such a
way that it has enough flexibility to
accommodate Thermal Expansion
and to Reduce Nozzle Load.
Compressor Suction / Discharge
Piping should be adequately
supported as per Stress Engineers Fig. 4: Lube Oil Cooler
Support requirements.
Process Should be consulted for any possibility of two-phase flow/slug flow and the
line should be supported accordingly
As compressors are meant for Gaseous fluid, the Hydro-test load on supports may
be very high for big bore line. Hence we can recommend Temporary supports to be
erected during Hydro-testing with the help of a Stress Engineer.

Utility Requirements
Following are the utilities required for the Compressor:

External Fuel gas for seal gas system

Instrument Air for the Instruments/Control system/Seal gas system

Applications of Compressors
Refineries
Natural Gas Compression & Transportation Services
Oil Exploration – Gas Reinjection, Gas lift, etc.
Gas Liquefaction
Air Compression service
Refrigerant compression service
Refueling applications

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