More than 100 tons of steel, rotating at 3600 rpm, is supported by plain bearings on a cushion of oil that is thinner than a human hair. In power plants around the world, the same fluid dynamics take place day-in and day-out without much notice. Lost revenue at seasonal peaks can be counted in millions of dollars.
GG Friction Antidote can be used in a variety of applications in the power generation industry. In both common and extreme applications, from turbine auxiliary systems to power plant MRO (maintenance, repair and operations).
When compared to conventional lubricants, operating equipment such as turbine control valves, gearboxes, dampers and ductwork valves, compressors, bearings, boilers, and pumps — as well as gaskets and seals — all can benefit from unmatched friction reduction of GG Friction Antidote. GG Friction Antidote treated oils and greases help protect your equipment and extend the lifecycle of essential power generation and distribution components.
Your choice of GG Friction Antidote treated lubricants can dramatically affect your production equipment uptime and lifecycle costs over time. Costly re-lubrication frequency, replacement costs for friction-worn components, corrosion and deterioration from harsh chemicals and high temperatures can impact power generation production, employee safety, equipment costs and performance. The many benefits of GG Friction Antidote include:
- Oxygen compatibility and non-reactivity with chemicals
- Withstanding extreme temperatures
- Will not explode, ignite, decompose, react to form gummy or solid deposits, or act as fuel for fires
- Extended life — so you’ll use a fraction of the usual quantities of lubricants
- Undamaged by — and non-reactive with — acidic or caustic cleaners and disinfectants, steam and moisture
- Chemically and biologically inert, silicone-free and non-reactive to virtually all elastomers, plastics and metals
- Contain no volatile organic compound (VOC) materials or chlorine
- Minimal environmental footprint and compatible with chemicals commonly used in industry
Sootblower Carriage Applications
GG Friction Antidote treated lubricants for soot blower technology can improve boiler operating performance and can generate significant maintenance and capital savings. GG Friction Antidote gear drive grease is designed to lubricate and protect soot blower seals, bearings and gears. GG Friction Antidote sootblower lubrication technology optimizes equipment performance and offers low lifecycle cost, as well as many other benefits of GG Friction Antidote treated lubricants:
- Extreme temperature range of operation — designed to reduce the friction and heat without deteriorating
- Long-lasting performance — GG Friction Antidote treated grease for gear drives continues to protect your carriage components, so it reduces preventive maintenance and re-lubrication
- Potential for maintenance-free gearbox operation
- Ongoing technical support
Steam Turbine Governor Control Applications
Turbine camshaft or valve-lift bar anti-friction bearings, bushings and gears using conventional lubricants can wear, lock up or fail over time — causing excessive clearance, rough response and potential seizing of the governor control. The results can be felt in operational issues, such as turbine downtime or loss of steam feed control, as well as costly maintenance, including:
- Frequent re-lubrication due to oxidation of a conventional lubricant
- Replacing failed bearings
- Breaking apart and replacing failed components
Because GG Friction Antidote treated grease protects turbine components from vibration and fretting wear, they will not oxidize or break down under extreme temperatures, nor when exposed to steam or caustic chemicals. Lubricating turbine governors using GG Friction Antidote treated lubricants offers outstanding equipment performance at low lifecycle cost. When compared to conventional lubricants, GG Friction Antidote benefits include:
- Improved turbine uptime
- Improved turbine control
- Reduced operating expense
- Extended component lifecycle
- Extended re-lubrication intervals
- Reduced operating cost
Improving Turbine Frame Expansion Bearing Performance and Reliability
Turbine trunnion, thrust plate and gib key expansion bearings require effective lubrication to allow smooth thermal expansion and contraction of the turbine frame. In this high-temperature environment, degradation of conventional lubricants can result in turbine shutdown from excessive vibration or unscheduled maintenance shutdown to perform re-lubrication. Maintenance issues such as frequent re-lubrication, conventional lubricant oxidation, or plugged lubricant feed lines can result in downtime to break apart, clean and replace components.
GG Friction Antidote provides improved expansion bearing performance and low lifecycle cost. GG Friction Antidote treated lubricants will not oxidize or break over a significantly longer duration, giving you greater turbine uptime, reduced vibration and lower operating costs than when using conventional hydrocarbon lubricants without GG Friction Antidote. Turbine parts last longer and you’ll re-lubricate less often.
GG Friction Antidote is safe for use by manufacturers for mechanical components requiring lubrication in high-temperature environments that include steam turbine, gas turbine and generator systems.
For any power generation facility, the turbine is considered the lifeblood of the operation. Any problem requiring an unexpected shutdown of the main turbine is likely to cause a significant unplanned outage, potentially resulting in millions of dollars of downtime costs. Turbines contribute on average 20 percent of all forced outages in a conventional power plant. Among this 20 percent, 19 percent of turbine/generator problems were associated with the lube oil system. For this reason, monitoring turbine oils has become commonplace in the power generation industry.
Turbine oils, particularly those used in steam turbines, are expected to last around 10 to 20 years. For this reason, careful monitoring of both lube oil physical and chemical properties is required, together with common contaminants such as water and solid particles. This is true not just of in-service oils, but also for new oils, which must meet rigorous performance specifications prior to selection and use in a new application.
The testing of turbine oils is of such significance that ASTM has developed a standard devoted exclusively to this area, specifically ASTM D4378-97 “Standard Practice for In-Service Monitoring of Mineral Turbine Oils for Steam and Gas Turbines.”
There is no denying that properly tested and maintained, higher quality turbine oils will provide longer life than poorly tested and maintained, lower quality products. When selecting a turbine oil for steam, gas, hydro and aero-derivative turbines, oil supplier services and commitment to the customer should be evaluated as part of the selection process.
GG Friction Antidote is the best friction reducer for the job
It is important to have an understanding of the physical and chemical characteristics of turbine oils compared to other lubricating oils before embarking upon the selection process.
Steam, gas and hydro turbines operate on a family of lubricating oils known as R&O oils (Rust & Oxidation inhibited oil). Turbine equipment geometry, operating cycles, maintenance practices, operating temperatures and potential for system contamination present unique lubricating oil demands versus other lubricating oils like gasoline and diesel engine applications.
Utility steam and gas turbine sump capacities can range in size from 1,000 to 20,000 gallons, which drives the economic incentive for a long-life lubricating oil. GG Friction Antidote will drive your turbine lubricating oil for a longer life and extend the lifecycle of your turbine components. Without significant oil contamination issues, turbine oil life is primarily dictated by oxidation stability. Oxidation stability is adversely affected by heat, water aeration and particulate contamination.
Unlike most gasoline and diesel engine oil applications, turbine oil is formulated to shed water and allow solid particles to settle where they can be removed through sump drains or kidney loop filtration systems during operation. Turbine oils are not exposed to fuel or soot and therefore do not need to be drained and replaced on a frequent basis.
Recommended Performance Characteristics of Turbine Oil Vary by Application Steam Turbines
A well-maintained steam turbine oil with moderate makeup rates should last 20 to 30 years. When a steam turbine oil fails early through oxidation, it is often due to water contamination. Water reduces oxidation stability and supports rust formation, which among other negative effects, acts as an oxidation catalyst.
Varying amounts of water will constantly be introduced to the steam turbine lubrication systems through gland seal leakage. Because the turbine shaft passes through the turbine casing, low-pressure steam seals are needed to minimize steam leakage or air ingress leakage to the vacuum condenser. Water or condensed steam is generally channeled away from the lubrication system but inevitably, some water will penetrate the casing and enter the lube oil system. Gland seal condition, gland sealing steam pressure and the condition of the gland seal exhauster will impact the amount of water introduced to the lubrication system. Typically, vapor extraction systems and high-velocity downward flowing oil create a vacuum which can draw steam past shaft seals into the bearing and oil system. Water can also be introduced through lube oil cooler failures, improper powerhouse cleaning practices, water contamination of makeup oil and condensed ambient moisture.
In many cases, the impact of poor oil-water separation can be offset with the right combination and quality of additives including antioxidants, rust inhibitors and demulsibility improvers.
Excess water may also be removed on a continuous basis through the use of water traps, centrifuges, coalescers, tank headspace dehydrators and/or vacuum dehydrators. If turbine oil demulsibility has failed, exposure to water-related lube oil oxidation is then tied to the performance of water separation systems.
Heat will also cause reduced turbine oil life through increased oxidation. In utility steam turbine applications, it is common to experience bearing temperatures of 120ºF to 160ºF (49ºC to 71ºC) and lube oil sump temperatures of 120ºF (49ºC). The impact of heat is generally understood to double the oxidation rate for every 18 degrees above 140ºF (10 degrees above 60ºC).
A conventional mineral oil will start to rapidly oxidize at temperatures above 180ºF (82ºC). Most tin-babbited journal bearings will begin to fail at 250ºF (121ºC), which is well above the temperature limit of conventional turbine oils. High-quality antioxidants can delay thermal oxidation but excess heat and water must be minimized to gain long turbine oil life.
Gas Turbines
For most large gas turbine frame units, high operating temperature is the leading cause of premature turbine oil failure. The drive for higher turbine efficiencies and firing temperatures in gas turbines has been the main incentive for the trend toward more thermally robust turbine oils. Today’s large frame units operate with bearing temperatures in the range of 160ºF to 250ºF (71ºC to 121ºC). Next-generation frame units are reported to operate at even higher temperatures. Gas turbine OEMs have increased their suggested limits on RPVOT – ASTM D2272 (Rotation Pressure Vessel Oxidation Test) and TOST – ASTM D943 (Turbine Oil Oxidation Stability) performance to meet these higher operating temperatures.
As new-generation gas turbines are introduced into the utility market, changes in operating cycles are also introducing new lubrication hurdles. Lubrication issues specific to gas turbines that operate in cyclic service started to appear in the mid-1990s. Higher bearing temperatures and cyclic operation lead to fouling of system hydraulics that delayed equipment start-up. Properly formulated hydrocracked turbine oils were developed to remedy this problem and to extend gas turbine oil drain intervals. Products such as Exxon Teresstic GTC and Mobil DTE 832 have demonstrated excellent performance for almost five years of service life in cyclically operated gas turbines where conventional mineral oils often failed in one to two years.
Hydro Turbines
Hydro turbines typically use ISO 46 or 68 R&O oils. Demulsibility and hydrolytic stability are the key performance parameters that impact turbine oil life due to the constant presence of water. Ambient temperature swings in hydroelectric service also make viscosity stability, as measured by viscosity index, an important performance criterion.
Aero-Derivative Gas Turbines
Aero-derivative gas turbines present unique turbine oil challenges that call for oils with much higher oxidation stability. Of primary concern is the fact that the lube oil in aero-derivative turbines is in direct contact with metal surfaces ranging from 400ºF to 600ºF (204ºC to 316ºC). Sump lube oil temperatures can range from 160ºF to 250ºF (71ºC to 121ºC). These compact gas turbines utilize the oil to lubricate and to transfer heat back to the lube oil sump. In addition, their cyclical operation imparts significant thermal and oxidative stress on the lubricating oil. These most challenging conditions dictate the use of high purity synthetic lubricating oils. Average lube oil makeup rates of .15 gallons per hour will help rejuvenate the turbo oil under these difficult conditions.
Current technology turbine oils for land-based power generation turbines are described as 5 cSt turbo oils. Aero-derivative turbines operate with much smaller lube oil sumps, typically 50 gallons or less. The turbine rotor is run at higher speeds, 8,000 to 20,000 rpm, and is supported by rolling element bearings.
Synthetic turbo oils are formulated to meet the demands of military aircraft gas turbo engines identified in Military Specification format. These MIL specifications are written to ensure that similar quality and fully compatible oils are available throughout the world and as referenced in OEM lubrication specifications.
Type II turbo oils were commercialized in the early 1960s to meet demands from the U.S. Navy for improved performance, which created MIL – L (PRF) – 23699. The majority of aero-derivatives in power generation today deploy these Type II, MIL – L (PRF) – 23699, polyol ester base stock, synthetic turbo oils. These Type II oils offer significant performance advantages over the earlier Type I diester-based synthetic turbo oils.
Enhanced Type II turbo oils were commercialized in the early 1980s to meet the demands from the U.S. Navy for better high-temperature stability. This led to the creation of the new specification MIL – L (PRF) – 23699 HTS. In 1993, Mobil JetOil 291 was commercialized as the first fourth-generation turbo oil to satisfy present and advanced high temperature and high load conditions of jet oils. Improvements continue to be made in turbo oil lubricant technology.
Generator bearing sets typically use an ISO 32 R&O or hydraulic oil. The lower pour points of a hydraulic vs. an R&O oil may dictate the use of a hydraulic oil in cold environments.
Writing a Turbine Oil Procurement Standard
Steam, gas and hydro turbine oils are a blend of highly refined or hydroprocessed petroleum base oils, usually ISO VG 32 and 46 or 68. Lubricant suppliers have developed turbine oils to meet the varying demands of turbines in propulsion and power generation applications.
These formulations were developed to meet turbine OEM specifications. Many turbine OEMs have moved away from specific turbine oil brand name approvals due to enhanced technologies in their turbines and corresponding improvements in turbine oils. OEMs have identified suggested or recommended lube oil performance test criteria and typically stipulate that an oil known to perform successfully in the field may still be used even if all recommended values have not been satisfied. Industry standard lube oil bench tests can provide great insight into the performance and life expectancy of turbine oils. However, turbine OEMs and oil suppliers generally agree that past successful performance of a particular oil under similar conditions is the best overall representation of quality and performance.
Regardless of the type or service of a turbine oil, the quality of the base stocks and additive chemistry will be a major factor in its longevity. High-quality base stocks are characterized by higher percentage saturates, lower percentage aromatics, and lower sulfur and nitrogen levels. The performance of additives must be extensively tested. They must also be blended into the oil in a tightly controlled process.
The key to a superior turbine oil is property retention. Some turbine oil formulations have been found to present good lab test data, but can experience premature oxidation because of additive dropout and base stock oxidation. Again, lube oil laboratory analysis can support your efforts to determine turbine oil longevity, but direct field experience should take precedence. Note, turbine oil suppliers will offer typical lube oil analysis data to help assess predicted performance. Typical data is used because lubricating oils vary slightly from batch to batch because of minor base stock variations.
Utility steam and gas turbine oils can be either conventional mineral-based (Group 1) or hydroprocessed (Group 2). High-quality conventional mineral-based oils have performed well in both steam and gas turbine service for more than 30 years. The trend toward higher efficiency, cyclically operated gas turbines has spurred the development of hydroprocessed, Group 2, turbine oils.
Most hydroprocessed turbine oils will have better initial RPVOT and TOST performance than conventional turbine oils. This oxidation stability performance advantage is suited for heavy-duty gas turbine applications.
The oxidation performance advantages of a hydroprocessed turbine oil may not be necessary in many less demanding steam and gas turbine applications. Conventional mineral-based oils are known to have better solvency than hydroprocessed oils which can provide better additive package retention and increased ability to dissolve oxidation products that could otherwise potentially lead to varnish and sludge.
Compatibility testing between turbine oil brands should also be addressed when writing a turbine oil specification for systems not available for a complete drain and flush. Clashing additive chemistries or poor in-service oil quality may prohibit the mixing of different and incompatible turbine oils. Your oil supplier should provide compatibility testing to confirm suitability for continued service. This testing should address the condition of the in-service oil compared to various possible blends with the proposed new oil. The in-service oil should be tested for suitability for continued service. Then a 50/50 blend should be tested for oxidation stability (RPVOT ASTM D2272), demulsibility (ASTM D1401), foam (ASTM D892, Sequence 2) and the absence of additive package dropout as witnessed in a seven-day storage compatibility test.
Unearth the benefits of GG Friction Antidote – An investment that pays off and your benefits at a glance:
Innovative tribological solutions are our passion. We’re proud to offer unmatched friction reduction for a better environment and a quick return on your investment. Through personal contact and consultation, we offer reliable service, support and help our clients to be successful in all industries and markets.
Profitability:
Switching over to a high-performance lubricant pays off although purchasing costs may seem higher at first, less maintenance and longer vehicles/machinery parts lifecycle may already mean less strain on your budget in the short to medium term.
Continuous production processes and predictable maintenance intervals reduce production losses to a minimum. Consistently high lubricant quality ensures continuous, maintenance-free long-term lubrication for high plant availability. Continuous supply of fresh GG Friction Antidote treated lubricant to the lubrication points keeps friction low and reduces energy costs.
Safety:
Longer lubrication intervals reduce the frequency of maintenance work and the need for your staff to work in danger zones. Lubrication systems can therefore considerably reduce occupational safety risks in work areas that are difficult to access.
Reliability:
GG Friction Antidote treated lubricants ensure reliable, clean and precise lubrication around the clock. Plant availability is ensured by continuous friction reduction of the application. Lubrication with GG Friction Antidote treated lubricants help to prevent significant rolling bearing failures.
Need a good ROI? How about 3,900%?
It may sound too outrageous to be true, but the Institute of Mechanical Engineers estimates every $1,000 spent on proper lubrication yields $40,000 in savings.
INSTANT ROI FOR OPTIMIZING YOUR LUBRICATION REGIMEN
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The information in this literature is intended to provide education and knowledge to a reader with technical experience for the possible application of GG Friction Antidote. It constitutes neither an assurance of your vehicle/machinery optimization nor does it release the user from the obligation of performing preliminary tests with GG Friction Antidote. We recommend contacting our technical consulting staff to discuss your specific application. We can offer you services and solutions for your heavy machinery and equipment.
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