Best centrifugal compressors - operator experience 1

No direct experience with operations, but I did look at an application for a new power plant that needed one. We talked quite a bit with Kobelco. They appeared to have a quality product with plenty of operational experience. They are also the preferred OEM for use with any Mitsubishi gas turbine.

I guess I could plug the company I work for..

Cant tell you why, but there was a time when rotating machinery folks in the Expro / LNG projects groups Shell held Nuovo Pignone in high regard.

bicycledisciple,

On choosing the best Centrifugal Compressor Design for a project, I would recommend referencing a White Paper put together by Dr. Rainer Kurz and Peter Rasmussen for the 2009 Turbomachinery Symposium as a good starting point for your research (see attached). On which OEM is the best, this is almost as big a question as 'who makes the best truck, Ford, Chevy?'. Me personally, I think Price, Reliability, and Aftermarket Support are the top three to look from any manufacture, but not necessarily in that order. I hope this helps a little.

Good answer Duologue,

In this environment, getting price right matters.

On technology, perhaps most manufacturers are on par save for who has what advanced technology including materials of construction which enables pushing the boundaries of operation and getting more done with smaller frame sizes?

I'm not sure how much material innovation has to do with the centrifugal compressor community. Maybe a small reduction in HP with lighter / just as strong materials.

I think the advances for CC's / OFS's are going to take place in the manufacturing arena and the service arena. Faster manufacturing (3D perhaps) hopefully. Faster service (more / better remote tools every year).

Reliability is the most important to most customers since one time costs can be negated over a long enough time period. Service costs are your biggest cost. The OEM should really have a good historical basis for being able to select the best materials for your operation / process in order to make that happen.

As someone who works as an OEM, I think the biggest problem with the industry is a lack of willingness to innovate on both the supplier side and the buyer side.

OEM: "I think this coating / material / design would work better for your application but we have no historical context"
Customer: "In that case, let's do what we always did. It's a known outcome"

This conversation has taken place many times for me (service engineering). Hard to innovate in that type of environment unless the OEM is willing to test their own ideas before marketing. Most aren't going to be willing to spend money on testing for YOUR specific problem unless you help with the cost. Most customers aren't willing to help on cost because they know their competitors will be helped for free.

So if I had to select an OEM, I'd try to find out how innovative they are. If they continue to try / test new materials / coatings /designs etc in different process applications then they would have a large amt of data to sift thru for your specific application.