It’s easy to get stuck in a routine; using the same turbine oil filtration system is one of those routines that one can get so accustomed to that he or she doesn’t want to try anything new. However, in the oil filtration industry, it’s vital to teach a dog new tricks because keeping up with modern innovations is key to being as successfully operational as possible and taking the best care of your extremely expensive equipment. Additionally, Kaydon filtration has deemed successful on both steam and gas turbines, a revelation that will lead to optimally-performing equipment and maintaining your equipment’s condition, thus extending your equipment’s life expectancy.
The traditional thinking is that gas turbines don’t
need auxiliary oil filtration equipment, especially oil filtration equipment that removes water.
However, a large combined cycle plant in Georgia didn’t follow the traditional thinking and demonstrated how modern innovation can improve the quality of performance. The plant, equipped with four gas turbines and two steam turbines, purchased a Kaydon filtration Model KL60 and mounted it on a heavy duty trailer. Each steam turbine was supplied with Kaydon filtration coalescing equipment from the turbine OEM, but the gas turbines were supplied only with the typical in-line duplex assembly. The justification for purchasing a KL60 and mounting it on a trailer was threefold:
- Heating the gas turbine oil quickly after an outage. The benefit here is the oil is heated to a more acceptable level, making it cleaner and drier for better functionality.
- Additional filtration while gas turbine is in operation. The benefit, according to the operations personnel of the plant, is that the Kaydon filtration system cleans the oil much better than the inline duplex assemblies alone. This provides extra clean oil and lengthens the life of the filter elements in the inline duplex assemblies.
- Water removal. Gas turbine oil reservoirs will eventually be subject to water contamination, whether it’s from condensation or cooler leaks. The benefit of the Kaydon Filtration KL60 system is that when an oil analysis report shows an increase in water content, the KL60 is moved into place in order to purify that particular reservoir.
Gas turbines don’t need as dedicated of an oil conditioning system as steam turbines do, but can benefit greatly from having an effective oil conditioning system available. The “out-of-the-box” thinking from this Georgia plant has helped provide ultra clean oil and extra oil-heating capabilities. Even though the system is portable, it stays in operation with one of the gas turbines. Without this system, both water and particulate contamination would be more difficult to manage. However, with the portable KL60, gas turbine lube oil contamination issues are eliminated.
Benefits
- Longer Turbine Life – The Kaydon TURBO-TOC will keep the oil system flushed and harmful contaminates removed. Oil reliability is increased.
- Reduced Bearing Failures – When both water and particulate are returned to acceptable levels, bearing failures will decrease or be eliminated.
- Fewer Forced Outages – Contaminated oil, especially water contamination , can potentially cause an unwanted outage. The TURBO-TOC®, utilizing Kaydon coalescing technology, quickly removes the contamination, thus preventing a forced outage.
- Less-Costly Turbine Rebuilds – Clean turbine oil increases turbine dependability and helps in the reduction of repair costs that are directly associated with contaminated oil.
