Mitsubishi Centrifugal

Compressors and Steam

Turbines for Mega Ethylene
Plants

HIROAKI OHSAKI* 1 KEI HASHIZUME* 1

EIJI HIRAISHI* 1 SUMIO NODA* 1
JYOU MASUTANI* 2

Compressors for ethylene plants are the leading machines of the Turbomachinery & General Machinery Depart-
ment of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI). In recent years, the size of ethylene plants has been increasing
and, following this trend, the size of compressors and steam turbines has increased proportionally. This report
introduces some examples of the application of highly efficient large-sized centrifugal compressors and steam tur-
bines that have been installed in ethylene plants, and the technologies applied to increase the efficiencies and
reliabilities of these large-sized machines. A proposal is then presented regarding a train configuration of very large-
sized centrifugal compressors and steam turbines.

ability of large-sized compressors. This is followed by an

1. Introduction overview of some examples of compressor and steam tur-
In recent years, ethylene producers have been increas- bine train configurations, in which these technologies
ing the size of their plants in order to reduce the costs are applied for mega ethylene plants, the market for
associated with them. As a result, the size of such plants which is expected to expand in the future.
has tended to increase rapidly from one million tons/year
class (which has been the maximum size of ethylene 2. Transition of compressors for ethylene plants
plants until now) to 1.5 million tons/year and even as Fig. 1 shows the transition in the size of ethylene
high as two million tons/year class. With this increase plants and the MHI compressor models that were
in size, there has been an ever-greater demand for an adopted in these plants. The size of ethylene plants has
increase in efficiency of the compressors and steam tur- been increasing in size year by year, with the result that
bines, than in the past. In this report, we introduce some the compressor models used in these plants have also
examples of the MHI compressors and steam turbines been increasing in capacity. In addition, as can be seen
for ethylene plants, showing MHI's significant track in Fig. 2,
2 the amount of steam supplied to the steam
record, while describing the transition of the size of eth- turbines increases steadily in low-pressure supply lines,
ylene plants. A brief description is also given of the but tends to increase dramatically in high-pressure sup-
technologies adopted to increase the efficiency and reli- ply lines. The graph indicates that there is a requirement

: Size of plant
2 000 : High-pressure steam consumption
Steam consumption (tons/hour)
Volume of ethylene production

Tendency towards rapid increase

Size of plant (x103 tons/year)

: Low-pressure steam consumption

: Experience 800
1 500 1 500
(x103 tons/year)

: Inquiry
600
1 000 1 000
400

500 500
200

0 0 0
85 90 95 00 05 92 94 96 98 00 02 04
Year of delivery Year

Fig. 1 Trend in size of ethylene plants Fig. 2 Trend in steam conditions in ethylene plants
Plant size tends to increase year by year. The amount of steam in low-pressure supply lines increases smoothly,
whereas pressure in high-pressure supply lines tends to increase dramatically.

*1 Hiroshima Machinery Works Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.

*2 Takasago Research & Development Center, Technical Headquarters Technical Review Vol. 41 No. 3 (Jun. 2004)
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to develop a large steam intake. As shown in FigFig.. 3 , the (1) Reduction in construction costs by saving space
efficiency of the compressors has also been increasing in (2) Reduction in the number of spare parts required
keeping with the increase in the size of the plants. In (3) Improvement of maintainability
1986, MHI improved compressor efficiency by 5% by ap- Another advantage is that MHI can supply both the
plying a highly efficient three-dimensional impeller in compressors and steam turbines of the same class with-
the compressors. To improve efficiency even further, MHI out the support of other companies. In general, the
actively continues to engage in research and develop- centrifugal compressor is said to be limited to ethylene
ment. plants of the 1.4 million tons/year class. In order to sup-
Fig. 4 shows a schematic of MHI's largest class of ply highly efficient and highly reliable centrifugal
charge gas centrifugal compressors and steam turbines compressors to larger plants, however, MHI is develop-
for ethylene plants. The train configuration for these ing and verifying various technologies that are required
machines consists of a steam turbine + an intermediate- for very large-sized compressors.
pressure compressor + a low-pressure compressor + a
3. Technologies for increasing the capacity, efficiency,
high-pressure compressor. The low-pressure compressor
and reliability of large-sized centrifugal compressors
is a double flow type, while the intermediate- and high-
pressure compressors are a back to back type. In order 3.1 Development of highly efficient impellers
to reduce the weight, the low-pressure and intermedi- As plants have increased in size, the efficiency of cen-
ate-pressure compressors use a fabricated casing(1), and trifugal compressors has come to have an ever-greater
the high-pressure compressor uses a cast steel casing affect on the running costs of a plant. The most impor-
with a high design pressure. In general, a one million tant factor in increasing the efficiency of a centrifugal
tons/year class charge gas train is formed using four com- compressor is the impeller. To achieve high efficiency,
pressors. MHI can configure the charge gas trains up to MHI's compressor adopts a three-dimensional impeller
a 1.5 million tons/year class with three compressor cas- at all stages. Further, in order to obtain the maximum
ings. The following advantages can be obtained by level of performance under a wide range of gas condi-
reducing the number of compressors. tions and operating conditions, MHI has designed a set
of high efficiency impellers (2) . To accommodate the re-
cent trend towards larger sized ethylene plants, MHI
Efficiency of high-efficiency has already completed development of new large flow,
90 centrifugal compressor high efficiency impellers that can be applied to large-
Polytropic efficiency (%)

(2nd generation)
sized compressors. Fig. 5 shows one example of an
Improvement of
2% impeller that is capable of coping with large flows.
This new impeller has the following characteristics.
80
Improvement of (1) High efficiency
Efficiency of 5%
The high efficiency impeller has been developed us-
conventional machine
Fig. 6
ing CFD (Fig. 6), and polytropic efficiency is increased
Second oil shock
by 2%. Fig. 7 shows the results of performance tests
70 80 90 00 on the system.
Year

Fig. 3 Trend in efficiencies of compressors in ethylene plants

As ethylene plants grow in size, the efficiency of the compressor used
in such plants has also been on the rise. This indicates that further
improvement in efficiency is necessary.

Intermediate-pressure Low-pressure High-pressure

Steam turbine compressor compressor compressor

Fig. 4 Configuration of compressor and steam turbine for mega ethylene plants Fig. 5 Large flow impeller
MHI's maximum class centrifugal compressor and steam turbine for ethylene plants This photo of an impeller capable of coping with large flow
are introduced. rates shows that the impeller has a wide suction flow
passage and a shape that is nearly cylindrical in form.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.

Technical Review Vol. 41 No. 3 (Jun. 2004)
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 : Newly developed impeller

X
: Conventional impeller

Polytropic efficiency
Increased
Diffuser by 2%

Diffuser

Y
Flow coefficient
ZX
Impeller Fig. 7 Comparison of impeller efficiency
Impeller
The efficiency of impellers has increased by
2% compared with that of conventional systems.
Fig. 6 Analysis of impeller CFD
A highly efficient impeller has been developed using CFD in order
to realize a high performance impeller. Control Extraction
valve steam control valve
Compressor casing
Casing

Steam inlet
Fig. 8 Design of casing using FEM Extraction mouth
In order to cope effectively with the increase in size, highly reliable
design is carried out using FEM analysis. Fig. 9 Steady temperature distribution
of high-pressure casing
(2) High pressure coefficient
To cope with an increase in large flow due to the ture, when designing the turbines used for mega ethyl-
increased size of plants, MHI has developed highly ene plants, effective solutions need to be found for the
efficient impellers with a high pressure ratio. following technical areas:
(3) High boss ratio (1) large capacity and high-pressure/high-temperature
In order to reduce shaft vibration, which causes casings;
problems with large rotating bodies, the impeller shaft (2) large capacity and high-load speed control stage
diameter is increased by 5 to 10% (high boss ratio). blades; and
This results in the realization of a highly rigid rotor. (3) high load and high centrifugal force, low pressure
(4) Improvement of manufacturing method stage blades.
To achieve predicted performance by preventing de- MHI has solved these problems as summarized
formation due to welding, the number of weld points below.
for the impeller is reduced, and the manufacturing 4.1 Development of large capacity and high-pressure/
accuracy is increased. Development of this impeller high-temperature casings
makes it possible to provide compressors with supe- In order to prevent abnormal strain and deforma-
rior performance and high reliability. tion caused by transient temperature distributions
3.2 Design of large-sized compressor casings when the turbine is started and stopped or the load
The increase in size of compressors also results in a varies due to high pressure and high temperature
demand for more advanced technologies for the design steam, a nozzle box structure is adopted. In addition, a
of compressor casings. In order to improve the reliabil- stress deformation analysis was performed using a
ity of the compressor casing, MHI has carefully examined three-dimensional solid model for verification in order
increases in weight, the effects of thermal expansion, and to evaluate the structure after planning and design, as
deformations due to internal pressure using FEM analy- shown in Fig
Fig.. 9 .
sis techniques at the design stage, as shown in Fig. 8 8. In evaluating the leakage of steam from the horizon-
tal joint surface which may occur under conditions of
4. High efficiency steam turbines for mega ethylene
high-pressure/high-temperature and large capacity, bolt
plants
materials with small relaxation against bolt tightening
In order to tackle the problem of scaling up the present force are used, and a thermal shield is also adopted in
design concept and expanding the present design struc- order to ease the abrupt temperature gradient.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.

Technical Review Vol. 41 No. 3 (Jun. 2004)
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 Speed control stage blade High-pressure compressor
Low-pressure
stage blade Low-pressure compressor

Intermediate-pressure
compressor

Steam turbine

Z
Y
X

Fig. 10 Three-dimensional Fig. 11 Three-dimensional

solid model of speed solid model of low-
control stage blade pressure stage blade
Fig. 12 View of large compressor and steam turbine under string test

4.2 Development of large capacity and high load speed cascade using a three-dimensional solid model, as shown
control stage blades in Fig. 11.
11
To meet the requirements of large capacity and high An analysis of static stress was performed under
load, Integral Shrouded Blade (ISB) type speed control multipoint boundary conditions for each blade. An analy-
stage blades are adopted to increase reliability. In order sis of vibration characteristics and stress was also
to design these blades in detail, as shown in Fig
Fig.. 10
10, vari- conducted using the Cyclic symmetry method. It was
ous effects and design factors were verified using FEM confirmed that stresses at all sections satisfy the require-
analysis, and rotor stability tests, cascade tests, and ments specified in the design criteria.
running tests with air were also conducted. By trial-manufacture of actual blades and a rotor sta-
Adoption of the ISB blades confirmed that the fre- bility test, it was also verified that the trial-
quency of the minimum mode was eliminated, and the manufactured blade group had the static and vibrating
reliability of the speed control stage blades was increased characteristics obtained in the above analyses.
to a level greater than that of conventional shrouded
blades. 5. Test equipment
4.3 Development of high load and high centrifugal As can be seen in Fig. 12
12, MHI already has test equip-
force low pressure blocks ment capable of performing string tests for various
It was essential to develop a variable speed, low-pres- combinations of compressors and steam turbines for eth-
sure block capable of withstanding high loads and high ylene plants of the 1.5 million tons/year class. To supply
centrifugal forces that were not seen in the past. highly reliable products, performance can be verified
First, the specifications of the blades were determined before delivery by carrying out a string test and perfor-
using one-dimensional row-by-row calculation and mance test.
axisymmetrical flow pattern analysis, while the basic For ethylene plants of the two million tons/year class,
blade shape was determined by examining the strength demand for which is expected to increase in the future,
of the resulting system using shell models. Then, a de- MHI is planning to construct new test equipment, larger
tailed evaluation of strength was performed for the than any existing test stand. Once this new test stand is

Low-pressure Intermediate-pressure High pressure

compressor compressor Steam turbine compressor No. 1
High pressure
compressor No. 2

Fig. 13 Train configuration of very large-sized charge gas centrifugal compressor and steam turbine
This figure shows an example of a very large train in the future. MHI has been examining such systems in
great detail and has been preparing basic plans for these systems.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.

Technical Review Vol. 41 No. 3 (Jun. 2004)
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completed, it will become possible to carry out string tests
of very large-sized compressors and turbines, and the 7. Conclusion
reliability of the compressors and steam turbines as a MHI has supplied many high efficiency large-sized
train can be assured. compressors and steam turbines that are highly suited
for ethylene plants. As plants have increased in size,
6. Train configuration of compressors and steam tur-
these machines have also become larger year by year to
bines for two million tons/year class ethylene plants
accommodate the demands of the larger plants. Already,
An example of a very large-sized charge gas centrifu- these large-sized compressors and steam turbines have
gal compressor and steam turbine is shown in Fig. 13 13. built an impressive track record for high efficiency and
The train configuration consists of a low-pressure com- quality. MHI has completed the development of the com-
pressor + an intermediate-pressure compressor + a steam ponent technologies for ethylene plants of the two million
turbine + a No. 1 high-pressure compressor + a No. 2 tons/year class. The demand for such plants is expected
high-pressure compressor. The low-pressure, intermedi- to increase in the future. As a result, very large-sized
ate-pressure, and No.1 high-pressure compressors use compressors and steam turbines can be applied to a grow-
welded steel plate casings, while a cast steel casing hav- ing number of ethylene plants.
ing a high design pressure, is adopted for the No. 2 A notable advantage of MHI is that both centrifugal
high-pressure compressor. The steam turbine is installed compressors and steam turbines can be manufactured
between the compressors in the train. With this configu- with MHI proprietary technologies in the same manu-
ration, the output power is distributed evenly, the output facturing plant. It is our hope that these highly efficient,
applied to each shaft is lowered, and the train stability large-sized compressors and steam turbines will come
is increased. to assist in increasing the efficiency and reliability of an
For the train shown in Fig. 13, the installation height ever-greater number of plants.
(on the 2nd floor) is increased to as high as 15 m, since
the size of the main condenser positioned just below References
the steam turbine is increased, thereby affecting con- (1) Nojima et al., Development of High-Performance, High-Ca-
pacity Centrifugal Compressors, Turbo Machinery Vol. 17
struction costs. However, by adopting an axial flow
No. 2 (1988) p. 21
exhaust type steam turbine, which is a MHI own special (2) Fujimura et al., Mitsubishi Centrifugal Compressors in Re-
design, the installation height can be set at the same cent Petrochemical Plants, Mitsubishi Juko Giho Vol. 33 No. 5
level as before. (1966)

Hiroaki Ohsaki Kei Hashizume Eiji Hiraishi Sumio Noda Jyou Masutani

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.

Technical Review Vol. 41 No. 3 (Jun. 2004)
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