2011Compressor Controls Corporation

Antisurge Control
2011Compressor Controls Corporation

Compressors
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What is Surge?
 Developing the compressor curve
Hp Polytropic Head
Rc Pressure Ratio (Pd/Ps) or (P2/P1)
DPc Differential Pressure (Pd - Ps) or (P2 - P1)
Pd Discharge Pressure (P2) R process,2
Rc
Rprocess,1

Rc2

Rc1
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Compressor curve
for a specific
speed N1

Q2 Q1
Qs, normal
Qs, mass
Qs, vol
 Developing the compressor curve

Rc
Process limit
Adding control
margins
Maximum speed
Surge limit

Power limit
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Stonewall or
choke limit

Stable zone
of operation
Actual available Minimum speed
operating zone

Qs, vol
 Developing the Surge Cycle
• As pressure builds, resistance goes up,
operating point “draws” the perf curve
• Compressor reaches surge point A
Pd
• At this point the potential energy in the vessel
exceeds the capability of the compressor
• Because Pv > Pd(max) , the flow reverses
• Pressure drops and forward flow is Pv
reestablished

Pd
B A Pd = Compressor discharge pressure
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Pv = Vessel pressure

D
C
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• From A to B….20 - 50 ms…….. Drop into surge

• From C to D....20 - 120 ms…… Jump out of surge
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• A-B-C-D-A….0.3 - 3 seconds…… Surge cycle

Qs,
2010

vol
 Surge description

• Flow reverses in 20 to 50 milliseconds

• Surge cycles at a rate of 0.3 s to 3 s per
cycle
• Compressor vibrates
• Temperature rises
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• “Whooshing” noise
• Trips may occur
• Conventional instruments and human
operators may fail to recognize surge
 Some surge consequences

• Unstable flow and pressure

• Damage in sequence with increasing
severity to seals, bearings, impellers, shaft
• Increased seal clearances and leakage
• Lower energy efficiency
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• Reduced compressor life

 Factors leading to onset of surge
• Startup
• Shutdown
• Operation at reduced throughput
• Operation at heavy throughput with:
– Trips
– Power loss
– Operator errors
– Process upsets
– Load changes
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– Gas composition changes

– Cooler problems
– Filter or strainer problems
– Driver problems

• Surge is not limited to times of reduced

throughput.
• Surge can occur at full operation
 Major Process Parameters
during Surge
FLOW

• Rapid flow oscillations

• Thrust reversals
• Potential damage
1 2 3
TIME (sec.)
PRESSURE
• Rapid pressure
oscillations with
process instability
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1 2 3
TIME (sec.)
TEMPERATURE
• Rising temperatures
inside compressor

1 2 3
TIME (sec.) Operators may fail to
recognize surge
2011Compressor
2010 CompressorControls Corporation
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Surge
Calculating
Distance from
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Antisurge Control
 Working with Invariant Coordinates

The reduced coordinates

hr define a performance map
SLP (Surge Limit Point) which:
OPL (Operating Point Line) • is invariant to changing
OP (Operating Point) inlet conditions
• has one surge limit
point for a given
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rotational speed and

compressor geometry
• permits calculation of
h p,red the operating point
Slope OPL= 2 without difficulty to
q s,red
obtain molecular
2 weight and
qr compressibility
measurements.
Performance Curve Drawn in
Reduced Coordinates
 Distance From Surge Calculation

SLL (Surge Limit Line)

The controller continuously
hr calculates:
Performance Curve
Operating The ratio of the slope of the
Point Surge Limit Line & the slope of
the Operating point line:

SlopeOPL
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Ss =
OPL (Operating SlopeSLL
Point Line)
The distance between the
operating point and the surge
2
limit:
qr
Variable Ss defines the relative slope d = 1 - Ss
of a line from the origin to the
operating point
 Controller Deviation

The controller
calculates deviation
from the SCL as:
hr DEV = d - b1
Where:
d = 1 – SS
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b1 = the relative distance

between the SLL &
the SCL

DEV represents the

distance between the
operating point and the
2
qr surge control line
 Basic Antisurge Control System

• The antisurge controller UIC-1 protects the compressor

against surge by opening the recycle valve
• Opening of the recycle valve lowers the resistance felt by the
compressor
• This takes the compressor away from surge

Rprocess
Rc
VSDS
Rprocess+valve
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Compressor

FT PsT PdT
1 1 1

Suction Discharge
UIC 2
1 qr
Surge parameter based on invariant
coordinates Rc and qr
– Flow measured in suction (DPo)
– Ps and Pd transmitters used to calculate Rc
 The Surge Control Line (SCL)
Rc SLL = Surge Limit Line
SCL = Surge Control Line

• When the operating

B
point crosses the SCL,
A PI control will open
the recycle valve
• PI control will give
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adequate protection
for small disturbances
2
qr

• PI control will give stable control during steady

state recycle operation
• Slow disturbance example
 The Recycle Trip® Line (RTL)
Rc SLL = Surge Limit Line
RTL= Recycle Trip® Line • Disturbance arrives - the
SCL = Surge Control Line operating point moves past
the SCL initiating Proportional
& Integral (PI) control action

OP
• If the operating point hits the
RTL, the conclusion is:
– We are close to surge
– The PI controller was too
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slow to catch the

disturbance
2 – Move the valve now!
Output Q
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to Valve • An open loop response is

triggered and the operating
Recycle Trip® Response point moves to a stable
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position
PI Control Response
2010

Time
 The Recycle Trip® Line (RTL)
Output
to Valve • After the operating
point moves back to
the safe side of RTL,
PI Control Response the open-loop function
Recycle Trip® Response should be ramped out
Time
– PI controller will stabilize
the operating point on the
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SCL until normal process

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flow in re-established

• For large, short duration disturbances a fixed ramp out

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of the open loop response may hold the antisurge valve

open too long
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– Could result in an unnecessary loss of process flow

– Antisurge controller should utilize its distance from surge
calculation to accelerate the exponential decay
2010
 The Recycle Trip® Line (RTL)
Output
to Valve
• Total response of the
controller is the sum of
Total Response
the PI control and the
PI Control Response Recycle Trip® action
Recycle Trip® Response

Time

Benefits:
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– Energy savings due to smaller

PI Control
Recycle Trip® required surge margins
Action
– Compressor has more turndown
before recycle or blow-off
+ – Surge can be prevented for
virtually any disturbance
To antisurge valve
 Multiple Recycle Trip® Steps
After time delay C2 controller checks if Operating
Point is back to safe side of Recycle Trip® Line
- If Yes: Exponential decay of Recycle Trip® response
- If No: Another step is added to the Recycle Trip® response

Output
to valve Multiple step response
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Output
to valve One step response Total
100% PI Control

Recycle Trip®

Time
C2 C2 C2
Total
PI Control
Recycle Trip®
0%
Time
C2
 The Safety On® Response
(SOL)
SOL - Safety On® Line
SLL - Surge Limit Line • If Operating Point crosses the
RTL - Recycle Trip® Line
SCL - Surge Control Line
Safety On® Line the
Rc compressor is in surge
• The Safety On® response
shifts the SCL and the RTL to
the right
• Additional safety or surge
margin is added
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• PI control and Recycle Trip®

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New SCL will stabilize the machine on

the new SCL
New RTL
Compressor can surge due to:
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2 – Transmitter calibration shift

Additional surge margin qr – Sticky antisurge valve or
actuator
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– Partially blocked antisurge

Benefits of Safety On® response: valve or recycle line
- Continuous surging is avoided – Unusually large process
- Operators are alarmed about surge upset
2010
 Automated Fallback
Strategies
• Antisurge controller
– If a pressure transmitter fails, a minimum flow
algorithm can be used as automatic fallback
– If a temperature transmitter fails, hr is
characterized as a function of compression
ratio
– If the flow transmitter fails:
• Redundant transmitter is used (if present) or,
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• The output is driven to the last known good value, a

pre-selected value, or the greater of the two values
• Performance controller
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– Switches to redundant transmitter upon primary

transmitter failure
– Output freezes or goes to pre-selected value if
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all transmitters fail

• All transmitter failures should be alarmed
2010
 Limiting Ps or Pd using the
Antisurge Controller
VSDS

Compressor

FT PsT PdT
1 1 1

Suction UIC
Discharge
1
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• The antisurge controller can be configured to limit:

- Maximum discharge pressure (Pd)
- Minimum suction pressure (Ps)
- Both maximum Pd and minimum Ps
• This does NOT conflict with antisurge protection
 Loop Decoupling for
Multiple Antisurge Controllers
Section 1 Section 2

PIC SIC Disturbance

1 1

UIC UIC
1 2
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Disturbance comes from the

discharge side
• Pd,2 increases
• R
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Ps,2 remains constant

• Rc,2 increases Rc,2
• Section 2 moves towards surge R

Antisurge controller UIC-2 will open

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the recycle valve to protect Section 2

against surge
• Pd,2 decreases 2
• Ps,2 increases qr,2
•
2010

Rc,2 decreases
• Section 2 moves away from surge
 Loop Decoupling for
Multiple Antisurge Controllers
Section 1 Section 2

PIC SIC
1 1

UIC UIC
1 2
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Opening the recycle valve on Section 2

causes Ps,2 to increase / Result: R
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• Pd,1 increases
• Rc,1 increases Rc,1 R
• Section 1 moves towards surge
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UIC-1 will open its recycle valve to

protect Section 1 against surge
2
• Pd,1 decreases qr,1
• Ps,1 increases
2010

• Rc,1 decreases
• Section 1 moves away from surge
 Loop Decoupling for
Multiple Antisurge Controllers
Section 1 Section 2

PIC SIC
1 1

UIC UIC
1 2
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• The system is oscillating

Opening of recycle valve on Section 1 • Slowing down controller
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caused P to decrease / Result: tuning could lead to:

d,1
• Ps,2 decreases - Increased risk of surge
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• Rc,2 increases • Compressor damage

• Process trips
• Section 2 moves towards surge
- Larger surge margins
• Energy waste
2010
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Face Display

The three-digit DEV readout usually

displays the three-digit deviation of the
operating point from the Surge Control
Line. Positive values indicate an
acceptable margin of safety, negative
values indicate unsafe operation.
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The three-digit SP readout is normally

blank.
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Face Display

The three-digit OUT readout normally

displays the recycle or blow-off valve
Actuator Control Signal :
• When using Output Reverse, OUT
will display 100 minus the ACS so it
always reflects the intended percent
open position of the valve.
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• When using Valve Dead Band

Compensation, the displayed value
will jump by more than the intended
change in the valve position when
that control response reverses.
• In a Valve Sharing application, the
intended valve position is displayed
only by the primary Antisurge
Controller. The OUT readouts of all
secondary controllers are blank.
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Face Display

If the ALT button is held down:

• The OUT readout displays the antisurge
control response, which is the intended
percent-open position of the recycle or
blow-off valve prior to any output
transformations.
• The DEV readout displays half the
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denominator of the configured proximity-

to-surge Application Function, and
• The SP readout displays half of that
function’s numerator.
These alternate DEV (flow) and SP (head) readouts also
indicate how closely the compressor is operating to its
surge limit. When using fA Mode 31, for example, DEV
will display DPo,c/2 and SP will display K· f1 (Rc)·Ps/2. If
that DEV is below that SP, the compressor is either in
surge or the controller is incorrectly tuned.
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Face Display

If the LIMIT 2 or LIMIT 3 button is held down,

DEV and SP will temporarily display the
corresponding limiting variable and its control
threshold.
Either loop’s variables are usually displayed
using the same scaling as its measured
variable. However, if either loop is limiting a
2011Compressor Controls Corporation

pressure calculated from the pressure rise

across the compressor, its readouts are scaled
as percentages.
If either variable is beyond its control
threshold, the Limit LED in the lower section of
the front panel will be lit and the output signal
will be automatically increased to return that
variable to an acceptable level.
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Menu System Buttons

Pressing the MENU button displays the most-

recently selected screen from the next enabled
menu. If the last menu is active, it will display a
screen from the first menu.

If the current menu includes more than one

screen, pressing the SCROLL button displays
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the next one. If that menu is displaying its last

screen, it will cycle back to the first.

The Acknowledge (ACK) button is not used by

the compressor control applications.
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Control Keys

One of these two LEDs will always be lit:

• The green LED in the AUTO key
indicates automatic operation. It flashes if
the default output fallback strategy is
active.
• The yellow LED in the MAN key indicates
manual operation. It flashes when
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operating in manual with Manual Override

enabled (no automatic protection).

Pressing either key while its LED is off will

toggle the controller to that mode of operation
and light that LED. Automatic or manual
operation can also be selected via serial
communications.
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Control Keys

Vary the actuator control signal when manual

operation is selected. Momentarily pressing
the Raise key will increment that signal by 0.1
percent, while holding it down increases the
output in steadily larger increments (it takes
about 20 seconds to change the control signal
by a full 100 percent). The Lower key reduces
the output in a similar fashion.
2011Compressor Controls Corporation
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Control Keys

If the Safety On Response detects an actual

surge, the controller increments the surge
count (which can be viewed via the Main
Status Menu) and increases the surge control
margin. The red LED in the SURGE RESET
key is lit whenever that count is greater than
zero, and pressing that key resets that count to
zero.
2011Compressor Controls Corporation

CAUTION!!!
To avoid repeated surging, do not press the
SURGE RESET key while its LED is lit unless the
causes of the surging have been identified and
corrected.
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Face LEDs

If the controller is being manually operated,

the yellow RT LED is lit when the margin of
safety falls below the threshold for the Recycle
Trip Response, and stays lit only until an
adequate margin of safety is restored. When
operating automatically, the RT LED remains
lit until the Recycle Trip response decays to
zero, even if an adequate margin of safety has
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been restored.

The yellow POC LED is lit when the recycle

flow rate is elevated by the Performance
Override control feature.
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Face LEDs

The green Tracking LED will flash to indicate

either:
• Output Tracking is active, or
• The Remote Low Output Clamp is above
the internal Low Output Clamp, even if it
has not caused an increase in the recycle
rate.
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When redundant controllers are installed, the

tracking controller will light this LED and that
of the active controller (the one protecting the
compressor) will either be off or flash to
indicate speed tracking.
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Face LEDs

The yellow Limit LED is lit when either Recycle

Limiting variable is beyond its control threshold,
which will increase the recycle rate above the
level needed for surge protection alone.
Pressing the LIMIT 2 or LIMIT 3 button in the
control loop readout section will display the
corresponding loop’s process variable and
limiting control threshold.
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The green Balance LED is lit when the Recycle

Balancing feature is enabled and active (for
example, initiating manual control would
extinguish it). It does not indicate that feature
has actually changed the intended recycle flow.
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Face LEDs

The yellow Fallback LED is lit when one of the

controller’s Fallback Strategies is being used to
calculate proximity to surge, usually because a
required analog or serial input has failed.

The red Stop LED is lit when the antisurge

controller is operating in its Stop or Purge
2011Compressor Controls Corporation

Operating State, in which case it holds its

control valve in a configured position and
manual operation might not be permitted
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Status LEDs
The red Fault LED lights, the status screen
displays “No Comms with Main CPU”, and all
other display elements turn off if the engineering
panel is unable to communicate with the CPU.
This usually means the control program is no
longer executing and an alternate means of
control should be immediately activated.

CAUTION!!!
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If the Fault LED lights or any Fault relay de-energizes, the

analog output signal should be immediately disconnected
from its control element (the connected circuits often
include relays that do so).

The yellow Alarm LED lights whenever the

controller is experiencing any of the problems
that can be indicated via the Alarms Menu. It
turns off when all such problems have been
corrected.
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Status Screen

Each line of the status screen can display up to ten

letters, digits, or other symbols:
• The top line always displays the Application
Operating State.
• The remaining three lines display various sets
of controller status variables or operator
prompts, which are selected by pressing the
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Menu System Buttons

The contrast of this screen can be adjusted from
the Testing and Options Menu
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Status Screen
2011Compressor Controls Corporation
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Main Status Menu
Initially, the fourth line will be blank while the second and third lines display
the Total B variable, which is the distance between the surge limit and the
Surge Control Line, and the number of surges counted by the Safety On
Response. The next press of the SCROLL button would display the states
of all seven digital inputs and all five digital outputs:

then
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Digits indicate the corresponding inputs and outputs are asserted or

energized, underscores indicate they are cleared. The 1 for fault relay
CR1 will appear unless it (and possibly CR2) are de-energized by
CR1’s assigned function. In the above example, only the D2 and D6
inputs are asserted, and only the CPU/IO PCB fault relays and CR4
should be energized.
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Main Status Menu
The next two presses of the SCROLL button will then display the intended
and measured values of the analog outputs:
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The next two presses of the SCROLL button will display the actual CPU/IO
PCB component power voltages:
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Main Status Menu
The next press of the SCROLL button will display the controller’s internal
temperature:
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Subsequent presses of the SCROLL button would repeat the above status
screens.
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Analog In Menu
Pressing the MENU button while any of the above screens is visible will
display the scaled value of one analog input on the fourth line, below its
configurable eight-character name on the third line:
2011Compressor Controls Corporation

If an input’s unscaled value is within its acceptable range, a user-defined

engineering units label will appear after its scaled value (as shown to the
left above). If not, the word “Fail” will be displayed, the Alarm LED will be
lit, and the Alarms Menu will indicate “Tran”.
Pressing SCROLL repeatedly will cycle through the screens for all of the
enabled Measured Variables.
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Calculated Variables Menu
Pressing the MENU button while any of the above screens is visible will
display one of the controller’s independently enabled or disabled
Calculated Variable Screens:
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Pressing the SCROLL button will cycle through the enabled screens, each
of which displays one or two of these variables:
• Sigma and Hpr are the Polytropic Head Exponent and Reduced Head,
which are displayed on one screen (as shown above).
• Rc is the Compression Ratio.
• Rt is the discharge to suction Temperature Ratio.
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Calculated Variables Menu
• Speed is the Displayed Speed, usually scaled to rpm.
• Flow is the pressure- and temperature-compensated Displayed Flow,
which is calculated from the measured or estimated pressure drop
across an orifice plate.
• UsrQ is the Displayed Net Flow, which is calculated by subtracting a
calculated recycle flow from the Displayed Flow.

In the event that one or more of the inputs used to calculate these
2011Compressor Controls Corporation

variables fail, the controller can substitute default values for either those
inputs or the calculated variable.The resulting fallback value would then be
displayed.
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Alarm Menu
Pressing the MENU button while any of the above screens is visible will
display the health of the analog inputs, recycle valve output, intercontroller
communications, and CPU/IO PCB voltages:
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Each problem’s abbreviation is displayed only if it exists:

• If “Tran” appears on the left side of the third line, one or more analog
inputs are beyond their acceptable ranges. The failed input(s) can be
identified by scrolling through the Analog In Menu.
• If “OutF” appears on the right side of that line, the intended and
measured values of OUT1 (or both OUT1 and 2 if the split output is
enabled) differ by more than 5.0 percent.
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Alarms Menu
• If one of the following appears on the left side of the fourth line, the
controller has failed to detect expected intercontroller communication
activity on the corresponding serial port:
 “Comm1” indicates transmissions are not being received from a
controller.
 “Comm2” indicates transmissions are not being received from a
load-sharing or performance override master, while
 “Com1&2” indicates both problems exist at the same time.
2011Compressor Controls Corporation

• If “24V” appears on the right side of the fourth line, the power supply is
not providing an acceptable voltage to the CPU/IO PCB. If “15V”, “5V”,
or “3V” is displayed there, the voltage from the corresponding power
converter is below its acceptable minimum, and the CPU/IO PCB
needs to be replaced.
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Functions Menu
Pressing the MENU button while the above display is visible will display
the argument and computed values of one of this controller’s
Characterizing Functions:
2011Compressor Controls Corporation

• The Y Coordinate Characterizer defines the surge limit in the primary

coordinate system (that is, the minimum value of X as a function of Y).
• The Reported Flow Characterizer defines the reported flow
measurement sent to companion controllers in multisection
compressor applications.
• The X Coordinate Characterizer usually defines the X primary
coordinate as a function of speed.
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Functions Menu
• The General Characterizer defines the surge limit as a function of the
secondary coordinate variable specified by the f5 Argument.
• The Balancing Variable Characterizer defines the series load-
balancing variable (L) as a function of the Load Balancing Variable.
• The Recycle Flow Characterizer defines the recycle flow rate as a
function of the control response(used for series load balancing and net
flow calculations).
2011Compressor Controls Corporation

If a particular characterizer is not being calculated, its argument and result

values will display as a series of hyphens (“–.– –”). Displaying any one of
them allows you to SCROLL to the others, and the last one displayed is the
first shown the next time you invoke this MENU.
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Testing & Options Menu
Holding the TEST key down invokes the Display Testing and Options
menu:
2011Compressor Controls Corporation

where the # characters represent the digits of the installed version of the
front-panel firmware. You must continue to hold the TEST key down while
scrolling through and using any of the following tests.
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Testing & Options Menu
The first press of the SCROLL button invokes the procedure for adjusting
the contrast of the status screen’s liquid crystal display:
2011Compressor Controls Corporation

Unless this contrast is already set to its highest (or lowest) level, it will then
be slightly increased (or decreased) each time you press the Raise (or
Lower) key.
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Testing & Options Menu
The second press of the SCROLL button invokes a display from which you
can brighten or dim the control loop readouts:
2011Compressor Controls Corporation

Unless the readouts are already brightened (or dimmed), pressing the
Raise (or Lower) key will then make them brighter (or dimmer).
 ++
Series 3 Antisurge Controller
Testing & Options Menu
The third press of the SCROLL button initiates the LED Test, which
displays the following message and turns on every numeric readout
segment and LED on the Front and Engineering Panels:
2011Compressor Controls Corporation