LNGjournal October 2007 27

ENGINEERING FORUM
In LNG plants, refrigeration compressors
are among the most critical components
in terms of both capital investments and
operational costs.
Safe, stable and sustained operation of
the refrigeration compressors represents
a key component of maximizing on-
stream time and production.
Dynamic simulation has been
increasingly used in the various stages of
the LNG process life cycle, to perform
design optimization, identify production
limiting constraints, and validating the
dynamic, or time-dependent, responses of
the process [1],[2].
To accurately and reliably predict the
dynamic behavior of real world systems,
the dynamic model has to be
supplemented with accurate input data
based on as-built equipment
performance.
Once a dynamic model is developed, it
should be validated against design and
actual operating data to ensure the
accuracy of the modeling. While model
validation in steady state is quite routine,
it is a less frequent practice to validate
the model dynamically, mainly because of
the challenge of obtaining reliable
dynamic data.
Also, the controllers used in the
dynamic simulation models for general
purpose studies are often simplified
based on basic control strategies, and
thus do not represent the functionality of
actual field controllers.
The combined challenges of dynamic
validation and the lack of full
representation of the controls, has been a
hurdle for the routine application of
dynamic simulation for field and
operations support.
These challenges also point to the
opportunities for applying dynamic
simulation to evaluate real world LNG
compressor systems that can experience
a wide range of operating conditions and
whose controls have to be designed to
handle both mild disturbances and
emergency situations.
Novel solution
This article describes a novel solution
applied in a recent study to address these
challenges.
A dynamic study was conducted by
KBR to provide support for the operation
of the refrigeration compressors in an
LNG facility operated in Australia by
Woodside Energy Ltd. After evaluating
the accuracy requirements, Woodside and
KBR decided to use a direct control-
hardware linked simulation approach
instead of conventional software
emulation, to accurately simulate the
functionality of field-installed controllers.
During the study, an integrated
software-hardware solution was
developed by linking a rigorous plant
dynamic model to a control vendor
supplied controller emulator.
This integrated tool was validated
against dynamic data from actual plant
events and thus greatly enhanced the
ability and precision of the dynamic
simulations. In the study, plant data
collected actual transient events and was
used to validate the rigorous dynamic
model, as well as the integrated
simulation approach.
During the validation process, the
simulation results also enabled in-depth
analysis of the actual plant events.
Several critical operating scenarios were
studied to help solve compressor
operational issues at the plant and improve
control system logic to provide adequate
protection for the compressors under
extreme operating conditions or upsets
Compressor surge, which is
characterized as high-speed and high-
energy flow reversals inside the
compressor, can cause damage to
compressor internals, reduced
compressor life time, and loss of profit
due to downtime and costly repairs.
Emergency shutdown, loss of power
source and operation at reduced
throughput are some of the factors that
can lead to the onset of surge.
Surge factors
Although the compressors and anti-surge
systems are designed for a range of
operational conditions, actual feed
variations, changing operating conditions
and production demand, and other
operational requirements may require
the compressors to be operated under less
than ideal conditions and thus can lead
to the occurrence of undesirable
incidents.
The focus of the current study is a
Mixed Refrigeration (MR) compressor
system in the Woodside LNG facility.
Figure 1 shows a simplified schematic of
the MR circuit in the LNG liquefaction
process.
The MR compressor train consists of
an axial stage and two centrifugal stages.
The drive power is supplied by a gas
turbine and a variable speed helper
motor. High pressure vapor from the
discharge of the compressor train is
chilled against vaporizing propane
provided by a cascading Propane
Refrigeration (PR) system.
The chilled MR is then fed to a high-
pressure separator where heavy MR and
light MR are separated before entering
the Main Cryogenic Heat Exchanger
(MCHE). In the MCHE, the MR is further
cooled to cryogenic conditions and used to
liquefy the natural gas feed.
In the MR compression system, the
compressors are subjected to high flow
high-pressure ratio operating conditions.
In particular, the Low-Pressure (LP)
axial stage is operated with the highest
compression ratio and is most vulnerable
to surge.
Among various operating scenarios,
emergency shutdown, or compressor
trip, represent the high-risk cases
which can expose the compressors to
surge conditions. Other major process
upsets, such as a trip of the MCHE or
propane system, can also cause
unwanted shutdowns of the MR system
without adequate control strategies,
and impose potential risk of surge on
the compressors.
The objective of the dynamic study
was to analyze the risk of surge under
these scenarios and improve the anti-
A realistic dynamic modeling approach to
support LNG plant compressor operations
Jihong Wu, Jeffrey Feng, Surajit Dasgupta, KBR, USA, and Ian Keith, Woodside Energy, Australia
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