Gas and steam turbine analysis

This service monitors turbine and lubricant conditions to detect premature wear and contamination.

Description

This service is designed to help you detect premature wear and lubricant contamination before they result in costly downtime or expensive repairs. Turbine analysis is applicable for gas and steam turbines operating in continuous or intermittent service. It includes testing to help improve turbine reliability by monitoring system cleanliness and lubricant performance.

Test	Purpose	Importance of test
Metals	To determine the presence and levels of metallic content in the oil, including contaminants and wear particles	The level of wear metals helps determine if equipment components are wearing or if harmful contamination is entering the oil (i.e., paper machine cleaning chemicals). The level of metals that are part of additive chemistry are also reported
Oxidation	To determine the level of lubricant oxidation and deterioration	Oxidation can mean: Increased wear and corrosion Shorter equipment life Increased viscosity Excessive deposits and plugging
Particle Count Analysis	To measure the level of particulate contaminants in the oil	Cleanliness is a critical factor in the running of circulating oil systems Debris can interfere in the ne tolerances of the system’s pumps and valves or cause premature bearing wear
Particle Qualification (PQ) Index	To determine ferrous metal fatigue failures and metal-to-metal contact not usually detectable with current spectrographic analysis	PQ Index can detect at an early stage: Anti-friction bearing wear Plain bearing wear Gear wear
Total Acid Number (TAN)	To measure acidic oil oxidation by-products	An elevated Total Acid Number may indicate increased oil acidity resulting from increased oil oxidation.
Viscosity	To determine the oil’s resistance to flow	An increase in viscosity may be due to high soot or insoluble content, water contamination, or admixture with higher viscosity fuel or lubricant A decrease in viscosity may be due to water contamination, or admixture with lower viscosity fuel or lubricant Both high or low viscosity may result in premature equipment wear
Water	To detect presence of water contamination	Water contamination may cause severe corrosion and subsequent wear, poor oil film thickness or hydrogen embrittlement