SERVICE BULLETIN

NOTICE: Service Bulletins are proprietary to Turbomach SA, Via Campagna 15, CH-6595 Riazzino,
Switzerland. The Type of Change and Recommended Compliance specified reflects Turbomach’s best
judgment regarding the Service Bulletin. All questions should be directed to your Turbomach Field Service
Representative. Solar, Saturn, Centaur, Taurus, Mercury, Mars, Titan, SoLoNOx, and Turbotronic are
trademarks of Solar Turbines Incorporated. Cat and Caterpillar are trademarks of Caterpillar Inc.
Specifications subject to change without notice.

TBM#: SB 14 -039
ISSUED: 20.11.2015
PRODUCT: CENTAUR 40, CENTAUR 50, TAURUS 60, TAURUS 70,
MARS 100, TITAN 130
MODEL(S): Generator Set
Specifics: All units with TTSX liquid fuel system (ex MAN packages
NOT included)
DISTRIBUTION: TBM Worldwide

SUBJECT: DRAIN TANK OVERFLOW

Type of Change: Product Improvement

Recommended
Compliance: Earliest Opportunity

Purpose:

Turbomach has recently re-designed the liquid fuel system of the Gas Turbine packages.
During the design review phase, some areas for improvement, mainly related to potential
drain tank overflow, have been indentified.
The purpose of this document is to:

• Describe additional recommended procedures to avoid drain tank overflow

without any modifications to the installed liquid fuel system.

• Propose, to those customers who may be interested, an upgrade to the liquid

fuel system to prevent drain tank overflow.

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 GENERAL INFORMATION:

Two scenarios for potential drain tank overflow have been identified:
1. Engine in standstill condition or operating on gas fuel: if the liquid fuel system
upstream of the primary liquid fuel shutoff valve is still under pressure (e.g. booster
pump still in operation) and this shutoff valve is leaking (e.g. due to sealing failure)
some liquid fuel may flow into the drain tank. This malfunction of the primary
shutoff valve may lead to a drain tank overflow.

2. Engine operating in liquid fuel mode: one of the drain valves installed in the liquid
fuel system is leaking (e.g. due to sealing failure) allowing some liquid fuel to flow
into the drain tank. If, in addition, the warning by the control system, which is
activated by the drain tank high level switch, is ignored by the operator, this
malfunction of a drain valve may lead to a drain tank overflow.

Both events may result in liquid fuel overflow from the drain tank into the gas turbine
base-frame/enclosure. If overflow persist this may even result in liquid fuel leaking out of
the gas turbine enclosure. Only in case that the engine is in the standstill condition, the
overflow may even result (under certain conditions) in liquid fuel flooding the inside of the
engine turbine section.
As mentioned above the overflow scenarios can occur only in case of component failure in
conjunction with no action by the operator following the drain tank high level warning.

ACTION REQUIRED
To prevent drain tank overflow as described in scenario 1, without any modification to the
currently installed liquid fuel system, it is recommended to close the manual liquid fuel
isolating valve installed outside the gas turbine package when the engine is in standstill
condition or operating on gas fuel.

To prevent drain tank overflow as described in scenario 2, without any modification to the
currently installed liquid fuel system, it is recommended to empty the drain tank after each
of the following operations:

• Liquid to gas fuel transfer sequence.

• Shut-down sequence in liquid.
• Stop sequence in liquid.

In this way the drain tank will always be empty before any further liquid fuel operations.

Any subsequent activation of the drain tank high level switch warning while operating in
liquid fuel has to be considered by the operator as an indication of a potential leakage
(due to malfunction of a drain valve) and therefore one of the following actions are
required:

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 1- If available, transfer to gas fuel operation (as long as the malfunction in the liquid
fuel system is not resolved, to avoid re-starting in liquid, it is recommended to close
the manual liquid fuel isolating valve installed outside the gas turbine package);

2- If a transfer to gas fuel is not possible or if the engine is operated only in liquid
fuel, it is recommended that the operator shuts-down the engine and resolves the
malfunction.

FAILURE TO FOLLOW THESE ACTIONS CAN RESULT IN

DAMAGE TO PROPERTY

In case of interest in upgrading the liquid fuel system to prevent drain tank overflow,
please contact the local Turbomach District Office for support or to arrange for a quotation
for a customized technical solution.

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