Compressor building ventilation using Computational Fluid Dynamics
13 ส.ค. 2015
128 ผู้เข้าชม7 คนที่ชอบ1 ความคิดเห็น
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One of the necessary components of the natural gas industry is compression. Without compression, clean burning natural gas that we extract from our fields would never make it to heat homes, generate electricity or fuel industrial needs. Typically most compressor stations require large train or single individual buildings to protect the compressors from environmental effects, create a maintenance friendly environment and protect the surrounding community from unwanted noise.
Building suppliers provide ventilation for compressor buildings to maintain electrical classification in potential explosive environments. Ventilation is also required to keep the compressor units cool and create a satisfactory work environment for maintenance crews when ambient temperatures rise.
These buildings utilize large fans to force air into the building or draw air through the building. The calculations take a generalized approach by estimating the heat load of the internal components, the volume of the building and the required air changes per hour to maintain an acceptable above ambient temperature.
What usually happens next can change performance and your budget. The fans are selected to handle the air changes per hour required. Suppliers, in most cases, will select a fan that exceeds this value. I agree that a safety factor should always be applied, however, too much of a safety factor can be a detrimental to the building design and budget. Upsizing the fans or the addition of fans to exceed the air change per hour value can cause the structural support of your building roof and/or building walls to increase in size. The upsize can also increase noise calling for additional attenuation. This can increase cost and could lengthen build time and schedule.
The aforementioned method also does not account for ventilation flow which can create hotspots at different locations on your compressor. This can affect the service life of the compressor driver, compressor and related components that can lead to premature failure.
The proper solution is to utilize Computational Fluid Dynamic Modeling (CFD). ATCO Emissions Management performs this engineering method to design building enclosures containing heat generating machinery and investigate the airflow through out. This analysis looks at the contents of the building, the ventilation inlets, outlets and any dampers or silencers attached. It also considers the flow entry and direction. Multiple real world cases can be analyzed using a variety of operational scenarios. As we all know, there are service downtimes that occur to one or more of the compressors. This changes the internal heat load. During those service times fan operation may not be required.
CFD takes into account the geometry of the internal components and the turbulent effects that are generated. It can allow you to identify potential hotspots and be proactive with your design.
I have only touched on the details of this application and would be happy to discuss how this technology can assist with your next/existing project or connect you with one of our experts in this discipline.