18

MAY

2009

TS TIDINGS

FEED BACK NO.2 Project : Sesasayee Paper Boards, Erode, 1 x 21 MW, 1 x 16 MW units Problem: 1. Tripping of 21 MW unit on control oil pressure low and control valve hunting. Problem: 2. Tripping of 16 MW unit during islanding on under frequency and tripping of unit during lub oil pump change over. The 21 MW STG (Condensing turbine) was commissioned in 2005 and 16 MW STG (back pressure turbine) was commissioned in 2008. The 21 MW STG was reported for tripping on control oil pressure low frequently in may 2009. The problem was studied at site. From the trends/SOE history it was observed that the unit tripping on 5 th and 8 th May 2009 was on trip oil pressure going low leading to closing of ESV. Also, the control oil pressure trend indicated drop in pressure from 10 ksc to around 9.3 ksc. The control oil filter was replaced with new element in the governing rack. When the filter is partially choked condition, the flow capacity during hunting/islanding (transient conditions) may become insufficient leading to drop in trip oil pressure. This can cause closing of ESV and tripping of unit. After replacement of filter elements, the unit was sustaining for hunting period of more than half an hour with nearly 0.7 ksc drop in control oil pressure as indicated from the observations. The drop in control oil pressure was studied and observations made as follows: 1. The trend history was studied for the dates 16 th May 2009 and 27th May 2009 as hunting was reported, whenever the machine is islanded. The load hunting of around 0.5 to 1 MW was observed for a period of more than half an hour. The machine was hand

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MAY

2009

TS TIDINGS

tripped and restarted during both occasions. The control oil pressure trend shows drop of around 0.5-0.7 ksc, during hunting. 2. The damping device in the HP secondary oil line was found opening more than 3 turns. This was earlier kept open around one and half turn open and locked during commissioning. The same was readjusted to around one and half turn, keeping watch on the valve opening. 3. The control oil pressure transmitter is located in the oil line to governing rack, the governing rack tap of is of 1 inch size. It was adviced to customer to check for any restriction in the tap of region. The control oil pressure drop may be localized in this line leading to insufficient flow to governing rack during hunting of control valves. It was also recommended to increase the line size to 2 inch as suggested by the customer. These will be done in next shut down. 4. The 21 MW STG is presently operating in the load range of 11 to 15 MW after commissioning of 16 MW STG as against normal operation of around 20 MW. The off line speed controller gain for island mode of operation was reduced to 4.5 from 5.4, as sometimes the controller may be sensitive at this range of valve opening. The following controller tuning parameters available on operator display of wood ward governor and the values for 21 MW STG as follows: Mode of operation Islanding mode Prop gain Offline speed 4.498 controller With grid on speed On line speed 2.8 mode controller Load control Aux controller 0.45 Int gain 0.7 0.6 0.37

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MAY

2009

TS TIDINGS

After these adjustments, the unit was tested with islanding operation. The behaviour was smooth and no hunting was observed. The control oil pressure transmitter indication was also stable. The control oil pressure and trip oil pressure at governing rack was observed during islanding and was found momentary dip of 0.4 ksc only. Further, in case of hunting during island operation in future, customer was advised to vary the gain constants and check the behaviour. Also, the HP valve limiter can be brought closer to HP valve demand observing the speed of machine to check whether hunting stops. This will eliminate hydraulic problem. Tripping of 16 MW STG during islanding: It was reported that the 16 MW STG was tripping on under frequency, whenever the unit is isolated from grid with increase in load of even 2 to 3 MW. The tie breaker logic in the woodward program was checked and found that the speed ramp rate to reach rated speed on tie breaker opens is set at 1 RPM/sec. Whenever the machine islands near to lower frequency, the speed further will reduce on increase in load, leading to under frequency of the machine. The ramp rate to reach rated frequency on tie breaker open was increased to 600 RPM/sec. This setting was done online in the woodward governor after entering into service mode. Tripping of 16 MW STG during lub oil pump change over: It was reported that the unit is tripping on lub oil pressure low protection whenever the running pump trips and other pump starts automatically. This problem is occurring in the some of the units where the lub oil pumps are of centrifugal type. In the units where the screw type pumps are provided with pressure control valve for lub oil header, the pressure drop is less during pump change over. The following guidelines were given to customer to overcome the problem.

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MAY

2009

TS TIDINGS

1. The discharge NRV elevation of one pump was lowered and other pump NRV elevation is to be lowered. 2. The lub oil pump changeover on discharge header pressure low is set at 6.5 ksc. The setting shall be increased to 9 ksc as the normal operating pressure is 10.5 to 11 ksc. 3. the lub oil header pressure was 2.18 ksc. The oil flow to the bearings shall be optimized (In particular gear box oil pressure to be reduced) observing the bearing temperature at full load. Lub oil header pressure of 2.4 ksc is to be achieved. 4. The pump change over is to be checked at rated speed and again if the tripping occurs, the duration of lub oil pressure low switch acting is to be checked. Based on the observation, a time delay of maximum of 2 seconds shall be given for the tripping on lub oil header pressure very low. The protection is to be checked offline after introduction of time delay. The bearings will be safe as Emergency overhead oil tank is provided in the lub oil system.