Reclamation of FRF at Coastal Energen Pvt. Ltd. (Tuticorin)


 Customer: Coastal Energen Pvt. Ltd. (ENERGEN), the power generating flagship company of the coal and oil group, is a 1200 MW coal-fired thermal power plant in the district of Tuticorin in the State of Tamil Nadu, India.

Symptom Observation:

• The power plant was observing a loss in the production of electricity generation

• The operation & maintenance team has identified that the turbine governing command is not functioning properly and is tripping frequently on a regular interval

• On further investigation it was found that the servo valve (Moog valve) has failed and showing hunting or sluggish behavior.

Problem Identification: Failure of the Moog valve was the main reason for the trip of the turbine and ultimately the reason for the breakdown in the power plant.

Poor Oil Analysis Program: an oil analysis is supposed to be done monthly for Particle count & TAN (weekly if the trend is negative) and weekly test for water content but the customer has undefined scheduled for it.

Inadequate Operation Practices: The solenoid valve of the LVDH (oil purification machine) vacuum line was only 20% close, due to which vacuum was not able to generate.

Root Cause Analysis: High ingression of contamination in FRF flowing through the line which choked the filter before servo valve spool. The presence of varnish & silt in the clearance of the spool has created an obstruction for its to-fro movement inside the servo valve. Also, the high TAN value led to electrokinetic erosion of line and accessories of the EHC system & subsequently formation of the fine metal particle (solid contamination). It was concluded that all these factors related to lubricant degradation have contributed to valve failure.



Solutions Implemented: Minimac uses the proven technology for reconditioning EH oil i.e. TAN reduction by ion-exchange method (TRIX) MLC LVDH TRIX 20 which is a combo package designed for simultaneous reduction of TAN, moisture, and NAS value of the EHC fluid. It plays a major role in achieving the properties range within the recommended limits. Onsite training on the function of EH oil re-conditioner, FRF maintenance, and contamination control, the importance of the oil analysis program was provided to their team by Minimac’s service engineer.

Filter consumption: 01 qty of 10-micron filter element and 01 qty of 3 microns consumed to achieve NAS 5 cleanliness

Total consumption of resin: 36 Ltr

Total running hours of equipment: 698 hrs

The below chart is showing the trend of decrease in the values with continuous cycling of EH Oil.



Benefits:

  • Extending oil life
  • Reduced TAN value
  • Eliminate oil replacement cost
  • Increased turbine availability & reliability

Way Forwards: In order to have complete purification of FRF, an external FRF Reconditioning system is recommended. The Minimac’s FRF Reconditioning system comprises 4 major Technologies, all packaged comprehensively in 1 single system.

• Solid contamination super-fine filtration.

• Moisture in oil separation by vacuum dehydration technology

• TAN reduction by ion exchange technique

• EHC system tank Moisture removal and ingress prevention by Inert Gas Blanketing technique.

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