GE Power Systems

MS9001E LUBE OIL SYSTEM

These switches are used for alarm and trip functions
(header temperature) and a turbine start permissive
(minimum tank temperature). To keep the oil above
the minimum temperature, tank temperature
switches will also cycle the lube oil heaters on and
off.

General
The lubricating requirements for the gas turbine
power plant are furnished by a common forcedfeed
lubrication system. This lubrication system, complete with tank, pumps, coolers, filters, valves and
various control and protection devices, furnishes
normal lubrication and absorption of heat rejection
load of the gas turbine and generator. Lubricating oil
is circulated to the turbine bearings, generator bearings and the accessory gearbox. The lubricating oil
is also supplied to the starting means torque converter for use as hydraulic fluid as well as for lubrication.
This same fluid is also used as control or trip oil, high
pressure hydraulic oil and generator seal oil.

To start the turbine, a maximum oil viscosity of 800

SSU is specified. To assure meeting that requirement, temperature switch 26QN prevents starting
the unit unless the oil temperature in the tank is
above 16C (60F).

Functional Description

Major components of the lube oil system include:

Lubricant Reservoir and Piping

1. Lube oil reservoir in the accessory base

The reservoir and sump for the lubrication system is
a 12,490 liter (3,300 gallon) tank which is fabricated
as an integral part of the accessory base. Lubricating
oil is pumped from the reservoir to the lube oil header by the accessory gear driven main pump, the ac
power auxiliary pump, or the dcpower emergency
pump. Bearing header pressure is regulated to a
pressure of 1.7 bar (25 psig) by pressure regulating
valve VPR21. The header supplies lube oil to the
turbinegenerator bearings, the accessory gear, the
torque convertor and the hydraulic supply system.
The trip oil and seal oil systems get their oil supply
from the pump discharge header before VPR21,
but after the coolers and filters. After lubricating the
bearings the lubricant flows back through various
drain lines to the lube reservoir.

2. Main lube oil pump (shaft driven from the accessory gear)
3. Auxiliary lube oil pump
4. Emergency lube oil pump
5. Auxiliary and emergency seal oil pump
6. Lube oil heat exchangers
7. Lube oil filters
8. Pressure relief valve VR11 in the main pump
discharge header
9. Bearing header pressure regulator VPR21
10. Mist eliminator
Refer to the Lube Oil Schematic Piping Diagram.

Whenever possible the lube oil feed piping is contained within the oil tank or the drain lines. The oil
feed and drain lines to and from the number one
bearing are directly connected between the accessory base and the turbine base. The feed and drain lines
connecting the accessory base to the rest of the gas
turbinegenerator exit the reservoir on the aft left
side and join the turbine base on the left side just aft
of the turbine forward support. There is an oil drain

Assorted lube oil temperatures may be monitored at

the primary operator interface of the SPEEDTRONIC Mark V control system. Thermocouples are
mounted in the lube oil bearing header, the drain
lines of all the journal bearings, the thrust bearing
drain and are also embedded in the bearing metal.
There are temperature switches monitoring lube oil
header temperature and lube oil tank temperature.
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channel that is fabricated as part of the turbine base.
This oil channel runs along the left inside of the turbine compartment and crosses the turbine base at the
aft end. This channel serves as the drain line for the
number two bearing and receives the drain oil from
the number three turbine bearing and the generator
bearings. This channel also contains the feed lines to
the turbine number two and three bearings and the
generator bearings.

motor 88QV and the body of the mist eliminator

should be adjusted to maintain 0 to 2 water negative pressure on the lube oil tank with the unit at base
load.
A lube level gauge and alarm system is mounted on
the side of the lube reservoir. This is a hermetically
sealed, floatarm operated device. The float mechanism operates a Full/Empty dial gauge and two electric switches, 71QH and 71QL. The two switches
activate annunciator circuits to alarm if the liquid
level rises above or drops below predetermined levels. The oil level gauge indicates F (Full) or E
(Empty) before the alarm is sounded. The Lube Oil
Level High alarm sounds when the oil level is within 254 mm (10 in.) of the tank top. The Lube Oil
Level Low alarm sounds when the oil level is less
than 432 mm (17 in.) from the tank top.

The oil feed and drain lines to the number three bearing and the generator bearings exit the turbine base
through the lateral drain channel on either the left or
right side,depending on site layout, and run to a
surge tank located midway between the turbine base
and generator. The surge tank is the interconnection
point between the number three bearing and the generator bearings and the rest of the lube oil system.
The external piping is aligned and welded in the
field and is supported by pipe stands

Dual parallel shellandtube lube oil coolers are

used, oil on the shell side and cooling water flowing
through a fintube Ubundle. There is a transfer
valve installed between the two coolers to direct oil
flow through either heat exchanger. Only one heat
exchanger will be in service at a time; thus cleaning,
inspection, and maintenance of the outofservice
heat exchanger can be performed without interrupting oil flow or shutting the gas turbine down. By
means of the manually operated wormdriven transfer valve, one heat exchanger is put into service as
the other is taken out, without interrupting the oil
flow to the main lube oil header. The transfer of operation from one to the other should be accomplished as follows:

Mounted on or supported from the top of the lube oil

tank are the ac and dcmotor driven lube oil pumps,
the ac and dcmotor driven seal oil pump, and various control and protective devices. Extending into
the tank from the side are the lube oil heat exchanger
assembly and the lube oil filter assembly. Access to
the tank for inspection is through various covers on
the tank top. The pressure regulating and pressure
relief valves are mounted external to the tank for
easy access. Two reservoir drain connections are
provided on the side near the tank bottom. All drain
points are shown on the Package Connection Outline.

1. Open the fill & pressurizing valve and fill the

standby heat exchanger until a solid flow of oil
can be seen in the flow sight in the heat exchanger vent pipe; this indicates a filled condition

The lube oil piping consists mainly of welded fabrications of seamless steel pipe with gaskets used at
bolted flanges. The feed lines are 304L stainless
steel, while the drain lines are carbon steel. Visual
oil flow checks can be made using the flow sights
provided in the drain lines. This flow should be
checked after each turbine teardown.

2. Operate the transfer valve with a wrench to bring

the standby heat exchanger into service
3. Close the fill valve

The lube oil system is vented to atmosphere through

a mist eliminator. The mist eliminator separates the
oil from the oil mist and drains it back to the reservoir. This reduces the amount of oil released into the
atmosphere. The throttling valve between suction
MS9001E LUBE OIL SYSTEM

The water discharge line from the outofservice

cooler should be open and the water feed line to the
outofservice cooler should be closed; this allows
thermal expansion and contraction without allowing
flow.
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Oil Filters

NOTE
When servicing a heat exchanger, be sure the
cooling water isolation valves to the inservice
cooler are open and the water isolation valves
for the tobeserviced cooler are closed.

Main Oil Filters

Filtration of the bearing header oil is accomplished
by 5micron, pleatedpaper filter elements installed
in the pump discharge header downstream of the
lube oil heat exchangers. The filter assemblies are
mounted in the lube oil tank. Dual parallel filters are
used with a transfer valve installed between the filters to direct oil flow through either filter and into the
lube oil header. Only one filter will be in service at a
time; thus cleaning, inspection, and maintenance of
the outofservice filter can be performed without
interrupting oil flow or shutting down the gas turbine. By means of the manuallyoperated, worm
driven transfer valve, one filter is put into service as
the second is taken out. Again, this is done without
interrupting the oil flow to the main lube oil header.
The transfer of operation from one filter to the other
should be accomplished as follows:

Pressure Regulation
Two regulating valves are used to control lube oil
system pressure. A backpressure relief valve, VR1,
limits the positive displacement main pump discharge header pressure to 6.9 bar (100 psi) and relieves excess oil to the lube reservoir. The lube
pressure in the bearing header is maintained at
approximately 1.72 bar (25 psi) by the diaphragm
operated regulating valve VPR21. The diaphragm
valve senses oil pressure in the bearing header and
opens to allow more flow. Piped in parallel to
VPR2 is an orifice which permits approximately
85 percent of required system flow. VPR2 opens as
required to maintain header pressure.

1. Open the fill & pressurizing valve and fill the

standby filter until a solid flow of oil can be seen
in the flow sight in the filter vent pipe. This indicates a filled condition.
2. Operate the transfer valve to bring the standby
filter into service
3. Close the filler valve

Mist Eliminator

A differential pressure gauge is connected across the

filters to indicate when the filter elements need replacement. Filters should be changed annually or
when the differential pressure gauge indicates a differential pressure of 1.03 bar (15 psi) or greater.
Pressure switch 63QQ1 is provided to alarm if the
differential pressure exceeds 1.03 bar.

The mist eliminator consists of a vessel containing

three coalescing filters (candles), a motordriven
fan and a bypass valve. Oil is separated from the airstream by the coalescing filters and returned to the
main lube oil tank. The fan overcomes the pressure
differential caused by the flow through the coalescing filters and maintains a slight negative pressure
on the lube oil reservoir. The bypass valve opens to
bypass the mist eliminator should the motor or fan
fail; this prevents the tank from being pressurized in
the event of such a failure. The fan should be
throttled to provide zero to 2 inches of water pressure in the tank.
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Lubricating Oil Pumps

Lubrication to the bearing header is supplied by
three lube pumps:
1. The main lube oil pump is a positive displacement pump mounted on and driven by the accessory gear. It is a piggyback design, two
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pumps using the same drive shaft. It is rated at
2725 lpm (720 gpm), 7.0 kg/cm2 (100 psig).

ter the unit is shutdown until the cooldown cycle has

been switched off. The cooldown cycle cannot be
switched off until fourteen hours after shutdown.

2. The auxiliary lube oil pump is a submerged centrifugal pump driven by an ac motor and rated at
3218 lpm (850 gpm), 7.9 kg/cm2 (112 psig). The
auxiliary pump has a higher rating than the main
pump to accommodate the needs of the torque
converter during slowroll and startup operation.

The orificed check valve between the auxiliary

pump discharge and the main pump discharge provides oil flow from the motor operated pumps to the
main gear pump to lubricate and prime the main
pump at startup.

Emergency Lube Pump

3. The emergency lube oil pump is a submerged

centrifugal pump driven by a dc motor and is
rated at 1590 lpm (420 gpm), 1.4 kg/cm2 (20
psig).

The emergency lube pump is a submerged centrifugal pump driven by a dc motor. This pump is the
backup to the auxiliary pump. If pressure switches
63QT2A and 2B sense a drop in lube oil header
pressure below 0.55 bar (8 psi), the emergency lube
oil pump will be started and the unit will trip on low
lube oil pressure. Pressure switch 63QL1 acts as a
backup to 63QT2A and 2B, activating the emergency lube oil pump if header pressure drops below
0.41 bar (6 psi). The contacts of switches 63QT2A
and 2B are hardwired to both the turbine control
panel and the emergency lube oil pump motorstarter circuitry and will alarm and start the pump if activated. The contacts of pressure switch 63QL1 are
hardwired in the motorstarter circuitry for the
emergency lube oil pump and have no alarm capability. 63QL1 should start the pump on low lube oil
pressure if for some reason 63QT2A and 2B do
not. Switches 63QT2A and 2B are located at the aft
end of the generator and switch 63QL is located at
the gauge cabinet in the accessory compartment.

Main Lube Pump

The main lube pump is mounted on the aft side of the
lower casing of the accessory gear. It is driven by a
splined quill shaft from the lower drive gear and provides lube oil during turbine full speed operation.

Auxiliary Lube Pump

The auxiliary lube pump is a submerged centrifugal
pump driven by an ac motor. It provides lube oil during startup and shutdown of the gas turbine, periods
when the main pump cannot supply sufficient pressure for safe operation. When the turbine attains
95% rated speed during startup, the auxiliary pump
is stopped. Similarly, the auxiliary pump starts when
unit speed drops below 14HS during shutdown. It
also provides backup to the main lube oil pump; if
pressure switch 63QA1 senses a drop in pump discharge header pressure to below 4.83 bar (70 psi)
when the unit is above 95% rated speed, the auxiliary lube oil pump is activated.

Should the auxiliary pump fail during a normal shutdown sequence, the emergency lube pump will be
started automatically by the action of low lube oil
pressure switch 63QL1 and continue to run until
the turbine shaft comes to rest.

The auxiliary lube oil pump also supplies the oil

pressure that drives the torque convertor during turbine cooldown. To prevent rotor bow after a hot
shutdown, the torque converter maintains the rotor
at a slow roll speed of approximately 3.0% of rated
speed. During this time the auxiliary pump supplies
oil to the bearings of the turbinegenerator and
drives, lubricates and cools the torque converter.
The auxiliary lube oil pump will continue to run afMS9001E LUBE OIL SYSTEM

Seal Oil Pump

The seal oil to the generator bearings is normally
supplied by the main lubricating system through a
separate line directly to the seal oil control unit of the
generator. This line is plumbed into the system upstream of pressure regulating valve VPR21. The
seal oil control unit will regulate the seal oil pressure
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lubricant to the bearings exceed 79.4C (175F).
Temperature switch 26QA1, also located in the
bearing header, will cause an alarm before this limit
is reached. Switch 26QA1 is set at 73.9C (165F).

to maintain it a nominal 0.32 kg/cm2 (4.5 psi) above

the hydrogen gas pressure. There are two seal oil
pumps backing up the main lubricating system, one
acpowered and one dcpowered. In the event of
low lube system pressure or lube system shutdown
for service, the seal oil pump supplies the pressure
required to seal in the generator hydrogen. Check
valves prevent oil supplied to the generator bearing
seal line by one source from feeding back into the inactive source.

Differential pressure switch 63QQ1 will cause an

alarm at a differential pressure across the oil filters
of 1.03 bar (15 psi).
The SPEEDTRONIC Mark V Control System requires that before the unit is tripped on low lube oil
pressure, both trip switches 63QT2A and
63QT2B must indicate low pressure or either of the
trip switches and low pressure alarm switch
63QA1 must indicate low pressure. Similarly, before the unit is tripped on high lube oil header temperature, both trip temperature switches 26QT1A
and 26QT1B must indicate high temperature, or either of the trip switches and temperature alarm
switch 26QA1 must indicate high temperature.
This voting logic prevents a trip due to a malfunctioning sensor.

The seal oil pump is driven by two motors (one ac

and one dc) mounted in tandem. If ac power is available, the pump is driven by the ac motor, 88QS1. If
ac power is unavailable, the pump is driven by the dc
motor 88ES1. If the auxiliary lube oil pump is on or
if the unit is above 50% rated speed, and pressure
switch 63SA1 senses low seal oil differential pressure, the ac motor will start. The dc motor is activated by either a low lube oil pressure signal from
the bearing header (63QA1) or by the undervoltage
relay (27MC2) in the Motor Control Center.

Test Valve Low Lube Oil Pressure Auxiliary

Pump Start

Pressure and Temperature Protective

Devices

A test valve mounted on the gauge cabinet provides

the means of checking automatic startup of the auxiliary lube pump and pressure switch 63QA1 while
the unit is operating normally on the main lube
pump.

The condition of dangerously low lubricating oil

pressure is detected by pressure switches that close
after header pressure decreases to a specified value;
this condition trips the unit. Pressure switches
63QT2A and 2B in the lube oil feed piping to the
generator bearings trip the turbine if the lubricant
pressure drops to 0.55 bar (8.0 psi). Pressure switch
63QA1 should sense a drop in pump discharge
header pressure, turn on the auxiliary lube oil pump
and sound an alarm before 63QT2A and 2B trip the
unit. Pressure switch 63QA1 is set at 4.83 bar (70
psi). Pressure switch 63QL1 acts as a backup to
63QT2A and 2B, activating the emergency lube oil
pump if header pressure drops below 0.41 bar (6
psi).

A springloaded normallyopen isolation valve is

used to isolate the test valve and switch. The test
valve is installed in the piping parallel to the switch
and is normally closed, holding lube system pressure on the switch. When performing a test, the
isolation valve should be held closed and the test
valve should be opened gradually to lower the lube
oil pressure in the switch piping. When the oil pressure falls to the setting of switch 63QA1, the auxiliary pump should start.
Upon closing the test valve and opening the isolation
valve, lube pressure is returned to normal and the
pump should stop as a result of the restoration of
pressure on the 63QA1 switch.

Likewise, temperature switches 26QT1A and 1B

are installed in the lubricating oil header piping and
cause the unit to trip should the temperature of the
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Test Valve Low Lube Oil Pressure
Emergency Pump Start

and is normally closed, maintaining lubricating system pressure on the switch. When performing a test,
the isolation valve should be held closed and the test
valve should be opened gradually to lower lubricating system pressure in the piping in which the switch
is mounted. When the oil pressure falls to the setting
of switch 63QL1, the emergency pump should
start.

A test valve is also used to provide the means of

checking the automatic operation of the emergency
lube oil pump and pressure switch 63QL1. This can
also be done while the unit is operating normally on
the main lube pump.

Upon closing the test valve and opening the isolation

valve, lube pressure is returned to normal and the
pump should stop as a result of the restoration of
pressure on the 63QL1 switch.

A springloaded normallyopen isolation valve is

used to isolate the test valve and switch. The test
valve is installed in the piping parallel to the switch

GE Power Systems Training

MS9001E LUBE OIL SYSTEM

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