Turbine Lube Oil Operation

Presented By:
Nihar Behera,
CPP , Operations
Paradeep
Introduction

• Lube oil also known as bearing oil.

• Generally serves Turbine and its driven objects by supplying oil to bearing.
• Turbine’s hydraulic control system use it as the working fluid and the line pressure
as the actuating force.
• It is a mineral oil or a synthetic oil containing additives to increase corrosion
protection & ageing stability.
• Type : ISO VG 46 (refers to oil’s kinematic viscosity in centistokes at 40 degC ,
+ or-10%.
• It has a viscosity of range 41.4 to 5.6 centistokes at 40 degC.
Purpose :

Lubrication : Making oil film between bearing & the rotor , Cooling
the bearings , Debris flush out.

Control oil system : Medium for hydraulically operating the ESV, Safety
block & CPC.

Jacking oil system : jacking up the shaft before rolling.

Lubrication

• Creates a oil film between bearing & shaft to avoid wear n tear.

• Dissipates the heat from bearing which gets transferred from rotor to
bearing.

• Any sort of impurities get flush out

Lube Oil Supply System
Components Of Lube Oil Supplier

• Main Oil Tank (MOT)

• Auxiliary Oil Pumps (AOP-1,2)
• Oil Vapor Extractor Fans ( OVEF-1,2)
• Emergency Oil Pump (EOP)
• Lube Oil Coolers (LOC-1,2)
• Lube Oil Filters (LOF-1,2)
• Control Oil Filters (COF-1,2)
MOT Skid :
Fluid : ISO VG 46

Tank Capacity : 16045 Ltrs

Lube oil flow : 974 LPM

Control oil flow: 30 LPM

Lube oil Pr. 3.5 bar

Control oil Pr. 9.5 bar

Lube Oil
Cooler :
Heat Duty : 608512 Kcal/hr

Shell Side:
Design Pr. 13.5 bar
Design Temp. 100 degC
Hydrotest Pr. 20.25 bar

Tube Side:
Design Pr. 5 bar
Design Temp. 100 degC
Hydrotest Pr. 7.5 bar
Lube Oil Filter :
Fluid : ISO VG 46
Flow : 1200 LPM
Design Pr. 13.5 bar
Design Temp. 100 degC
Filtration : 25 Microns
Control Oil
Filter :
Fluid : ISO VG 46
Flow : 60 LPM
Design Pr. 13.5 bar
Design Temp. 100 degC
Filtration : 10 Microns
Accumulator

• Installed in control oil line.

• Purpose : To minimize the pressure variation in control oil line.

• Pressure variation observed during sudden load throw off, Pump

changeover and filter changeover.
Accumulator Types

• Weight Loaded Accumulator.

• Spring loaded Accumulator.
• Gas loaded Accumulator.
Weight Loaded Accumulator
Spring loaded Accumulator
Gas loaded accumulator

• Separate Type:
Piston type , Diaphragm Type , Bladder Type.

• Non Separate Type.

Bladder Type accumulator
Drives for operation

• Auxiliary Oil pumps : Transfer lube oil to individual prime movers

bearing end and maintains the lube oil hdr. press. at 3.5 Kg/sqcm
• Oil Vapor Extractor Fans : Removes the oil vapor getting collected
inside the MOT.
• Emergency Oil Pump : Incase of AOP failure or AC supply fail EOP
maintains the lube oil supply to STG’s bearings. Standby for
emergency operation only.
Barring Gear Operation
Barring Gear Operation

• For Cold startup :

• Ensure MOT level in local to be 1150mm
• MOT heaters 3nos. are turned ON for MOT temp. to reach 45degC.
• AOP-1 out of 2 feeder made ON while other in OFF condition.
• Once hdr. Press. Built to 3.5 kg/sqcm restore the other AOP and give
standby selection.
• EOP to be made ready at remote panel end.
• AC JOP to be started with disch. Press. 150 Kg/sqcm and check the
lifting pressure at Alternator end to be 50 Kg/sqcm.
Barring Gear Operation

• Give DC JOP standby selection.

• Restore Barring gear feeder and hand-rotate barring gear motor to
one complete cycle for proper gear locking. Engage the motor.
• EOP to be made ready at remote panel end.
• Start barring gear from soft starter panel. On load current = 9A.
Control Oil System
Lube Oil properties

• Viscosity : Ability of an oil to flow or its internal resistance to flow.

• Pour Point : It is the lowest temp. at which a lubricant will flow.

• Viscosity Index : It expresses an oil’s resistance to viscosity changes as

the temp. changes.
Viscosity vs Operating Temp.

• When an oil film forms between a bearing and a shaft some of the oil
molecules are attracted towards shaft surface while others towards
bearing surface, This is called as shearing rate.

• Shear rate is directly affected by the oil’s viscosity & operating temp.

• Multigrade oil with low viscosity will have higher potential shear rate.
• Single viscosity oil will generally lower potential shear rate.
Viscosity vs Operating Temp.

• With increase in operating temp. oil with low viscosity & high
potential shear rate will loose the film and metal to metal contact
may occur.

• If oil’s viscosity is too high with a low potential shear rate , the
internal resistance to flow will increase the temp. causing an
overheated condition which result in oil film breakdown.
Machine behavior to lube oil temp.

• Heavy Vibration:
With decrease in temp. oil viscosity increases. So oil in the bearing
exhibits a stronger tendency to cling to shaft surface & dragged around
the surface.
With low temp. more amount of oil is driven around the bearing and
the oil wedge in the bearing looses its stability & its thickness pulsates.
The pulsating wedge excites high rotor vibration referred to as oil whip
or oil whirl.
Machine behavior to lube oil temp.

• Bearing Overheating :
With decrease in temp. oil viscosity increases. Too low temp. hence too
large viscosity of the bearing inlet oil causes the bearing oil flow to
decrease due to increased friction in the oil supply piping.
Reduced oil flow may be too small for adequate cooling causing bearing
overheating & possible damage.
Lube oil sample test

• Total Acid number :

The total acid number (TAN) is a measurement of acidity that is determined by the
amount of potassium hydroxide in milligrams that is needed to neutralize the acids
in one gram of oil.
It is used to estimate the amount of additive depletion, acidic contamination and
oxidation of lubricant degradation.
The total acid number is an analytical test to determine the deterioration of
lubricants—the more acidic a lubricant is, the more degradation occurs.
As a fluid degrades, the levels of corrosive acids increase, along with the danger of
component failure .
Lube oil sample test

• Flash point :
The flash point is the lowest temperature at which the vapor above the oil sample
will momentarily ignite or flash when an ignition source is passed over it. 
Lube oil sample test

• NAS Value :
• NAS value is a standard adopted worldwide to grade the oil contamination, based
on particle size. The standard tells how many particles of a particular size are
present in that sample.
• Higher the NAS value higher is the contamination (bigger particles). Hence the
delicate sophisticated type of application like control valves allow oil of NAS value
of 5 - 6.
Lube oil sample test

• Crackle Test :
The crackle test is a standard laboratory test to detect the presence of water in
lubricating oil. A drop of oil is placed on a hotplate that has been heated to
approximately 400° F. 
The sample then bubbles, spits, crackles or pops when moisture is present.  At
Insight Services when the crackle test is positive, indicating the presence of water, a
Karl Fischer titration is performed to quantify the water. 
If the crackle test is negative it simply means that the level of water present in the
sample is below the detection limit; it doesn’t necessarily mean the sample is void
of water.
Lube oil sample test

• Emulsion :
• Demulsibility is the lubricant’s ability to separate from water. It is measured using
ASTM D1401. This test blends 40 milliliters of water and oil, reporting the amount
of oil, water and emulsion after a predetermined amount of time.
• According to ASTM D4304, a lubricant should have less than 3 milliliters of stable
emulsion.
Lube oil sample test

• Pour point :
• The pour point of an oil is the lowest temperature at which an oil is observed to
flow by gravity in a specified lab test.
• Specifically, the pour point is 3 degrees C (5 degrees F) above the temperature at
which the oil shows no movement when a lab sample container is held
horizontally for 5 seconds.
Lube oil sample test

• Appearance :
Appearance of oil can be used as indicator of the health of the oil.
There are a number of possibilities for the change in appearance of the oil :
• Oxidation of the oil
• Mixing of one grade of oil with other
• Oil darkening due to petrochemical reaction
• Ageing of the oil
• Water ingress in the oil
• Soot formation, insoluble , dirt and solid contaminants
• Varnish – or varnish potential – which is a thin insoluble contaminant formed due to
depleted additives or by products of oil degradation
Any Doubts ???

Thank You