Quasi-Static Simulation of a Start-Up Procedure for a Multistage Centrifugal Compression System

Abstract In order to achieve the European Union’s climate protection targets by 2050, energy use in the private and industrial sectors must be switched from using fossil fuels to renewable energy. For industry, this might require that the production processes itself needed to be changed or new technologies to manufacture in a sustainable way needed to be introduced. One example of the latter mentioned are high-temperature heat pumps (HTHP), which will be capable to generate sustainable process heat up to 300°C e.g. for the pulp and paper or food industry. There are currently only a few HTHPs commercially available that can reach temperatures above 150°C. In order to overcome the technological challenges to reach 300°C, two HTHP prototypes are currently developed at the Institute of Low-Carbon Industrial Processes of the German Aerospace Centre (DLR). One of them is the pilot plant ZiRa which is based on the reversed Rankine process and uses steam as its working medium. Herein three centrifugal compressors are applied to achieve a saturated steam temperature of 200°C at the sink. The safe speed-up of these three compressors, titled as the start-up procedure, from the standstill of each compressors up to their respective nominal speed, is modelled in the flow chart software EBSILON Professional. In addition to the compressors, all necessary components, i.e. the intercoolers, the fittings and valves, the pipes, the separators and the bypasses are modelled so that all parameters influencing the thermodynamic inlet state of the respective compressor are considered. The start-up of the multi-stage compression system of the pilot plan ZiRa is shown as a quasi-static time series. As a first step, the speed increments are defined. Afterwards, absolute pressures between 1.25 and 2 bar upstream of the first compressor and their effect on the operation of the subsequent compressor stages, are analyzed. Therefore, the mass flow rates and rotational speeds are specified manually at first so that an executable, editable model is created. Based on these results, the operation of the compressors are optimized in order to ensure a surge margin of 15 % and to avoid choke in each operating point.