Phillips Petroleum Company

Kristie C Gibson

Michael L Gray

Overloading of a plurality of turbine drivers driving compressors in a plurality of compression cycles, such as the compression of refrigerants and the compression of normally gaseous feed in a method for cryogenically cooling such normally gaseous feed, due to changes in compressor limiting operating conditions, is prevented by measuring the suction pressures to the low pressure stages of the compressors, deriving a desired feed flow rate in response to each of such measured suction pressures, selecting the lowest desired feed flow rate (which will be derived in response to the highest measured suction pressure if all set points are equal), and adjusting the feed gas flow rate in response to the lowest flow rate. In a preferred embodiment, a manual set point representing a maximum feed gas flow rate is also applied and the selected feed rate is dictated by the highest suction pressure or the maximum feed rate, whichever is lower, and is utilized to adjust the feed rate. In another embodiment, the speeds of the individual turbine drivers are controlled in response to the low stage suction pressures to each of the individual turbine drivers.

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Bartlesville, OK, United States of America

Kristie C Gibson