Non-Varnishing Turbine Fluids

Product Details

Major oil companies have been forced to remove carcinogens from their lubricant base stocks and, after several iterations (Group I to Group II to Group III base stocks), the resulting base materials exhibit poor solvency and issues with heightened varnish formation. These deficiencies are significant problems in the power generation (PowerGen) industry where large gas turbines incorporate sophisticated (servo) valves that are intolerant of decomposition byproducts. A small amount of varnish can cause servo valves to stick, causing an unscheduled trip and turbine shutdown, significant maintenance and repair expense, and lost generating capacity.