CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Rajesh Ramesh, 3rd year, B.E(Hons.) Mechanical Engineering, from
BITS Pilani KK Birla Goa Campus, has successfully completed two weeks of In-Plant training at
BPCL-KRL under the guidance of Mr.Gopu, Chief Manager Maintenance and hereby submitting
the completed In-Plant training report.

Mr. Gopu
Sr Manager -Maintenance
BPCL-KRL

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my gratitude to BPCL-Kochi Refineries Ltd, for giving me the
opportunity to conduct an in depth study of their refining processes, the maintenance works
carried out out, and the machinery used for the prime function of the entire refinery.
I extend my sincere gratitude to my guide Mr.Gopu, and all the other employees and
technicians for their cooperation, valuable suggestions, support and kind advices during the
entire course of my In-plant training

COMPANY PROFILE
The agreement for the construction of Kochi Refineries was executed on 27th April 1963.

by the of India, Petroleum Company of USA and the brothers of Calcutta. Kochi Refineries was
formally registered on 6th September 1963 at Ermakulam
Philips Petroleum International Corporation was the prime contractor for the construction of the
refinery. They entrusted the work to Pacific Procon Ltd. Construction work started in March
964, and the first unit came on stream 29 months later. The refinery first commenced on 23
(MMTPA). September 1966 and had a design capacity of 2.5 million metric tons per annum It
was then increased to 3.3 MMTPA in 1973 after which production of liquefied petroleum gas
(LPG) and Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) started
Refining capacity was further increased to 4.5 MMTPA in November 1984 when a fluid catalyst
cracking unit (FOCU) of one MMTPA capacity was added. The refining capacity was a
increased to MMTPA along with a re-vamp of FCCU to 1.4 MMTPA. A sulfurization unit
7.5 was installed as a part of this project to minimize sulfur dioxide emission. The refinery
entered
the petrochemical sector in 1989 when aromatic production facilities with a design capacity of
87,200 tons per annum of benzene and 12,000 tons per annum of toluene were commissioned.
In the year 2000. a MMTPA Diesel Hydro Desulfurization plant (DHDs) was added to reduce
the sulfur content in diesel.
A power plant of capacity 76 was commissioned in 1991 and additional capacity of
17.8MW was commissioned in 1998 thus making the refinery self-sufficient in power
An LPG bottling plant of capacity 4 was commissioned in 2003. A Bitumen emulsion
plant of capacity 10,000TPA was also commissioned in 2004. BPCL acquired the government of
India's shares in March 2001.
The refinery has been amalgamated with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd to form BPCL
KOCHI REFINERY
The BPCL-KR is producing 21 different products which include:Petroleum, LPG, Naphtha, MS, SKO, ATF, HSD, LSHF-HSD, LDO, Furnace Oil
LSHS, Bitumen, Natural Rubber modified Bitumen, Bitumen Emulsion, Petrochemicals,
Benzene, Toluene, Propylene,

PROCESS UNITS
CDU-1 BLOCK
Hydrodesulfurization unit (NHDs. Reformer unit, Kerosene Hydro-desulfurization unit
(KHDs) Visbreaker unit.

CRUDE DISTILLATION UNIT

In this unit, the crude oil is fractional into various boiling range steams such
as naphtha, keroserie, diesel etc. crude from the storage tank is pumped to the unit passed to a
preheat train sent to a of desalters. desalted crude is sent to another preheat train and fed to
prefractionated column in which light naphtha (LN) is separated as overheated steam. The LN
contains LPG, which is recovered in the LPG recovery unit. The flashed crude from the bottom
of pre-fractionated is pumped through preheat train heated on charge heaters fed to the main
crude fractionators.The distilled products drawn from different sections.
Heavy naphtha, kerosene 1. kerosene 2 and diesel base are the side products drawn from the
column.The remaining crude (reduced crude oil from the bottom column is routed to FBU in
FCC
LPG RECOVERY UNIT
Naphtha is stabilized by recovering the LPG components in this unit, LN from the prefractionated column is fed to stabilizer column after eating LPG is acquired as the overheat
product and it is sent to an amine treating plant.
NAPHTHA SPLITTER UNIT
The main function of this unit is to produce 60-90 cut naphtha from full range naphtha mainly
from BH crude.
NAPHTHA HYDRO DESULEURIZATION UNIT
Sulfur is a temporary poison for the reformer catalyst. A part from the 60-90 naphtha
contains metals in reformer feeder removed in NHDS unit.

REFORMER UNIT
It was originaly designed to boost the octane number of straight run nalptha to be sold as
gasoline
The main function of this unit is to produco benzene and other
Aromatic compounds from the 60-90 cut desulfurized naphtha.Hydrogen formed is separated
and recycled to the reactors.

KEROSENE HYDRO DESULFURIZATION UNIT:

This unit produces aviation turbine fuel (ATI) or jet fuel. This unit is also used in diesel

mineral turpentine oil (MTO) and desulfurization of pf-2 steam from CD-1 for blending
In diesel pool.
VISBREAKER UNIT
Vacuum residue obtained from imported crude in the vacuum unit (FPU) has high viscosity. This
viscosity is reduced in the visbreaker unit. Visbreaking is basically a mild thermal cracking
process wherein long chain hydrocarbon molecules in heavy feed are broken into smaller
molecules having lower viscosity,thereby leading to a reduction in velocity. This results in
conserving valuable distilled products.
CDU-2 LOCK
Crude from the storage is preheated, mixed with stripped water, desalted, again preheated and
split into two for preheating. It is finally heated and flashed into atmospheric column.
Atmospheric column overheated vapor is passed through the accumulator and overheated
steam
is sent to the naphtha stabilizer.
NAPHTHA STABILIZER
In this unit, unsterilized naphtha is sent to CDU or to LAN/HAN storage.
NAPHTHA CAUSTIC WASH:

It removes H2S and mercaptan from stabilized naphtha.It is done by separating hydrocarbons
and caustic phases from a mixture of naphtha and caustics
LPG AMINE TREATING UNIT
It is designed to remove H2S from LPG. This is
done by passing
feed through amine absorption column and then processing in a regenerator. LPG from
absorption column is sent to wash and then to storage through a sand filter
drum, and then to storage through a sand filter.
VACCUM DISTILLATION UNIT
In this unit, VGO feed from FCCU is produced. Hot RCO is combined diesel
slope oil is collected in hot well vacuum diesel along CDU's gas oil is sent to
pool.

SULFUR RECOVERY UNIT

It removes H2S from refinery fuel gas by convening it into elemental sulfur.
AROMATIC RECOVERY UNIT:
Aromatics such as benzene and toluene are extracted from reformate using sulfolane as solvent
Utility system for the supply of plant air, instrument air, cooling water is a part of ARU.
FLUIDIZED CATALYTIC CRACKING UNIT (FCCU)
FCCU converts atmospheric residue coming from CDU-1 into distillates, motor spirit and LPG.
There are many process units under FCCU.
FEED PREPARATION UNIT.
The purpose of the feed preparation
unit is to make feed of required quality to be processed
In FCCU. In this unit. RCO is distilled under vacuum into four different units mainly vacuum
Diesel Oil (VDO), Light Vacuum Gas oil (LPGO), Heavy vacuum Gas oil (HvGo and
Vacuum Residue (VR)

MAINTENANCE
Maintenance is defined as a of activities perrormed on all plants and machineries to maintain
the prime conditions of a plant and for the smooth running for the achievement of organizational
objectives.

Objectives of maintenance
To keep facilities and equipments in the best operating conditions.
To operate facilities and equipments to the optimum percentage of time.
To obtain minimum operation cost.
To ensure maximum safety to operating personal.
To prevent production loss due to malfunction ofthe equipments.
To provide maximum availability of equipments.
Basics of maintenance:
It is to be managed in a manner which shall commensurate with importance.
Maintenance work should be controlled at its source.
Except in emergencies, maintenance jobs must be planned before the work starts.
Existence of a flexible policy to use external resources to cover peak work requirements
Existence of a training program to teach new skills and to upgrade existing skills
Existence of a database on the history and condition of each equipment and facilities.
Types maintenance
Breakdown maintenance
Preventive maintenance
Predictive maintenance
Shutdown maintenance

BREAKDOWN MAINTENANCE:
Breakdown maintenance is the maintenance performed on equipment that has broken down
and
is usable. It is based on breakdown maintenance trigger. It may be either planned reactive
unplanned. An example of planned maintenance is run-to-failure maintenance and reactive
maintenance. Breakdown maintenance can be more costly than preventive maintenance.

PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE:
Preventive maintenance is the maintenance that is regularly performed on a piece of equipment
to loosen the likelihood of it failing, Preventive maintenance is
performed while the equipment is still working, so that it does not break down unexpectedly.

Preventive maintenance planned that any required resources are available. The maintenance
is scheduled based on a is so with a time based
time or usage trigger, A typical example of an asset year, before
ventive maintenance schedule is an air conditioner which is serviced every
summer. An example for asset maintenance with a usage based preventive maintenance
schedule is a motor vehicle which might be scheduled service every 10,000km runs.
Preventive maintenance is more complex to coordinate than run-to-failure maintenance
because
the maintenance schedule must be planned, Preventive maintenance is less complex
To coordinate than predictive maintenance because monitoring strategies do not have to be
planned not the results interpreted.
SUITABLE APPLICATIONS
Assets suitable for preventive maintenance include those that
Have a critical operational function
Have failure modes that can be prevented with regular maintenance
Have a likelihood of failure that increases with time or use.
UNSUITABLE APPLICATIONS
The unsuitable applications include those that
have random failures that are unrelated to maintenance
do not serve a critical function.

PREDICTIVE MAINTANENCE
Predictive maintenance (PdM) techniques are designed to help determine the condition of inservice equipment in order to predict when maintenance should be performed. This approach
promises cost savings over routine or time-based preventive maintenance, because tasks are
performed only when warranted.
The main promise of Predictive Maintenance is to allow convenient scheduling of corrective
maintenance, and to prevent unexpected equipment failures. The key is "the right information in the
right time". By knowing which equipment needs maintenance, maintenance work can be better
planned (spare parts, people, etc.) and what would have been "unplanned stops" are transformed to
shorter and fewer "planned stops", thus increasing plant availability. Other potential advantages

include increased equipment lifetime, increased plant safety, fewer accidents with negative impact
on environment, and optimized spare parts handling.

SHUTDOWN MAINTENANCE
Shutdown maintenance is the maintenance performed when a machine or a piece of equipment
is turned off and out of service.
STATIC EQUIPMENTS
HEAT EXCHANGER
A heat exchanger is a device used to transfer heat between one or more fluids. The fluids may
be separated by a solid wall to prevent mixing or they may be in direct contact.They are widely
used in space heating, refrigeration, air conditioning, power stations, chemical plants,
petrochemical plants, petroleum refineries, natural-gas processing, and sewage treatment.
STRAIGHT TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER
U TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil.
(In North America, the term "furnace" is normally used if the purpose is not to actually boil the fluid.)
The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications,
[2]

[1]

including water heating, central heating, boiler-based power generation, cooking, and sanitation.

The source of heat for a boiler is combustion of any of several fuels, such as wood, coal, oil, or
natural gas. Electric steam boilers use resistance- or immersion-type heating elements. Nuclear
fission is also used as a heat source for generating steam, either directly (BWR) or, in most cases, in
specialised heat exchangers called "steam generators" (PWR). Heat recovery steam generators
(HRSGs) use the heat rejected from other processes such as gas turbine.
Boilers can be classified into
Haystack
Fire Tube
Water Tube
Flash

13)
VALVES
A valve is a device that regulates or controls the now of a fluid by

closing, or partially obstnacting various passageways, technically fittings,

Vaives are
but are usually discussed as a separate category. In an open valve, fluid nows in a
direction from high pressure to lower pressure.
valves have many uses including controlling water for irrigation, industrial uses for
controlling processes, residential uses such as onoff and dish and
clothes washers and taps in the home. Even aerosols have a tiny valve built in. Valves
are used in the military and transport sectors.
Types of valves:
Hydraulic
Pneumatic
Manual
Solenoid
Motor
Components of a Valve
The main parts of the most usual type of valve are the body and the bonnet. These two
parts form the casing that holds the fluid going through the valve.
BODY:
The valve's body is the outer casing of most or all the valve that contains the internal
parts or trim. The bonnet is the part of the encasing through which the steam passes
and that forms a guide and seal for the steam.
BONNET:
A bonnet acts as a cover on the valve body. It is commonly semi-pemanently screwed
into the valve body or bolted onto it. During manufacture of the valve, the integral
parts are put into the body and then the bonnet is attached to hold everything together

inside. To access intemal parts of a valve, a user would take off bonnet, usually for
maintenance. Many valves do not have bonnets. Many ball valves also do not have
bonnets since the body is put together in a different style, such as being screwed
together at the middle of the valve body.
PORT
Ports are passageways that allow fluid to pass through the valve. Ports are obstructed
by the valve member or disc to control flow. Valves most commonly have 2 ports, but
other components have as many as 20. Connection methods include threading
compression fittings, glue, cement, flanges of welding.
HANDLE or ACTUATOR
A Handle is used to manually valve from outside the valve body.
Automatically control a have handles, but some have a handle
controlled valves often do not
anyway to manually override automatic control, such as stop-check valve. An Actuator
is a mechanism or device to automatically control a valve from outside the body.
valves have neither Handle nor Actuator because they automatically control
themselves from inside.
DISC
A Disc is a movable obstruction inside the stationary body that adjustably restricts
flow through the valve. Although traditionally disc-shaped, discs come in various
shapes. Depending upon the type of valve, a disc can move linearly inside a valve, or
SEAT:
The Seat is the interior surface of the body which has a contact with the disc to form a
leak-tight seal. In discs that move linearly or swing on a hinge, the disc comes into
contact with the disc, but the area of contact changes as the disc is turned. The seat
always remains stationary relative to the body.

1.4) STORAGE TANKS:

The Storage Tanks are used to store the products. Most of the tanks are designed and
built to the American Petroleum Institute 650 (API 650) specification.
These tanks can have different sizes, ranging from 2m to 60m diameter or more. They
are generally installed inside containment basins in order to contain spills in case of
rupture of the tank.
Industries where storage tanks can be found are
Petroleum producing and refining
Petrochemical and chemical manufacturing
Bulk storage and transfer operations
Other industries consuming or producing vapors and liquids.
Types of Storage Tanks
1. Fixed roof tanks
2. External floating roof tanks
3. Internal floating roof tanks
4. Doomed external floating roof tanks
5. Horizontal tanks
6. Pressure tanks
7. Variable vapor space tanks
8. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tanks
1.5)
PIPINGS
Piping refers to the Piping design, the detailed specification of the physical piping
layout within a process plant or commercial building. Piping can be manufactured
from wood, fiberglass, glass, steel, aluminum, plastic, co

and concrete.
In the earlier days, piping designs were created by Drafting, Technical drawing and
Engineering drawing, but today is created by designers who have leaned CAD
(Computer Aided Design) and Computer Aided Drawing software.
Piping has many industrial applications, which are crucial for moving raw and semiprocessed fluids for refining into more useful products. Some of the more exotic
materials of construction are Inconel, Titanium, Chrome-moly and various other steel
alloys

ROTARY EQUIPMENTS
2.1 AIR COMPRESSOR
An Air Compressor is a device that converts power (using electric motor, diesel, or
gasoline etc) into potential energy stored in pressurized air (i e compressed airy. By one of
several methods, an air compressor forces more and more air into a storage tank, thus increasing
the pressure. When the tank pressure reaches an upper limit the air compressor shuts om. The
compressed air is then held in the tank until its use. Then energy contained in the compressed air
can be used for a variety of applications, utilizing the kinetic energy of the air it is released and
the tank depressurizes. When tank pressure reaches its lower limit, the air compresses turns on
again and re-pressurizes the tank.
There are three types ofAir Compressors
Reciprocating
Rotary Centrifugal
Rotary screw
Reciprocating Air Compressor
A Reciprocating Air Compressor or Piston Compressor, is a positive-displacement

compressor that uses pistons driven by a crankshaft to deliver gases at high pressure.
The intake gas enters the suction manifold, then flows into the compression cylinder where it
gets compressed by a piston driven in a reciprocating motion via a crankshaft and is then
discharged. Applications include oil refineries, gas pipelines, chemical plants, natural gas
processing plants and refrigeration plants
In the ionic liquid piston compressor, many seals and bearings were removed in the design as the
ionic liquid does not mix with the gas. The service life was in-turn increased 10 times longer
than a regular diaphragm compressor with reduced maintenance during use, energy costs are
reduced by as much as 20%. Heat Exchangers that used in a normal piston compressor are
removed as the heat is removed in the cylinder itself where it is generated. Almost 100% of tho
energy going into the process is being used with little energy being wasted as reject heat.

Rotary Centrifugal
Centrifugal compressors, sometimes termed Radial compressors, are a sub-class of dynamic
axisymmetric work-absorbing turbo machinery.
The idealized compressive dynamic turbo machine achieves a pressure rise by adding kinetic
energy velocity to a continuous flow of fluid through the rotor or impeller. This kinetic energy
is then converted to increase the potential energy static pressure by slowing the flow through
the diffuser, The pressure rise in the impeller is in most cases almost equal to the rise in the
diffuser suctiPump

2.2) PUMPS
A Pump is device that moves fluids diquids or gases), or sometimes slurries, by mechanical

action. Pumps can be classified into three major groups according to the method they use to
move the fluid direct lift pumps and displacement pumps.
Pumps operate by a mechanism according to its design (Rotary or Reciprocating) and consume
energy to perform mechanical work by moving the fluid. Pumps operate via man
energy
sources including manual operation, electricity or wind power. They also come in many size,
from microscopic (used in medical applications) to applications in large industries

The main types of pump used in Kochi Refinery are

Centrifugal Pump
machinery. Pumps are a sub-class of dynamic axi-symmetric work absorbing turboRotational Centrifugal Pumps are used to transport fluids by the conversion of
Kinetic energy into Hydrodynamic ene
of fluid The
comes from an electric motor. The fluid enters the pump impeller along or near to its
rotational axis and is accelerated by the impeller, flowing radially outward into a diffuser
or volute chamber (casing) where it exits.
TYPES OF IMPELLER

OPEN IMPELLER
Open impellers do not have a front or a rear shroud; this allows debris that might foul the impeller to be
dragged along by the impeller, rubbing against the front and rear stationary wear plates, grinding down
the particulate to a small enough size to pass through the impeller. This works well with soft particulates
but generally causes too much abrasion on both the impeller and the wear plates if the particulate is a
hard compound compared to the impeller material. Another disadvantage for this style of impeller is the
need for the impeller vanes to be fairly thick. They must have the mechanical strength to support
themselves under the stress of pumping the liquid. This added thickness and results in a decrease in the
flow area. Additionally the clearances, at the front and rear of the blade where the hub and the shrouds
would be on a closed impeller, result in a leakage in the impeller. This leakage is very dependent on the
clearances between the impeller and the wear plates. As the pump wears over time these clearances
increase and further increase the leakage losses degrading the pumps efficiency and often the flow and
head levels. An advantage of this style of impeller is that they develop almost no axial hydraulic thrust
loads due to the lack of shrouds. They are also easy to manufacture due to the lack of cores which makes
them less expensive.
Closed Impeller

Also called enclosed impellers have a shroud and a hub surfaced attached. The surfaces have several
advantages. They eliminate the leakage losses across the vanes. They provide strength and stability to
the vane allowing the vane thickness to be reduced and increasing the flow area through the impeller. The
two shrouds also provide and axial thrust balancing surface from which the pressure differential can be
balanced. The obvious disadvantage to this form of impeller is that if the debris that enters the vanes and
is too large to pass through the impeller it becomes stuck and must be removed by hand. This is often
referred to as de-ragging in the waste water industry. It requires the disassembly of the pump which is
time consuming and costly.

Semi Open Impellers

These impellers have only one shroud on either the front or the back of the impeller. They have some of
the advantages of each of the other styles, and their own set of drawbacks. Thinner blading and reduced
leakage losses because the fluid has only one leakage path over the blade make them more efficient than
fully open impeller designs. The one face of the impeller being open allows them to pass particulate that
would clog many closed impellers. Their major disadvantage is the fact that they have only one shroud
that fluid pressure builds upon. The differential pressure across the impeller can cause extreme axial
thrust loads putting excessive stress on the bearings or requiring thrust balancing techniques that
increase leakage losses or power consumption lowering the pumps overall efficiency.

Positive Displacement Pump

A positive displacement pump makes a fluid move by trapping a fixed amount and forcing
(displacing) that trapped volume into the discharge pipe.
A Reciprocating pump is a class of Positive-displacement pump w
includes the
piston, pump and diaphragm pump. It is often used where a relatively small
quantity of liquid is be handled and where delivery pressure is quite large. In
reciprocating pumps, the chamber in which the liquid is trapped, is stationary cylinder
that contains the piston or plunger.
a
Diaphragm Pump
A diaphragm pump (also known as a Membrane pump) is a positive displacement pump that uses
a combination of the reciprocating action of arubber, thermoplastic or teflon diaphragm and suitable
valves on either side of the diaphragm (check valve, butterfly valves, flap valves, or any other form of
shut-off valves) to pump a fluid.

Vane Pump
A rotary vane pump is a positive-displacement pump that consists of vanes mounted to a rotor that
rotates inside of a cavity. In some cases these vanes can have variable length and/or be tensioned
to maintain contact with the walls as the pump rotates.

2.3) TURBINE
A Steam Turbine is rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from fluid flow and
converts it into useful work. A turbine is a turbo machine with at least one moving part
called a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or a drum with blades attached. Moving fluid
acts on the blades so that they move and impact rotational energy to rotor.
Types of Turbines used in KRL
Steam turbines
Gas turbines
Steam turbine
A Steam Turbine is used to generate electricity in thermal power plants such as plants
using coal, fuel oil or nuclear fuel. They generate electricity, which then powers n electric
motor connected to the mechanical load.

A Gas Turbine is also called a combustion turbine. It has an upstream rotating

compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in between.
The basic operation a Gas Turbine is similar to that of the steam power plant, except
that air is used instead of
water. Fresh atmospheric air flows through a compressor that
brings it higher pressure. Energy is added by spraying fuel into the air and igniting it so
the combustion generates a high temperature flow. The high temperature pressure
high
gas enters a turbine, where it expands down to exhaust pressure, producing a shaft work

output in the process. The turbine shaft work is used to drive the compressor and other
devices such as electric generator that may be coupled to the shaft. The energy that is not
used for shaft work comes out in the exhaust gases, so these have either high temperature
or high velocity. The purpose of the gas is to determine the design so that the most
desirable energy form maximized. Gas Turbines are used to power aircrafts, trains,
ships, electric generators and tanks.
Details of the main two Gas Turbines used in BPCL-KRL
1. GT-1
Power output obtained :19 MW
Fuel used: Kero 2 and RLNG
Make BHEL-GE
RPM 5000 rpm
Number of stages 2
Frame 4
Turbine exhaust temp 480-500 C
Base load 21.98 MW
Start time: 13.2 minutes
Self sustaining RPM 3050 rpm
2. GT-2
Power output obtained 28MW
Fuel used Kero 2 or naphtha and RLNG
Make BHEL-GE
RPM 5000 rpm

Number of stages 3
Frame 5
Turbine exhaust temp 580-600 C
Base load 34.5 MW
Start time: 13.2 minutes
Self sustaining RPM 3050 rpm

Hot Tapping

Hot tapping,or pressure tapping, is the method of making a connection to

existing piping or pressure vessels without the interruption of emptying that section of pipe or vessel.
This means that a pipe or tank can continue to be in operation whilst maintenance or modifications
are being done to it. The process is also used to drain off pressurized casing fluids, [3] add test points
or various sensors such as temperature and pressure.

Typical connections consist of a tapping fitting, isolation valve, and hot tapping machine. The
hole saw is advanced through the valve, to the pipe. The machine is engaged and the cut
begins. When the cut is finished, the machine is disengaged and retracted beyond the gate of
the valve. The valve is closed and the machine is removed.

Seals
An end face mechanical seal, also referred to as a mechanical face seal but usually simply as
a mechanical seal, is a type of sealutilised in rotating equipment, such as pumps, mixers, blowers,
and compressors.
When a pump operates, the liquid could leak out of the pump between the rotating shaft and the
stationary pump casing. Since the shaft rotates, preventing this leakage can be difficult.
An end face mechanical seal uses both rigid and flexible elements that maintain contact at a sealing
interface and slide on each other, allowing a rotating element to pass through a sealed case. The
elements are both hydraulically and mechanically loaded with a spring or other device to maintain
contact.

Double Mechanical Seals

Thermosyphon vessels can be used to provide a source of clean, Pressurized barrier fluid to
Double mechanical seals in back to back
The Barrier fluid enters the Thermosyphon Vessel, where it is cooled by water circulating
through cooling coil to bring down the temperature of barrier fluid and back to the seal chamber.

VIBRATION ANALYSIS

Regular machine vibration monitoring is a cost-effective method of predictive

maintenance to extend machine service life and prevent unplanned shutdowns.
We can perform regular vibration analysis of plant equipment as part of a
predictive maintenance programme, or as part of a Root Cause Analysis service
to determine the cause of a machine problem. Conditions that can be detected
before they cause machine breakdown are:
Misalignment

Out-of-balance

Mechanical looseness
Poor lubrication
Bent shafts
Motor current faults
Bearing damage

The major steps involved in this method involves

Detection

Analysis
Wave
Spectrum
Raw Data

Correction

Lube Oil Analysis

Principle root causes of equipment failure include unseen corrosion,
contaminants, improper lubrication and machine wear. The Spectro 5200

Trivector Oil Analyzer is a multi-function instrument that detects lubricant related

problems and enables on-site analysis of machinery oils and lubricants. It
provides clear indications of metal wear, lubricant chemistry and contamination.
The system is covered by the ASTM D7416 standard practice that ensures users
can achieve repeatable results following standard operating guidelines. Primary
applications include lubricants for rotating machinery such as pumps, motors,
compressors, gearboxes, air handlers, turbines, feed pumps, drives,
transmissions, and hydraulic systems.

The Spectro 5200 Trivector measures, logs and trends the lubrication condition
of rotating industrial machinery and detects contamination and machine wear per
ASTM Standard Practice D7416. System outputs include front panel indications
of the Trivector status which provide intuitive, easy to understand indications of
machinery health and alerts.

Bearing Failure
Excessive loads

Excessive loads usually cause premature fatigue. Tight fits, brinelling and improper preloading
can also bring about early fatigue failure.
The solution is to reduce the load or redesign using a bearing with greater capacity.
Overheating
Symptoms are discoloration of the rings, balls, and cages from gold to blue.
Temperature in excess of 400F can anneal the ring and ball materials.
The resulting loss in hardness reduces the bearing capacity causing early failure.
In extreme cases, balls and rings will deform. The temperature rise can also degrade or destroy
lubricant.

True Brinelling
Brinelling occurs when loads exceed the elastic limit of the ring material.
Brinell marks show as indentations in the raceways which increase bearing vibration (noise).
Any static overload or severe impact can cause brinelling.

False Brinelling
False brinelling - elliptical wear marks in an axial direction at each ball position with a bright
finish and sharp demarcation, often surrounded by a ring of brown debris - indicates excessive
external vibration.Correct by isolating bearings from external vibration, and using greases
containing antiwear additives.

Normal Fatigue Failure

Fatigue failure - usually referred to as spalling - is a fracture of the running surfaces and
subsequent removal of small discrete particles of material. Spalling can occur on the inner ring,
outer ring, or balls. This type of failure is progressive and once initiated will spread as a result of
further operation. It will always be accompanied by a marked increase in vibration. The remedy
is to replace the bearing or consider redesigning to use a bearing having a greater calculated
fatigue life.

Reverse Loading
Angular contact bearings are designed to accept an axial load in one direction only. When
loaded in the opposite direction, the elliptical contact area on the outer ring is truncated by the
low shoulder on that side of the outer ring. The result is excessive stress and an increase in
temperature, followed by increased vibration and early failure. Corrective action is to simply
install the bearing correctly.

Contamination
Contamination is one of the leading causes of bearing failure. Contamination symptoms are
denting of the bearing raceways and balls resulting in high vibration and wear. Clean work
areas, tools, fixtures, and hands help reduce contamination failures. Keep grinding operations
away from bearing assembly areas and keep bearings in their original packaging until you are
ready to install them.

Lubricant Failure
Discolored (blue/brown) ball tracks and balls are symptoms of lubricant failure. Excessive wear
of balls, ring, and cages will follow, resulting in overheating and subsequent catastrophic failure.
Ball bearings depend on the continuous presence of a very thin -millionths of an inch - film of
lubricant between balls and races, and between the cage, bearing rings, and balls. Failures are
typically caused by restricted lubricant flow or excessive temperatures that degrade the
lubricants properties.

Corrosion
Red/brown areas on balls, race-way, cages, or bands of ball bearings are symptoms of
corrosion. This condition results from exposing bearings to corrosive fluids or a corrosive
atmosphere. In extreme cases, corrosion can initiate early fatigue failures. Correct by
diverting corrosive fluids away from bearing areas and use integrally sealed bearings whenever
possible.

Misalignment
Misalignment can be detected on the raceway of the nonrotating ring by a ball wear path that
is not parallel to the raceways edges. If misalignment exceeds 0.001 in./in you can expect an
abnormal temperature rise in the bearing and/or housing and heavy wear in the cage ballpockets. Appropriate corrective action includes: inspecting shafts and housings for runout of

shoulders and bearing seats; use of single point-turned or ground threads on non hardened
shafts and ground threads only on hardened shafts; and using precision grade locknuts.

Loose Fits
Loose fits can cause relative motion between mating parts. If the relative motion between
mating parts is slight but continuous, fretting occurs. Fretting is the generation of fine metal
particles which oxidize, leaving a distinctive brown color. This material is abrasive and will
aggravate the looseness. If the looseness is enough to allow considerable movement of the
inner or outer ring, the mounting surfaces (bore, outer diameters, faces) will wear and heat,
causing noise and runout problems.

Tight Fits
A heavy ball wear path in the bottom of the raceway around the entire circumference of the
inner ring and outer ring indicates a tight fit. Where interference fits exceed the radial
clearance at operating temperature, the balls will become excessively loaded. This will result in
a rapid temperature rise accompanied by high torque. Continued operation can lead to rapid
wear and fatigue. Corrective action includes a decrease in total interference.