Performance guarantees are an integral part of the purchase of turbo-compressor equipment. Traditionally the testing is done at the equipment supplier’s factory in accordance with the appropriate test code. This paper puts forward technical and economic arguments for basing the final acceptance of the equipment on site tests. The equipment considered is in the 5 MW to 30 MW range.
The main emphasis of the paper is on making the site tests conform as closely as possible to the factory tests so that the results are acceptable to the manufacturer. The paper also includes discussions on the differences between shop test and site test procedures and results, comparative costs, site test specifications, instrumentation selection, and data analysis techniques.
