Robust Optimization of a General-Purpose Multistage Compressor Model for Surge Avoidance

Compressor surge is a form of aerodynamic instability in axial compressors or centrifugal compressors. The term describes violent airflow oscillating in the axial direction of a compressor, which indicates the axial component of fluid velocity varies periodically and may even become harmful. Compressor surge is a disaster to the compressor and the whole machine. Violent compressor surge flows repeatedly hit blades in the compressor, resulting in blade fatigue or even mechanical failure with adverse effects also on solid structures.

Engineers often spend hours performing calculations to design a gas compressor system in the oil & gas industry. Design methods are initiated by doing 'steady-state' calculations. However, nothing can be more catastrophic for the engineer to watch his/her 'steady-state design' ending up breaking down the gas compressor once build because he/she failed to judge whether the system was under-designed or over-designed.

The high-fidelity dynamic simulation plant model reflects the operations and control responses of the actual plant. DYNSIM Dynamic Simulation's first principles models, including rigorous thermodynamic and fluid flow calculations, bring a superior level of robustness and accuracy to the plant's dynamic process simulation.

The aim of this work is the multi-objective optimization of a general-purpose multistage compressor model, integrating modeFRONTIER and AVEVA's process simulation DynSim, to demonstrate how a given industrial process can be optimized, ensuring stable and robust operation at low cost while saving up hours of computational time.