101J Seal Gas Operation:
The steam flows through a trip and throttle
valve, FV 431, which is provided with open and
closed valve position indicators, ZSO 431 and
ZSC 431, to the governor valve set. The trip and
throttle valve seal leak off steam is routed to the
second and fourth turbine seal chambers for use
as sealing steam while the governor valve set
seal steam leak off is routed to the fourth seal
chamber and the 6th stage wheel of the turbine.
Sealing steam for the turbine seals is normally
provided by the leakage from the high-pressure
inlet side seal first chamber to the exhaust end
seal first chamber. If the leakage is not enough
to satisfy the steam demand, additional LP
steam will be introduced through PIC 432 seal
steam control valve. If there is too much leakage
from the seal system causing the pressure to go
too high, PIC 432 is split ranged to a dump valve
that will dump the excess seal steam to the
surface condenser. A gland condenser has also
been provided to take the leakage that passes
the seals to the outer seal chambers and
condense the steam in the fresh cooling water
cooled gland condenser shell where it is sent to
the outfall sewer drain through a seal loop. A jet
ejector using LP motive steam provides the
driving force by pulling a slight vacuum on the
gland condenser shell.  which is what the initial seal is sealing against.
102J Seal Gas System:
102J uses dry gas seals on the compressor. The
seal has a primary and secondary seal internally
as well as two outer carbon barrier seals. There
are four internal ‘chambers’ on the upstream
side of each of the internal seals.
The buffer gas for these seals is normally from
the discharge of the compressor through line
NG1055 1" and associated non-return valve. A
nitrogen supply line with a non-return valve has
also been added for start-up when the discharge
pressure is not high enough to flow into the
seals. The 160 scfm flow of seal gas passes
through a set of filters at 732 psig and 150 F that
remove particles larger than 3 microns in size. A
differential pressure indicator PDI 650 indicates
the filter pressure drop and PDAH 32650 will
alarm if the pressure drop exceeds 20 psig. The
filters are set up using a three-way valve so that
one filter is in service at a time but switching to
the spare filter can be accomplished with the
unit in service. PI 650 will indicate the incoming
seal gas pressure from the machine.
The seal gas, after passing through the filters, is
pressure controlled by PDIC 651 to 10 psig
above the pressure in the compressor balance
line (basically compressor suction pressure)
An alarm, PDAL 32651 will sound locally and
indicate in the DCS on PDAL 32651A if this
differential pressure drops to 3 psig. The seal
gas is then directed to the inner most ‘chamber’
of the compressor seals on each end of the
compressor casing. The flow of seal gas is
monitored locally by two pressure differential
indicators, PDI 652 to the inlet end seal and PDI
653 to the drive end seal. Most of the seal gas is
recycled back into the machine as it flows past
the seal and into the machine and it serves to
keep the seal faces clean.
Some seal leakage is expected and will be
vented to the atmosphere from the second
most inner ‘chamber’ in the seal. This leakage is
guaranteed to be less than 2.2 scfm for each
seal. The leakage flow is monitored by PDI 655
from the inlet end seal and PDI 658 from the
drive end seal. An alarm, PDAH 32655 on the
inlet end seal and PDAH 32658 on the drive end
seal, will sound if the leakage flow becomes
great enough to cause a 1 psid differential
across the orifice. A second alarm PDAH 32654
for the inlet end and PDAH 32657 for the drive
end, will sound if the pressure in the vent lines
exceeds 15 psig and will trip the machine. The
vent lines are also protected by rupture discs
PSE 656 and PSE 659 which will rupture at 21
psig.
The third ‘chamber’ in the seal vents leakage,
that is trying to flow toward the outer, lower
pressure portion of the seal, to the atmosphere.
Nitrogen, at 10 psig and an expected flow of 4.2
scfm, is pressure controlled in the fourth and
outer most ‘chamber’ of the seal to force any
third ‘chamber’ leakage out the vent line and
not allow it to leak out of the end of the seal
housing. The nitrogen is controlled by PCV 660
from the plant nitrogen header. PDI 662
measures and indicates locally the difference
between the nitrogen pressure and the vent
header backpressure. If this pressure should
drop below 5 psig, an alarm PDAL 32662 will
sound. This 5 psig is a start permissive and
resetting of the turbine governor will not be
possible until this pressure is met. Flow
indicators have been added to each nitrogen
seal supply line to allow the operators to visibly
confirm that nitrogen is flowing.  to visibly confirm that nitrogen is flowing.
103J Seal Gas System:
103J uses dry gas seals on the compressor. The
seal has a primary and secondary seal internally
as well as two outer carbon barrier seals. There
are four internal ‘chambers’ on the upstream
side of each of the internal seals.
The buffer gas for these seals is from the
discharge of the compressor through line
SG1425 1" through a non-return valve. A start
up supply line from 104 F has also been installed
with a non-return valve to use when the
discharge pressure is not high enough to flow
into the machine. The 485 SCFM flow of seal gas
passes through a set of filters at 1,353 psig and
154 F that remove particles larger than 3
microns in size. A differential pressure indicator
PDI 33100 indicates the filter pressure drop and
PDAH 33100 alarms if the pressure drop
exceeds 20 psig. The filters are set up using a
three-way valve so that one filter is in service
but switching to the spare filter can be
accomplished with the unit in service. PI 33100
will indicate the incoming seal gas pressure
from the machine.
The seal gas, after passing through the filters, is
pressure controlled by PDIC 33101 to 10 psi
above the pressure in the compressor balance
line (suction pressure), which is what the initial
seal is sealing against. An alarm, PDAL 33101
will sound locally and in the DCS on PDAL
33101A if this differential pressure drops to 3
psig. The seal gas is then directed to the inner
most ‘chamber’ of the compressor seals on each
end of the compressor casing. The flow of seal
gas is monitored locally to each seal by pressure
differential indicators, PDI 33102 to the inlet
end and PDI 33103 to the drive end.
Some seal leakage is expected and will be
vented to the atmosphere from the second
most inner ‘chamber’ in the seal. This leakage is
guaranteed to be less than 4.5 scfm for each
seal. This flow is monitored by two pressure
differential indicators, one for each seal, PDI
33105 from the inlet end seal and PDI 33108
from the drive end seal. The backpressure on
this seal vent is manually controlled using
needle valves to maintain 20 psig. An alarm,
PDAH 33105 on the inlet end seal and PDAH
33108 on the drive end seal, will sound if the
leakage flow becomes too great. A second alarm
PAHH 33104 for the inlet end and PAHH 33107
for the drive end, will sound if the pressure in
the vent lines exceeds 30 psig and will trip the
machine. The vent lines are protected by
rupture discs PSE 33106 for the inlet end vent
and PSE 33109 on the drive end vent will
rupture at 51 psig.
The third ‘chamber’ in the seal vents leakage,
that is trying to flow toward the outer, lower
pressure portion of the seal, to the atmosphere.
Nitrogen, at 10 psig and an expected flow of 4.2
scfm, is pressure controlled in the fourth and
outer most ‘chamber’ of the seal to force any
third ‘chamber’ leakage out of the vent line and
not allow it to leak out of the end of the seal
housing. The nitrogen is controlled by PCV
33110 from the plant nitrogen header. PDI
33112 measures and indicates locally the
difference between the nitrogen pressure and
the vent header backpressure. If this pressure
should drop below 3 psig, an alarm PDAL
33112 will sound. This 3 psig is a start
permissive and resetting of the turbine governor
will not be possible until this pressure is met.
Flow indicators have been added to each
nitrogen seal supply line to allow the operators
 

105J Seal Gas System:
105J uses dry gas seals on both of the
compressor cases. The seals have a primary and
secondary seal internally as well as two outer
carbon barrier seals and there are four internal
‘chambers’ on the upstream side of each of the
internal seals.
The low-pressure case buffer gas for the seals
on this case is normally supplied from the final
discharge of the compressor through a pressure
control valve in line NH1116 1" with an
associated non return valve. During start
up, before the machine has built up sufficient
discharge pressure to supply the buffer gas,
nitrogen is tied into the seal gas inlet piping
through a check valve to supply the seals until
the discharge pressure is high enough to
overcome the nitrogen pressure and starts
supplying ammonia to the seal buffer system.
The 95 scfm flow of seal gas passes through a
set of filters at 45 psig and 150 F that remove
particles larger than 3 microns in size. A
differential pressure indicator PDI 35120
indicates the filter pressure drop and PDAH
35120 alarms if the pressure drop exceeds 20
psig. The filters are set up using a three way
valve so that one filter is in service but switching
to the spare filter can be accomplished with the
unit in service. PI 35120 indicates the incoming
seal gas pressure from the machine.
The seal gas, after passing through the filters, is
pressure controlled by PDIC 35121 to 10 psig
above the pressure in the compressor balance
line which is what the initial seal is sealing
against. An alarm, PDAL 35121 sounds locally
and in the DCS on PDAL 35121A if this
differential pressure drops to 3 psig. The seal
gas is then directed to the inner most ‘chamber’
of the compressor seals on each end of the
compressor casing. The flow of seal gas is
monitored locally by two pressure differential
indicators, PDI 35122 to the inlet end and PDI
35123 to the drive end.
Some seal leakage is expected and will be
vented to the atmosphere from the second
most inner ‘chamber’ in the seal. This leakage is
guaranteed to be less than 1.0 scfm for each
seal. This flow is monitored by pressure
differential indicators by PDI 35125 from the
inlet end seal and PDI 35128 from the drive end
seal. An alarm, PDAH 35125 on the inlet end
seal and PDAH 35128 on the drive end seal,
sounds if the leakage flow becomes 1 psid
across the orifice. A second alarm PAHH 35124
for the inlet end and PAHH 35127 for the drive
end, sounds if the pressure in the vent lines
exceeds 15 psig and will trip the machine. The
vent lines are protected by rupture discs PSE
35126, on the inlet end vent, and PSE 35129, on
the drive end vent, which ruptures at 21 psig.
The ammonia vented is returned to the low case
suction of 105 J through line NH1119
4".
The third ‘chamber’ in the seal vents leakage
that is trying to flow toward the outer, lower
pressure portion of the seal, to the atmosphere.
Nitrogen, at 10 psig and an expected flow of 4.2
scfm, is pressure controlled in the fourth and
outer most ‘chamber’ of the seal to force any
third ‘chamber’ leakage out the vent line and
not allow it to leak out of the end of the seal
housing. The nitrogen is controlled by PCV
35130 from the plant nitrogen header. PDI
35132 measures and indicates locally the
difference between the nitrogen pressure and
the vent header backpressure. If this pressure
should drop below 3 psig, an alarm PDAL 35132
sounds. This 3 psig is a start permissive and
resetting of the turbine governor will not be
possible until this pressure is met. Flow
indicators have been added to each nitrogen
seal supply line to allow the operators to visibly
confirm that nitrogen is flowing.
The buffer gas for the high-pressure case seals is
normally supplied from the discharge of the
compressor case through line NH1116 1" with
an associated non-return valve. During start
up, before the machine has built up sufficient
discharge pressure to supply the buffer gas,
nitrogen is tied into the seal gas inlet piping
through a check valve to supply the seals until
the discharge pressure is high enough to
overcome the nitrogen pressure and starts
supplying ammonia to the seal buffer system.
The 140 scfm flow of seal gas passes through a
set of filters at 222 psig and 150 F that remove
particles larger than 3 microns in size. A
differential pressure indicator PDI 140 indicates
the filter pressure drop and PDAH 35140 will
alarm if the pressure drop exceeds 20 psig. The
filters are set up using a three-way valve so that
one filter is in service but switching to the spare
filter can be accomplished with the unit in
service. PI 35140 indicates the incoming seal gas
pressure from the machine.
The seal gas, after passing through the filters, is
pressure controlled by PDIC 141 to 10 psig
above the pressure in the compressor balance
line which is what the initial seal is sealing
against. An alarm, PDAL 33141 sounds locally
and in the DCS on PDAL 35141A if this
differential pressure drops to 3 psig. The seal
gas is then directed to the inner most ‘chamber’
of the compressor seals on each end of the
compressor casing. The flow of seal gas is
monitored locally by pressure differential
indicators, PDI 35142 to the inlet end and PDI
35143 to the drive end.
Some seal leakage is expected and will be
vented to the atmosphere from second most
inner ‘chamber’ in the seal. This leakage is
guaranteed to be less than 1.0 scfm for each
seal. This flow is monitored by pressure
differential indicators, PDI 35145 from the inlet
end seal and PDI 35148 from the drive end seal.
An alarm, PDAH 35145 on the inlet end seal and
PDAH 35148 on the drive end seal, sounds if the
leakage flow becomes greater than 1 psid across
the orifice. A second alarm PAHH 35144 for the
inlet end and PAHH 35147 for the drive end,
sounds if the pressure in the vent lines exceeds
15 psig and will trip the machine. The vent lines
are protected by rupture discs PSE 35146, on
the inlet end vent, and PSE 35149, on the drive
end vent, which will rupture at 21 psig. The
ammonia vented is returned to the low case
suction of 105 J through line NH1119 4".
The third ‘chamber’ in the seal vents leakage,
that is trying to flow toward the outer, lower
pressure portion of the seal, to the atmosphere.
Nitrogen, at 10 psig and an expected flow of 4.2
scfm, is pressure controlled in the fourth and
outer most ‘chamber’ of the seal to force any
third ‘chamber’ leakage out the vent line and
not allow it to leak out of the end of the seal
housing. The nitrogen is controlled by PCV 150
from the plant nitrogen header. PDI 152
measures and indicates locally the difference
between the nitrogen pressure and the vent
header backpressure. If this pressure should
drop below 3 psig, an alarm PDAL 35152 sounds.
This 3 psig is a start permissive and resetting of
the turbine governor will not be possible until
this pressure is met. Flow indicators have been
added to each nitrogen seal supply line to allow
the operators to visibly confirm that nitrogen is
flowing.