The Compressor Roundtable included discussion of the following:
-
- HEPA hydrophobic filters. A user said his HEPA filters had been in service for two years and provided very dependable output over that time. Compressor remained clean.
- Some users touted the benefits of removing inlet silencers—including a lower delta p across the inlet system while mitigating compressor damage. One said the noise level didn’t get much higher—except for one octave band that could be heard for miles, which was remedied. A few more users said they were planning to remove their silencers in the coming year.
- Dos and don’ts: Avoid compressor water washing before an outage to avoid corrosion; do perform an offline wash after an outage.
- A suggestion to the group: Clear the bellmouth drain after a compressor wash; you don’t want a couple of feet of water accumulating at the compressor inlet where it can be sucked into the unit on restart.
- Inspection of the inlet bleed heat system was recommended during scheduled maintenance outages (TIL 1320).
- Alternatives for staking Row 1 compressor blades were discussed—including the biscuit mod.
- Move compressor bleed valves from inside the package to the outside for better reliability.
