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Is Turbine Flush Justified?
Paul Kerpash, Industrial Sales Representative,
Engineered Lubricants Co.
It would be ideal, if time permits, to flush now. Any oil analysis
performed over the next two years is useless if you detect any
babbitt(lead or tin) material. How would you know if it is new
or old babbitt trapped in the system? Unless you are in a unique
situation, where downtime costs are negligible, then continue
running this turbine. If your downtime costs exceed $10,000 per
hour, it would be advisable to perform a flush and clean the system
to remove any doubt.
This would also be the ideal time to remove the water, rust and
paint chips from the system. Repainting the areas where the paint
was burned off could be done at this time and this would probably
alleviate the rust issue.
What elements does and ICP or XRF analysis reveal other than
the typical readings for this oil? Has the viscosity increased
or decreased? Does water or sediment show up in the sample? Does
the RPVOT result look satisfactory when compared to new fluid?
These are some items I would want answers to.
See other responses
to this Readers Challenge.
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