The cooling tower fan isn’t rotating; please help analyze the reason
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Implement safety measures on site: obtain a height work permit, fasten safety belts, use a winch to remove the motor pulley, and employ ropes to hold the blades in place to prevent them from falling. Two jacks were used to lift the fan blades away in order to access the fan shaft; upon inspection, they were shocked to find that the bearings had worn out and were no longer there. Please help analyze what could have caused the bearings to disappear
1. Fake bearings； 2. Large bearing clearance ； 3. High shaft vibration.
The quality of the bearing is poor; it has worn out.
Low water level, lack of oil – any of these could be the cause. A faulty bearing is also a possibility, as is improper installation
The equipment should be regularly maintained in accordance with the lubrication requirements
When there is wear, there should be vibrations and abnormal noises, but you didn’t notice them during your inspections. Later, it was found that the temperature of the cooling water wouldn’t drop; upon going up to take a look, it turned out that the motor was rotating while the fan wasn’t – quite amazing. That’s when the shock came later on. How long has it been running? What is the pH level of the cooling water? And which manufacturer produced the bearings?
One of the reasons is poor management! Hasn’t anyone ordered a inspection? With the shell baffles all worn away, what bearing is there to find? Let’s take a look at the structural principles instead.
It was not designated as a monitoring point; there was no monitoring of whether normal daily sounds were present, and it was not included in the monitoring criteria during major repairs, so over time it was simply neglected.
It is likely that the air in the cooling tower is humid, and moisture enters the bearing compartment, causing the oil to emulsify; as a result, the bearings are not properly lubricated and eventually get damaged. It is necessary to strengthen inspections and pay attention to the quality of the lubricating oil.