Some problems experienced in the operation of large centrifugal and reciprocating compressors, and the steps taken to overcome them, are described. The fields covered include noise, vibration, lubrication, and general operation and an underlying theme arising from them is the importance of the environment in specific compressor applications. To avoid recurrence of many of these problems it is important that the user should feed back his own practical operating experience to the manufacturer and also ensure that economic competition does not result in unsatisfactory technical standards. A carefully prepared enquiry specification has been found to be of assistance in achieving these objectives.
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