Turbo Compressors
Barber-Nichols, Inc. (BNI) specializes in the engineering, manufacturing, and testing of high performance turbocompressors. Products include turbine-compressor-generator assemblies for gas turbine engines and turbocompressors for the process and energy industries. For some applications it is possible to economically modify automotive turbochargers. For other more demanding applications, BNI can develop clean-sheet turbocompressor designs.
Barber-Nichols designs and manufactures turbocompressors that remove Non-Condensable Gas (NCG) from the condensers at flash steam geothermal power plants. In geothermal power plants, NCG enters the process equipment along with the steam. NCG then collects in the sub-atmospheric pressure steam condensers and it must be pressurized before it can be vented to the atmosphere. In some cases, compression of NCG requires up to 20% of the power produced by the plant. High efficiency turbocompressors manufactured by Barber-Nichols dramatically reduce these power requirements. Typically, motor-driven liquid-ring vacuum pumps or steam-jet ejectors are used to pressurize the non-condensable gas stream. BNI's turbocompressors are nearly 30% more efficient than liquid-ring pumps and 250% more efficient than steam-jet ejectors.
In many cases it is necessary to utilize components that can resist extremely hostile working environments. NCG streams can have high concentrations of hydrochloric acid and hydrogen sulfide. This makes it necessary to utilize corrosion resistant materials and low stress designs in order to avoid stress corrosion cracking of the high speed rotating components.
Please contact Barber-Nichols regarding your turbocompressor needs.