Journal Bearing Pre-Lubes During

Turbine Startup - Beware the Risks

Noria Corporation
Tags: turbine lubrication
Question: What do you get when you mix half a bottle of oil, a popular aftermarket
engine oil additive and water? Answer: Trouble - if that is not how the additive is
supposed to be used
!ne technician employed at a power company believed an aftermarket product was
causing problems with his company"s turbine lubricant management program# $e
tested his hypothesis and proved that aftermarket additives can create problems if
they are not used in the manner for which they were intended#
The technician is in charge of the oil program at his plant# %very three months, he
sends a sample of the turbine oil to an off-site lab for analysis# The supplier, a
ma&or oil company, also takes samples regularly, and reports its findings to the
plant# 'fter one such testing, the results indicated borderline foaming and water
separability characteristics and a high acid number# 'nother run of samples
confirmed water separability and other issues with the fluid#
### results indicated borderline foaming and water separability characteristics and a
high acid number ###
The technician suspected that product cross-contamination was occurring and
began to look for the source contaminant# The engine oil additive was discussed as
a potential culprit# Clearly, the additive supplier did not propose in the additive
product labeling the practice of pre-lubricating the &ournal bearings with this
material during turbine teardowns# (lant supervision was skeptical that the additive
was creating the problem given the long plant history with the practice, but was
willing to let the technician take a hard look#
The technician began to collect information on the suspected problem from various
sources# !ne report said three pints of this type of additive, and)or a detergent
motor oil, could destroy the surface tension characteristics of up to *+,+++ gallons
of turbine oil# This motivated the technician to conduct a test at the plant"s oil shop#
$e mixed three concoctions, and came up with the results seen in Table *#
$e put each of the three bottles in a paint shaker for a long time, then left the
bottles on his desk for a couple of days# $e repeated the test with new samples
from the same batch, and achieved the same results#
'fter the initial test, the technician re-ran the tests, this time using a blender#
'gain, some foaming occurred# ,t took approximately one month for the additive)oil
mixture to separate from the solution# ,n the mixture of straight turbine oil and
water, the emulsion broke right away- there was very little time difference when
shedding its water vs# a test without the heavy synthetic#
The technician called an independent manufacturer of oils and greases for a
recommendation# 'fter they discussed his re.uirements, the technician settled on a
high-viscosity synthetic lubricant /see Table 01, which was clear and had the same
consistency as the engine oil additive# The synthetic formulation is designed to
provide surface wear protection and is compatible with the rust and corrosion
inhibitors, antifoam and demulsibility agents used in turbine oils# The synthetic also
provides tackiness .ualities- the lubricant is formulated with special additives to
adhere to component surfaces without interfering with demulsibility# The synthetic
was not a motor oil and didn"t contain detergents and dispersants#
There was clearly a difference between how the two products reacted ###
The technician repeated the tests using the synthetic to see if there was a similar
foaming problem, and found that the separation was rapid and complete# There was
clearly a difference between how the two products reacted under similar
circumstances# The appearance of the mixtures was compelling# The stable
emulsion created with such a small amount of the additive in the turbine oil
convinced supervisory personnel that there was a connection#
The manager moved to replace the engine oil additive with the high viscosity
synthetic lubricant after seeing the results# !ther plants within the company are
now following suit#
Figure 1
Historical Perspective
Why was the additive used in the first place? 2otors are largely stationary during
teardown activities# (eriodically, the shaft must be turned to check alignment and
do other work# The high viscosity, tacky additive tended to stay between the shaft
and the bearing much better than the other oils and products that were readily
available at the plant# Conse.uently, re-oiling the turbine bearings could be done
less fre.uently with the engine additive than with other materials during the
outage#
'pproximately seven years ago, the additive was reformulated with more
detergents and dispersants to clean and hold particles better in the intended
application3 engine lubrication# 't that same time, the power company changed the
oil in its turbines# ,t was the first change in *4 years# 5hortly after the change, the
oil began to fail#
,t"s a common story that bearings on turbine generators are pulled apart and
fre.uently coated with this product to facilitate rebuild#
The synthetic supplier works to provide solutions to various problems in plants,
improving efficiencies within power generating plants, reducing station service
costs, reducing energy consumption, and extending the life and longevity of both
the e.uipment and the lubricant# ,t is challenging for smaller independent
companies to compete with larger companies# The supplier"s success is based on
.uality and performance of products, technical expertise and service#
Editors Note
,nformation for this article was gathered through an interview and conversations
with the technician of the power company, who wishes to remain anonymous#
Chevron Corporation manufactures a widely used turbine
lubricant. Chevron is familiar with the problems that incidental
lubricant and additive contamination of any turbine or R&O oil
causes in lubricant performance. Additive competition or
incompatibility is not uncommon when mixing lubricant
products that are designed for different applications. It is,
therefore, not particularly surprising that an additive designed
for use in engine applications could create difficulties when
used in a turbine oil application with a turbine oil.
According to research by Chevron, the detergent dispersant
pac!age in the engine oil additive is not compatible with R&O
oils. "he calcium in the engine oil additive reacts with acidic
rust inhibitors #present in all turbine oils$ to form an insoluble
calcium carboxylate. "hese by%products are insoluble and will
form deposits andor varnish. Although Chevron hasn&t directly
measured the effect on foaming, it is possible that small
particles #from calcium carboxylates$ will act as boiling stones
#more surface area$ to cause more foaming.
"he detergentdispersant pac!age in the additive also destroys
water separability within typical turbine oils. Chevron studies
show that as little as '(( ppm of the engine oil additive in its
)*" product will cause poor water separability #A*"+
,-.(-$.
Machinery Lubrication /6)0++61