Instrumentation in

Thermal Power
Plant
Turbovisory instrumentation

Instrumentation
Engineer should know
Why the measurement is made?
What measurement is made?
What is the result of the measurement?

Highlights of Presentation

Axial Shift
Differential Expansion
Casing Expansion
Shaft Eccentricity
Vibration
Pressure
Speed

Measurements Points

Axial Shift Measurement

The shifting of turbine rotor along with their axis either in governing
side or generator side is called axial shift.
Axial shift of rotor system towards generator is considered +ve and
towards front bearing pedestal/governing side is ve.

Instruments for
Measurement of Axial
Shift
Two types of transducers are used to measure axial shift/displacement
Proximity eddy current transducer
50MW, 100MW, 200MW machines
Induction transducer
For 50MW and 100MW machines

For

Differential Expansion
Due to high inlet steam temperature, the
rotors and casing expands
This thermal expansion depends on the
configuration, material properties and the
temperature of the inlet stream.
It is calculated as
Differential Expansion = Rotor
Stator

Casing Expansion
Also referred to as shell expansion.
It is the thermal growth of the machine
case as it expands during machine startup
and on-line operations.

Shaft Eccentricity

Eccentricity is permanent bow or slag developed in rotor due to physical condition

of rotor.
Caused by any or a combination of
Fixed mechanical bow
Temporary thermal bow
Gravity bow

Shaft Eccentricity
measurement
Eddy Probe transducer is placed at the
midspan on the rotor where
the eccentricity measurement
would be the highest.

Vibration

Vibration of the body is to and fro

displacement of its mass from its mean
value.
Vibration measurement is an important
measurement for any rotating machine.
It indicates the healthy running condition
of the machine.

Causes of Vibrations
Unbalancing
Misalignment
Abnormal bearing clearances
Oil whip in the shaft
Bend of rotor shaft
Bed bearing

Vibration measuring
Instruments
Vibration are measured with following types of pickups
Velocity type

Piezoelectric type

Eddy current type

Pressure
Many instruments have been invented to measure
Manometer
Measures pressures near to
atmospheric

Vacuum gauge
Measure the pressure in a vacuum

pressure

Speed
Measurement and supervision of speed can be
achieved by using following types of systems
Proximity/non-contact transducer
Tachogenerator

Thank you
Queries ?