Enhancing asset reliability and optimizing preventive maintenance for reciprocating compressors, which are vital rotating equipment in various industries, particularly within oil, gas, and refinery plants, stands as a pivotal challenge for asset management today. A review of existing literature has shown that numerous development efforts have been made to establish monitoring techniques for reciprocating compressors Nevertheless, previous research has not delved into the continuous monitoring of the mechanical behaviours and clearances of compressor crankshafts, crossheads, and cylinders [6].
Here, we employ additional proximity probes within an online monitoring system to measure all compressor clearances, aiming to optimize preventive maintenance for reciprocating compressors. K-1101B reciprocating compressor from Egyptian refining company and solid works have been used based on actual compressor mechanical clearances obtained during at 4000, 8000 and 12000 running hour's compressor overhauls to trend the actual changes in clearance during different compressor overhauls.
stress analysis was conducted on the crankshaft journal bearing using SolidWorks contour analysis. The results demonstrated a direct proportional relationship between the Drive End (DE) and Non-Drive End (NDE) static pressure contour and the clearances, indicating that an increase in bearing clearance leads to higher stress on the bearing. Additionally, the findings indicated that implementing an online condition monitoring system is valuable for safeguarding the compressor against repetitive failures. This approach can enhance compressor availability and reduce downtime effectively.