INCREASING RELIABILITY THROUGH PROACTIVE

APPROACH- A CASE STUDY

L. K. Nayak T.K. Rao

DGM(MTP), NTPC, Kaniha AGM(MTP), NTPC, Kaniha

ABSTRACT:

Equipment availability & reliability play a major role in the overall performance
of power plants. An untimely unexpected failure of any equipment can not only lead to
increased cost of maintenance & restoration but also causes lost production or
operational inconvenience. Many of the equipments in a power plant operate under
harsh environment prone to frequent outage due to premature component failures
unless diligently taken care of. The availability & reliability of such equipments is very
vital for sustained & reliable power generation and supply. This assumes much higher
significance under the present ABT regime and more informed & demanding
customers. To meet their desired availability & reliability needs, we have to move
beyond traditional maintenance practices of corrective & preventive maintenance, and
adopt more & more advanced predictive maintenance with proactive approach. In spite
of having a good predictive maintenance program over & above a time-scheduled
preventive maintenance one, some equipments are still not providing desired life &
reliability, but after thorough investigation & analysis and addressing the root-causes
of premature failure, significant improvement can be achieved. This paper discusses
the real-life case study of NTPC-Kaniha in consonance with the proactive maintenance
concept.

INTRODUCTION:

Many of the power plant equipments like fans (ID, FD, PA, Seal air, Scanner
air), pulverisers, crushers & conveyors, ash handling equipments, etc are installed &
operate in a harsh environment and, therefore, are subjected to contamination during its
operation & maintenance. It has been found that contamination is responsible for almost
80% of accelerated wear & premature failure of mechanical components having relative
motion between them like bearings, seals, etc. In addition to contamination, other
causes of premature component failures are improper lubrication, poor handling &
fitting, preloading due to soft-foot & misalignment, excessive force & vibration due to
unbalance, resonance, overloading, etc. Failure of bearings & seals is found to be the
single most predominant reason of rotating machinery outage and, therefore, it needs
utmost attention to avoid premature failures thereby increasing equipment availability &
reliability.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND:

Economic considerations of optimising equipment availability have given rise

to various maintenance philosophies. Over the years, with increasing sophistication of
equipments and cost of machinery spares, services & lost production, run-to-failure
breakdown maintenance gave way to time-scheduled preventive maintenance (PM).
Experience shows that the cost of maintenance reduces by 30% by changing
maintenance philosophy from corrective to preventive one. However, research has
proved that once a piece of equipment has established a reliable operating mode,
disturbing this through periodic overhaul results in reduction in life due to
maintenance-induced problem. Considering the possibility of over-maintenance,
random non-age related failures in preventive maintenance regime and to optimise the
cost further by addressing its shortcomings, the concept of predictive maintenance
(PdM) evolved. Therefore, it is wise not to disturb an equipment with stable & reliable
operating mode through periodic overhaul to address some failure modes unless any
problem is indicated by the appropriate PdM techniques employed to detect &
diagnose it. Every maintenance philosophy has some pros & cons associated with it;
even run-to-failure breakdown maintenance has its benefits in certain non-critical
equipment low-cost component failures, and predictive maintenance can have
shortcomings in not being able to cost-effectively detect & diagnose certain failures.
Therefore, a good maintenance program encompasses the best aspects of all these
maintenance philosophies.

In spite of having knowledge of all these maintenance philosophies, most of our

maintenance programs are still dominated by time-based preventive maintenance due
to old beliefs & misconceptions about what makes our maintenance compliant. Plant
managers should challenge this mindset, and replace periodic intrusive inspections &
maintenance, except age-related deterioration/failures, with non-intrusive inspections &
assessments so that equipment dismantling & overhaul is carried out only when actually
required. It leads to increased demand on testing, data-collection, analysis, detection &
diagnosis, and can be met through increased deployment of appropriate technologies
and adequate technologists. Having such a set up aids the plant management in
ensuring availability at lower cost. But, it is not the sine-qua-non for all issues of
maintaining machinery availability & reliability at optimum cost. While predictive
maintenance is based on predicting the impending or incipient failure of a component
and taking corrective action before it actually fails, it does not take care of the cause of
the failure. Here comes in to play the concept of proactive maintenance that looks at the
root-cause of the failure and aims to eliminate it so that failure is either eliminated or
reduced to increase equipment availability & reliability.

Prerequisites of Pro-active Maintenance:

Availability & reliability of equipments can be increased by reduction in

equipment down time and component failure risk only if potential failures & their
underlying causes are discovered & addressed. Failure analysis helps in the
determination of the failure modes of machinery components and their most probable
causes. Very often, machinery failures reveal a chain of causes & effects the end of
which is usually a performance deficiency termed as problem or its symptom. Root-
cause analysis works backwards to define the elements of reaction chain and then
proceeds to link the most probable failure cause with the basic cause of the problem
based on the failure evidence. There will always be a number of causes & effects in any
given failure event, and we need to arrive at a practical point, if not all the way to the
beginning of the cause-and-effect chain, where elimination or modification of the
contributing factors can solve or atleast reduce the occurrence or impact of the problem.

In proactive maintenance, a disciplined approach to failure analysis is

necessary to find the root causes, because past experience reveals that all too often
machinery problems are never analysed sufficiently, they are merely solved to quickly
get back on stream. Production pressure often overrides the need to analyse the failure
event thoroughly, and the problem and its underlying cause come back to haunt us
later. Hence, the first & foremost requirement of root-cause analysis & proactive
maintenance is the careful observation & preservation of the failure evidence,
equipment history, etc.

Following real-life cases validate the advantage of proactive approach in

eliminating or reducing unexpected or recurring failures thereby increasing equipment
availability & reliability.

CASE OF ID FAN:

Problem:
On a routine walk-down check, abnormal sound was heard from one of our ID
Fans which was running fine with normal vibration levels(Table-1), maximum
being 28µpk-pk and 2.2 mm/spk, measured on schedule 15 days before. On
further checking & measurement, the vibration at motor drive end was found
high in axial & vertical direction.

15/01/2013 VIBRATION (µpk-pk / mm/spk) Table-1

POSITION H V A REMARKS
MNDE 17 / 0.8 10 / 0.9 16 / 1.3 IGV 92%
MDE 20 / 1.1 9 / 1.3 25 / 2.2 SCOOP 87%
FCIB 22 / 1.1 18 / 1.5 16 / 1.6 Normal during scheduled
check
FCOB 28 / 1.2 18 / 1.2 18 / 1.6
FDE 8 / 0.8 12 / 0.8 13 / 1.0
FNDE 22 / 0.8 25 / 0.8 12 / 0.8

30/01/2013 H V A REMARKS
MNDE 15 / 1.5 16 / 1.5 16 / 4.6 IGV 100%
MDE 20 / 2.2 22 / 6.7 66 / 30.0 SCOOP 86%
FCIB 18 / 0.9 17 / 1.5 15 / 2.0 Motor DE vertical & axial
vibration found high.
FCOB 29 / 1.2 22 / 1.0 12 / 1.4
FDE 13 / 0.5 7 / 0.3 10 / 1.1
FNDE 23 / 0.7 24 / 0.7 16 / 0.9

Approach:
Capturing vibration spectrum to determine predominant vibration components
for further analysis.

Regreasing the motor bearings and observe its effect.

Checking of planned maintenance tasks & schedule, operating log &

maintenance history, etc.

Thorough investigation of failed component & other evidence.

Findings & Analysis:
No abnormality was observed with any operating parameters and motor bearing
lubrication was carried out on schedule.

Very high axial vibration observed could be due to increased axial thrust or
reduced axial restraint or both. Motor had two cylindrical roller bearings, which
take radial load, one each at both ends in addition to a deep groove ball bearing
at drive end that can carry some axial load. The motor is coupled with a gear-
type flexible coupling to take care of axial movement under varying load or
misalignment condition. Therefore, it was suspected that there could be
problem with either ball bearing or gear-coupling & alignment.

From vibration spectrum (Fig-1), it was observed that sub-synchronous high

frequency vibration was predominant and could be correlated with Motor DE
ball bearing defect frequency indicating ball bearing distress.

Fig-1: Vibration spectrum

To further check the bearings & its lubricating state, regreasing of the bearings
were done upon which the vibration initially reduced to 10 mm/s with reduction
in abnormal sound, but increased again after a few hours to 19 mm/s. This
necessitated stopping of the equipment for inspection & corrective action.

On stoppage of equipment & thorough inspection, it was found that motor ball
bearing had excess clearance due to wear and gear-coupling was dry &
jammed with severely worn-out & broken teeth (Fig-2). Most probably, a
 combination of inadequate lubrication & misalignment led to this condition and
exerted excessive axial thrust on motor ball bearing due to coupling inflexibility.

LOCATION BRG. NO INTERNAL OLD BEARING NEW BEARING

CLEARANCE CLEARANCE CLEARANCE
LIMIT

MNDE NU1048MC3 0.17 to 0.23mm 0.20mm 0.18mm

NU1052 0.19 to 0.26mm 0.25mm 0.22mm
MDE 6052MC3 0.09 to 0.17mm 0.35mm 0.1mm

Fig-2:
(a) Motor bearing clearances
(b) Gear-coupling with severely
worn-out & broken teeth

To drill down further, planned maintenance tasks & equipment history was
checked. It was evident that PM tasks, requiring no stoppage of equipment,
were carried out on schedule, and some tasks, requiring equipment outage,
were carried out during opportunity shut-downs of unit & equipment. It was also
noticed that on stoppage of the unit, one particular side ID fan was always kept
running, while other was stopped and preventive tasks carried out. This resulted
in this particular ID fan running with gear-coupling not re-greased for over six
months and above. It was also observed that, alignment checking & corrections
were not included in opportunity shutdown or annual maintenance checks.

Remedial Action:
Failed bearing and gear-coupling were replaced as corrective action..

As preventive action to avoid recurrence of such problem, it was decided to

carry out re-greasing & other preventive tasks on opportunity shut-downs
alternately stopping the fans on rotation basis. Alignment check & correction
was also included in the planned intervention on opportunity shut-down or
annual maintenance activity.
 On box up & starting, the vibration values were found very much normal
(Table-2) and running fine till now without any recurrence of the problem.

02/02/2014 VIBRATION (µpk-pk / mm/spk) Table-2

POSITION H V A REMARKS
MNDE 12 / 0.4 7 / 0.3 7 / 0.7 IGV 92%
MDE 13 / 0.4 6 / 0.3 10 / 1.0 SCOOP 87%
FCIB Normal during scheduled
14 / 0.7 10 / 1.1 12 / 1.1
check.
FCOB 16 / 1.0 11 / 1.1 20 / 1.7
FDE 10 / 0.4 5 / 0.3 4 / 0.6
FNDE 16 / 0.4 18 / 0.4 6 / 0.3

CASE OF MILL SEAL AIR FAN:

Problem:
Mill Seal Air Fan is a vital equipment providing sealing air to pulverisers to
arrest leakage thereby protecting bearing, other components & environment
against contamination. It has an overhung impeller on shaft supported by two
oil lubricated antifriction bearings, self-aligning ball bearing at drive end and
spherical roller bearing at fan end, and coupled to the drive motor through a
pin-bush type coupling. One of these seal air fans was very troublesome with
recurring high vibration & premature bearing failure problems.

Approach:
Capturing of vibration signature for advanced analysis and monitoring vibration
more frequently to follow the failure progression.

Thorough inspection of failed bearings, shaft & bearing housing, lubricant

condition, other evidences, etc.

Checking of equipment history and learning about maintenance practices,

dimensional checks, fits & tolerances, etc from maintenance crew.

Findings & Analysis:

It was observed that the drive end self aligning ball bearing had failed most of
the time causing high vibration. After maintenance, the vibration reduces to a
very good value of around 15 µpk-pk and 2 mm/spk, but increases within 1-2
months reaching up to 15 mm/spk.

Vibration spectra (Fig-3) indicated abnormality at fan drive end bearing usually
containing the self-aligning ball bearing BPFO frequency with running speed
side bands. This could be due to bearing pre-loading caused by internal
misalignment or improper clearances.
 Fig-3: Vibration Spectra

To drill down further, when the failed bearings and bearing housing (Fig-4) were
checked, damage to outer race with running traces & denting marks were found
with indication of inadequate internal clearance, improper fit or presence of

Fig-4:
(a) Failed bearing
(b) Bearing housing

Drain port

Housing bottom
 contaminants. In some cases, trace marks non-parallel to the edge, and scratch
marks on housing & bearing OD were also observed that could have happened
due to loose or misaligned race ways.

On discussion with the maintenance crew, it was learned that the dimensions &
bearing fit on shaft is properly checked & ensured, but that of housing is usually
not checked as it becomes obvious when bearing is placed on bottom half
housing before putting the top half. To check the actual fit between housing &
bearing, lead wire was put on bearing top and housing top half tightened, and it
was found that there was a gap of about 0.06mm. To know the fit at other
locations, the housing dimensions were checked at four diagonal positions as
shown in the housing figure above, and it was observed that the housing bore
was not uniform with minimum 0.03mm clearance fit at horizontal direction and
0.08mm clearances at one diagonal. This might be the reason for outer race
shifting in vertical plane around horizontal axis and causing bearing preloading
and faster wear due to internal misalignment between races.

Since the equipment location is a dust-prone one, there is every possibility of

lubricating oil getting contaminated with ash particles during bearing
replacements. When enquired about the precautions taken to avoid this
lubricant contamination, it was learned from the technicians that they were
flushing the bearing housing by draining it and adding fresh oil. But, when the
bearing housing was minutely inspected, it was found that the oil was
impregnated with abrasive particles, and the drain port (as shown in Fig-4) was
above the housing bottom. Hence, the housing could not be perfectly cleaned
by draining the old oil thereby leaving the abrasive ash particles at bottom
contaminating the fresh lubricant resulting in accelerated wear of bearing.

Remedial Action:
Based on the above findings,

Bearing housing lapping was done to ensure proper housing fit, and thorough
cleaning of the bottom half sump was done before fresh oil flushing.

Bearings were replaced and precision alignment was done.

On box up & starting, the vibration values were found to be around very much
normal, maximum being 10 µpk-pk and 1.7 mm/spk and still operating at that
level without any further outage.

CONCLUSION:

1. First hand failure evidence of all failures with significant observations &
findings to be meticulously recorded & preserved for future analysis.

2. Disciplined approach to maintenance checks, history & record keeping

must be adopted.

3. Equipment availability & reliability can be improved if each & every

premature or recurring failure is thoroughly analysed and root causes
addressed to eliminate or reduce such incidents.