Picking up good vibrations

The methods that need to be employed to develop the better vibration guidelines to assess the integrity of a reciprocating compressor system are discussed. An R&D project of the European Forum of Reciprocating Compressors (EFRC) has been initiated to develop guidelines for vibrations in reciprocating compressor systems. The project has been divided into main activities involving literature study and evaluation of the most commonly used standards and internally applied documents on vibrations of reciprocating machinery. The second activity involves the interviews with employees of original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and operators to gain insight into the application of standards and/or internal guidelines. The third activity involves organizing an international workshop on vibration levels in reciprocating compressor systems to achieve consensus between OEM and operators on the EFRC guidelines.