Reciprocating Gas Engine Driven Gas Compressor

RECIPROCATING GAS ENGINE DRIVEN GAS COMPRESSOR
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The preparation of this thesis is a demanding task that calls for maximum dedication and
cooperation from various significant people and institutions. Listing all of them might be
impossible. First and foremost I thank the Almighty God for having granted me the life and
energy to enable me get to this far. May power and glory go back to Him who dwells above. I
would like to also thank my supervisor(s) who dedicated a lot of the quality time and
perseverance towards the preparation of this thesis proposal. I am equally humbled to thank them
sincerely for every positive immediate responses, guidance and encouragement that has seen me
get to this level of this task this time. May I also thank the University as well for their faithful
commitment and moral support.

ABSTRACT
The reciprocating compressor is used in the delivery of gases at relatively high pressure. The
reciprocating compressor is likely the best known as well as most widely adopted of all
compressors. The present study gives focus on the on the various modes of failure of
reciprocating engine compressors, failures on the various components, their causes as well as
possible solutions. For this study the focus is on the on the mechanical failure analysis of the
different components and their effects on the performance of the engine. Among the failures
studied failures include: the sparkplug failure (oil contamination, wrong timing, wrong
installation (over tight or loose) as well as fuel gas condensate because the fuel gas was
unprocessed properly), engine vibration analysis (misalignment of couplings between engine and
compressor and looseness), engine lubrication system & cooling system failure analysis (oil seal
leakage, oil pump fail), Bearing failure analysis alongside Gas Compressor Failure analyzes

Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT................................................................................................. 1
ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................. 2
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................... 4
Background............................................................................................................. 4
Reciprocating gas engines................................................................................... 4
Reciprocating Compressors..................................................................................5
Reasons for compression..................................................................................... 6
Problems of Internal Combustion Engine.................................................................7
Project Aims & Objectives....................................................................................... 9
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................. 10
Reciprocating Process Compressor used in Oil and Gas Industry..........................16
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY..................................................................19
Advantages of secondary sources of information..................................................20
Disadvantages of secondary data sources............................................................20
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION...................................................................21
Spark plugs failures analyze..................................................................................21
Causes of spark plug failure............................................................................... 21
Causes of problems in spark plug......................................................................22
Engine vibration................................................................................................. 23
Engine lubrication systems................................................................................ 24
Bearing failure.................................................................................................... 25
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................ 28
RECOMMENDATIONS................................................................................................ 28
REFERENCES............................................................................................................ 29

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Background
Reciprocating gas engines
A reciprocating gas engine defines a machine used in the conversion of pressure to rotational
motion and is one of the types of internal combustion engines of a spark ignition that is fuelled
using gas. There are numerous types of gas reciprocating engines that are used in various
industries with the main ones including:
 Internal combustion engines which are extensively applied in the motor vehicles
 Stem engine which is the majority of industrial revolution; as well as
 Niche application as in the case of Stirling engine (Alfares, Falah and Elkholy, 2007)
Internal combustion engines are grouped into two further methods a spark ignition engine in
which the spark plugs starts off the process of combustion and compression ignition engine in
which air is compressed within the cylinder hence resulting in heating it in such a way that the
heated air results in ignition of the injected fuel earlier or then.
This cases study in an evaluation of the most common types of failure analysis experienced in
the gas engine brand called Waukesha model L7044GSI that is used in driving the gas
compressor model Ariel JGK/4 having a capacity of 30 MMSCF cumulatively that was often
applied in the oil and gas production plant (Álvarez-Flórez and Egusquiza, 2015). The machine
is used for gas lift in the oil field. Compressed oil is channelled into the earth force oil to coming
to the surface of the ground in which the gas gets to the surface with the crude oil and thereafter
separation of the components takes place. The reliability of the engine was of great importance
bearing in mind the fact that the station was being perceived to be very critical for the process of

production hence frequent monitoring of the state as well as health of the compressor would
serve as an issuance of earlier warning prior to the occurrence of any fault that would otherwise
result in devastating failure. The stability of the machine was quite low as a result of failure of
most of the components as well as the machine trips.
Figure 1: Waukesha model L7044GSI Reciprocating gas engine
Reciprocating Compressors
A reciprocating compressor also known as a piston compressor is a compressor used for positive
displacement that makes use of pistons that are controlled by crankshaft in the delivery of gases
at relatively high pressure (Becerra et al., 2011). The intake gas finds its ways into sanction
manifold and thereafter gets into the compression cylinder in which a piston driven compresses it
in a reciprocating motion through a crankshaft and then released. Among the applications of a
reciprocating compressor include gas pipelines, oil refineries, natural gas processing plants,
chemical plants as well as refrigeration plants. One of the most unique applications is blowing of
plastic bottles that are made using polyethene terephthalate. Numerous seals as well as bearings
in the ionic liquid piston compressor were eliminated in the design since the ionic liquid is
immiscible with the gas (Parulekar, Hudson and Boyd, 2018). The service life of this device is

approximately 10 fold as compared to that of a conventional diaphragm compression and has
lower maintenance when being used. The costs of energy are lowered by about 20%. The heat
exchangers used in the conventional piston compressor are eliminated since the heat is removed
in cylinder ion which is the point of its generation. About 100 per cent of energy that goes into
the processes is utilized with very minimal amounts of the energy being wasted in the form of
reject heat.
Figure 2: Reciprocating Compressor
Reasons for compression
 Transportation of gas via a pipeline
 Reinjection of gas into reservoir
 Storage of gas at relatively high pressure
 Circulation of gas via process
 Gas lift
Gas lift: Compressed gas is as well applicable in gas lift in which the compressed gas is
channel down into the earth to initiate the upward flow of oil to the surface of the ground.
The gas carries with it the crude oil to the ground surface where the separation is conducted
(Rezvani, Javanmardi and Mostaghim, 2018). The specific density is increased by gas

injection that enables the movement of the oil to the surface using the same downhole
pressure.
Figure 3: Gas Lift
Problems of Internal Combustion Engine
Compressed gas is as well applicable in gas lift where compressed gas is channel down into earth
to initiate upward flow of oil to the surface of the ground. The gas carries with it the crude oil to
the ground surface where the separation is conducted. The specific density is increased by gas
injection that enables the movement of the oil to the surface using the same downhole pressure
Three main challenges may be faced with regard to internal combustion engine problems:
 Bad fuel mix
 Lack of spark; and
 Lack of compression
There are numerous ways through which bad fuel mix may take place include:
 Running out of gas making engine get air with no fuel
 Clogging of air intake hence availability of fuel but no air