GT HYDRAULIC RATCHET SYSTEM PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

Overview of the Hydraulic Ratchet System

Hydraulic Ratchet System is one of the very important items used as rotor turning device for the safe
operation of the gas turbine.
It uses high pressure oil of about 75bar to steadily rotate the turbine shaft of approximately 45tons
during the following important operations:
1. Turbine cool down cycle, ie turning the shaft at every 3 minutes sequence for even cooling across
the length of the shaft in order to prevent sagging of the shaft (rotor) as the hot shaft cools after
GT shutdown.
2. At turbine start up, by aiding the diesel engine in breaking away the rotor from standstill.
3. Provides additional torque to augment the power delivered through the torque converter during
the starting up of GT from cold.
Problems encountered in the Hydraulic ratchet system
The two major challenges that are common in this system are :
1. None engagement or Partial engagement of the Clutch that connects the GT starting means and
the GT shaft.
2. Inability of the ratcheting system to rotate the GT shaft during the cool down cycle.

OPERATION OF GT HYDRAULIC RATCHET SYSTEMS

The ratchet sequence is supposed to activate the hydraulic ratchet pump which will pump the lube oil
at a pressure of about 75bar to turn the shaft. While the shaft is in the forward stroke for about 10
seconds, the lube oil is ported to the ratchet self sequencing valves through the clutch solenoid valve
(20CS) which pushes out a small pin to push the lever of the limit switch (33HR) to set the timer. The
timer switch also activates the relay for the hydraulic pump to switch off and then counts for 3 minutes
after which the sequence starts again for the ratcheting to occur.

Troubleshooting Ratcheting System faults

In the case of Ratchet trouble the Instrument and Control department first of all checks the following:

Is the hydraulic ratchet pump switching on during the ratchet start sequence?

If it is, then the pressure of the lube oil being pumped is verified by opening the hydraulic line bypass
valve so the oil can get to the line where the pressure gauge is installed and the pressure can be read
from the indicator to check if it is up to 70bar.

If the pressure is not sufficient then, the mechanical team will check for leakages along the line or the
filter installed on the ratchet line for clogging or the pressure relief valve installed on the ratchet line
for malfunctions.

 The I&C can also check the solenoid valve (20CS) for proper functioning if it actually opens and closes
when it receives the corresponding electric signals because if it is not functioning properly, it can be
draining the oil back to the oil tank thereby dropping the pressure required for ratcheting.
 The solenoid coil might be short-circuited thereby causing an abnormally high coil resistance or the
fuse might be blown thereby creating an open circuit that does not allow the electric signal from the
turbine control panel get to the solenoid installed on the turbine system. If the solenoid and/or fuse
are found to be damaged, then replacement will be required.
 The ratchet reset limit switch is also checked for proper functioning to check if the limit switch is
actually sending the correct switching electrical signal when the switch lever is pushed by the pin from
the self sequencing valves and when it retracts.
This is the signal that resets the ratchet timer for a continuous ratcheting sequence. If the limit
switch is damaged, it is replaced or if the switch is not well positioned such that the switching lever is
sufficiently acted upon the pin from the self sequencing valves, then the limit switch is well
repositioned.

 If the ratchet sequence from the turbine control panel is malfunctioning due to some system
error, the Mark V or Mark VI control panel is reset by restarting it and then restarting the ratchet
sequence.
2.1.3 HYDRAULIC RATCHET PROBLEM: GT did not start successfully since the ratchet mechanism
could not turn turbine shaft during start up and post lubing

Trouble Shooting of Problem:

Several checks were carried out to know the cause of the problem as follows:

1. The hydraulic pressure in the ratchet system was checked by opening the bypass valve that
connects the ratchet system to the fuel gas hydraulic line. When this was done, the hydraulic
pressure in the ratchet system was noticed to be about 28bar as against the normal 70 – 75bar

2. While the bypass valve was still open, the starting clutch solenoid valve was forced to zero,
and oil was dumped back to oil tank, reducing the pressure to about 4bar. This confirms that
the solenoid valve was in good working condition.

3. The ratchet system and the hydraulic devices in the manhole were checked for leakages. No
leak was observed that could have led to such a huge pressure drop.

4. The inline hydraulic cartridge filter was ruled out, because the bypass line was before the filter.

5. From the investigation so far, the other possible causes would be a faulty relief valve (VR5-1)
in the ratchet system, a faulty pump motor or malfunction of hydraulic ratchet pump.

6. Then the relief valve was checked by disconnecting the discharge end, at the pressure of 28bar
and a considerable oil flow was noticed at the discharge end of the valve. This signified that the
relief was bad, because it was set to about 1000psi (about 70bar). Therefore, it should allow
little or no oil flow through it at 28bar.

PROBLEM DISCOVERED
Bad relief valve, dumps oil back into lube oil tank, therefore leading to low hydraulic oil pressure i.e
pressure loss in the system. The low hydraulic pressure was insufficient to operate the ratchet
mechanism and turn the GT shaft for post lubing or for breakaway at unit start up.

Faulty Relief Valve,

Causing loss of
hydraulic pressure

Fig. 5 P&ID of Hydraulic Ratchet and Hydraulic oil supply.

SOLUTION TO PROBLEM

The relief valve was replaced with a good one. This resulted to hydraulic pressure which increased to
about 74bar, upon replacement of the relief valve and the shaft turned when the unit was placed on
the ratchet mode. Also, unit ran to full speed no load.