SKF has secured a contract with Cryostar, a French manufacturer of turbo-expanders, to supply SKF S2M magnetic bearings and the latest generation E300V2 control cabinet. SKF’s solutions will be used in MTC200 oil-free turboexpanders that Cryostar will deliver to Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Yanan Energy and Chemical Co., Ltd. The turboexpanders will be installed at an ethylene and propylene plant, located in Shaanxi province, China.

The magnetic bearings will be integrated in MTC200 frame turbo-expanders that operate at a design rotation speed of close to 40,000 rpm. MTC200 are magnetic bearing turbines braked by a compressor wheel, with an expander wheel of nominal diameter of 200 mm. SKF magnetic bearings are non-contact, friction-free that allow reaching high tip wheel speed for optimal efficiency and performance of a turboexpander.

SKF’s E300V2 control cabinet offers several new features: remote monitoring, on-line data measurement and easy post-processing functionalities providing a high degree of autonomy for plant operators. The magnetic bearing control system has inherent health monitoring and diagnostics possibilities that measure the machine’s critical parameters, such as rotation speed, vibrations and temperatures.

Moreover, SKF S2M magnetic bearings are 100 per cent leak-safe preventing oil-ingestion into the process gas. The oil free technology improves the safety of installations in term of risk of process equipment’s contamination by oil. The elimination of lubricating oil is the decisive advantage for low temperature process (-130°C/-150°C).

The new olefins production unit will have a capacity of approximately 200 thousand tons of ethylene and propylene. In this innovative process olefins are produced without traditional steam cracking technology.

The world’s first magnetic bearings turbo-expander was developed by Cryostar and commissioned in 1988. It was the French company S2M, then an SKF subsidiary who supplied active magnetic bearings. Today, more than 600 turbo-expanders worldwide are equipped with SKF S2M Magnetic Bearings. Cryostar has one of the largest base of expanders equipped with AMB in operation in the world. Applications include gas treatment, dew point control, ethylene production and others.

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