FIELD EXPERIENCES WITH ROTORDYNAMIC INSTABILITY IN HIGH-PERFORMANCE TURBOMACHINERY

摘要

Instability in centrifugal compressors is a very serious problem and one that has caused the Phillips Petroleum Co., and our partners, considerable consternation and eventually resulted in lost production, extended construction periods and costs, and heavy maintenance expenditures. Phillips Petroleum has been involved in two major incidents relative to rotor dynamic instability of centrifugal compressors. Both incidents have resulted in serious problems for all parties concerned. In one instance we sustained a substantial loss of revenue on crude oil sales since we had no method of disposing of the gas which is associated with oil production. In the second instance we faced a possible shortfall in delivery of gas to meet contractual commitments. Fortunately, with the combined efforts of the manufacturer and our own people we were able to avert a major shortfall in gas delivery.