Modelling of surge phenomena in a centrifugal compressor: Experimental analysis for control

Abstract

Actually, gas transportation in hydrocarbon industries in several countries is based mainly on the use of centrifugal compressors to ensure precise spots under specified conditions. However, these machines are subjected to very serious phenomenon, such as the surge phenomenon, which presents the state of unstable operation that results in pulsations than can be the main cause of certain dangerous mechanical problem. Therefore, to solve this problem, it is necessary to establish a control law which can manage these devices, where the main goal is to obtain the best performance. On the other hand, it is obvious that to achieve this task, the models of this surge phenomenon have to be well determined earlier. This work proposes tests to validate models of the surge phenomenon in a centrifugal compressor set for anti-surge control when the operating mode is in the unstable regime. Real-time tests on the examined gas compression system were used to generate the experimental results. The developed surge model could better control the considered system.