Emergency oil pump for turbine lubrication system
Thread Content
Large steam turbine units are generally equipped with lubricating oil stations, which typically consist of one main oil pump and one auxiliary oil pump, along with an emergency oil pump. Before the output of the main and auxiliary oil pumps enters the equipment, it must pass through an oil fine filter. The question is: is it also necessary for the output of the emergency oil pump to pass through an oil fine filter before entering the equipment?
There is no need to set it first through an oil filter; a fine filter can be installed on the subsequent path.
There is a coarse filter at the pump inlet; after the emergency oil pump outlet, there is no filter anymore, and the oil goes directly to the bearings.
Ours is direct and on the lubricating oil circuit, entering the bearing via three stages of filtration
There is no oil filter at the pump outlet; if the quality of the oil does not meet the standards required for bearing oil, the service life of the bearings will be reduced and the equipment’s failure rate will increase…?
It must pass through a fine filter; otherwise, it will have an impact on the equipment. In the future, for replacing the fine and coarse filters of turbines, you can turn to Lütthol Filter – their turbine filter elements offer a quality that is fully comparable to those made by the original manufacturers, at a much lower price.
Are there any pictures? I’d like to know. Our turbine oil station has only primary and auxiliary oil pumps
For further clarification: the oil pump used in case of an accident is equipped with a DC motor, and it is activated only in emergency situations (such as a power outage in the facility). Another option is to install a high-level oil tank; it serves the same purpose, namely to ensure that the bearings of the steam turbine unit still have sufficient lubrication in emergency situations. What needs to be determined now is whether the pipeline from the emergency oil pump or the high-level oil tank must pass through an oil filter before reaching the unit’s bearings. If it does pass through an oil filter, then there should be no problem. For one new unit that has not yet been put into use, the manufacturer’s design does not include an oil filter, and it is stated that this is the standard configuration – so there should be no issue! I would like to ask everyone for their opinions and confirmation: can the pipeline from the emergency oil pump or the high-level oil tank indeed avoid using an oil filter?
Let me introduce our process: Our oil system comes in two configurations – a DC oil pump and a high-level oil tank. The inlet of the emergency oil pump is connected in parallel to the same pipeline as that used by the high-pressure oil pump and the gear oil pump, while its outlet is connected in parallel to the lubricating oil pump; therefore, the oil coming from the outlet of the DC oil pump passes through three stages of filtration before reaching the bearings. The high-level oil tank is connected to the main lubricating oil pipeline behind the oil filter, bypassing the filter. If needed, we can provide you with our oil system flowchart for reference
The DC oil pump is the emergency oil pump, right? It is not used during normal operation and is activated only in emergency situations. Does a single unit come equipped with both a DC oil pump and a high-level oil tank? It’s still different units; some are equipped with DC oil pumps, while others have high-level oil tanks. Personally, I think the accident oil pump serves a function similar to that of the high-level oil tank. The high-level oil tank relies solely on gravitational force to deliver oil to the bearings; however, the pressure loss after passing through the filter is too high, which prevents the oil from being filtered first before reaching the bearings. So, can the accident oil pump also operate without going through a filter?
The DC oil pump is also known as the emergency oil pump; it is not used under normal conditions. We have four sets of units; one of them uses a high-level oil tank, while the other three use DC oil pumps. The oil from the high-level tank enters the bearings directly without passing through a filter (it enters via the main oil inlet pipe after the filter). The oil pressure is around 0.012; since the interlock value for turning the shaft is 0.015, we can only turn it manually on a regular basis. As for the emergency oil pump (with an oil pressure of around 0.15), due to the poor operating conditions of our unit and the low quality of the oil (excessively high levels of mechanical impurities), the oil can only reach the bearings through an oil filter.