Centrifugal Compressors 100-15,000 kW; up to 120.000 rpm
These Turboexpander-compressors have become essential equipment in natural gas processing plants, ethylene plants and many other hydrocarbon processing operations. Our simple design with a short shaft and two overhung wheels makes the rigid body rotor design feasible and simplifies rotordynamics design and analysis. The design also eliminates high-speed coupling, reduction gear and low-speed coupling. The simplified auxiliary lubrication and sealing systems are totally closed, so they do not emit oil mist or hydrocarbon seal gas into the atmosphere.

External Gear Generators 50-15,000 kW
More than 200 external gear turboexpander-generators are in operation for hydrocarbon processing and refrigeration applications worldwide. Turboexpander inflow radial turbines have proven to be more efficient in applications with backpressure, and more flexible in variable flow than axial turbines. These characteristics are sufficient motivations for using turboexpanders in energy recovery from geothermal, pressure let-down and waste heat energy recovery applications.

Integral Gear Generators up to 7,500 kW
Integral gear turboexpander-generators eliminate the high-speed coupling, and are well received in the hydrocarbon and power generation industries. We have installed more than 100 turboexpanders with integral gear and generators.

Oil Brakes 3-7,000 kW; up to 120,000 rpm
Numerous processes use turboexpanders to produce deep cryogenic temperatures. Hydrogen purification and helium liquefaction are two examples of such processes. In these applications, turboexpander power production is low, and recovery of this low power for compression or electric power generation is neither practical nor economical. On the other hand, refrigeration power, as low as it may be, must be consumed. An oil brake is used for these and similar cases. The oil brake is an inefficient oil pump that consumes turboexpander power by introducing turbulence in the oil flow: the balance of the power is producing head. GE has more than 40 years of experience designing oil brake wheels that achieve this function without cavitation. This expertise is the result of producing more than 200 turboexpander oil brake units.