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Tribology International 43 (2010) 12871293

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Tribology International
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/triboint

Comparison of power loss and pad temperature for leading edge groove tilting pad journal bearings and conventional tilting pad journal bearings
Kyung-Bo Bang a,, Jeong-Hun Kim a, Yong-Joo Cho b
a b

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, 555 Gwigok-Dong, Changwon, Gyeongnam, Republic of Korea Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan National University, 30 Jangjeon-Dong, Pusan, Republic of Korea

a r t i c l e in fo
Article history: Received 2 September 2008 Received in revised form 24 October 2009 Accepted 4 December 2009 Available online 23 December 2009 Keywords: LEG tilting pad journal bearing Pad temperature Power loss Seal tooth

abstract
A study was undertaken to compare power loss and pad temperature characteristics between LEG (leading edge groove) tilting pad journal bearings and conventional tilting pad journal bearings with and without a seal tooth. All test bearings were double tilting type with six-pad LOP (Load On Pad), 300.6 mm inner diameter, and 120.0 mm effective length. Pad temperatures and power losses were compared and evaluated versus rotor rotational speed, oil ow rate, and static load. Four kinds of tilting pad journal bearings were evaluated, conventional tilting pad journal bearings with and without a seal tooth and LEG tilting pad journal bearings with and without a seal tooth. Test results indicate that tilting pad journal bearings without a seal tooth have lower power loss and pad temperature than tilting pad journal bearings with a seal tooth. Especially, conventional tilting pad journal bearing without a seal tooth has the lowest power loss and pad temperature among the test bearings. & 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Recent trends of steam turbine development require improved efciencies, increased stability, and higher ratings (4). In order to meet these requirements, it is very important to select and design optimal bearings. Steam turbines designed for fossil fuel power plants operate under high steam temperatures and pressures for 60 Hz operation with a rotating speed of 3600 rpm. So, they are easily apt to become unstable due to steam conditions. Consequently, tilting pad journal bearings have been more widely used to ensure better stability. As turbine capacity increases, the bearing size must also increase to support the increased rotor weight. As a result, power loss and bearing pad temperatures also increase. Especially the tin based babbitt metals on the pads are more prone to damaged [1]. Leopard [2] and Zeidan [3] showed that the higher temperature due to the high speed will reduce the babbitt strength, further limiting the load capacity of the bearing. So, power plant operators should monitor maximum pad temperatures to ensure bearing reliability. Recent study to decrease power loss and pad temperature is as followings. Bang and Kim [4] proposed that pad temperatures could be reduced by using a partial tilting pad. Herbage [5] showed that pad temperature could be reduced by use of copper back instead of steel back. Nicolas [6,7] designed spray bar blocker to reduce pad temperature. Tanaka [8] and Zeidan [3] reduced pad temperature by placing nozzles in the
Corresponding author. Tel.: + 82 55 278 3721; fax: + 82 55 278 8593.

spaces between adjacent pads. Nicolas [9] shows that pad temperature could be reduced by use of pivot offset and open end seals. Zeidan [3,10] proposed scraper to reduce inhibit ow of hot oil. Keith Brockwell, Waldemar Dmochowski, and Scan Decamillo [11] proposed that LEG bearings with direct lubrication decreases power loss and pad temperatures dramatically compared to conventional bearings with ooded lubrication. Scan DeCamillo [12] and Edney SL [13] proposed that LEG bearings without a seal tooth reduces power loss and pad temperatures compared to LEG bearings and conventional bearings with a seal tooth. However, they did not consider conventional bearings without seal tooth. Hence, the experimental testing presented in this paper was conducted to evaluate performance of LEG journal bearings and conventional journal bearings for steam turbines with and without a seal tooth. The bearings were six-pad LOP (load on pad) normally used for high pressure steam turbine applications. Pad temperature and power losses were measured to compare the static performance of LEG journal bearings with conventional journal bearings. Tests were conducted at various rotating speeds, bearing loads, and oil ow rates.

2. Experimental set-up 2.1. Test equipment The test bearing is mounted in the center of the test rig and support a rotor with a 300 mm diameter journal. This rotor is

E-mail address: kyungbo.bang@doosan.com (K.-B. Bang). 0301-679X/$ - see front matter & 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.triboint.2009.12.002

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1.5 m long and supported by two ball bearings at each end of the shaft. An air bellows located under the bearing casing to apply the load to the bearing. Bearing load is adjusted and monitored with a load cell under the bearing casing. A 225 kW DC motor was connected to the driving shaft via a belt and pulley. Fig. 1 shows a schematic of test equipment. A lubrication system supplied ISO VG32 grade oil to the bearing, which is controlled at a constant 40 1C by a heater and a cooler. A torque meter is installed between the driving shaft and driven shaft to measure bearing power loss. The test equipment in this study is shown in Fig. 2. Power loss was measured by multiplying torque and shaft speed. Torquemeter was installed between driving shaft and driven shaft. And tachometer was used in order to measure shaft speed. Table 1 shows details of the test equipment capacities. 2.2. Test bearings Table 2 gives test bearing dimensions. Four bearings were tested: LEG journal bearings with and without a seal tooth and conventional journal bearings with a seal tooth and without a seal tooth. All test bearings are double tilting pad journal bearings with integral ball type pivot which can tilt axial and tangential direction.

Table 1 Test equipment capacity. Equipment Torquemeter Oil ow rate Load cell Capacity 500 Nm 200 L/min 20 Ton Accuracy 7 0.1% 7 1 L/min 7 10 kg

Table 2 Test bearing dimensions. Parameter Journal diameter (mm) Bearing inner diameter (mm) Bearing length (mm) Preload Effective pad angle (deg) Pivot type Pivot offset Number of pads Load type Value 300.00 300.62 120.00 0.0 45.0 Integral ball 0.5 6 LOP

Fig. 3. Conguration of seal tooth: (a) with seal tooth and (b) without seal tooth.

Table 3 Type of test bearings. Conguration Bearing with seal tooth Bearing without seal tooth Seal tooth clearance (mm) 0.5 4.0

Fig. 1. Schematic of test equipment.

Fig. 3 shows the seal tooth conguration. Bearings with a seal tooth have 0.5 mm seal tooth clearance and bearings without a seal tooth have clearance of 4.0 mm as shown in Table 3. Fig. 4 shows photos of these test bearings. Rotational direction was counter-clockwise. Five K-type thermocouples with 1 mm diameter were installed on each pad at the bearing centerline position at 5%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 95% of each pad arc length as shown in Fig. 5. Thermocouples were installed 22.5 mm below bearing surface and the tip of thermocouple is located in the babbitt layer.

2.3. Test conditions Test conditions are shown in Table 4 Usual bearing load which is 10 kN was selected considering eccentricity and usual ow rate which is 60 L/min was decided to make temperature difference 15 1C between oil supply temperature and oil drain temperature.

2.4. Test procedure Test was conducted as followings. After installing test bearing, oil owed into test bearing in order to ush. Flushing continued to become oil temperature 40 1C. After ushing, bearing load was

Fig. 2. Photos of test equipment.

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adjusted to zero with air bellows. Before rotor rotates, torquemeter was adjusted to zero. When rotor rotates, rotational speed was monitored with tachometer. As rotor rotates, pad temperature rise due to viscous friction between rotor and bearing. After pad temperature was saturated, pad temperature and power loss was measured. Power loss of bearings was measured by torque and shaft speed. In order to measure power loss of only tilting pad journal bearings, power loss of ball bearings to support rotor was measured. In order to secure reliability of test equipment, preliminary test was conducted. From the preliminary test, difference of pad temperature is nearly 7 1.5 1C, and load is 1.0%. Uncertainty associated with power loss of bearings was nearly 0.4% at maximum power loss of bearings. Uncertainty of power loss was regarded small as compared with bearing power loss.

3. Results and discussion 3.1. Power loss vs. bearing load Fig. 6 shows power loss as a function of rotational speed at a load of 10 kN and an oil ow of 60 L/min. Journal bearings without a seal tooth have a lower power loss than journal bearings with a seal tooth. And as rotational speed increases, power loss of journal bearings without a seal tooth increase more slowly than those of journal bearings with a seal tooth. The conventional journal bearing without a seal tooth has the lowest power loss of all bearings tested. At 4200 rpm, power loss of the conventional bearing without a seal tooth was 39.2% lower than that of the conventional bearing with a seal tooth and 11.3% lower than the LEG journal bearing without a seal tooth. Fig. 7 shows power loss versus rotational speed with 60 L/min oil ow by bearing load. As the bearing load increased from 5 to 20 kN, the power loss of bearing without a seal tooth increased only 5% at 4200 rpm. Other bearings have a similar trend. Fig. 8 shows power loss versus bearing load with 60 L/min at 4200 rpm. Power loss of the conventional bearing without a seal tooth has the lowest power loss of all bearings tested. From these results, conventional journal bearing without seal tooth has effect to decrease power loss. And it is evident that the effect of bearing load on power loss diminishes as rotational speed increases.

Fig. 4. Photos of test bearings: (a) LEG with seal tooth and (b) conv. w/o seal tooth.

Fig. 5. Position of thermocouples: (a) LEG bearing and (b) conventional bearing.

Table 4 Test conditions. Rotational speed (rpm) 600 1200 1800 2400 3000 3600 4200 Bearing load (kN) Flow rate (L/min)

5 10 15 20

30 60 90 120 Fig. 6. Power loss vs. rotational speed with 10 kN, 60 L/min.

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Fig. 7. Power loss vs. rotational speed with 60 L/min.

Fig. 9. Power loss vs. rotational speed at 10 kN.

Fig. 8. Power loss vs. bearing load with 60 L/min at 4200 rpm.

Fig. 10. Power loss vs. ow rate at 10 kN, 4200 rpm.

3.2. Power loss vs. ow rate Fig. 9 shows power loss vs. rotational speed by ow rate. As rotational speed increases, power loss of bearing with a seal tooth increases sharply. And bearings without a seal tooth have lower power loss than bearings with as seal tooth. Fig. 10 shows power loss versus ow rate at 4200 rpm with 10 kN. As ow rate decreases, power loss of the bearing without a seal tooth has lower power loss than conventional bearing with a seal tooth and LEG bearings. These results indicate that low ow rate is a very important factor for decreasing power loss at high speed.

3.3. Pad temperature vs. bearing load Fig. 11 shows pad temperature prole versus rotational speed. At 600 rpm, maximum pad temperature of the conventional bearing without a seal tooth is lower than LEG bearing with a seal tooth. But

the difference of pad temperatures between bearings with a seal tooth and bearings without a seal tooth is relatively small. On the other hands, maximum pad temperature of conventional bearing without a seal tooth is lower nearly 10.1% for the LEG bearing without a seal tooth and 16.6% for the LEG bearing with a seal tooth. From test results, LEG bearing with seal tooth has no good effect to decrease pad temperature. Fig. 12 shows pad temperature prole versus position by varying bearing load at 4200 rpm. As bearing load increases, maximum pad temperature increased. Under same test conditions, conventional bearing without a seal tooth has lower maximum pad temperature than other bearings. At bearing load increased to 20 kN, LEG bearings have higher pad temperature than conventional bearings. Particularly, LEG bearing with seal tooth has highest maximum pad temperature than other bearings. Fig. 13 shows maximum pad temperature versus bearing load with 60 L/min at 4200 rpm. At low load, journal bearing without a seal tooth has lower pad temperature. But as bearing load increases, pad temperature of

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Fig. 13. Maximum pad temperature vs. bearing load at 4200 rpm, 60 L/min.

Fig. 11. Pad temperature at 10 kN, 60 L/min: (a) 600 rpm and (b) 4200 rpm.

Fig. 14. Inlet temperature of loaded pad vs. bearing load at 4200 rpm, 60 L/min.

LEG bearings without seal tooth increases more sharply than other bearings. That means LEG bearings without seal tooth has lower pad temperature but increasing rate of pad temperature is higher than that of conventional bearing without seal tooth. Fig. 14 shows inlet temperature of loaded pad versus bearing load with 60 L/min at 4200 rpm. Journal bearings without a seal tooth have lower inlet pad temperature than journal bearings with a seal tooth. This means that quantity of drained oil from previous pad at bearings without seal tooth is small. Because journal bearing without seal tooth increases side leakage due to large clearance. So pad inlet temperature is low. But because total supply oil at pad inlet is small, increasing rate of pad temperature is high comparatively.

3.4. Pad temperature vs. ow rate Fig. 15 shows pad temperature prole versus position by varying ow rate at 4200 rpm. At loaded pad, maximum pad

Fig. 12. Pad temperature vs. position at 4200 rpm, 60 L/min.

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temperature of conventional bearing without a seal tooth is lower than that of bearings with a seal tooth. As ow rate decreases, pad temperature increases. Fig. 16 shows maximum pad temperature versus ow rate with 10k N at 4200 rpm. At low ow rate with 30 L/min, Bearings without a seal tooth have lower pad temperature than bearings with a seal tooth. But as ow rate increases, LEG bearings without seal tooth has higher pad temperature than LEG bearing with seal tooth and conventional bearing with seal. That means LEG bearing without seal tooth has cooling effect under low ow rate. On the other hand, conventional bearing without has good cooling effect any ow rate. But As ow rate increase, cooling effect of bearing without a seal tooth decreases gradually. This means cooling effect of journal bearing without a seal tooth increases as ow rate decreases. Fig. 17 shows inlet pad temperature of loaded pad versus bearing load with 60 L/min at 4200 rpm.

Fig. 17. Inlet temperature of loaded pad vs. bearing load at 4200 rpm, 10 kN.

Journal bearings without seal tooth have lower inlet pad temperature than journal bearings with seal tooth. As ow rate increased from 30 to 120 L/min, inlet pad temperature of conventional bearing without a seal tooth decreased 5.4 1C but inlet pad temperature of conventional bearing with a seal tooth decreased 23.2 1C. In conclusion, inlet pad temperature of bearings with a seal tooth remarkably decreases as ow rate increases. On the contrary, cooling effect of journal bearings with a seal tooth remarkably decreases as ow rate decreases. From the test results, journal bearing without a seal tooth have good cooling effect due to large clearance. Because hot carryover oil drained side leakage, pad inlet temperature is low at journal bearings without seal tooth with large clearance. But increasing rate of pad temperature is high because total supply oil is small.

Fig. 15. Pad temperature prole at 4200 rpm with 10 kN.

4. Conclusions An experimental study was conducted to compare LEG journal bearings with conventional journal bearings under a variety of operating conditions. The following conclusions are based on the results. 1. Journal bearings without seal tooth have lower power loss and lower pad temperature than those of journal bearings with seal tooth. 2. Conventional journal bearing without a seal tooth is more effective than that of LEG journal bearing without a seal tooth to decrease power loss and pad temperature. 3. LEG journal bearing with a seal tooth has higher pad temperature than that of conventional journal bearing with a seal tooth. 4. As rotational speed increases, power loss of journal bearings without a seal tooth increase more slowly than those of journal bearings with a seal tooth. 5. As bearing load increases, effect of bearing load for power loss decreased. 6. As ow rate decreases, the decreasing rate of power loss of journal bearings without a seal tooth is higher than that of bearings with a seal tooth and pad inlet temperature of bearings with seal tooth rapidly increased.

Fig. 16. Maximum pad temperature vs. ow rate at 4200 rpm with 10 kN.

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