Increase in capacity and efficiency of a soda gas compressor in Janikowo Soda Plant

A new impeller made by TURBOSERVICE being inserted in the casing

In March 1993 Janikowo Soda placed an order to TURBOSERVICE for a new impeller for soda gas compressor (40 % CO2 and 60 % N2 ).

The works were scheduled as follows:

1. A test of the existing rotor, to define the compressor performance with the old impeller, and to determine the guarantee point to be provided by TURBOSERVICE.
2. The rotor was reverse engineered without disassembly of the impellers and shaft sleeves, to minimize production loss over the period when the compressor was not in operation. Fully computerized geometry measurements were applied.
3. While preparing the technical documentation the rotor design was checked for the stress distribution and interference fit values. 3-D FEM was applied. Critical frequencies (speeds) were also checked by using advanced software turbomachinery dynamic state calculations.
4. To improve the compressor performance, the impeller geometry was then adjusted to match precisely the actual internal geometry of the compressor casing.
5. Due to an aggressive environment the new rotor was made of a special steel which is resistant to both erosion and stress corrosion.
6. The compressor field test with the new rotor proved that the new performance was better than the TURBOSERVICE guarantee point, and also better than that defined by the original manufacturer of the compressor.
7. The soda gas compressor equipped with the new rotor was put back in operation in February 1994. During an inspection, after two years of continuous operation, the rotor was found to be in excellent condition.

With the new rotor Janikowo Soda Plant received increase in their soda production capacity and quality improvement.