Industrial Gas Compressor Rebuild
Industrial Gas Compressor Rebuild. For those of you who don’t remember that line, it was from the show, “The Six Million Dollar Man.” And, like the experts on the show, we can rebuild your Blackmer and Corken compressors and make them better than they were before.
The compressor pictured above was sent to our service center in Bowling Green, Kentucky for a complete inspection and evaluation. The unit was disassembled and each component inspected for damage with all of the critical tolerances measured and documented. During the evaluation, it was determined this compressor, used to unload NGLs from transport trucks, had been seeing liquids in the gas stream—a condition referred to as “liquid slugging.” Because the liquids are not compressible, when the compressor is on its compression stroke, a tremendous hydraulic pressure is created in the cylinder which, in turn, creates much higher rod loads on the rest of the rotating member. The result is excessive wear on the lower-end bearings and bushings which causes the oil pressure to drop and can alter the geometry. The loss of adequate lubrication also increases the wear and ultimately results in a catastrophic failure.
After providing the estimate to our client and receiving the approval to rebuild and recertify their compressor we began the process of cleaning and assembly. Again, each critical tolerance and dimension was measured to ensure that the compressor would meet or exceed the manufacturer’s standards and then documented. Once the assembly was complete, the unit was placed on our test stand for a 2 hour run-in period, pressure testing for leaks and orifice testing to ensure proper valve and ring operation.
In addition to the assembly and testing process, we worked with our client to determine the root cause of the liquid issue and provided a solution to prevent future failures.
Our philosophy is to not only provide the highest level of workmanship, but use our expertise to evaluate the client’s systems and to provide solutions to the problems that cost them both time and money. In this case, the client had experienced four catastrophic failures within one month and had to completely shut down their unloading operations. By working with our team, they were able to get their operation back up and running in just a couple of days and will now have a more reliable system and peace of mind.
S&S Technical, Inc.
1900 Grassland Parkway
Alpharetta Ga 30004
678-250-9503