MYTH BUSTERS

MYTH: COMPRESSOR
BEARING TEMPERATURE
MUST BE BELOW 200°F
BY KLAUS BRUN & RAINER KURZ

O
ver the last few years, compressor man- lowered this requirement to 200°F to be in line
ufacturers have invested significant with other API machinery standards. Most
research funding in an attempt to machinery built and operated prior to 2014
decrease bearing and lube oil temperatures in seemed to operate just fine at the slightly higher
their machinery bearings by a few degrees. lube oil temperatures. However, this change
Sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars resulted in a rush by most machinery manufac-
have been spent to lower temperatures by just turers to find methods to lower their bearing
single digit numbers. These expenditures are metal temperatures regardless of the actual ben-
driven by the need to meet recent generic indus- efit it provides to the bearing load carrying
try standards for rotating machinery bearings capability, or to the machinery unbalance
that are being strictly enforced by several oper- response and stability.
ators. Let’s review the origin of these standards
and discuss when and where the strict applica- The machinery operator should always evaluate
tion of these standards makes sense and when
they are over-simplistic or overly conservative. previous manufacturer experience, specific design/
The function of bearings in a turbomachine
is to support and center the rotating shaft against application considerations, and operating/test data
static and dynamic radial and axial forces. In prior to insisting on a fixed temperature limit from
most industrial compressors, steam turbines, and
gas turbines, these bearings are of the tilting-pad a generic industry specification.
fluid film type, using either a mineral or synthetic
oil to cool and lubricate the bearings. There are Rather than blindly following specifications,
clearly some fundamental physical limits on the one should always ask what the true limitations
lowest possible lube oil temperature in a bearing of a physical process are to make sure a specifi-
that is achievable based on the energy that is cation makes sense for a given application. In
transferred from the rotating shaft to the station- this case, the limiting factors and critical param-
ary fluid film and the heat load that the oil can eters are: (i) the bearing pad hot spot metal tem-
absorb, transfer, and transport for a given oil heat peratures, (ii) the temperature at which the lube
capacity and flow rate. Beyond these basic phys- oil starts degrading rapidly, and (iii) the tempera-
ical limitations, there are many design choices ture at which the viscosity of the lube oil is too
such as type of bearing, pad size, aspect ratios, low to provide a consistent pressure gradient film
thrust equalizing, oil injection points, angle of on the pad to support the required shaft loads.
load variation, and a host of other complex geo- With respect to hot spot metal temperatures,
metric and operational parameters that affect the the material that is of concern is tin-based bab-
lube oil temperature. bitt surface material. In principle, the failure
American Petroleum Institute (API) stan- mode is a function of the temperature, shear
dards had traditionally required bearing tem- rate and hydrodynamic pressures, which are
peratures below 200°F for slow-running heavily application dependent. Tin-based bab-
machinery such as pumps and motors. Until bitts can operate at temperatures exceeding
2014, API standard 617, 7th edition for centrif- 300°F. But since material strength degrades rap-
ugal compressors, allowed bearing and lube oil idly with temperature, practical limits are about
temperatures up to 212°F. But the 8th edition 265°F for a tilting pad bearing as specified by

Turbomachinery International • January/February 2021 www.turbomachinerymag.com 41

most bearing and turbomachinery OEMs and So, measuring temperature in fixed geome-
240°F as specified by most gear OEMs and try bearings or offsetting the temperature trans-
AGMA specifications. ducer from the center line in long bearings will
And yet, the temperature targeted by the generally mean that the measurement is not at
most recent API standard is specified as 200°F the hot spot and place a bearing at risk for fail-
inclusive of all hydrodynamic bearings, both ure at a low temperature, the kind of events that
fixed geometry and tilting pad; and over a wide lead to lowering of temperature standards. On
range of applications, from slow moving motors the other hand, when properly implemented,
and bull gears to high speed pinions, compres- this measurement is an excellent and fast indi-
sors, and turbines. In order to meet this require- cator to determine if the bearing is operating at
ment, other margins may be impacted whether excessive temperatures with possible hot spots.
it be critical speed separation margin or stability Thus, bearing pad metal temperatures should
such as by reducing the journal diameter to still be used for alarm and shutdown controls of
decrease surface speed or by using a longer the machine.
bearing thereby increasing the rotor bearing The bulk lube oil temperature is usually
span. While still meeting standards, additional measured in the bearing (individual and com-
margins might be reduced in areas where they mon) drain, and the reservoir. These measure-
might be more preferred. ments provide a good indication of bulk tem-
For lube oil degradation, a 230°F metal peratures and can be useful as an indicator
temperature is discussed by the American Soci- whether the lube oil degradation temperature
ety of Testing and Materials (ASTM D4304-17) has been exceeded. But they are not useful to
as a criterion to switch from standard Type 1 determine the actual temperature condition
and Type 2 mineral oils to a more high per- inside the bearing or, because of the measure-
forming ASTM Type 3 oil, which is generally ment delay, as an alarm or shutdown.
formulated for heavy duty gas turbine or com- While the 200°F bearing and lube oil tem-
bined cycle applications. perature limit has become the accepted reality
The other commonly mentioned require- in the turbomachinery industry, it does not
ment, albeit not apparently anchored in any always make sense. It is not achievable for some
industry standard, is that the bulk temperature, applications. Simply enforcing this limit for all
either from a common drain or reservoir, should machines is an over-simplification that leads to
stay below 180°F. This requirement is mainly expensive design conservatism and not necessar-
based on operational experience and the basic ily a better bearing or better machine. The
rule of thumb that the oxidation rate of turbine machinery operator should always evaluate pre-
oils generally doubles for every 18°F above vious manufacturer experience, specific design/
140°F bulk temperature. Finally, while lube oil application considerations, and operating/test
viscosity is non-linear (mostly logarithmic) across data prior to insisting on a fixed temperature
machinery operating temperatures, a tempera- limit from a generic industry specif ication.
ture increase from 200 to 212°F will not lower (Brian Pettinato provided technical input for
the viscosity below what is required to provide this article.) ■
adequate viscosity for pressure film stability in
tilting pad and fixed geometry bearings.
The other question that has an implication Klaus Brun is the Director of
on the validity and value of the lube oil tempera- R&D at Elliott Group. He is also
ture criteria is the actual measurement location the past Chair of the Board of
and associated sensor accuracy to measure the Directors of the ASME
true metal and lube oil temperatures. In most International Gas Turbine
turbomachines, film temperature of the bearing Institute and the IGTI Oil & Gas
lube oil film is measured with RTDs or thermo- applications committee.
couples below the babbitt surface at the assumed
hot spot. This measurement is an indirect indi- Rainer Kurz is the Manager for
cation of the bearing surface temperature since Systems Analysis at Solar
the temperature sensors are recessed from the Turbines Incorporated in San
pad surface, and the hot spot angular position is Diego, CA. He is an ASME
variable especially for fixed geometry bearings Fellow since 2003 and the past
typically used in motors. Furthermore, the hot chair of the IGTI Oil and Gas
spot is along the axial center of the bearing, but Applications Committee.
measurements are allowed to be taken off the Any views or opinions presented in this article are solely those of the
authors and do not necessarily represent those of Solar Turbines
center line if the bearing is long. Incorporated, Elliott Group, or any of their affiliates.

42 www.turbomachinerymag.com January/February 2021 • Turbomachinery International