Compressor Cylinder and Casing Restoration

The challenge

A reciprocating compressor cylinder and casing corroded in the water-jacket passages and along the gasket land, so the joint weeped and the casing face would no longer seal. The cooling water found its way through the pitted passage to the joint, and the damaged sealing surface meant the casing would not pull up tight no matter how the bolts were torqued. Once a casting weeps at the joint like this, the compressor cannot hold cooling water or run reliably, and the usual fix is a replacement casing on a long lead time at a high cost.

The Belzona approach

The cylinder and casing come down for a look at where the metal has been lost. Blasting takes the corroded jacket passage and the gasket land back to clean, profiled metal so everything applied bonds to bare steel. Then a machinable Belzona 1000 Series composite rebuilds the pitted casting and the damaged sealing face, and the land is dressed flat so the joint pulls up tight. The jacket passage is coated against the cooling water to seal the weep and protect the casting, so the compressor goes back together on the original casing.

1. Assess and mapThe casing is stripped down and the corroded jacket passages, the pitting in the casting, and the damage along the gasket land are mapped.
2. Blast to clean metalGrit-blasting takes the jacket passage and the gasket land back to clean, profiled metal so the composite and the coating bond to bare steel.
3. Rebuild the castingA machinable Belzona 1000 Series composite rebuilds the pitted casting and the damaged sealing face, worked cold so the casing sees no heat distortion.
4. Reform and sealThe gasket land is dressed flat so the joint pulls up tight, then a Belzona 1100 Series material coats the jacket passage to seal the weep and protect the casting against the cooling water.
5. Reassemble and return to serviceThe reformed land and the coated passage are checked and the compressor handed back to be reassembled on its original casing.