What is a Natural Gas Compressor?
A natural gas compressor is a large engine that uses positive displacement to compress natural gas.
In this video, Breck shows you a solution for suction control on a gas compressor.
Regulating Flow in a Natural Gas Compressor
Natural gas compressors require precise regulation of the gas flow to keep them up and running. Crucial to that regulation is suction control. Suction control is provided by a pressure reducing regulator that regulates the inlet pressure to the gas compressor.
Our Unbalanced Pressure Reducing Regulator is a standard option and good for many applications.
If you’re using it for suction control, however, the limiting factor to this option is set point drift. Set point drift is something inherent in our standard low pressure spring-operated regulators operation. It means that for every 8 PSI of change in the upstream pressure, the downstream set point will drift by 1 PSI.
For example, if your upstream pressure fluctuates up or down by 50 PSI, you could experience a 6.25 PSI change. This could cause your compressor to shut down on low suction or high suction. This 8 to 1 set point drift ratio is not ideal for suction control because of the tighter set point requirement.
However, our Balanced Pressure Reducing Regulator performs the same function as our standard regulator, but the set point drift ratio is 100 to 1 rather than 8 to 1. This means you can experience a 100 PSI fluctuation in pressure on the upstream side of the valve and only have a 1 PSI set point drift.
This Balanced Regulator is ideal for holding a tight suction control on a compressor. This means it can keep your inlet pressure steady even when the upstream pressure is more volatile.
To speak with an expert about your compressor control, contact our product applications team.
