Casestudy collection

A compilation of international customer case studies

Proven by Experience Page 1

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Contents BP Capacity reduction caused by rolled cyclinder liner Holborn Refinery Accurate diagnosis of particles in the compression chamber OMV Liquid carryover Evonik Detection of sticking suction valve Chevron Phillips Early detection of poppet valve spring failure on a LDPE compressor Equistar Suction valve damage on booster primary compressor in LDPE service Praxair Sticky valve failure Discharge valve failure Total Milford Haven Refinery Detection of heavily fouled valves Sabic Early detection of friction bearing damage Invista Emergency shutdown of hydrogen compressor e-on Hanse Detection of a loosen crosshead-rod connection ExxonMobil Production „Without PROGNOST®, substantial consequential damages would have occured YARA Diagostic system pays for itself within nine months LDPE producer in South America Detection of piston rod crack BP Chemicals Pasadena Crosshead connecting pin failure SASOL Unfastened connection at the crosshead connecting rod MarkWest Energy Partners Piston damage at Corpus Christi Refinery Advantage of high speed safety shutdown systems compared to earthquake switches PCK Refinery Piston ring fracture and leakage Praxair Piston ring leakage SASOL Compressor foundation failure YARA Piston rod crack Avoidance of secondary damage by detection of a partially fractured piston rod BP „Rod drop is your friend“ BRASKEM Spacer bolt damage on LDPE hyper compressor Valve case leakage

Crosshead plunger intermediate rod stud bolt damage

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Intelligence on Duty The path to successful products and services is always by way of intensive dialogue with potential buyers and customers. Only by exchanging experience on a continuous basis is it possible to gain the necessary knowledge of operator requirements which results in useful products. PROGNOST Systems defines “Intelligence on Duty� using this philosophy: through the permanent integration of new requirements and practical experience, state of the art technology is always available to users. This continuous development process leads to products and services which provide true benefits to our customers. The consistent adoption of this philosophy ensures that PROGNOST products and services will continue to meet the ever increasing expectations of our customers in future.

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Capacity reduction caused by rolled cylinder liner

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Customer Profile On a typical day, this company processes 3 percent of the US daily crude oil supply at its refining complex near the Golf coast. After decades of expansion, the refinery now runs 460,000 barrels of oil per day through its system, turning it into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and petrochemicals, the oil byproducts often used in plastics. The plant also has an extensive chemical facility on site, which began operating in 1947. The chemical division manufacturers styrene, propylene and panasols, which are used in everything from carpet and paint to yogurt and bulletproof windows. Rank: US third-largest oil refinery

Application and Installation • • • •

Nuovo Pignone 4HE/2 Compressor, commissioned October 2002 4 throws, 3 cylinders 2 LP cylinders (cylinder #2 and #4), 1 HP cylinder (cylinder #3) 1300 hp induction motor at 355 rpm

Process and Control - Vent gas service - Capacity varies from 20% to 100% via Hoerbiger HydroCOM system that controls suction and interstage pressure Instrumentation • PROGNOST®-NT system • HE/CE p-t • Suction, discharge and crosshead acceleration • Rod position probes • Process data from DCS:

- Suction and discharge gas temperatures and pressures

- Valve cover and main bearing temperatures

- Lube oil system conditions, hydraulic system conditions, jacket water system conditions

- Capacity control step (% of full load)

- Motor vibration

- Nitrogen purge system information

Sequence of Events January 2004 • Identified problem with HE of #3 Cylinder February 3, 2004 • Contacted PROGNOST Systems Customer Support for assistance • Swapped pressure transducer leads to verify system integrity • Bad reading stayed with transducer, PROGNOST Systems team verified #3 cylinder HE was unloaded • Contacted Hoerbiger to troubleshoot HydroCOM system; they reported all components were operating correctly February 4, 2004 • Operations reported high discharge valve temperatures • PROGNOST® system showed elevated temperatures between 75 mscfh and 125 mscfh • Above 125 mscfh discharge temperatures dropped and cylinder pressures and volume improved February 10, 2004 • p-V diagram was not consistent with suction or discharge valve failures • Concerns on quality of data • Discharge valves closing late (after TDC)

Interim Operational Requirements • • •

Machine could not be shut down at the current time for the following limitations were placed on operations Required flow rate to stay above 125 mscfh Watch system pressures and temperatures, Rotating Equipment Group would also continue to monitor

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Online p-V diagram

Findings on August, 2004 • • • • •

Removed #3 cylinder outer head Found outer head spacer had rolled partially blocking off all HE valves Anti-rotation pin was broken/damaged and allowed spacer to roll Pressure port was blocked for a period of time while the spacer rolled Hoerbinger HydroCOM: system and valves checked out OK

Cyliner liner rolled and blocked valve actions

Conclusions • • •

Pins were damaged or left out during initial assembly Pins are too small and allow for assembly error Sleeve was not compressed correctly allowing sleeve to rotate

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Since 1992 we have made use of the PROGNOST速-NT system for continual online monitoring of ten reciprocating compressors.

The fact we`ve agreed to be a beta-tester for PROGNOST速- Genuit shows our close co-operation with PROGNOST Systems.

Michael Wilde Deutsche BP AG Germany

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Accurate

diagnosis of particles

in the compression chamber

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