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Place For Title: Resolving Cyclic Vibration On An Instrument Air Compressor

This document summarizes a case study on resolving cyclic vibration in the 2nd and 3rd stages of an instrument air compressor. Analysis found abnormal shaft movement and rubbing from carbon seals due to misalignment of the integral gear assembly. Corrective actions included replacing rotors, bearings, and aligning the gear assembly. Post-maintenance data showed the vibrations and shaft movements were resolved.

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Muhammad Fahmi Mahmud
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85 views

Place For Title: Resolving Cyclic Vibration On An Instrument Air Compressor

This document summarizes a case study on resolving cyclic vibration in the 2nd and 3rd stages of an instrument air compressor. Analysis found abnormal shaft movement and rubbing from carbon seals due to misalignment of the integral gear assembly. Corrective actions included replacing rotors, bearings, and aligning the gear assembly. Post-maintenance data showed the vibrations and shaft movements were resolved.

Uploaded by

Muhammad Fahmi Mahmud
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PLACE

Resolving Cyclic FOR


Vibration on TITLE
an Instrument Air
Compressor AUTHORS
Amit Sharma
Lead Engineer, Machinery Diagnostics Services
GE Oil & Gas- Digital Solutions, Bently Nevada

Nicolas Peton
Global Director, Machinery Diagnostics Services
GE Oil & Gas- Digital Solutions, Bently Nevada
Authors
• Amit Sharma
- Lead Engineer, GE-BN, Machinery Diagnostics Services, Abu Dhabi,
U.A.E.
- With GE-BN Machinery Diagnostics Services Group since 2007
- Project Engineer- Rockwell Automation-Entek IRD

• Nicolas Peton
- Global Director, GE-BN, Machinery Diagnostics Services, Nantes France
- With GE-BN Machinery Diagnostics Services Group since 2006
- Worldwide Startup Activities Site-In-Charge, Alstom (Steam Turbine) &
Cryostar ( expander/compressor)
- Operation & Maintenance Engineer- PPG Industry, USA
- Mechanical/Acoustical Research Engineer, Technion, Haifa and TU Berlin
Case Study on Resolving Cyclic Vibration on an
Instrument Air Compressor Train
Instrument Air Compressors are considered critical equipment in
the plants, supplying compressed air to the instrumentations in
the field. This case study focuses on cyclic vibration phenomena
observed in the 2nd and 3rd stages of an Instrument Air
Compressor, part of an Integral Gear Compressor train driven by
a motor. The machine train is equipped with an online vibration
monitoring and protection system with online diagnosis software,
which was used to diagnose the phenomena & forward path for
the resolution.
Content

• Problem Statement
• Machine Train Details
• Observation/Analysis
• Conclusions & Recommendations
• Machine Inspection Findings
• Corrective Actions / Lesson Learned
Problem Statement
• 3-stage integrally-geared instrument air compressor train
experienced cyclic vibration.

• Phenomena noticed on 2nd & 3rd stage bearings with first


observation during April 2013 and persisted till major
overhauling in September 2014.

• From September 2013 onwards, the vibration amplitudes of


3rd stage intermittently reached alarm limits & Machine
availability became a concern for the customer.
Machine Train Details
Operating Speeds
Pinions
1st Stage - 35793 rpm
2nd Stage - 52063 rpm
3rd Stage - 52063 rpm

Motor/Bull Gear Speed


2975 rpm

Critical Speeds
1st Stage - 21000 rpm
2nd /3rd Stage - 30800 rpm
Observations/Analysis
Direct & 1X Vibration Trend for 3rd Stage:

Abnormal periodic fluctuations of Direct and 1X vibration,


repeating each cycle at 1 minute interval.
Observations/Analysis
1X Polar Plot of 3rd Stage Bearing: Steady State Condition

Abnormal 360-degree 1X phase angle revolutions


Observations/Analysis
Direct & 1X Vibration Trend of 2nd Stage:

Abnormal periodic fluctuations of Direct and 1X vibration,


repeating each cycle at 1 minute interval
Observations/Analysis
1X Polar Plot of 2nd Stage Bearing: Steady State Condition

1X phase angle observed to revolve at one particular quadrant.


Observations/Analysis
Transient & Steady State- 1X Polar Plots of 2nd Stage Bearing:

Steady
State

Transient

-Transient condition appears normal, where machine reached operating speed with
normal behavior
-1X Phase revolution occurs just after reaching operating speed during steady
state
Observations/Analysis
Transient & Steady State- 1X Polar Plots of 3rd Stage Bearing:

Transient

Steady
State

-Transient condition appears normal, where machine reached operating speed with
normal behavior
-1X Phase revolution occurs just after reaching operating speed during steady
state
Observations/Analysis
Shaft Centerline Plots

Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3

Stage-2 & 3 rotor shows abnormal shaft centerline movement.


Suspected rubbing with the carbon seals on stage 2 & 3 as evidenced
from the rotor bouncing at steady state, particularly on stage 3.
Conclusions & Recommendations
Conclusions:
• Detailed analysis indicates that the vibration is real and not due to
instrumentation error.
• Third & Second Stage bearings show typical rub induced vibrations that can be
sufficient enough to create localized heating of the rotor causing it to bow.
• The shaft centerline lift during transient condition indicated abnormal gear
forces due to misaligned gear assembly causing rubbing of rotor with carbon
seals.
Recommendations:
• Investigate the qualitative analysis of oil ( viscosity, moisture etc.)
• Verify the alignment condition of the gear assembly with the protocol values.
Machine Inspection Findings

Brownish oil burn


marks on 2nd & 3rd
stage bearings and
rubbing marks on
the pinion rotors
observed.

Suspected Reasons:-
• Carbon Seals rub due to mis-alignment across the gears.
• Burnishing is suspected due to shear stresses in the oil causing high
temperature.
Corrective Actions / Lesson Learned
Corrective actions:
 All the pinion rotors were replaced with new rotors.
 All the bearings were replaced.
 Alignment of the integral gear assembly was carried out.
 Lubricating oil was replaced per the recommendation from OEM. The oil
type was changed in terms of viscosity (higher to lower viscosity).

Lessons learned:
 Oil degradation can lead to shear stresses in the oil lubricant. Hence
monitoring of oil quality is also an essential activity.
 Availability of historical information from online condition monitoring
system enabled identification of the root cause.
Post Maintenance Data Plots
1X Polar Plots of 2nd and 3rd Stage bearings:

Stage 2 Stage 3

Stable 1X amplitudes/1X phase observed at stage 2 & 3 bearings.


Post Maintenance Data Plots
Shaft Centerline Plots

Stage 1 Stage 2

Stage 3

Normal Shaft Centerline lift observed for all of the pinion


rotors after the corrective actions.
QUESTIONS…

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