A gas pipeline operator was constructing a new gas compressor station in Southeast Texas. The volume of gas to be moved through the new station would require a 12,500 HP electric motor to turn the compressor. Keeping such a large electric motor cool during operations requires a motor cooling system that can reliably provide a sufficient amount of clean, outside air. For this highly custom electric motor cooling system, the gas pipeline operator trusted Eldridge to do the design and manufacturing.
System Design
In addition to considerations for air flow and the noise limit requirements, the design of this custom motor cooling system was influenced by the need for reliability and easy maintenance. For those reasons, we designed a custom filter house that featured a two stage filtration process where both the outer and inner filters could be changed without shutting down the motor cooling system. Also, we selected a direct dive centrifugal blower that could provide the required flow at the total system static pressure drop. The picture below shows the filter house, inlet silencer and the direct drive centrifugal blower pad mounted on the outside of the compressor station.
The unique challenge with this motor cooling system was in the design of the routing and supports for the ductwork. The electric motor had a split air intake with the exhaust located between the two intakes. We also had to consider that the customer wanted the supply and exhaust penetrations located on the same side of the building which required locating them far enough apart to minimize recirculating the exhaust. The picture below shows how we solved the design challenge of the ductwork system with something that resembles a highway interchange.
Manufacturing
The components for this motor cooling system were manufactured by multiple vendors. Because the system would be assembled on site, all vendors had to adhere to extremely tight tolerances to avoid any issues with the installation. We are thankful to work with a great group of vendors that know how to manufacture high quality equipment. Everything came together on site without any issues.
Conclusion
Eldridge has designed and manufactured many motor cooling systems and no two have been alike. Each system has had unique challenges and due to our skill and expertise, we have been able to design a solution that exceeds our customer’s expectations.