ARIEL CALCULATION METHOD

The Ariel Performance Software includes calculations for predicting the flow, power,
temperatures, pressures, gas rod loads, crosshead pin load reversals as well as other
values for the predictions and limitations of the compressor applications. The following
outlines the general methods and some of the equations applied for Ariel reciprocating
compressors.
Pressures:
Operating pressures are calculated allowing user input pressure losses prior to, after and
between stages of compression. Ariel includes a typical pressure loss for the interstage
and final discharge pressure losses. Typical values are:
Flange Pressure Pressure Loss Not To Exceed

35 psia and below 5% 1 psi

36 psia to 250 psia 3% 5 psi

251 psia to 1000 psia 2% 10 psi

1001 psia and above 1%

Operating pressures at each stage are expressed in the term Compression Ratio.
Depending upon the use of this term, it may be defined at the cylinder flange pressures
or the internal pressures. Compression ratio is the discharge pressure divided by the
suction pressure (in absolute pressure units).
Interstage flange pressures are determined by balancing the flow of gas through each
stage (expressed in standard, not actual volume). Gas added through side streams or
removed through side streams or condensate from each stage is considered.
Pressures inside the cylinder consider pressure losses through the cylinder gas
passages and valves. Many of the calculations apply the use if internal pressures rather
than flange to flange pressures. Cylinder and valve pressure losses are a function of the
gas density and gas velocity through the cylinder gas passages and valves.
Temperatures:
Discharge temperature after each stage of compression is a function of the gas
properties (k-value, or N-value), internal compression ratio and suction temperature.
Suction temperature at each stage is user defined. The internal suction temperature may
include a preheat value, depending upon the inlet gas temperature and discharge gas
temperature.
Discharge Temperature (initial estimate using flange ratio): 

Suction Temperature Preheat: Tsph = Ts + [(0.02 + (0.002 x Cyl bore)) x (Tdi - Ts)]
Discharge Temperature: Td = Tsph x (Rinternal)^((k-1)/k)
Flow:
Flow is a function of the piston displacement and the volumetric efficiency. The piston
displacement is the piston area times the length of stroke times the rpm. Both ends of a
double acting cylinder are included in this calculations, with the crank end considering
the loss of piston area due to the piston rod. Flow is calculated on a per end basis.
As Q is actual flow, it is often converted to be expressed in standard flow units.
Volumetric Efficiency:
Volumetric efficiency includes many factors that help explain the differences between
ideal gas behavior and real gas behavior. In general, volumetric efficiency depends upon
compression ratio, cylinder clearances, gas compressibility values and the ratio of
specific heats (k or N value). A common representation of volumetric efficiency is:

Power:
Power is calculated through a power per unit flow equation, multiplied by the flow.
Calculated power will include the power of compression, plus mechanical inefficiencies,
plus frame friction power. Internal power of compression equations include:

CHP = Q x (IHP/MM)/ Mech Eff + Friction power.

Mechanical Efficiency is near 0.95, offering a 5% loss for mechanical inefficiencies of the
cylinders. Friction power loss is dependent upon the frame size.
Gas Rod Load:
Ariel calculates gas rod load based upon internal cylinder pressures. The equations
below are based upon pressures in gauge units. If absolute units are applied, then
additional terms for Patm being applied on the piston rod diameter must be included.
Double Acting Cylinders
RLc = Ahe x Pdi - Ace x Psi
RLt = Ace x Pdi - Ahe x Psi
Single Acting Crank-End Cylinders
RLc = Ahe x Pdihe - Ace x Psi
RLt = Ace x Pdi - Ahe x Psihe
Tandem Cylinders - (High Pressure Cylinder Outboard)

RLc = Ahe(HP) x Pdi(HP) +[Ahe((LP) - Ahe(HP)] x Psflg(LP) - Ace(LP) x Psi(LP)

RLt = Ace(LP) x Pdi(LP) - [Ahe(LP) - Ahe(HP)] x Psflg(LP) - Ahe(HP) x Psi(HP)
Tandem Cylinders - (High Pressure Cylinder Inboard)
RLc = Ahe(LP) x Pdi(LP) - [Ahe(LP) - Ahe(HP)] x Psflg(LP) - Ace(HP) x Psi(HP)
RLt = Ace(HP) x Pdi(HP) + [Ahe(LP) - Ahe(HP)] x Psflg(LP) - Ahe(LP) x Psi(LP)
Since Gas Rod Load is calculated using internal pressures, the pressure losses through
the cylinder gas passages and valves must be applied to the cylinder flange pressures.
Pressure losses are calculated using the gas velocity at the suction and discharge. Gas
velocities are calculated based upon the flow areas of the gas passages and valves.
Flow areas are available through the Performance Software cylinder data sheets.
Psi = Psflg x ((100 - PLs)/100)
Pdi = Pdflg x ((100 + PLd)/100)
Rint = Pdi / Psi

Definitions / Units
Area units are in square inches.
Diameter and stroke units are in inches.
Gas velocity units are in feet per minute
Pressure units are in psia for ratio calculations and psig for rod load calculations.
Temperature units are in Rankine.
Power units are in hp.
Flow units are in MMCFD, actual for Q and standard for Flow.
Clearance values are in percent.
Pressure loss is expressed in percent.

UNIT CONVERSIONS -FLOW

Multiply units in left column by proper factor below.
 Units of Flow MMSCFD Sm^3/hr Nm^3/hr

1 MMSCFD @14.7 psia & 60oF 1 1179.87 1116.28

1 Sm^3/hr @1.0135 BarA & 15oC 0.0008476 1 0.9461

1 Nm^3/hr @1.0135 BarA & 0oC 0.0008958 1.0569 1

Flow Units: CFM -Cubic feet per minute.

ACFM -Actual cubic feet per minute (pressure and temperature condition must also be
stated)
ICFM -Inlet cubic feet per minute based upon the inlet pressure and temperature at the
cylinder flange.
SCFM -Standard cubic feet per minute is gas flow measured at standard conditions (14.7
psia & 60 °F).
MMSCFD -Million standard cubic feet per day is million cubic feet of gas per day
measured at standard conditions (14.7 psia & 60 °F). (not to be confused with MSCFD,
1000 SCFD)
Sm
3

/hr -Standard cubic meters per hour, measured at standard metric conditions( 1 Atm &
15 °C). Used primarily in Canada, South America, and New Zealand
Nm
3

/hr -Normal cubic meters per hour, measured at normal metric conditions (1 Atm & 0 °C).
Used primarily in Europe.

UNIT CONVERSIONS - VOLUME

Multiply units in left column by proper factor below.
Units of Volume cu.in. cu.ft. cu.meter liter US.gal Imp. gal

1 cu.inch 1 0.00058 0.0000164 0.0164 0.0043 0.0036

1 cu.foot 1728 1 0.0283 28.32 7.481 6.229

1 cu.meter 61,023 35.31 1 1000 264.2 220

1 liter 61.025 0.0353 0.0010 1 0.2642 0.220

1 US. gal 231 0.1337 0.0038 3.785 1 0.8327

1 Imp. gal 277.4 0.1605 0.0045 4.546 1.201 1

UNIT CONVERSIONS - POWER
Multiply units in left column by proper factor below.
Units of Power hp kw

1 horsepower 1 0.7457

1 kilowatt 1.3410 1

UNIT CONVERSIONS -
PRESSURE
Multiply units in left column by proper factor below.
Units of Pressure psi atm kg/sq.cm. kPa bar

1 pound/sq.in. 1 0.06805 0.0703 6.89476 0.06895

1 atmosphere 14.696 1 1.0332 101.325 1.01325

1 kilogram/sq. cm. 14.223 0.9678 1 98.066 0.98066

1 kilopascal 0.14504 0.009869 0.010197 1 0.01

1 bar 14.504 0.9869 1.0197 100 1

UNIT CONVERSIONS - LENGTH

Multiply units in left column by proper factor below.
Units of Length in ft mm cm m

1 inch 1 0.0833 25.4 2.54 0.0254

1 foot 12 1 304.8 30.48 0.3048

1 millimeter 0.394 0.00328 1 0.1 0.001

1 centimeter 0.3937 0.03281 10 1 0.01

1 meter 39.37 3.281 1000 100 1

UNIT CONVERSIONS - WEIGHT
Multiply units in left column by proper factor below.
Units of Weight lbs ton kg metric ton

1 pound 1 0.0005 0.4535 0.00045

1 ton 2000 1 907 0.907

1 kilogram 2.205 0.0011 1 0.001

1 metric ton 2205 1.102 1000 1

COMPRESSOR DESIGN CALCULATION

This is a topic on which there's plenty of material in engineering text books and on the internet. However
often, teachers, professors and sometimes even practicing engineers tend to explain these calculations as if
they are teaching themselves only to leave students with stars revolving around their heads!!

With the advent of engineering software, calculating by hand is becoming a dying art and practicing engineers
as they move up their careers, often end up saying "Computer Says....." like David Walliams in Little
Britain!! without realizing what kind of data, a software uses to arrive at the results!! Therefore the Author has
made an attempt to put himself into the shoes of the other and makes an attempt to explain.

A Case Study
It has been proposed to install a centrifugal compressor with an electric motor for hydrocarbon gas pipeline
transmission. In order to meet the requirements, a centrifugal compression system needs to be designed. The
compressor's characteristic curves and gas process conditions at the compressor flange are taken as follows for
demonstration.

Input Data

The driver is an electric motor. For the exercise, the type of motor chosen is an Asynchronous Induction Type
Motor - 4 Pole, 50 Hz configuration with 1% slip. Also note that the compressibility factor is 0.9964 at both
the suction and discharge since the pressure's are very low i.e., of the order of 1 bar(a) to 4 bar(a) range.

What do We Need to Find out??

Before venturing into some number crushing, it helps to understand some basic terms.

Isothermal Compression - This is like a detractor who tries to knock you down and magically expects you
not to get angry!! The term 'Iso' is associated when, If a parameter (e.g., temperature, pressure) does not
change even when an external force acts on a system. When a Gas is compressed, its temperature increases
and does not remain constant. Isothermal compression might work in Wonderland but on planet earth, gas
compression is not isothermal and always produces heat and rise in temperature (even if he is Superman).

Isentropic/Adiabatic Compression - This is like the guy suffering from convulsions and and turns green.
The term 'adiabatic' is used when the compressed gas does not exchange heat with the surroundings. If the
compressed gas can magically prevent the produced heat from escaping to its surroundings through the metal
of the compressor casing, then we would have an adiabatic/isenropic compression taking place.

Polytropic Compression - This is what happens in a real situation. When gas is compressed, some of the heat
stays within the gas, while some of it accumulates in the metal casing (that's why surfaces get hot) and some
of it escapes to the surroundings. Therefore making calculations using polytropic compression methods is a
more realistic approach.

Calculations
Proceeding on the lines of taking that the gas is compressed polytropically, it all begins with the basic
equation as shown below,

The purpose of the above equation is to estimate how much energy is required to compress
the 1.23 bar(a) at 25 deg.C hydrocarbon gas to 3.7 bar(a). Additionally since the gas
temperature is expected to rise, it would be necessary to know by how much the discharge temperature
increases.

Polytropic Exponent Estimation

In the above equation, certain values like 'n' i.e., polytropic exponent is not available, but the good news is
that, it can be calculated with another equation as follows,

In the above equation, 'k' is the ratio of specific heats, i.e., Cp/Cv and 'Np' is the polytropic efficiency.
Therefore beginning the calculations with 'Np' taken from the compressor polytropic efficiency curves (comes
to ~72%) and using the gas properties from the input data, the value of polytropic exponent 'n' is computed as
follows,

Gas Discharge Density Estimation

The compressed gas exits at the compressor discharge flange. The density of this gas can be estimated as,

Alternately, in the case where the discharge density is known, the above equation can be directly used to
calculate the polytropic exponent as follows,
Polytropic Head Calculation
It is seen that the value of ‘n’ calculated using the above logarithmic equation is almost equal to the value
calculated using the graph. Using the above logarithmic based 'n', the polytropic head produced is therefore,

Compressor Absorbed Power Calculation

From the above 'Hp' calculated, it indicates that to compress 1 kg of gas from 1.23 bar(a) to 3.7 bar(a), 173.7
kJ of energy is required. Therefore when computing the quantity of energy that is required to compress 7,413
kg/h of the same gas at a polytropic efficiency of ~72%, it comes to,

Gas Discharge Temperature Calculation

The Gas Discharge Temperature can be calculated using the equation,

Adiabatic Efficiency Calculation

As an additional step, the adiabatic efficiency can be calculated as,

Total Power Required

It is to be noted that the power calculated so far, is the power absorbed by the compressor to raise pressure
from 1.23 bar(a) to 3.7 bar(a). Theoretically if the electric motor used to drive the compressor is 100%
efficient, then this is the power delivered by the motor to the compressor. However in reality no system is
perfect and hence requires to be compensated for the deficiency. Assuming mechanical losses between the
compressor and electric motor and a gear box, if present, for the sake of this exercise a value of 20% is
assumed. In reality, these numbers are to be consulted for with the turbo machinery vendor. With a 20%
margin, the power required to be delivered by the motor comes to,

Hence in this exercise, the total power that the electric motor must deliver during running conditions to arrive
at the 3.7 bar(a) pressure at the compressor discharge is ~600kW. The discharge temperature would be ~131
deg.C.

Compressor Standard Flow Estimation

Although in the exercise, the flow was indicated as mass flow of 7,413 kg/h, compressor flow is measured
using the units 'MMSCFD' which stands for Million Standard cubic feet per day in the industry. The need to
use standard conditions is because, variation in pressure and temperature for a gas changes its volume
significantly at actual conditions and hence actual flow rate throughout the equipment varies. To ensure a
system of flow units that are not affected by pressure and temperature, standard conditions are used. Therefore
to estimate the flow in terms of MMSCFD, mass flow is scaled down to volume flow at standard conditions.

There are many different definitions of standard reference conditions currently being used by organizations all
over the world and this can become really confusing. For example, the International Union of Pure and
Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) since 1982 defines standard temperature as 0 deg.C (273.15 K) and standard
pressure to be 1 bar(a). whereas, the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) defines standard temperature to be
15 deg.C (288.15 K) and standard pressure of 1 bar(a).

To convert Mass flow to MMSCFD using SPE values, either the compressor inlet flow or the outlet flow can
be used. Making use of inlet conditions, the compressor actual flow becomes,

The above volume flow is in Million cubic feet per day and has to be converted to Million standard cubic feet
per day. Assuming Z suction at standard conditions is 1.0,

Technical Tips
1. Series Compressors with Individual Motors - In the case of series compressor, the calculations are
repeated for each compressor to estimate the power of individual motors. The difference is that the
outlet conditions of the first compressor becomes the input data for the second compressor.
2. Series Compressors Driven by a Common Shaft - In the case of series compressors (LP and HP)
driven by a common electric motor shaft, the total power required is the sum of individual
compressor's power requirements.
3. Inter-Cooler Use - Polytropic head is directly proportional to the Inlet temperature of the gas. Hence
as the suction gas gets hotter, the energy required to compress is higher. For these purposes, in series
compressors, an inter-cooler is used.
4. Adiabatic Exponent('k') is lower than Polytropic Exponent('n') - The Discharge temperature,
calculated using adiabatic exponent ('k') will be lower than when calculated using polytropic
exponent('n'). This is because in an adiabatic process, no system energy escapes and therefore rise in
discharge temperature is lower.
5. Polytropic head is inversely proportional to the gas molecular weight - For a given pressure ratio,
heavier gases require less energy while lighter gases require more energy to compress and to raise its
pressure.
6. Gas Compressibility Factor (Z) - In reality, as pressures increase (gases being compressible), its
properties become less predictable when using equations like ideal gas. These uncertainties are taken
into account using the value of 'Z'. In the case of gas mixtures, the effects of 'Z' are quite significant
and must be accounted for when calculating compressor discharge temperatures.
7. Units of Polytropic Head - The polytropic head can be expressed in 'metres' or 'kJ/kg' or 'N.m/kg'.
The conversion is 1 kJ/kg = 102.04 m. Therefore in this case the compressor head which was
calculated as 173.7 kJ/kg is 17,720 m.