Steam Turbine Oil Challenges
Steam Turbine Oil Challenges
Steam Turbine Oil Challenges
o RO
2
+ RH RO
2
H + R
Decompositon
o RO
2
H RO + OH
Terminaton
o R + R R-R
o RO
2
+ R RO
2
R
RH represents a hydrocarbon molecule, such as oil. R is a hydrocarbon free radical. O
2
is oxygen. RO
2
is an alkylperoxy
radical. RO
2
H is a hydroperoxide (sometmes called a carboxylic acid). RO is an alkyloxy radical. OH is a hydroxy radical.
RO
2
R represents nonradical products. Finally, the R-R represents polymerized hydrocarbons formed when two hydrocarbon
free radicals react. The outcome reactons are the formaton in the oil of oxygen-containing products such as acids, esters,
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Steam Turbine Oil Challenges
7 2012 Lubricaton Engineers, Inc.
alcohols, ketones, polar compounds and polymeric materials. It has already been established that oxygen is polar, just like water is
polar. Metal parts of a steam turbine are also polar. Polar compounds are atracted to one another; therefore, degraded lubricants
can have a heightened afnity toward the metal turbine parts, where they will collect as a stcky plastc-like material called varnish,
as shown in Figure 2.
Antoxidants functon by reactng with lubricant degradaton precursors during the propagaton or decompositon stages, thereby
slowing down the atack of the oil by oxygen. Sometmes, degraded antoxidant compounds (especially PANA phenyl-alpha-
naphthylamine types) can also begin to accumulate into high molecular weight materials in the oil and deposit onto metal parts
as varnish. When large quanttes of varnish accumulate in the body of the oil, they begin to precipitate out of soluton into a thick
gooey layer called sludge, as illustrated in Figure 3.
Figure 2 Varnish Figure 3 Sludge
Hydrolysis is another degradaton mechanism by which varnish and sludge are formed within a turbine. It is a reacton of
oxygenated esters and ketones (in used turbine oil) with a hydroxy group in water. (In a process called dissociaton, water naturally
breaks down into a weak acid and a hydroxy group.) Hydrolysis occurs as a reacton between the used turbine oil and the hydroxy
group to make the lubricant have a stronger afnity to water and to metal turbine parts. This reacton step also increases the oils
tendency to emulsify with water, thereby increasing the rate of oil degradaton and making water removal even more difcult.
The previous discussion may lead a steam turbine operator to ask, I must run my turbine reliably. Given all of these issues with
the turbine oil, how can I do this? Fortunately, there are solutons.
Lubricaton reliability program
A lubricaton reliability program for steam turbines must include:
High-performance lubricant
Proper installaton of new lubricant
In-service actvites
o Purifcaton (contaminaton control)
o Conditon monitoring
High-performance lubricant
Steam turbines are moneymakers for power plants, making them extremely critcal pieces of machinery. It seems like common
sense that any turbine operator would want to choose a high-performance lubricant. So, how does one determine the diference
between turbine lubricants and the right one to use? The average consumer ofen shops for the lowest price, assuming that it is
the best value. Low price does not necessarily represent the best value when shopping for steam turbine lubricants. In additon, it
is a mistake to focus only on a single performance property when trying to choose the right high-performance turbine oil. Instead,
look for a balanced mix of all propertes to ensure best overall performance. Table 3 lists the desired propertes that should be
considered when evaluatng steam turbine oils, as well as the benefts of each.
Wooton, Fluitec Livingstone, Fluitec
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Table 3 Lubricant Propertes & Benefts
Propertes Beneft
Oxidaton resistance Reduces the formaton of varnish, sludge, emulsion & entrained gas/foam
Corrosion preventon Prevents rust, minimizes acid atack of copper alloy parts
Water separaton Makes water removal easier, reduces hydrolysis, increases oil life
Gas/foam release Less oxidaton, improves lubricity, no cavitaton
Contaminant handling Good oil degradaton solubility, improves fltraton/purifcaton
Is it possible for steam turbine oil formulatons to provide all of the benefts listed in Table 3? Yes, it is. Formulaton scientsts have
numerous base fuids and additves available for their steam turbine oils. The proper components must be chosen, blended and
tested to create a synergy between the base fuid and the additves. Recent research has shown that any or all of the features
listed in Table 3 can be detrimentally afected if the wrong base oil or additves are chosen. For example, some of the performance
issues mentoned previously have ofen been traced back to industry-wide changes in lubricant base fuid refning techniques and/
or antoxidant selecton.
While the lubricant is what will be installed into the steam turbine, it should only be considered part of product being selected.
The product should also come with support services. A good lubricant supplier should be able to provide support services and
knowledgeable feld representaton. A lubricant representatve should be able to provide expert advice about turbine oil as well as
lubricaton reliability recommendatons to protect the lubricant when it is in service. This person also should be readily available in
tmes of need. Finally, the turbine operator should verify that the lubricant supplier is able to support the feld representatve, to
answer questons the representatve does not know, and to deliver the lubricants and services promised.
When courtng potental steam turbine suppliers, it is important to ask a few questons, including:
Does the oil meet OEM requirements?
Does the supplier have a formal program for turbine oil delivery?
How will the oil be delivered?
What steps are taken to ensure that the oil is not contaminated during transport?
What are delivery lead tmes?
How does the supplier intend to support the product afer installaton?
Afer the OEM approvals have been verifed and distributon informaton gathered from suppliers, the number of acceptable
vendors should be dramatcally reduced. The next step is to consider oil compatbility and oil vendor services ofered to aid in
an oil change or additon. Unless a power plant is being started up for the frst tme, there is probably oil already in service in
the steam turbines. The best lubricaton practce is to completely drain, clean and refll a steam turbine when changing oils.
Unfortunately, this is ofen impossible due to producton and scheduling limitatons. In such cases, it is extremely important that
the supplier be capable of providing compatbility testng. If the supplier is unable to provide this service, the power plant should
employ a testng lab. If the new oil is found to be incompatble with the oil currently in service in the steam turbine, mixing the oils
could lead to more problems than the operator had before the change.
Proper installaton of new lubricant
Afer the oil has been chosen for a steam turbine oil conversion or oil sweetening, the real work starts. A good lubricaton
reliability program should include installaton procedures. It was mentoned previously that many steam turbine operators have
been experiencing challenges. If a changeover to new oil is not conducted properly, the conversion could provide no beneft,
or sometmes make maters worse. The system must be properly drained and inspected. The steam turbine reservoir should be
inspected for sludge and varnish. If sludge and varnish is observed in the reservoir, it is very likely that it is present in the pumps
and piping within the turbines oil circulatng system. The operator must clean the turbine or if lacking the expertse must hire
a professional frm to do it. It is vital that the steam turbine is properly cleaned and fushed prior to additon of the new lubricant.
When a new lubricant is dispensed into the system, it can churn up any varnish and sludge present in the system. In this case,
worse oil performance can result.
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In-service actvites
An efectve lubricaton reliability program for steam turbines must include preventve maintenance actvites, including
purifcaton and conditon monitoring.
Oil purifcaton (contaminaton control)
Removal
To obtain maximum performance from a steam turbine and the turbine oil contained within, it is important to remove any
contaminaton that might be present or introduced into the oil. Contaminaton can be the catalyst to oil degradaton, which results
in reduced reliability of the turbine. Some turbine OEMs will supply purifcaton systems with the turbine during the installaton,
but depending on the age of the turbine or the contaminant to be removed, it may not be best for the intended job. The term
purifcaton can be representatve of various oil cleaning techniques, depending on the contaminant to be removed. The most
common purifcaton technique for removal of solid contaminaton is fltraton. If the contaminant to be removed is water, the
most common purifcaton devices are called separators.
Separators for removal of water from steam turbine systems include these various types:
Gravity
Centrifugal
Coalescing
Absorbent polymer
Vacuum distllaton
To remove other contaminants, such as solid and sof contaminants, the main purifcaton technique is fltraton. The two main
fltraton types are primary and secondary. Primary fltraton systems are ofen called inline fltraton systems. Secondary fltraton
systems, frequently used in conjuncton with primary systems, are ofen called kidney-loop fltraton systems. Primary fltraton
requires high oil throughput, thus is not usually as efectve as primary and secondary systems used together. Secondary systems
are used to flter the oil separate of the bearings in the turbine. Primary and secondary flter systems use similar media.
Common flter media include:
Cartridge-type containing paper, fber glass or synthetc polymers
Depth fltraton using roll-type paper or partculate solids, such as clay
Electrostatc
Ion-exchange media
Preventon
Another popular way to control contaminaton is to prevent it from getng into the steam turbine from the start. Several
techniques have been used to accomplish this. One common technique is air fltraton; another is controlled air additon to the
system. A common air fltraton device is the desiccant breather. Outside air is drawn through the desiccant breather on its way
into the steam turbine oil system. The breather removes both water vapor and dirt from the air so that these contaminants do not
infltrate the oil. With controlled air additon, the technique is to push a positve pressure of either dry air or an inert gas, such as
nitrogen, into the steam turbine oil system. In this case, the positve pressure on the system keeps contaminated air from entering
the turbines oil system.
Oil conditon monitoring
Afer high-quality oil is installed into a steam turbine and high-performance purifcaton equipment is employed, a monitoring
program must be implemented to evaluate the conditon of the oil. Whole papers have been writen on the subject of oil analysis,
but as a brief overview an efectve oil analysis program should include four main actvites:
Test selecton
Lab selecton
Establishment of acton limits
Use of the report
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The main queston for the turbine operator trying to establish an oil analysis program is what tests should be run? Unfortunately,
many commercial laboratories have simplifed their programs to provide test packages based upon very broad categories, such
as industrial oil analysis or engine oil analysis. The trouble with these test programs is that they can ofen include tests that are
unnecessary or miss tests that may be critcal to the specifc applicaton of interest. In this case, there are specifc tests that
should be considered for proper evaluaton of steam turbine oil. Table 4 provides a list of traditonal tests routnely employed for
industrial oils at commercial labs vs. a list of tests that should be considered, with specifc choices dependent upon the current
operaton of the turbine.
Table 4 Turbine Oil Testng
Traditonal Turbine Oil Tests New Turbine Oil Tests for Consideraton
Viscosity @ 40C Viscosity @ 100C and 40C + VI (ASTM D445 & D2270)
Water by Crackle Water by Karl Fischer (ASTM D6304)
Oxidaton by FTIR Oxidaton by FTIR
Acid Number Acid Number (ASTM D664)
RULER Remaining Useful Life (ASTM D6971)
Membrane Patch Colorimetry (MPC) Varnish Potental
Foam (ASTM D892)
Air Release (ASTM D3427)
Water Separaton (ASTM D1401)
Rust Test (ASTM D665A=DI Water / ASTM D665B=Sea Water)
RPVOT Rotatng Pressure Vessel Oxidaton Test (ASTM D2272)
Partcle Count (ISO 4406-1999)
Sources / recommended reading
1. W. Moehle, V. Ghato, G. Livingstone & D. Wooton, Practcal Approaches to Controlling Sludge and Varnish in Turbine Oil,
Lubricaton Excellence 2007 Conference Proceedings, Noria Corp., May 2007.
2. J. Micetc & A. Beitelman, Performance Problems with Group II Hydro-Cracked Turbine Oils in Corps of Engineers
Hydropower Facilites, US Army Corp of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, 2004.
3. Jim Fitch, How Water Causes Bearing Failure, Machinery Lubricaton, Tulsa, July 2008.
4. Syed Rizvi, ASM Handbook (Volume 18), Lubricant Additves and Their Functons, ASM Internatonal, 1992.
5. D. Troyer, Removing Water Contaminaton, Machinery Lubricaton, Tulsa, May 2001.
6. A. Eachus, The Trouble with Water, Tribology & Lubricaton Technology, Society of Tribologists and Lubricaton Engineers
Publishing, October 2005.
7. G. Livingtone, J. Ameye, and B. Thompson, Rethinking Conditon Monitoring Strategies for Todays Turbine Oils, Machinery
Lubricaton, Noria Corp, May/June 2010.
8. N. Troung, Todays Varnish Control Technologies, Practcing Oil Analysis, Noria Corp., November 2007.
9. G. Wagenseller, Fluid Analysis Critcal to Maximizing Lube-oil Service Life, Combined Cycle Journal, Fourth Quarter 20