WEAR DEBRIS ANALYSIS. Particles in oil arise from a number of different sources.

Contamination can enter the system during maintenance, through breathers, during oil top
offs, in the course of oil changes, and in other ways. Wear particles are generated during
machine operation.

Gas Turbine Lubrication System

NOTE: Lubricating oil recommendations are included in the "Gas turbine subcontractors Literature
chapter".
The lubricating requirements for the gas turbine power plant are furnished by a common forced-feed
lubrication system. This lubrication system, complete with tank, pumps, coolers, filters, valves and
various control and protection devices, furnishes normal lubrication and absorption of heat rejection
load of the gas turbine. Lubricating fluid is circulated to the three main turbine bearings, generator
bearings, and to the turbine accessory gear and fuel pump. Also, lubricating fluid is supplied to the
starting means torque converter for use as hydraulic fluid as well as for lubrication. Additionally, a
portion of the pressurized fluid is diverted and filtered again for use by hydraulic control devices as
control
fluid.

Major system components include:

Lube reservoir in the accessory base;

Main lube pump (shaft driven from the accessory gear);

Auxiliary lube pump and emergency lube pump;

Pressure relief valve VR-1 in the main pump discharge;

Lube fluid heat exchanger;

Lube filters;

Bearing header pressure regulator VPR-2-1.

Lube fluid temperatures are indicated on the thermocouples which may be located in the bearing
header, bearing drains, and the oil tank. For turbine starting, a maximum of 800 SSU is specified for
reliable operation of the control system and for bearing lubrication. A thermocouple, LT_OT-1A,
prevents turbine start-up if the temperature of the lubricant is lower than the switch setting (only if
applicable).
Lubricating fluid for the main, auxiliary and emergency pumps is supplied from the reservoir, While
lubricating fluid used for control is supplied from the bearing header. This lubricant must be regulated
to the proper, predetermined pressure to meet the requirements of the main bearings and the
accessory lube system, as well as the hydraulic control and trip circuits.
Regulating devices are shown on the Lube System Schematic Diagram Figure LS-1. All lubricating
fluid
is
filtered
and
cooled
before
being
piped
to
the
bearing
header.
The reservoir for the lubrication system is the 3300 gallon (i.e. 12 491 l) tank which is fabricated as an
integral part of the accessory base. Lubricating fluid is pumped from the reservoir by the main shaft
driven pump (part of the accessory gear) or auxiliary or emergency Pumps at a pressure of 25 psig
(i.e. 1.75 bar) to the bearing header, the accessory gear and The hydraulic supply system. After
lubricating the bearings the lubricant flows back through various drain lines to the lube reservoir.
All lubricant pumped from the lube reservoir to the bearing header flows through the lube fluid heat
exchanger(s) to remove excess heat and then through the cartridge type filters providing five micron
filtration.
The
dual
heat
exchangers
are
connected
in
parallel.
Filtration of all lube oil is accomplished by a 5 micron, pleated paper filter installed in the lube system
just after the lube oil heat exchanger. Two filters are used with a transfer valve installed between the
filters to direct oil flow through either filter and into the lube oil header.

Lubricating Oil Pumps

Lubrication

to

the

bearing

header

is

supplied

by

three

lube

pumps:

1-The main lube supply pump is a positive displacement type pump mounted in and driven by the
accessory
gear.
2 -The auxiliary lube supply pump is a submerged centrifugal pump driven by an A.C. motor.
3 -The emergency lube supply pump is a submerged centrifugal pump driven by a D.C. motor.

Main Lube Pump

The main lube pump is built into the inboard wall of the lower half casing of the accessory gear. It is
driven by a splined quill shaft from the lower drive gear. The output pressure to the lubrication system
is limited by a back-pressure valve to maintain system pressure.
Auxiliary Lube Pump
The auxiliary lube pump is a submerged centrifugal type pump driven by an A.C. motor. It provides
lubricant pressure during start-up and shut-down of the gas turbine when the main pump cannot
supply sufficient pressure for safe operation. Operation of this pump is as follows:
The auxiliary lube pump is controlled by a low lube oil pressure alarm switch (63 QA-2). This low
pressure level alarm causes the auxiliary pump to run under low lube oil pressure conditions as is the
case during start-up or shut down of the gas turbine when the main pump, driven by the accessory
drive device, does not supply sufficient pressure. At turbine start-up, the A.C. pump starts
automatically when the master control switch on the turbine control panel is turned to the START
position.
The auxiliary pump continues to operate until the turbine reaches approximately 95 per cent of
operational
speed.

At this point, the auxiliary (cooldown) lube pump shuts down and system pressure is supplied by the
shaft-driven,
main
lube
pump.
During the turbine starting sequence, the pump starts when the start signal is given. The control circuit
is through the pressure level of pressure switch 63 QA-2. The pump will run until the turbine operating
speed is reached (operating speed relay 14 HS picks up), even though the lube oil header is at rated
pressure and the discharge pressure level (63 QA-2) is above alarm level setting.
When the turbine is on the shut-down sequence, this pressure transmitter will signal for the auxiliary
pump to start running when the lube oil header pressure falls to the point at which pressure level
alarm setting is reached.
Emergency Lube Pump
The emergency lube pump is a D.C., motor-driven pump, of the submerged centrifugal type. This
pump supplies lube oil to the main bearing header during an emergency shutdown In the event the
auxiliary pump has been forced out of service because of loss of A.C. power, or for other reasons. It
operates
as
follows:
This pump is started automatically by the action of pressure transmitter 96 QA-2 whenever the lube
pressure in the main bearing header falls below the pressure switch set ting.
Should the auxiliary pump fail during the shut-down sequence, because of an A.C. power failure or
any other cause, the emergency lube pump will be started automatically by the action of low lube oil
pressure transmitter 96 QA-2 and continue to run until the turbine shaft comes to rest.

The Coulter Principle

While under contract to the United States Navy in the late 1940s, Wallace H. Coulter developed
a technology for counting and sizing particles using impedance measurements. The technology
was principally developed to count blood cells quickly by measuring the changes in electrical
conductance as cells suspended in a conductive fluid passed through a small orifice. This
approach is known as the Coulter Principle and over the past seventy-five years the technology
has also been used to characterize thousands of different industrial particulate materials with
over 8,000 references to the uses of this technology have been documented.
Beckman Coulter systems which utilize this principle are called COULTER COUNTER
instruments. Drugs, pigments, fillers, toners, foods, abrasives, explosives, clay, minerals,
construction materials, coating materials, metals, filter materials, and many other sample types
have all been analyzed using the Coulter Principle. This method can be used to measure any
particulate material that can be suspended in an electrolyte solution. Particles as small as 0.2 m
and as large as 1600 m in diameter can routinely be measured using the latest Multisizer 4e
system.

How it Works

In a COULTER COUNTER instrument, a tube with a small aperture on the wall is immersed into
a container in which particles are suspended in a low-concentration electrolyte (Figure 1). Two
electrodes, one inside the aperture tube and one outside the tube create a current path through
the electrolyte when an electric field is applied. The impedance (effective resistance) between
the electrodes is then measured. The aperture therefore creates a "sensing zone" and particles
suspended in the electrolyte can be counted by passing them through the aperture.
As a particle passes through the aperture, a volume of electrolyte equivalent to the immersed
volume of the particle is displaced from the sensing zone. This causes a short-term change in the
impedance across the aperture which can be measured as a voltage or current pulse. The pulse
height is proportional to the volume of the sensed particle.
Using count- and pulse-height analyzer circuits, the number and volume of each particle passing
through the aperture can be electronically recorded and digitized along with several key
parameters that describe each pulse such as pulse height, pulse width, time stamp, pulse area,
etc.
Saved pulse data can be used to monitor sample changes over time to follow changes in the
sample such as fragmentation or aggregation. Generally particle volume is usually represented
in terms of equivalent spherical diameter which can be then used to obtain particle size
distribution.
In modern COULTER COUNTER instruments, such as the Multisizer3 and 4e particle counter
precise control and measuring of the volume of liquid passing through the aperture allows the
sample concentration to be determined.

It generally takes less than one minute to perform a measurement with a COULTER COUNTER
instrument given typical sampling rates up to 10,000 counts per second.
Available aperture sizes range from 102000 m and can be used to measure particles within a
size range of 2 to 80% of the nominal diameter with accuracy better than 1%. Therefore, an
overall particle size-range of 0.21600 m is feasible. For example, a 30 m aperture can
measure particles from about 0.6 to 18 m in diameter. A 140 m aperture can measure particles
from about 2.8 to 84 m.
If the particles to be measured cover a wider range than a single aperture can measure, two or
more apertures can be used and the test results can be overlapped to provide a complete
particle size distribution.

Highest Resolution for Particle Size Analysis

The number of pulses detected during measurement gives the particle count with the amplitude
of the pulse giving the volume of the particle. Because this is a single-particle measurement
process, it yields the highest resolution that any particle characterization technique can achieve.
The advantages of such high resolution include the capability to display details of a particle size
distribution, finer differentiation between particle sizes and more accurate statistical values
calculated from the distribution.

Solenoid
Planar coil
Eddy current