7.1.2.

5 Compressor

F = Feed, P = Product

COMPRESSOR
F(-210°C, 1 atm, gas) Flowrate: 5.945kmol/min N2 : 0.811kmol/kmol F(-210°C, 6 atm, gas) Flowrate: 5.945km
O2 : 0.189 kmol/kmol O2 : 0.189 kmol/kmol

1. Specific Gravity, SG
New specific must be calculated as the compressor does not consider argon into the molecular
𝑘𝑔
compound. 28.96 is the molecular weight of air.
𝑘𝑚𝑜𝑙

𝑀𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒
𝑆𝐺 = 28.96

𝑆𝐺 = 0.996

2. Specific Volume, Vs
3
13.08 𝑓𝑡 is specific volume of air (reference). The formula for specific volume at suction
𝑙𝑏𝑚

condition,

13.08
𝑉𝑆 =
𝑆𝐺

𝑓𝑡3
𝑉𝑆 = 13.133
𝑙𝑏

3. Inlet Mass Flow, FIM

𝐹𝐼𝑀 = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒, 𝐹𝑀 × 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒, 𝑉𝑆

𝑓𝑡3
𝐹𝐼𝑀 = 4949.57
𝑚𝑖𝑛
1
4. Compression Ratio, RC
Compression ratio in industry ranging from 1.2 to 5.0.

𝑅𝐶 = 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝑃𝑑
𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒, 𝑃𝑠

𝑅𝐶 = 1.51

5. Specific Heat Ratio, RQ

Also called adiabatic exponent, specific heat ratio is determined by using,

𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝑀𝑤
𝑅𝑄 =
𝑚𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡, 𝑀𝑤 − 1.99

𝑅𝑄 = 1.074

6. Polytrophic Head of Compression, HPC

𝑅𝑄−1
[ ]
𝐻 = (𝑍 + 𝑍𝑑 1545) (𝑇 ) 𝑅𝐶 𝑅𝑄
−1
𝑆 )( l
𝑃𝐶 �
2 𝑅𝑄 − 1
𝑀𝑊 𝗁 [ 𝑅𝑄 ] )

𝐻𝑃𝐶 = 12524.26 𝑓𝑡

2
7. Number of Stages, NS
Assume 2500 ft as value for polytrophic head compression reference. In industry, it ranges from 1000
to 10,000 𝑓𝑡.

𝐻𝑃𝐶
𝑁𝑆 =
𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑦𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑖𝑐 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝐻𝑃𝐶 𝑟𝑒𝑓

𝑁𝑆 = 5 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑠

8. Actual Value, Av

Assume 15 impellers,

𝐻𝑃𝐶
𝐴𝑉 =
15 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑠

𝑓𝑡
𝐴𝑉 = 834.95
𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟

9. Compressor Gas Horsepower, PGH

Compressor gas horsepower for low-pressure casing is assumed 58.5 HP (standard industry). For high
pressure casing,

𝐹𝑀 × 𝐻𝑃𝐶
𝑃𝐺𝐻 =
33000 × 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑦𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑝ℎ𝑖𝑐 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝐸𝑃𝐶

𝑃𝐺𝐻𝐻𝑃 = 87.285 𝐻𝑃

10. Total Compressor Gas Horsepower, PGHT

𝑃𝐺𝐻𝑇 = 𝑃𝐺𝐻𝐻𝑃 + 𝑃𝐺𝐻𝐿𝑃

𝑃𝐺𝐻𝑇 = 135.785 𝐻𝑃

3
11. Bearing Losses, BL
Table 7.8 Loss Coefficients Based on Bearings and Seals in Different Inlet Mass Flow
Loss Coefficients
Capacity, ICFM Bearings, BL Seals, SL
500 - 4225 0.174 0.093
2100 - 6500 0.321 0.174
2750 - 8500 0.603 0.321

Assume speed of impellers around 3000 RPM. Bearing loss coefficient is 0.174. Low- pressure
casing is assumed 1.55 HP.

𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑠 2
𝐵𝐿 = (𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑏𝐿) )
1000
(

𝐵𝐿𝐻𝑃 = 1.57 𝐻𝑃

12. Total Bearing Losses, BLT

𝐵𝐿𝑇 = 𝐵𝐿𝐻𝑃 + 𝐵𝐿𝐿𝑃

𝐵𝐿𝑇 = 1.57 𝐻𝑃 + 1.55 𝐻𝑃

𝐵𝐿𝑇 = 3.12 𝐻𝑃

13. Seal Losses, SL

Assume lower-pressure casing is 0.835 HP,

2
𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑠
𝑆𝐿 = (𝑠𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝑠𝐿) )
1000
(

𝑆𝐿𝐻𝑃 = 0.837 𝐻𝑃

4
14. Total Bearing Losses, SLT
𝑆𝐿𝑇 = 𝑆𝐿𝐻𝑃 + 𝑆𝐿𝐿𝑃

𝑆𝐿𝑇 = 1.672 𝐻𝑃

15. Compressor Brake Horsepower, BHP

𝐵𝐻𝑃 = 𝑃𝐺𝐻𝐻𝑃 + 𝐵𝐿𝐻𝑃 + 𝑆𝐿𝐻𝑃

For high pressure,

𝐵𝐻𝑃𝐻𝑃 = 89.692 𝐻𝑃

For low-pressure,

𝐵𝐻𝑃𝐿𝑃 = 60.885 𝐻𝑃

16. Total Compressor Brake Horsepower, BHPT

𝐵𝐻𝑃𝑇 = 𝐵𝐻𝑃𝐻𝑃 + 𝐵𝐻𝑃𝐿𝑃

𝐵𝐻𝑃𝑇 = 150.577 𝐻𝑃

17. Acoustic Velocity, VA

1545
𝑉𝐴 = 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡, 𝑔 × 𝑅𝑄 × × 𝑇𝑠 × 𝑍𝑆
𝑀𝑊

𝑉𝐴 = 1278.276 𝑓𝑝𝑠

18. Impeller Tip Speed,

U
𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟, 3000 𝑅𝑃𝑀
𝑈 = 2𝜋 ( )( )
𝐷2 720
𝑈 = 163.625 𝑓𝑝𝑠

5
19. Mach Number, Mn
𝑈
𝑀𝑛 =
�
𝑎

𝑀𝑛 = 0.128

20. Specific Speed, VSP

1
𝐹𝐼𝑀 2
( )
𝑉 =
𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 ( )
𝑆𝑃 60
𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑, 𝐻

𝑉𝑆𝑃 = 10.899

21. Specific Diameter, DSP

1
𝐷
𝐷𝑆𝑃 = ( ) 𝐻4
12 1
𝐹𝐼𝑀 2
( )
60
𝐷𝑆𝑃 = 0.811

22. Flow Coefficient, FC

700.3𝐹𝐼𝑀
𝐹𝐶 =
𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑟 × 𝐷

𝐹𝐶 = 92.43

23. Head Coefficient, 𝝁

[𝐻][𝑔]
𝜇=
𝑈2

𝜇 = 491.37

6
24. Polytrophic Discharge Temperature, TPC
𝑅𝑄−1
(
𝑇𝑃𝐶 = 𝑇 )
𝑆 × 𝑅𝐶 𝑅𝑄

𝑇𝑃𝐶 = 563.386 °𝑅

25. Compressor Efficiency Under Polytrophic Condition, 𝜼

Assuming isentropic coefficient, 𝜇𝑖 = 1.44, polytropic coefficient, 𝜇𝑝 = 1.65

𝜇𝑖 − 1
( )
𝜂= 𝜇
𝜇𝑝 −𝑖 1
( )
𝜇𝑝

𝜂 = 0.776