Power Plant Basics: Turbine Lube Oil

The use of circulating Oil to lubricate and cool the bearings of the steam turbine generator at our power plant

[@earlycut3777]

Cheers for the explanation!

[@Shaddicus]

Glad you found it useful

[@MarcusViniciusMO]

Awesome!! What are the common problems that can occur in the lube oil system?

[@Shaddicus]

The problems mostly stem from the cooling system. If the cooling is inadequate to the heat load the oil viscosity drops and then the bearings overheat. If the coolers leak, water can contaminate the oil system, which will also damage bearings.

[@MarcusViniciusMO]

@@Shaddicus Thanks for replying, Shad!! And what about oil starvation? Are leakage/clogging in the oil lines frequent? The lube oil systems usually have flow meters for each bearing?

[@MarcusViniciusMO]

@@Shaddicus How water contamination is detected?

[@Shaddicus]

SpongeBob meme: (2 Years later) We're a relatively new plant and have experienced no leaks, but clogging shouldn't ever be a problem if the strainer integrity is good and the operators avoid risks to contamination. We don't have flow meters for the each bearing, but we do have site glasses for flow and both oil and metal temperature elements, which would all be tattletales for flow restrictions. Water in the oil will make it look milky. The coalescing filter on the conditioning skid will remove water, but if the leak rate is higher than the cleaning rate eventually your viscosity will be compromised. Swap to the standby cooler and schedule to have the other cooler plates inspected.

[@alejandrosanchezdimas1751]

Thanks

[@Shaddicus]

No problem

[@حميدالعوفي-ه3س]

What about the oil pump that is attached to the shaft of the turbine it self 🤔

[@Shaddicus]

A good design for reliability, but we don't have one at our plant.