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Showing posts from January, 2020

Understanding the root cause of the symptoms that are observed on your machinery?

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It is observed across the spectrum that whenever we see issues/symptoms like : 1. Oxidized oil 2. Destructive pitting 3. Excessive vibration 4. Abrasive wear 5. Cavitation 6. Machinery abnormal noise 7. Wear debris generation 8. High running temperature We usually believe in either Repairing, Replacing, Rebuilding and Removing the affected component. However, it only subsides the symptoms temporarily. This approach is called the 4-R approach and it weeds out the issue from the surface and not at the root level and hence the problem reoccurs. Call +91 7030901266 for Mechanical Maintenance & Oil Check. However, we should aim at studying these symptoms and work on the root causes. Some of the very frequent root causes that cause the above-mentioned symptoms are: 1. Misalignment 2. Wrong oil usage 3. Moisture 4. Machinery part imbalance 5. Particle contamination 6. Air contamination Hence, we should aim at 5I approach i.e. It’s clean, It’s Cool, I...

NAS 5 lube oil cleanliness achieved through High Velocity Lube Oil Flushing System

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Place:  A steel plant in Rourkela with production capacity - 4.5 MTPA Date of Execution:  20th July 2019 Equipment Criticality:  High Background:  A Steam turbine blower was to be commissioned in a steel plant by a leading EPC company, the pipelines were erected on the site and as per the Standard Operating Procedure listed by the Steel Plant Owner Company the flushing was completed with a single auxiliary pump at 1500 LPM. However, during the trial run of the turbine, the inline lube oil filters would clog very frequently and lead to halted operations.  Problem Statement: Frequent clogging of inline lube oil filters were hindering the operations and delaying the steam turbine commissioning project. Underlying Issues:  On inspection, a root cause analysis was done and the required rate for effective flushing was calculated as 3500 LPM. The Particle contamination level was also found to be NAS 10. Hence following things were concluded: ...

Are you experiencing sub-optimal results even after changing filters?

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We have talked about how to procure filters and what specifications to look for, but selecting the filter according to the specifications doesn’t ensure the best results if a filter is not employed properly. In this article, we will discuss a few factors which can impair a filter's performance. I hope you have read these 2 articles: 1. http://bit.ly/35J0Vuy  2. http://bit.ly/2QInSKi Whenever you are experiencing sub-optimal results even after changing filters, below are some possibilities which should be checked for :  1. Collapsed center tube 2. Inconsistent media quality 3. Damaged or burst filter media – fatigue 4. Bypass at filter media seam 5. Bypass due to adhesive failure 6. Damaged gasket or O-ring seal 7. Bypass valve jammed in open/closed position 8. Installation error, installing a filter in the opposite flow direction 9. Bypass valve leakage 10. Misaligned filter and seal If none of the above factors contribute to the sub-op...