Technical Tuesday

Technical Tuesday: Ring Grooves

March 1, 2022

“It’s Groovy Baby…”

Measuring ring grooves and piston rings prior to installation is critical to a quality job. These measurements serve as a baseline for future inspections and are critical in a failure investigation. Whether it’s your favorite British spy parody or ring groove specs, we can quote lines with the best of them. To learn more, plan to attend the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on May 3-5, 2022 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA.

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: Measuring Bearing Temps

February 22, 2022

There are a lot of different strategies for measuring bearing temps. In this picture, the operator chose to install 2 rtd’s that touch the back of the bearing. The thinking is that the oil channel in the bearing could delay heat transfer on a failure if it occurred on the opposite side of the channel from the temperature sensor. What do you think? For more tips and tricks, join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on May 3-5, 2022 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: Flywheel Seals

February 15, 2022

People often complain about their flywheel seals leaking. But, when they lasted 50 years…. what were you expecting? Here’s a view of the seal — in this application, they are white felt. The challenge with replacing this seal is the sheer volume of work and the risk to get to the seal to repair. The weight of the flywheel is always challenging, and there could be fretting that might require on-site machine work to the flywheel and crankshaft, etc. To learn some tips and tricks, join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on May 3-5, 2022 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.

Technical Tuesday: Hinges

February 8, 2022

“Just a Swinging…”

An engineer fresh out of school came up with this idea, and several vendors are installing them now. These hinges allow the heavy crankcase doors to swing open, and they’ve been very helpful in speeding up time/heat sensitive tasks such as web deflections, as well as reducing awkward lifting of the doors, etc. For more tips and tricks, join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on May 3-5, 2022 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA.

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: Liner Install

February 1, 2022

How do you wash your liners before installation? It’s extremely important to remove all of the preservative from the running surface. The surface porosity captures and holds oil to lubricate the piston movement and if that porosity is filled with preservative, the life span of the components will be short. Everybody has a method, let’s hear them! For more tips and tricks, join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on May 3-5, 2022 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: Engine/Compressor Weight

January 25, 2022

Well, that’s one way to spend the day screwing off. There are many things to consider while planning major engine/compressor work, but weights are pretty high on the list. Many of our heaviest components exceed the floor weight capacity on buildings with basements. Screw jacks or timbers can be used to shore the floor up prior to work beginning. Seriously… don’t get overloaded. For more tips and tricks, join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on May 3-5, 2022 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: Web Deflections

January 18, 2022

Web deflections sounds like an online security firm, but they have been around longer than Al Gore’s claim of inventing the internet. This picture shows the proper setup using a string-line gauge. By capturing the changes in this distance as the crankshaft is rotated, we can evaluate how much the crankshaft is deflecting. The data can then be used to interpret how the engine frame is aligned and expose potential issues. Want to know more? Join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on May 3-5, 2022 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: Freeze Plugs

January 11, 2022

For our next installment of “Name Shame,” we will cover freeze plugs. There is a general misconception that freeze plugs are made to pop out if the engine coolant freezes, keeping the block or head from cracking. While it seems logical, the real purpose of these casting holes is to remove the casting sand. There actually have been many a block cracked with the freeze plug still in place. These pictures are core plugs from a Cooper Bessemer engine—they are the equivalent of a freeze plug. Learn more at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on May 3-5, 2022 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: Reciprocating Compressors

January 4, 2022

We always wondered where George Lucas got the inspiration for the IT-O Interrogator droid. If you know, you know. Reciprocating compressors can come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. These 3 pictures are a small sample — the round compressor is from a small horsepower unit found in a machine shop. The rectangular body is common in high pressure applications like storage fields and process applications. And lastly, the old faithful is a sample of very large cylinder found in a “main-line” compressor station. Join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on May 3-5, 2022 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.

Round compressor from a small horsepower unit

Large cylinder in mainline compressor station

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: Tail Shaft

December 21, 2021

Have you ever seen a unit wagging its tail? A tail shaft could be used to hook multiple compressors together, but why have one on a unit like this? Manufacturers use them to create rod reversal which lubricates the crosshead pin and bushing. Under certain speed and pressure conditions, a crosshead pin and bushing can fail to cycle and burn up. One of the main contributors to this is the difference in crank end versus head end pressure created by the smaller piston face surface area of the crank end due to the rod connection. An easy way to engineer that out? Put a tail rod in the head end side of the piston. That will even out the pressure and allow the pin and bushing to receive proper lubrication and live a long and happy life together. Join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on May 3-5, 2022 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.