Variable speed reconfigurable pump/turbine clusters

A hydraulic rotating machinery (HRM) system that is configured to control a process fluid of a process, said process fluid having widely varying conditions of service (COS), the HRM system comprising:

• a controller;
• an HRM cluster comprising a plurality of HRMs having variable operating speeds, each of the HRMs being a pump, a turbine, or a hybrid pump/turbine, the operating speeds of the HRMs being controlled by the controller;
• an HRM plumbing system, the HRMs being interconnectable by the HRM plumbing system to form a flow path through which the process fluid can flow from an inlet of the HRM plumbing system to an outlet of the HRM plumbing system;
• a plurality of valves included in the HRM plumbing system, the controller being able to actuate the valves so as to control a selection of the HRMs that are included in the flow path and an arrangement in which the HRMs of the selection are included in the flow path;
• the controller being able to change a configuration of the flow path such that an interconnection of a pair of the HRMs in the flow path is changed between a parallel interconnection and a serial interconnection;
• the controller being further able to change the configuration of the flow path such that an interconnection between a first, a second, a third, and a fourth of the HRMs in the cluster is changed between;
• a fully parallel interconnection;
• a series-parallel interconnection;
• a fully series interconnection;
• an interconnection in which the first and second HRMs are in series while the third and fourth HRMs are bypassed;
• an interconnection in which the first and third HRMs are in series while the second and fourth HRMs are bypassed;
• an interconnection in which the first and fourth HRMs are in series while the second and third HRMs are bypassed;
• an interconnection in which the second and third HRMs are in series while the first and fourth HRMs are bypassed;
• an interconnection in which the second and fourth HRMs are in series while the first and third HRMs are bypassed;
• and
• an interconnection in which the third and fourth HRMs are in series while the first and second HRMs are bypassed;
• and
• non-transient media cooperative with the controller, the non-transient media containing instructions that, when executed by the controller, cause the controller to:
• accept information regarding at least one of a status of the process and the COS of the process fluid;
• and
• according to said information, control the operating speeds of the HRMs and the selection and arrangement of the HRMs in the flow path so as to continuously satisfy at least one requirement of the process while ensuring that the HRMs in the flow path operate substantially at their optimal hydraulic efficiency points over said widely varying COS of the process fluid.