<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in">The environment inside a centrifugal compressor is dynamic and often complex.&nbsp; As such, it is not unusual in some services for constituents of the process gas to undergo chemical reactions that result in the formation of liquid or solids that can deposit on the surfaces of the flow passages.&nbsp; It is also possible that contaminants from upstream processes can be entrained in the gas stream, brought into the compressor and deposited.&nbsp; In both of these cases, the fouling of the surfaces can affect the performance of the compressor.&nbsp; This may be by restriction of flow due to reduction of the flow path area, by affecting the balance of the rotating components, or by affecting the structural integrity of the materials due to corrosion attack, among other things.&nbsp; Common approaches to combat fouling include careful process control, injection of various chemicals for various purposes, or to apply coatings to the flow surfaces that prevent the adhesion of the deposits.&nbsp; Given that issues with fouling are difficult to predict and often not known prior to construction and installation, coatings are often an attractive route to consider since they can be implemented to some extent at any time and are minimally invasive to the compressor and production.&nbsp; The question then becomes what coatings are suitable for the service?&nbsp; Due to the fact that compressor environments are complex, short of testing a coating “on the job” in a compressor, compromises must be made to allow for testing in a laboratory setting.&nbsp; This paper discusses the evaluation of coatings in two different services where the three main attributes, namely resistance to fouling, wear resistance, and corrosion resistance, are isolated and tested separately in relatively simple to perform tests.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

Considerations for the Evaluation of Fouling Resistant Coatings for Centrifugal Compressors

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/GT/GT2021/volume/84898

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