WHY USE A KLEENTEK ELC on Turbines
Transcription
WHY USE A KLEENTEK ELC on Turbines
WHY USE KLEENTEK ELCs ON TURBINE PLANT? INTRODUCTION Gas and Steam Turbines are becoming more aggressive to their oil systems and the systems themselves are being engineered to tighter tolerances. In-line with this trend Turbine operators are now among the most popular group of users for Kleentek ELCs in the UK. UK experiences suggest there is a consistent list of oil related problems that cause downtime and unnecessary maintenance costs. Below are some of the problems that have led to Turbine operators installing Kleentek ELCs. Each scenario is based on experiences in recent years that have resulted in lost generation or the need for premature oil changes. All have been greatly improved by a Kleentek ELC application. STICKING VALVES Sticking valves are experienced by many operators of modern Turbines. This is a common problem and is caused by oil oxidation products adhering to the valve, resulting in ‘stick/slip’ or total seizure. The most common cause of sticking valves is the build up of oil oxidation products. These build up on the valve over time, gradually creating layers like ‘varnish’ on the valve. Clearances are reduced until leading to malfunction. ‘Varnish’ Kleentek reduces the likelihood of valve failure because it removes oil oxidation products from the oil. Also because the oil becomes very clean then the oil itself will gradually remove existing layers from valves through a process of equilibrium, allowing them to operate more freely without the need to change the valve. One valve failure will lead to an unplanned stoppage. From previous experience one unplanned stoppage due to a sticking valve will easily pay for several Kleentek units. OilCare Ltd 72 Oak Tree Lane, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. NG18 3HL (UK) Tel +44 (0)7795 545676 Fax +44 (0)1623 651832 [email protected] 1 IN-LINE FILTER BLOCKAGE Problems have been experienced whereby a build up of sludge entered the Turbine lube oil in-line filter system. This resulted in one Turbine being taken off line while the filters were changed. Filters were repeatedly becoming blocked and the only way to cope was to repeatedly change the filters, incurring the costs of replacement filters along with downtime costs of several hours. It is important to understand that the build up of sludge is caused by presence of oil oxidation products. These had developed in the system over time, forming layers on the bottom of the tank. Something happened in the oil reservoir to disturb the sludge, leading to sudden filter blockage and catastrophic breakdown, even though an oil change had taken place between the sludge build up and system failure. A Kleentek unit was fitted and no more filter changes were required and the oil cleanliness returned to a very good level. Had an ELC been fitted from an early stage the sludge would not have built up in the first place. The cost of downtime paid for the Kleentek unit several times over. Also the Gas Turbines have In-Line and Last Chance Filters for their control valves. These valves control gas flow and inlet guide vanes etc. When the filters become blocked then the valves will not operate, leading to the turbine being shut down. Below are examples where oil oxidation products have caused these filters to become blocked. Servo Valve In-Line Filter Servo valve Last Chance Filter OilCare Ltd 72 Oak Tree Lane, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. NG18 3HL (UK) Tel +44 (0)7795 545676 Fax +44 (0)1623 651832 [email protected] 2 BEARING WEAR Effective lubrication is achieved by keeping moving surfaces apart, through a thin lubrication film. Often the clearances involved, or the thickness of the oil film is only a few microns. Present thinking is concerned with keeping the oil clean. However, the lubricated surfaces must also be kept clean. As oil becomes saturated by oil oxidation products, they are naturally attracted to the inner surfaces of the machine. This is because oil contaminants are polar and the metal surfaces have a high permanent di-pole moment. Therefore, layers of contaminants build up like ‘varnish’ over time on moving parts such as bearings, which leads to high friction and wear. Whilst on a turbine this may not lead to a sudden failure, it will increase contaminants in the oil and will require the bearing changing at the next major outage. The increased length of outage and the cost of the new bearing would buy several Kleentek units The pictures below show how Kleentek has kept the internal surfaces of a pipe clean. The picture on the left is before fitting Kleentek, the picture on the right is even 5 years after Kleentek was fitted. This proves that Kleentek keeps the internal surfaces clean, not just the oil. Before applying ELC After applying ELC OilCare Ltd 72 Oak Tree Lane, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. NG18 3HL (UK) Tel +44 (0)7795 545676 Fax +44 (0)1623 651832 [email protected] 3 OIL LIFE Oil degrades at varying rates, depending on type of oil, system design, system temperature etc. However, a further significant accelerant of ageing is contaminants in oil. Therefore, the cleaner the oil is, the slower the ageing process. Present methods of cleaning oil involve fine filtration. However, a recent discovery is that fine filters cause sparks in the oil. These sparks crack the oil molecules which stimulates the oil ageing process. Therefore, fine filters reduce the life of oil. The Kleentek ELC method removes many more contaminants than fine filters and at the same time it does not cause sparks. Therefore, by using Kleentek to clean the oil, rather than fine filters, the oil will last longer. Furthermore, many oil changes are carried out purely due to contamination levels which cannot be addressed by conventional filters. Kleentek will remove many more contaminants than conventional filters, so the oil should not need to be changed due to high contaminant levels alone. Generally on Turbine applications, if one oil change is saved, then this will pay for the Kleentek unit. EFFECT OF OIL TEMPERATURE Oil oxidation products are only harmful when they become insoluble. Their solubility is dependent on oil temperature (the colder the oil the more products become insoluble). Therefore, if the plant is periodically shut down then it could be that oxidation products ‘grow’ in the system and then form deposits on bearings, valves etc. In such situations it is important to remove these products with Kleentek in order that future reliability problems are avoided. CONCLUSION Oil contamination, particularly oil oxidation products, can lead to many problems in turbine plant. They reduce both the reliability of the Turbines and the useful life of the lubricant. Oil oxidation products build up layers on all internal surfaces including valves, actuators, bearings, pumps, tank walls and floor, pipework etc. They can cause a build up of sludge in the system along with ‘varnishing’ on valves and other moving parts such as bearings. OilCare Ltd 72 Oak Tree Lane, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. NG18 3HL (UK) Tel +44 (0)7795 545676 Fax +44 (0)1623 651832 [email protected] 4 Fine filters accelerate the development of oil oxidation products because they create sparks in the oil, which cracks the oil molecules. The utilisation of Kleentek ELCs removes far more contaminants than conventional filtration, without causing sparks. The oil becomes so clean that the oil even removes contaminants from internal surfaces. This reduces the risk of system failures and as well as increasing oil life. This can be more relevant too if the plant periodically shuts down due to the solubility changes of oil oxidation products. Exact paybacks are impossible to predict, however, evidence suggests that if downtime is included in the payback, the prevention of one failure, one main component change or one oil change can each easily justify the investment in Kleentek. OilCare Ltd 72 Oak Tree Lane, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. NG18 3HL (UK) Tel +44 (0)7795 545676 Fax +44 (0)1623 651832 [email protected] 5