Acid cleaning, passivation, and oil leakage of the compressor unit.

1. The pickling of compressor units generally refers to the pickling of the stainless steel pipelines in the compressor lubrication oil system, with the main purpose being to clean these pipelines. Of course, there are also some special processes that require cleaning the inlet and outlet pipeline systems of the compressor, with the same purpose of cleaning the pipelines. 2. Passivation is achieved through pickling, which causes an oxidation reaction between the pipeline and the pickling solution, resulting in the formation of stable oxides that adhere to the surface of the pipeline and help keep it clean. 3. Acid cleaning and shot blasting can be carried out simultaneously. The purpose of shot blasting is to clean the inlet pipelines of the steam turbine, while the purpose of draining oil is to clean the lubrication oil pipelines. Both processes serve to clean the pipelines; there is no fixed order between them, and both are done as preparations for starting up the equipment. You can proceed according to your own process schedule.

Unit pickling is a process to remove factors that affect lubrication, such as impurities remaining after welding the stainless steel pipelines in the oil system. Pickling of the oil system is carried out first, followed by operation

Steam purging is a cleaning method primarily used for the pipelines at the inlet of steam turbines. Generally, the lubrication oil pipelines in such units are made of stainless steel and are welded using TIG welding; after acid washing, purging, and oil flushing, they are ready for use, with oil flushing being performed last.

Pickling is carried out to clean the lubrication oil pipelines. It actually involves several steps, such as degreasing, pickling, passivation, neutralization, and air blowing. After going through these steps, the oil (or other) pipelines in the machine become cleaner. Meanwhile, after passivation, a layer formed as a result of the reaction between the acid and the metal creates a more stable metal surface structure; it also solidifies some of the weld spurs and slag from the welding process, preventing these particles from falling off and causing damage to the machine. The above is pickling. Speaking of oil circulation: also known as oil transport, it serves as a complement to the pickling and passivation process. It involves using the circulation of lubricating oil to remove impurities and hard particles from the lubricating oil (control oil) system, thereby making the system cleaner. During oil circulation, filters should be installed at all oil inlets of the machine; 80 or 120 mesh filters can be used, and the process is considered complete once there are less than 1–2 hard particles per square centimeter on the filter. Speaking of shot blasting, it is used to keep the steam lines free of hard particles, thereby preventing damage to the steam turbines; generally, shot blasting is carried out after acid cleaning for better results.

Oil leakage from the compressor and steam shooting do not conflict with each other. Target shooting mainly depends on whether the factory’s steam system is suitable for it. The oil pipeline should be pickled before installation. Oil leakage testing is carried out after the cold oil cooler, filters, and control valves in the unit’s oil system have been installed, following the specified oil leakage testing procedure.

The method of passivation is pickling, which is used to clean and treat the lubrication system, while shot blasting is used to clean and treat the steam pipeline system. The two can be done simultaneously. Personally, I think it’s best to do them separately if time permits, starting with pickling first