EGCR News
Inside the Fence: Trivia Question #5
Question:
What kind of unit is this?
Answer #5:
Watch for the answer here.
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Inside the Fence: Trivia Question #4
Question:
What is this defect called?
Answer #4:
Church Windows
Inside the Fence: Trivia Question 3
Question #3:
Something is horribly wrong in this picture… What is it?
Answer #3:
The crankshaft is being loaded on to an arched trailer. This design will lead to the crankshaft being bent during transit. Crankshafts should be transported using cradles on true flat deck trailers with no arch.
Inside the Fence: Trivia Question 2
Question #2:
While this is a much smaller engine than we typically deal with, what can you discern from these piston faces?
Answer #2:
The edges of the piston are clean, which indicates an excessive amount of oil is present. This condition can impact emissions, increase oil consumption, cause carbon deposits in the ring lands, and ultimately increase operational costs.
Technical Tuesday: Cracked Up
While this may look like a psychedelic machine shop, it is actually a tried and true method to evaluate a part for cracks. Every use for a black light is pretty cool. Want to know more about non-destructive test methods for oil and gas equipment? Visit us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on May 7-9, 2024 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.
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Technical Tuesday: Valve Failure
What does “about to have a come apart” actually mean? This failure is unique in that there were 2 contributing factors — in the highlighted circles, notice the visible thread width difference in red. Also, pay attention to the broken bolts in yellow. This failure was caused by overtightening of the bolt in red during installation. On the night of the failure, temperatures dropped to “once in a decade” kind of lows. The additional strain from overtightening and thermal contraction overwhelmed the smaller bolts in yellow. The result looks like Popeye’s spinach can. Want to learn about more failures and how to prevent them? Visit us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on May 7-9, 2024 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.
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Technical Tuesday: Fire Detection
“It’s getting hot in here…” There are many ways to detect a fire in a compressor building, but the ones that can be found on the mountain tops of West Virginia win awards for ingenuity. This application uses a sprinkler head; but instead of water, it is hooked to an air-line that is pressure monitored by the panel. If a fire ignites and trips the sprinkler device, the panel senses the loss of air pressure and commences the emergency shutdown process. Want to meet the vendors and experts of fire detection? Visit us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on May 7-9, 2024 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.
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Technical Tuesday: No Shortcuts
Close enough for government work? Not in our industry. How do you definitively know the position of a compressor device? Does your panel use automation to detect an issue, or does it use instrumentation like in the photo? There are many ways to get the job done — let us tell you about a few of them. Visit us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on May 2-4, 2023 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.
Have a tip? Do you have a technical tip to share? Submit your tip, along with an associated image and we may include it in our Technical Tuesday social media posts, blog posts and emails.
Technical Tuesday: Reducing Unplanned Outages
Duct tape, baler wire, and hose clamps? How often have you seen a temporary “just to get running” measure become the permanent installation? Do you see anything wrong with this picture? Installations like this can lead to reliability issues, inaccurate data sampling, and deviation from hazardous environment classifications. Want to learn more about our industry’s tendency to set traps for itself in the name of reducing unplanned outages? Visit us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on May 2-4, 2023 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.
Have a tip? Do you have a technical tip to share? Submit your tip, along with an associated image and we may include it in our Technical Tuesday social media posts, blog posts and emails.