Pulsations and vibrations inherently generated by reciprocating compressors can adversely affect the compressor performance, increase maintenance costs, result in piping and/or component failures, and ultimately result in unavailability of equipment. For systems with unacceptable pulsations and/or vibrations, design modifications should be considered to reduce the risk of failures and improve reliability by reducing the pulsation and vibration amplitudes to acceptable levels.
This short course will discuss the fundamentals associated with pulsation and vibration problems in reciprocating compressor piping systems. The course will cover areas of good general practice to control vibration and will illustrate several recent problems encountered in the field where good design practice was not used. Field case studies and troubleshooting will be discussed. This short course will improve one's ability to identify potential problems in new designs and to have a better understanding of existing vibration problems.
