INSTRUMENT &

PLANT AIR
SYSTEM

INSTRUMENT & PLANT AIR SYSTEM

Introduction To Unit
Unit 910 is composed of the following systems:
: Air Compressor Package Section
: Air Dryer Package Section
The Plant and Instrument Air System will produce 4168Nm3/h
Instrument Air and 1400 Nm3/h (3020Nm3/h in the case of
Diesel-Max Regeneration) Plant Air at max. demand rate.
Plant and instrument air is supplied by two equal size
centrifugal compressors (910-C1A/B), one operating and
one spare as auto standby which cuts in at compressor
downstream pressure of 8.5 Kg/cm2.
Two dryer trains one in service and other as standby removes
moisture, yields dry air with dew point at -20 OC.
Instrument air receiver stores air with designed storage
capacity of 5 minutes backup in case of instrument air
failure.

INSTRUMENT & PLANT AIR SYSTEM

Specifications
I.

1.
2.
3.
4.
II.

1.
2.
3.

Compressor
Type: Three stage centrifugal type
Capacity / discharge pressure: 6000 Nm3/ hr, 8.7 Kg/cm 2
Make: Elliott (USA)
Driver power: 1119 KW, 3000 RPM, 186 Amperes
: 13 Ton / hr HP steam usage
Air Dryers:
Make: Delair
Capacity: 4168 Nm3/hr with downstream pressure of
8.25 Kg/cm2
Type: Pressure swing with flow direction of bottom to
top.

INSTRUMENT & PLANT AIR SYSTEM

Auxiliary Components
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)

Suction filters
Inlet valve / DCV
Unloading valve / PCV
1st stage intercooler
2nd stage intercooler
After cooler
Lube oil system
Seal air system

INSTRUMENT & PLANT AIR SYSTEM

Equipment Safety Tripping

TAG NO.
1 910-PS-116B

SERVICE
Turbine Low speed

2 910-PT-150 A/B Lube oil low pressure

UNITS
RPM

ALA
RM

TRI
P

287 2000
0

Kg/cm2

1.7

1.6

3 910-VT-123 A/B HS pinion high vibration

um

22.
9

30.5

4 910-VT-122A/B

LS pinion high vibration

um

22.
9

30.5

5 910-TT-151 A/B

Lube oil high temperature

57

60

6 910-TT-111 A/B

Air 2nd interstage high

temperature

57

59

7 910-TT-107 A/B

Air 1st interstage high

temperature

62

65

8 910-TT-132 A

Motor stator high temperature

155

170

INSTRUMENT & PLANT AIR SYSTEM

Startup / Shut Down Modes & Load

synchronization
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Inlet Valve Auto/Manual

Unloading valve Auto/Manual
Start / Stop Auto/Manual
Load transfer
Startup permissive

Following parameters are checked prior to auto startup.

Lube oil Pressure: 15 seconds after the AOP starts, low oil
pressure tripping enables. Compressor starts and auxiliary
pump shut down.
Lube oil temperature: If below 23 OC lube oil heater is
switched on automatically.

INSTRUMENT & PLANT AIR SYSTEM

Operating Modes
1.
2.
3.
4.

Base mode
Suction Throttle mode
Intermittent mode
Dual mode

Surge Control
It is a performance characteristic of compressor and it
arises when compressor cannot overcome the system
resistance resulting in to and fro motion of compressed air.
Surge is usually associated with excessive discharge
pressure however excessive suction throttling can also
cause surge.

INSTRUMENT & PLANT AIR SYSTEM

Dryer Train
Moisture from inlet wet air is removed by silica based alumina ball
bed through adsorption and process continues till equilibrium
conditions of desiccant permits. Dry air of minimum dew point of
-20 OC leaves dryer bed top and stored in instrument air receiver
from where supplied to instrument air header. Instrument air
header pressure maintained at 8.15 Kg/cm 2 through 910-PRC025
by cutting the flow to plant air header.

Components of Dryer Train

Pre-filter
After-filter
Dryer Beds
PLC Controller

INSTRUMENT & PLANT AIR SYSTEM

Dew point:
It is the temperature at which first drop of liquid appears at
given pressure. Dew point is dependent of mass of vapors
present in stream of gas at keeping the pressure constant.
This property is used to monitor the moisture contents
present in instrument air or functional efficiency of dryers.

Adsorption & De-sorption

Adsorption is a physical phenomenon in which moisture sticks
to desiccant surface without bringing any chemical change
to it. De-sorption is the phenomenon in which moisture
leaves the desiccant surface through beating or purging
out dry air.

INSTRUMENT & PLANT AIR SYSTEM

Service And Regeneration Cycle:

Each train comprises of two beds, one in service and other on
regeneration. Service and regeneration sequence is
controlled by PLC based automatic timing sequence
controller which diverts the air flow by changing the valve
position. A stream of dried air from downstream of dryer
bed is routed to the vessel on regeneration which
regenerates the bed from top to bottom path. The cycle can
be classified into following steps.

Drying
Depressurization
Regeneration
Pressurize
Parallel Drying
Switch over