Lube Oil System Amir Khodabandeh

Published on September 25, 2018

In rotary equipment, lubrication is one the most

important factors that shall be considered.
Lubrication will reduce the friction during the
operation. Reduced friction will results in higher
efficiency, longer maintenance intervolves and
lower maintenance costs. There are multiple
standards for lube oil units but the most famous
one is API 614. This standard includes 4
chapters; the first chapter is general requirements
that shall be applied to all other sections. Second
chapter are for special purpose and the third
chapter is for general purpose lube oil system,
both of these terms are defined in the next
chapter. The fourth chapter specifies the dry gas
seals requirements.
AmirThere are multiple methods for
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lubrication. In this article we will discuss
“Forced Lubrication”. A forced lubrication
system consists of few elements such as Pumps,
strainer, filters, coolers, rundown tank, and
reservoir.

Special purpose Vs. General purpose

As stated in API 614, “The term "special-

purpose application" is defined in ISO 10438-
1.”. However, other standards have their own
definitions as well. For example for turbines, as
stated in API611 “General-purpose turbines
are horizontal or vertical turbines used to
drive equipment that is usually spared, is
relatively small in size (power), or is in non-
critical service. They are generally used
where steam conditions will not exceed a
pressure of 48 bar (700 psig) and a
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temperature of 400 °C (750 °F) or where
speed will not exceed 6,000 r/min.”.

In our company, I think it is applicable to other

companies as well, any equipment that has
following conditions is considered as special
purpose:

1. The operation of the equipment is critical; meaning that if the equipment

fails whole plant will shut down or it cause a hazard to environment or

personnel.

2. The equipment does not have a stand by. For example in methanol

plants, Synthesis gas compressor, also called SYNGAS compressor, is a

critical unit that if fails, whole plant will shut down, and due to high

initial costs, no stand by compressor is considered. Thus SYNGAS

compressor is considered as special purpose equipment and all

 auxiliaries shall be purchased considering this criterion, for example

turbines, coupling, gearboxes and lube oils shall be all special type. On
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the other hand boiler feed water pumps are critical as well but they

might have standby unit. In this case they can be considered as general

purpose units.

Special purpose units have more regulations and

restrictions. They are more expensive but the
break down probability is lower than general
purpose units.

For the rest of article, we follow the special

purpose standard since it has more restriction
than general purpose lube oil units.

Lube Oil System elements

1- Base plate
It is a plate that every other equipment mounts on
it. Base plate can be one plate that all elements
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mount on it or multiple plate based on available
location.

2- Reservoir

The storage location for oil. The reservoir shall

have multiple facilities including:

Level gauge: to show oil level in tank

Heater: to heat the oil in the cold weather.

Man hole: For maintenance reasons,

Connection: Forced lube oil system is a closed system. Oil shall return to

reservoir after it done lubrication. All the return lines shall be equipped

with a flow indicator device. Due to lower costs, manufacturers are

usually uses sight glass. Operators shall be able to see the returning of

oil.
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Spare Connection: This is our company practice as well. Who knows

what will happen in future? It is easier to have a spare connection during

the reservoir manufacturing just in case it is needed in future.

Oil purifier/Oil conditioner connection: Based on manufacturer practice

this connection can be same as spare connection. During the operation

the quality of oil will drop, especially in turbines, there is a risk that

steam enter the oil. Water droplets in oil are not acceptable. In figure 1 a

typical oil purifier is shown. Its duty is to separate water from oil. The

purifier works based on centrifugal principals. Purifier rotates oil at high

speed. Due to centrifugal forces oil and water will divide into two

phases. Then the water will routed to drain. Again in our company it is

normal practice to consider one “PORTABLE OIL PURIFIER” or

maximum two for whole plant but some manufacturer such as

SIEMENS, will use one fixed purifier. If the purifier is fixed, then there

is no need for any additional connections.

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Figure 1- Portable
Centrifugal oil purifier

Drain connection: As the name suggests, this connection is used for

draining the oil into drainage channel. It is important that the bottom of
 the reservoir have slope to the drain so solid particles can be drained

easily.
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Filling nozzle: This nozzle is used to fill the reservoir.

A typical P&ID (Piping and Instrumentation

Diagram) of lube oil reservoir with its auxiliaries
are shown in figure 2.
 Figure 2- Typical
reservoir
Amir P&ID
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3- Oil pumps

Depending on oil viscosity, required pressure,

required flow and other working conditions
manufacturer use different type of pumps. Screw
pumps are normal selection while other pumps
such as gear pump or centrifugal are other
selections. At the suction of the pumps,
manufactures are always provide strainers. These
strainers will prevent large solid particles to enter
the pump and damage it. These strainers shall not
be confused with filters. Strainers will only filter
solid particles with large diameter.
Selection of the pumps are important but there is
one more important factor that shall be
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considered; POWER!. Source of pumps power
are utmost important. In special purpose lube oil
skid, we consider 3 pumps; Primary pump,
secondary pump and emergency pump. Primary
pump, as the name implies, is the pump that
always works. Secondary pump comes into
service when the supplied pressure from the first
pump is not sufficient. When the secondary
pump comes to service and if the supplied
pressure is not sufficient, two actions set at
motion together:

1. Device will receive trip signal.

2. Emergency pump will come to service.

It is important that these three pumps have
different source of power. If steam is available
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then the suggested combination is as follow:

Primary pump on steam (using general purpose turbine)

Secondary pump on AC motor from Electrical grid. Standby pump shall

be always motor-driven due to fast start up. Turbine driven pumps

requires warming which is not acceptable for secondary pumps.

Emergency pump on AC from Diesel generator. Emergency pump have

a different oiling route. This pump is not used for normal lubrication but

rather in emergency case. It will provide oil with sufficient flow and

pressure during SHUTDOWN to avoid bearing damages and to provide

uniform cool down. A route of emergency oil pump is show on Figure 3.

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Figure 3- Main and

secondary oil pumps
route (red) Vs.
 Emergency oil pump
route
Amir (green)
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There are other sources of power to be

considered as well for pumps

UPS: Batteries: Simple but they require regular maintenance and may

not be reliable as other sources

Shaft driven pumps: These pumps are driven using the main equipment

shaft. The major problem for these pumps is maintenance. In order to do

repair on these pumps, whole equipment shall be shut down. On the

other hand since these pumps work as long as shaft rotates, in the case of

shutdown these pumps provide oil to bearing until the shaft stops

completely.
 For shaft driven
pumps,
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maintenance, NPSH,
priming and thermal
growth shall be
considered.

4- Coolers

A twin parallel coolers shall be provided with

transfer valve. Only one of coolers is in service
while the other one is on standby. These coolers
shall be connected with a line and orifice.
Standby cooler shall be always prime for
immediate startup. A line with orifice connects
these two cooler. Due to high pressure in
working cooler, standby cooler will be filled with
oil. There are lines that connect coolers to
reservoir. After the standby cooler is filled with
oil, excess oil Amir
in theKhodabandeh
standby cooler returns to
reservoir. This will keep standby cooler always
prime. Shell and tube coolers are preferred but
other type of coolers can be accepted upon
agreement between purchase and manufacturer.

According to our experience, we consider a TSV

(Temperature safety valve) and a sight glass on
coolers water outlet. If the temperature rises
within the cooler, TSV will protect the cooler and
if tubes are blocked, operator can see through the
sight glass, that there are no water flow.
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Figure 4- Twin lube oil

system coolers

5- Filters

Twin filters are provided to prevent solid

particles reach the critical parts of the equipment.
One filter is in the service while the other filter is
standby. Priming of the filters is same as coolers,
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described in previous chapter.

For ease of maintenance, filters shall have

replaceable filtering component. As stated in API
614 “Filters shall provide a minimum particle
removal efficiency, EPR of 90 % for 10 μm
particles (β10≥10) and a minimum EPR of
99,5 % for 15 μm particles (β15≥200), both in
accordance with ISO 4572 when tested to a
minimum terminal (end-of test- run)
differential pressure of 350 kPa (3,5 bar; 50
psi).”

Filter shall be downstream of coolers in order to

filter if any solid part from coolers enters the oil
lines.
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Figure 5- Oil filters.

Connecting line
 between filters are
clearly shown in this
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picture (middle line)

6- Rundown tanks

Rundown tank is a smaller reservoir that installed

at high locations. If all the pumps fails, or if the
diesel generator takes too long to come into
service, rundown tank will provide oil with
sufficient pressure. The pressure is produce due
to gravity. Rundown tanks are equipped with a
level gauge, return line that returns excess oil
back to reservoir and feed line.

When the pumps are working normally, the

rundown tank will be filled. If the inlet pressure
drops, then the direction of flow will be reversed
and rundown tank empties its oil back to the line.
As mentionedAmir
earlier considering the emergency
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pump to be on diesel generator electrical grid;
Diesel generators will starts in 30 secs (more or
less). Rundown tank shall provide oil for this
crucial 30 secs or bearings of the equipment will
be damaged. After that the emergency pump
starts and provides sufficient lubrication until the
equipment cools down completely. If there are no
emergency pumps, then the volume of rundown
tank shall be sufficient for whole cooldown
period, which is around 5-10 minutes.

7- Accumulators

Accumulators provide higher pressure than

rundown tank but due to cost, they will be used
only in small volumes. They are mainly used on
control lines where 1- The pressure is higher than
lubrication lines 2- required oil volume is lower.
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Amir Khodabandeh
 Figure 6- Accumulator
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 Alarms and Shut downs

In the API, there are couple of alarms and shut

downs defined for different scenarios. These
scenarios are shown in below table:

Figure 7- Alarms and

shut down according
 to API 614 Chapter 2
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Common faults in lube oil units

1. Contamination: It happens when steam enters the oil lines and water

returns to reservoir. If the amount of water is small, it can be separated

with purifier. If the water content is too much, then the root of problem

shall be identified

2. Lube oil elements break down: It is possible, and normal, that

mechanical equipment have break down. This is the reason everything

has a standby. Standby element will come into service while the primary

element will be sent for repair. Coolers, Filters, Pumps all have standby

unit.

Related Articles

1. Centrifugal Compressor- Part IV- Dry Gas Seals

 2. Centrifugal Pumps- Part II- NPSH and Cavitation

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References

1. API 614- 5th edition

2. Cover picture KGD group

3. Figure 1- Hydraulic Oil Filter

4. Figure 4- PSI Engineering

5. Figure 5- 3Lfilter

6. Figure 6- Jabsco Accumulators

#api #lubeoil #tips #cooler #filter #pump