IPASJ International Journal of Electronics & Communication (IIJEC)

A Publisher for Research Motivatin........

Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2014

Web Site: http://www.ipasj.org/IIJEC/IIJEC.htm Email: editoriijec@ipasj.org ISSN 2321-5984

Vibration Prevention of Steam Turbine by Mixing the Main Demand with Vibration Signal
Moneer Ali Lilo1*, Latiff, L.A2, Aminudin Bin Haji Abu3, Abidulkarim K. Ilijan4
1 2

Razak School of Engineering and Advanced Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Razak School of Engineering and Advanced Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia 3 Malaysia - Japan International Institute of Technology 4 Razak School of Engineering and Advanced Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia *Corresponding author

Abstract
Steam turbine (ST) in power plant is a complex mechanical system. ST is protected from many dangerous situations such as thrust, eccentricity, over frequency and vibration in the bearing. All these situations will cause the turbine to go into the reject area and will cause the turbine to shutdown during the generation stage. This paper will present a new control method by simulation that uses both instantaneous vibration values and generated power of the turbine to reduce the vibration values automatically and hence, protect the turbine. We proposed and designed two electronic circuits using MATLAB-Simulink simulation that will trigger the protection system upon reaching the selected vibration values, which is based on ISO10816-2. Result shows the generated power has successfully decreases as expected after the vibration exceeds the threshold. The system will go into shutdown if the first stage protection system fails to decrease the vibration value which is a basic protection mechanism inherent in all steam turbines.

Keywords: steam turbine, vibration, protection system, Electro Hydraulic Control System (EHC).

1. Introduction
Most of the production of the electricity in the world is produced from the thermal power plant, such as in the Middle East and USA, because these types of power plant are more stable in operation. Thermal power plant is very widely used and do not have significant environment pollution implications. Petroleum products which is not explosive and has low pollution to the environment. Steam turbine (ST) is an important mechanical system for a power plant, therefore it should be controlled at all time to keep the turbine in stable mode operation and prevent from shutdown and damage, Signals such as vibration, speed, thrust, pressure and generated power have to be controlled to maintain ST in stable operation [1]. ST is expensive equipment where any damage to the turbine will lead to more cost and outage losses to the electricity network. Vibration will cause shutdown and damage to the ST. Recent research work findings shows that vibration is the major cause of ST shutdown as vibration is directly proportional to the speed of the turbine[2]. And if speed is over 5% of the normal speed , it will cause ST to go into shutdown[3]. Therefore, the main goal of this research is to maintain stability and hence, increase the generated power if the vibration is controlled and only work in the stable mode region of a ST. This rest of the paper will present findings that shows vibration is a critical situation to ST operation in Section 2.0, followed by discussion on the research approaches to control vibration in Section 3.0. and Section 4.0 will present the simulation work and results using MATLAB-Simulink and Section 5.0 will discuss and conclude on the research work done.

2. Related works
Turbines in the thermal power plant have many vibration sources, one of these resulted from blades, increasing the frequency of these blades lead to increase the vibration on the turbine. By analyzing the frequency of the blade, they found the relation between the blade frequency and the vibration. Values of the vibration will displaying in control room after analyze in the computer. Operators in power plant are take the decision about what have to do, base on the results of the vibration analysis [2]. Large ST torsional vibration generated during turbine-generator connecting with electricity networking, analyzing this type of the vibration and send values to control room will protect the turbine from damage. System will shutdown the ST if torsional vibration exceeds the saving region [4]. Wind turbine has the same vibration problem where the vibration in this type of the turbine is increased during the operation with time, if the value of the vibration is quickly increasing, that leads to damage in the turbine material and equipments. Vibration information is collected from the turbine and stored in a computer to be displayed in the main control, they utilized

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IPASJ International Journal of Electronics & Communication (IIJEC)

A Publisher for Research Motivatin........

Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2014

Web Site: http://www.ipasj.org/IIJEC/IIJEC.htm Email: editoriijec@ipasj.org ISSN 2321-5984

fault diagnostic display method to give an alarm to the operator when the vibration increased over abnormal values, but the decision during the alarm zone depends on the operator philosophy[5].

3. Vibration in dynamics system

3.1 Vibrations linked with speed and force "Vibration is physical monument or oscillation of a mechanical part of a reference position." Vibration amplitude is the indicator vibration value in the machine or any mechanical device[6].Vibration on a dynamic system machine contains these vibration modes; velocity, displacement and acceleration. These modes in the ST are variable with the frequency during start-up and power generation. Each one of these modes has different behavior related to the speed of the turbine[7]. The vibration system can be compatible with all frequency ranges because these modes will appears as; displacement in low band frequency, acceleration in the high frequency band and the velocity will appear in all frequency bands. Most of the systems are using absolute value of the vibration to measure the vibration in steam turbine[8]. Force generating from air or liquid movement applied on the machine that will generate frequency on the machine equipment such as fans or blades that means vibration will be generated on the machine. As a result of frequency increment guides to increase the vibration on these machines, more than the change of the generated load which will change the load zone of the machines bearing. The relation between these forces and the acceleration depends on the (Force =mass*acceleration). Acceleration is directly preoperational with the velocity as in the flowing equation (acceleration= *Velocity), that means the velocity is preoperational with the force applied [9][10] [7]. 3.2 Systems deal with vibration in power plant:EHC is an analog system used to control the speed and regulates the production of the generated power in the turbinegenerator system. This EHC system uses analog sensor and transducer to be compatible with the control system [11]. EHC has three main signals represent the input to this system, these signals are "speed, generated power and main steam pressure signal"(Qiao et. al. , 2004). Turbine speed signal leads to open or close the control valve depending on compared result with require speed during the start-up[3]. Main Turbine Supervision Equipment (TSE) input signals are vibration, thrust, eccentricity and differential expansion, output signals of this system are 4-20 mA or 0-10 voltages. The output is calibrated with raw input signals of the vibration or other signals[12]. Control ST is collected signals such as "speed, temperature, pressure, vibration, thrust and the generated power" to protect ST and display all these data in real time to the operators in control system[8]. 3.3 Vibration values limiting:ISO10816-2 is International Organizations for Standardization (ISO) describes the vibration zone boundaries and vibration amplitude of the steam turbine over 50 MW. It is related only to velocity vibration, also the standard is dividing the working area for ST base on the vibration to three zone boundaries as A/B zone is(RMS 3.8 mm/s), B/C zone(RMS 7.5 mm/s) and C/D zone(RMS 11.8mm/s)all these boundaries related to turbine operation at the 3000 or 3600rpm[13][14]. From the previously mentioned, the force applied on the ST is generated from the steam and the excitation of the generator, the force applied on the steam turbine will increase within the power generation increment, so the decrement of the power generation will decrease the value of the acceleration that lead to reduce the vibration on this machines.

4. Simulation Methods
4.1 Classify a vibration value with ISO chart Vibration can be classified into three areas; A/B, B/C and C/D as shown in Table1. Transfer values from one zone to another are taken from ISO 10816.2. These values will limit threshold of the simulation [14]. In this paper we collect the vibration value from the TSE system as the 2-10 V. The comparison of these TSE values with ISO 10816-2 to determine the threshold, where the main demand was started decreasing with increment of the vibration values. In the Baiji power plant the vibration values 11.8 mm/s corresponds to 9V of the TSE output represent the C/D zone boundary, and the 0 mm/s corresponds to 2V of the output TSE, from these two values we can find the other zone boundary by applying the formula for the linear relation (Y1/Y2=X1/X2).Where X1= is C/D zone boundary, X2 is value of the vibration we selected it, Y1= is the maximum output in the TSE; Y2 is the voltage value in the TSE represent of the X2 as shown in the table 1. Figure 1 shown the block diagram of the simulation design, to select the highest values and mixing with main demand after exceeding the threshold value.

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IPASJ International Journal of Electronics & Communication (IIJEC)

A Publisher for Research Motivatin........

Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2014

Web Site: http://www.ipasj.org/IIJEC/IIJEC.htm Email: editoriijec@ipasj.org ISSN 2321-5984

Table 1: Vibration classify with zone area

ZOON boundary ISO O/P 2-10 V Vibration Velocity RMS mm/s

A/B Normal

B/C Alarm

C/D Alarm

2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.2522 5 5.5 6 6.25 6.4491 6.75 7.5 8 8.75 9 10

0 0.842845 1.68569 2.528535 3.37138 3.801231 5.05707 5.899915 6.74276 7.164183 7.500815 8.007028 9.271295 10.11414 11.37841 11.79983 13.48552

A/B

B/C

C/D

4.2 Electronic circuits design Circuit design in this investigation is simple and not complex, but the idea to mix the vibration signal with main demand is based on the operation amplifier characteristics as shown in figure1. By using the in MATLAB-Simulink program the design of the two main circuit's leads to compulsory drop generated power when the ST gets vibration over the threshold. The working area is divided into three zones depending on the vibration value. These boundaries are normal area, alarm area and shutdown area[14]. Circuit No.1 contains design of electronic circuit used to select the higher value from the two input signals. By using five stages of the circuit No.1 will compare signals of 6 sensors and get the higher vibration result from these sensors as in figure 2. Circuit No.2 contains different electronic circuit design because this circuit mixes the higher vibration value with main demand of the EHC under two conditions as in figure 3, where the first one was the turbine in generated power situation, the second condition related to the vibration value selected to be the threshold for circuit No.2, where depends on the turbine type and the mode of the vibration is used to mix with the main demand [5].

Figure 1 Block diagram of the simulation design

Figure 2 Five stage from the circuit No.1 to select higher vibration value

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IPASJ International Journal of Electronics & Communication (IIJEC)

A Publisher for Research Motivatin........

Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2014

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Figure 3 Circuit No. 2 Compare main demand with result of circuit No.1 4.3 Result of an experimental design circuit In this work we will focus on the value of the main demand of the EHC, after collecting signals of the vibration from the TSE system and mixing with the main demand. Baiji power plant will be the frame work. It has electro EHC system where value of main demand in electronic -to- hydraulic (E/H) stage is in the range (0-5) voltage. This signal will lead the control valve to adjust and limiting the steam amount passing through control valve. The valve closes completely at 0 volts, and opens fully at 5 volts. Most output signals in the control room are 4-20 mA or 0-10V, these values give the possibility of the coupling system connection with each other [15]. The output of the vibration is 4-20 mA or 2-10 V represents the vibration value, if the output is 2 V represents the zero mm/s in the TSE output and 10 V presents to 13.4855 mm/s. Maximum vibration value 11.7998 mm/s is equal to 9 V in TSE, this value leads to shutdown the ST. Main demand value in the EHC is 0-5V, by mixing the main demand and the highest vibration after the ST reach to generated situation. That will protect the turbine from damage in high vibration values. Adding vibration condition to EHC system will limiting the demand when the vibration in ST be abnormal values[16]. From circuit No 1 the result of the simulation presents the highest vibration values which result from comparing values of the six sensors. The six sensors were divided to three groups, each group contain two sensors , every group will produce one signal represented the compare result these two sensors, these result of the three groups were showed as output 1,2, and 4 displayed in figure 4&5. We will compare the data between these three outputs signals to get the highest value of the vibration collected from these six sensors, which is resulted as output 5 the Figure No. 6, It will be input to circuit No. 2 to mix with main demand produced from EHC system.

Figure 4 Result of compare between sensors 1&2 and sensors 3&4

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IPASJ International Journal of Electronics & Communication (IIJEC)

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Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2014

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Figure 5 Compare result between sensors 5&6 and between output1&output2

Figure 6 Highest vibration output of circuit No.1 to six sensors

5. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Output of the circuit No.2 represents new main demand after mixing the vibration value over threshold with the main demand. That is clear in the Figure 7 when the vibration values is over the threshold in this situation lead to compulsory decrements the main demand on the EHC depending on increments of the vibration. The vibration on the ST is proportional with acceleration, and the force proportional with the acceleration. Reduction of the main demand leads to reduce the slot control valve that guide to decreased force applied on the steam turbine, and the EHC will continue to closed the control valve till the vibration be removed. When the vibration be less than threshold the main demand returns to the normal behavior.

Figure 7 Result of mixing high vibration value with main demand in EHC

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IPASJ International Journal of Electronics & Communication (IIJEC)

A Publisher for Research Motivatin........

Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2014

Web Site: http://www.ipasj.org/IIJEC/IIJEC.htm Email: editoriijec@ipasj.org ISSN 2321-5984

Steam turbine is one of the most critical components in power plants. It might be well to point out that a vibration is vital for safety and economy of the plant, where the high vibration could lead to failure in the system during the operation. This means an increase in the cost of maintenance. One effective way to overcome the shortcomings that caused by shaft vibration is to utilize protection technique which is less expensive than the shaft monitoring system for the steam turbine. This method depends on the prediction the vibration before any damage occur into the steam turbine. In this paper, the signal from the TSE has been mixed with the leading demand of the EHC to protect the mechanical system from damage in elevated vibration values. Two-experiment electronic circuit was designed using MTLAB software to select the maximum vibration value and DC voltage. This approach will improve the automatic system in the power plant when vibration increases. In the first case, the steam turbine will drive to drop loading and if the vibration.

Reference
[1] K. Baker and T. S. Leong, Model Predictive Control of a Steam Turbine, 2009. [2] R. Szczepanik, R. Przysowa, and J. Spychaa, Application of Blade-Tip Sensors to Blade-Vibration Monitoring in Gas Turbines, 2007. [3] M. Fabricio and C. Jose, Steam Turbines Under Abnormal Frequency Conditions in Distributed Generation Systems, 2011. [4] G. Wenzhi and H. Zhiyong, Active control and simulation test study on torsional vibration of large turbogenerator rotor shaft, Mech. Mach. Theory, vol. 45, no. 9, pp. 13261336, Sep. 2010. [5] Z. G. Bian, S. Q. Liu, and H. T. Yang, Wind Turbine On-Line Monitoring System Based on Vibration Mechanics, Appl. Mech. Mater., vol. 252, pp. 181184, Dec. 2012. [6] ACESSystem, Basic Vibration Analysis. . [7] VibroSens, Machinery Monitoring Vibration Sensors& Accessories. France, 2012. [8] T. Gaka, Vibration -Based Diagnostics of Steam Turbines, 2011. [9] Mobley R. Keith, Vibration fundamentals. Boston: Newnes, c1999., 1999, pp. 1325. [10] De Silva & Clarence W., Vibration: Fundmentals and Practice, 2nd ed. Boca Raton: CRC, 2007, 2007, pp. 442 450. [11] S. F. Gray and S. Basu, Turbine control system upgrade for Bruce Nuclear plant units 1 and 2, 2009 IEEE Int. Conf. Electro/Information Technol., pp. 429436, Jun. 2009. [12] Sensonics, Turbine Supervisory Guide Techniques For The Monitoring& Protection Of Power Plant Equipment, 2003. [13] INTERNATIONAL STANDARD Mechanical vibration Evaluation of machine vibration by measurements on rotating shafts Land based steam turbines and generators, vol. 2001, 2001. [14] B. S. Bureau, INTERNATIONAL STANDARD, vol. 2001, 2001. [15] B. Document, Functional block digram of electro hydrulic control system. [16] K. B. Singh, V. Bedekar, S. Taheri, and S. Priya, Piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting system with an adaptive frequency tuning mechanism for intelligent tires, Mechatronics, vol. 22, no. 7, pp. 970988, Oct. 2012.

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