How to purify contaminated turbine oil?

Turbine oil (steam turbine oil) is a lubricating and cooling medium used in equipment such as steam turbines and water turbines. Its purity is crucial to the normal operation of the equipment. During use, turbine oil may be affected by pollutants such as moisture, solid particles, and oxidation products, resulting in a decrease in its performance. The following are methods for purifying turbine oil:

1. Physical purification method

(1) Vacuum dehydration and degassing

- Principle: By heating the turbine oil and lowering the boiling point of water under a vacuum environment, moisture and gas are evaporated and separated from the oil.

- Equipment: vacuum dehydration and degassing machine.

- Applicable situations: Suitable for removing moisture and dissolved gas in oil.

- Advantages: Efficient removal of moisture and gas, no chemical effect on oil quality.

(2) Mechanical filtration

- Principle: Remove solid particles and impurities in oil through filter media such as filter paper, filter element or filter screen.

- Equipment: plate and frame oil filter, centrifugal oil filter.

- Applicable situations: Suitable for removing mechanical impurities (such as metal particles, fibers, etc.) in oil.

- Advantages: simple operation and low cost.

(3) Centrifugal separation

- Principle: Use centrifugal force to separate the denser water and solid particles in the oil.

- Equipment: Centrifugal oil filter.

- Applicable situations: Suitable for removing free water and larger particle impurities.

- Advantages: Fast processing speed, suitable for large-scale oil processing.

2. Chemical purification method

(1) Adsorbent treatment

- Principle: Use adsorbents (such as silica gel, activated alumina, molecular sieves, etc.) to adsorb water, acidic substances and impurities in the oil.

- Equipment: Adsorption tower or oil filter.

- Applicable situations: Suitable for removing trace water and acidic substances.

- Advantages: Can effectively improve the chemical properties of oil.

(2) Chemical regeneration

- Principle: Neutralize the acidic substances in the oil by adding chemical reagents (such as alkali solution), or remove pollutants by chemical reaction.

- Equipment: Chemical regeneration device.

- Applicable situations: Suitable for oil with severe aging and high acid value.

- Advantages: can restore the chemical properties of oil.

3. Comprehensive purification method

(1) Vacuum oil filter

- Principle: Combine heating, vacuum dehydration and mechanical filtration to remove moisture, gas and solid impurities at the same time.

- Equipment: vacuum oil filter.

- Applicable situations: suitable for comprehensive purification of turbine oil.

- Advantages: efficient, comprehensive, suitable for large-scale treatment.

(2) Electrostatic oil purification

- Principle: Use electrostatic field to charge and aggregate tiny particles in oil, which is convenient for filtration and removal.

- Equipment: electrostatic oil filter.

- Applicable situations: suitable for removing tiny particles and colloidal substances.

- Advantages: good effect on removing tiny particles.

Turbine oil purification process

1. Sampling and testing:

- Take samples of turbine oil and test its moisture, gas content, acid value, viscosity, cleanliness and other indicators.

2. ｓｅｌｅｃｔ purification method:

- ｓｅｌｅｃｔ a suitable purification method based on the test results and pollution situation.

3. Purification:

- Treat the turbine oil with the appropriate equipment until the oil quality meets the standard.

4. Retest:

- Take samples again after purification to ensure that the oil quality meets the requirements (such as moisture content less than 50 ppm and cleanliness below NAS 1638 level 6).

5. Re-injection equipment:

- Re-inject the purified oil into the equipment and ensure that the system is well sealed.

Precautions

- Safe operation: Wear protective equipment when handling turbine oil to avoid skin contact or inhalation of oil vapor.

- Equipment maintenance: Regularly inspect and maintain the purification equipment to ensure its normal operation.

- Environmental control: Avoid prolonged contact between oil and air during the purification process to prevent secondary contamination.

- Oil quality standards: The purified oil should meet relevant standards (such as ISO 4406 cleanliness standard, ASTM D4378 moisture standard).

The above methods can effectively purify the turbine oil and restore its lubrication and cooling properties, thereby ensuring the normal operation of the equipment and extending its service life.