Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable

Education to the national gas industry

Eastern Gas
Compression Roundtable

Technical Tuesday

Technical Tuesday: Grounded Ignition Systems

Through life, we go from the fear of being grounded to hoping for it… Having a good ground is essential for our ignition systems and the other electrical systems on our equipment. If you are struggling with intermittent issues, grounding should be one of your first checks. Want to learn more? Join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on September 14-16, 2021 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.

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Technical Tuesday: Pipeliners, We Pass Gas for a Living

Pipeline quality gas is a standard that quantifies gas to provide an apple-to-apple comparison for customers. It’s similar to the gasoline label at the pump that shows 5-6 grades of gasoline — hopefully, you choose one that your engine is tuned for. Does pipeline gas vary like the grades of gasoline? You bet! This chart shows the day-to-day variation that an engine might see as supply changes from shale, to conventional on shore, and off shore supply. How often should you look at the chromatograph readings to check your fuel quality and update your engine control logic? Learn more at the EGCR. Meet operational experts, vendors and manufacturers. Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable, September 14-16, 2021 in Pittsburgh, PA.

Fuel quality chart

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Technical Tuesday: Cooler Efficiency

Just not as cool as it used to be? As coolers age, they lose efficiency due to internal and external contamination, loss of air flow from leaks, etc. Another huge player is operational changes over the years. The coolant may have been changed say from methanol to glycol, or temperature set points may have changed due to upgrades. There are many ways to respond to this. You can rework the cooler bundle to add additional capability or add a standalone additional cooler, etc. Want to learn more? Join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on September 14-16, 2021 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA.

EGCR: Cooler image

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Technical Tuesday: Rod Reversal

Rod reversal sounds like a catastrophic failure that would take a metal stitch guy a year to fix. It’s not… It’s actually a good thing that is required for the health and longevity of crosshead pins and bushings in a double acting compressor cylinder. The term rod reversal can describe a time period or the action of the crosshead pin movement from touching the inboard side of the crosshead bushing to the outboard side of the bushing, and then back. When describing a time period, it is expressed in degrees of crankshaft rotation. Different OEMs have different requirements for rod reversal so what you learn on a slow speed integral doesn’t translate to a high speed separable. Rod reversal failures can often be caused by compressor valve failures.

Have we piqued your interest? Plan to attend the Eastern Gas Compression Roudtable to learn more from operational experts, vendors, and manufacturers. September 14-16, 2021 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.

Compressor cylinder

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Technical Tuesday: Boiler Safety

Boilers aren’t just for cooking hot dogs. Many facilities use a steam or hot water system to heat their buildings. We often focus on safety related to our electronics, valves, compressors, natural gas, etc; but do you give the same attention to boiler safety? A boiler explosion can be a devastatingly massive event. Boilers are often found in buildings that share spaces with control rooms, offices, and other places people frequent. Don’t overlook it in your safety hazard analysis. Want to learn more? Join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on September 14-16, 2021 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA.

Boiler image
Boiler image

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Technical Tuesday: Repair Calamity

Ever wonder why a component repeatedly fails in the same place, or have you gotten frustrated by those repeated failures and made a field engineered repair that caused a calamity later? OEM’s put as much engineering behind ensuring that a system fails safely as they do in engineering how it operates. Some examples include switches that fail open or closed to actuate safety devices; compressor piston rods that are engineered to fail at the crosshead to ensure they don’t pull out of the packing case; and rupture discs on air and lube systems that prevent overpressure.

Before you break out the kryptonite and unobtainium welding rods to fix a repeated failure, ensure you don’t field engineer the safety factor out. Did this post make you question something that you have done in the past? Plan to join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on September 14-16, 2021 in Pittsburgh, PA. We can get you sorted out.

Gas compression release

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Technical Tuesday: Oil Filtration

Filtration, Filtration, Filtration… like the real estate saying, but cleaner. Oil filtration has come a long way since most of the industry’s reciprocating engines went into service. There are remote mount kits that allow us to choose a more easily accessible location and a better filter design. We can move away from the filter pot designs that easily contributed to downstream contamination when filter change procedures were rushed. Want to learn more about options for your equipment? Join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on September 14-16, 2021 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA.

Shows 3 oil filters

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Technical Tuesday: Dead Weight

Learning our vocabulary can be tricky. When a senior tech sends you to fetch the “dead weight” and you bring back a lazy co-worker; everyone will laugh. Well, almost everyone… A dead weight works like the scales in a doctors office to measure pressure. You add calibrated, weighted plates to the device until it “floats out” at the correct pressure reading. While they are becoming less and less common, the dead weight is still a very accurate tool used in the industry. Learn more at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on September 14-16, 2021 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh. www.EGCR.org

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: Aftercooler or Intercooler

Ok, point of contention…is it an aftercooler or an intercooler? Is there a difference? Intercoolers only exist on engines with a 2-stage turbo setup. The intercooler cools air downstream of the first turbo, yet upstream of the second turbo. Basically, it is the “in between” cooler. An aftercooler is downstream of the last turbo and lives between the last, or only, turbo and the air manifold. People use these terms incorrectly every day, but it’s not a big deal because most people know what you mean. Learn more at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on September 14-16, 2021 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh. www.EGCR.org

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Technical Tuesday: Packing

Everybody loves to use those red rags, but they are not a suitable seal in an Ingersoll Rand KVS412 Packing Case. Want to learn more about all things packing, such as how it works, material types, proper rag-less installation methods, and more? Plan to attend the 2021 Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable, September 14-16, 2021 in Pittsburgh, PA. Take classes from operational experts and meet vendors and manufacturers. Contact us for more information.

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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.