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Turbine Oil Reclamation
In power plants, all around the world, fuel, water, steam, wind, sun, etc. are converted to electricity by using generators and turbines. The proper performance of such equipment highly depends upon the oil inside them. In service turbine oil is subjected to aging and degradation, that leads to lose its characteristics and finally it becomes unusable. This used oil must be replaced or reclaimed. The former method not only is not economical but also the residual contaminants in system can cause to rapid contamination.
Oil reclamation is a process which restores the chemical and physical properties of the oil based on ASTM D4378 standard.
First of all, oil is filtered through a coarse filter to prevent any particles from entering the equipment. It is then heated to the desired temperature to elevate the regeneration effect.
Oil is pumped through columns with sorbent media. In this step impurities and aging byproducts are removed from the oil. Oil is then pumped through the degassing chamber where it is dehydrated and degassed.
Treated oil is then pumped back to the turbine by the outlet pump. It must be considered after a given period, sorbent achieves full saturation and is no longer able to regenerate oil. At this stage, the sorbent needs to be reactivated (restored to its original state) to be able to regenerate oil again.
After the oil has been drained, a vacuum is created and maintained throughout the whole reactivation process. Then by selective use of heating elements on the top parts of individual columns, the reactivation process is initiated. During the process, the impurities are removed from the sorbent which restores it to its original state.
This entire process can be repeated many times until the sorbent starts to lose its properties and needs to be replaced.
