Failure Analysis of Reciprocating CO2 Compressor

This work presents failure analysis of a heavy-duty, four-stage, double-action, reciprocating CO 2 compressor, which resulted in the shutdown of an ammonia plant. The failure occurred in the fourth stage of the compressor, during which the piston rod, piston rings, a suction valve, and associated va...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of failure analysis and prevention 2021-04, Vol.21 (2), p.595-603
Main Authors: Dsilva, Preetish C., Shetty, Preethi, Sondar, Pavankumar R., Ganesh Kumar, B., Hegde, Subray R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ammonia
Bacteria
Biodegradation
Carbon dioxide
Characterization and Evaluation of Materials
Chemistry and Materials Science
Classical Mechanics
Corrosion and Coatings
Failure analysis
Fluid penetrant testing
Inspection
Materials Science
Microstructural analysis
Morphology
Piston rings
Plant shutdowns
Polyether ether ketones
Quality Control
Reliability
Safety and Risk
Solid Mechanics
Suction
Technical Article > -Peer-Reviewed
Tribology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This work presents failure analysis of a heavy-duty, four-stage, double-action, reciprocating CO 2 compressor, which resulted in the shutdown of an ammonia plant. The failure occurred in the fourth stage of the compressor, during which the piston rod, piston rings, a suction valve, and associated valve cage are found fractured. The failure analysis includes details of site visit, visual inspection, dye penetrant test, fractography, and microstructural analysis. Furthermore, Xanthoproteic test was conducted on the extracts of the failed piston rings that confirmed the presence of bacterial cellular protein. When the morphology of the failed piston ring was studied using a scanning electron microscope, unique degradation features and the presence of bacterial metabolic products were observed conforming to the growth of bacteria. In-service biodegradation of the piston ring material (polyether ether ketone composite) is adjudged as the root cause for the compressor failure.
ISSN:1547-7029
1728-5674
1864-1245
DOI:10.1007/s11668-020-01109-z