Studies by Electric Power Research Institute have concluded that over half of the forced outage hours related to bearings, journals and lube oil systems were due to contaminated oil. This contamination comes in the form of free, emulsified and dissolved water and also particulate matter.

USE ONLINE TOTAL WATER IN OIL MONITORS FOR TOTAL WATER IN OIL REPORTING

Since it is often difficult if not impossible to prevent water from entering the lubrication system, it is extremely important to remove the oil before it causes permanent damage. A Total Oil Purification System is necessary by using purifiers to remove both water and particulates. It is also of great benefit to implement a total water in oil monitor that is dynamic enough to sense rapid changes in the turbine oil quality.

To ensure the successful operation of a turbine circulating oil system, the turbine manufacturer, the turbine operator, and the lubricant supplier must cooperate by furnishing their technical expertise.

Examples of turbine oil problems show that effective sampling procedures and monitoring of turbine oils is required to assure a long service life. ASTM Practice for In-Service Monitoring of Mineral Turbine Oils for Steam and Gas Turbines (D 4378) is an excellent guide to accomplish this.

In combination with the above methods and whether it concerns a turbine circulating oil system, turbine oil monitoring, quality control, turbine lubricant, turbine oil analysis, warning limits or turbine oil additives the addition of an online monitor will enable the power plant to analyze and immediate changes in the turbine oil condition.

Lube oil contamination is generally recognized, backed by numerous tests and studies, to be responsible for the majority of machine wear. Consequently, it is imperative to have contaminations removed from any system as soon as possible. Other than common solid contamination, the lube oil for the journal bearings and gears of high speed rotating machines are prone to water contamination. This is especially true when leakage occurs in the pump stuffing box or steam seal system in a steam turbine driven unit. The EASZ-1 water in oil monitor is able to monitor the condition of the oil whether the water is in a dissolved, emulsified or free state. This total water monitoring gives operators immediate real time data on the current status of the tubine oil, whether good or bad.

Water causes the loss of lubricating integrity of the lube oil, and the corrosion of the gears and bearings in a high speed rotating system. However, separating free and emulsified water from the lube oil is much more difficult than removing debris due to the high viscosity of the lube oil. Whatever method you employ , whether it be coalescing filters, centrifugal purifiers, and thermal vacuum systems it is important that the type of oil purification is effective and the only way to monitor this on a continual basis is to install online monitors.

The EASZ-1 water in oil monitor can be used as a stand alone device and purchased from EESIFLO to directly retrofit into any existing oil purification system or can be combine with state of the art lube Oil conditioning systems
For more information log onto http://www.eesiflo.com or contact your local EESIFLO representative.

Related:
• Steam turbines
• Gas turbines
• Nuclear turbines
• Circulating systems
• Combined cycle power units
• Combustion turbines
• Centrifugal Compressors
• Reciprocating Compressors
• Diesel units
• Hydraulic systems
• Gear systems
• Lubricating systems
• Process systems
• Gear lubricants
• Heat transfer fluids
• Compressor oils
• Synthetic fluids
• Process systems
• Hydraulic fluids
• Quenching oils
• Turbine oils