TECHINICALCHALLENGEABOUT WOODWARDGOVERNOR'STROUBLE

SHOOTINGAND RECTIFICATIONIN JFCL

Engr.Md. Abdul Mannaf

MechanicalEngineer,
JamunaFertilizerCo. Ltd. (JFCL),
Eng. Md MamunurRashid,JFCL,
Tarakandi,Jarnalpur-2O
55, Bangladesh.

ABSTRACT

Woodwardgovernoris a mechanicalsophisticateddevice.Normally this governoris

not maintenancein Bangladesh.Generally,if governorfalls in troublethenwe replaced
it by new one simply. Woodwardgovernormanufachrerdoesnot pennit to the users
for maintenanceworks of governor. This govemor gurerally is used in heavy-duty
turbine and engine.We have successfrrllydone the maintenanceof this Woodward
governorin JFCL.Now thesegovemorswork properlywhich arerepairedin JFCL.We
shallillustratefive examplesand theoriesin the following descriptionin this regard.

INTRODUCTION

First thing, we have to know, what is governor.Governoris a device,which maintains

the constantspeedof an engine or twbine, regardlessof load, that is, if flre load
changesof an engine,the speedof the enginewill also changebut the governorwill
control the fuel flow instantaneously to maintainthe constantspeedof the engine.A
hubine is also calledan enqine.So, herewe shalldiscussortly aboutturbine,insteadof
enFne.

Especiallywe shall discussaboutsteamturbinegenerator(STG), which is operatedby

steamturbine, to obtain steadyvoltage and frgquency.The ganeratorspeedmust be
constant.On running condition, the generatorload may be changed.Suppose,the
generatoris loadedsuddenly,thenthe speedofthe generatorinstantaneously decreased,
at once the governor will increasethe fuel flow or steamflow to obtain the generator
sp€edconsant as before.On the otherhand,due to suddenunloadingthe speedof the
generatorwill be increasedinstantaneously,then the governor will decreasethe fuel
flow or steamflow until the generatorspeedbecomespreviousset speed.In this way
govgrnormaintainsthe constantspeedduringrunningcondition.

DESCRIPTION

G0vernormaintainsthe constantspeedof an engineor turbineirrespectiveof load by

sequenceof action and operation.Governordrive shaft is connecteddirectly to the
turbine shaftby reductiongearboxto sensethe speedfrom the turbine.CutawayView
PG-PLGovemoris shownin fieurel.

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(DIRECT) S E R V OP I S T O NS P R I N G
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 of input-outputsigral to the governorasbelow.
Simpleexplanation

SPEEDSETTINC INPUT

CloVERNOR GOV. OLTPUT SHAFTC.WC.C.W

ASOUTPUT

SPEEDINPLTT

This drive shaftmainly operatestwo elements.One lube oil pump (gearpump)another

ball headmechanism.Lube oil pump generates conffol oil andthe ball headmechanism
regulatesthis control oil to actuatethe governoroutputshaft.The ball headmechanism
consists of two flyweiglts, speeder spring and pilot valve plunger. Flyweight
movqnsntsinward or out ward directiondependupon the speederspringpressureand
speedof the hnbine.

If the govemor speedis more, then the flyweight becomesoutrrard position, which
push the pilot valve plungerupward,direction,regulatingthe control oil to the power
piston as the governoroutput shaft decreasesfuel position. In reversematter,if the
governor speedis suddenlydecreased,then the flyweight becomesinward position,
which allowsthe pilot valve plungerdownward,direction,regulatingthe control oil to
the power piston as the govemor output shaft increasesfuel position. Speedsetting
systemis nothingbut the pressureof the speederspring,which is operatedmanuallyor
by servomotorremotely.

Governor output shaft moves clockwise or counter clockwise i.e. fuel increaseor
position,which dependsuponthe speedsettingandinput speed.
decrease

Conditionone: If the input speedis greaterthanthe settingspeed,the governoroutput

shaftwill decrease fuelposition.
Condition two: If the input speedis less than the settingspeed,the governorouSut
shaftwill increasefuel position.
Condition tluee: If the input speedis equalto the settingspeed,the governoroutput
shaftwill becomestationarythat is governorwill remainsteadystatecondition.

SPEEDCONTROLIN DIAGRAM.

of speedconfrol of a turbine.Suppose,
The following block diagam is self-explanation
we haveto maintainthe speed1500rpm of the generator.So, afterthe turbine,running

2 e,r
with minimum governorspeed.First, we have to set the govemor settingspeed1500
rpm.

Speeds*ting sigral
Gov. Out

C-ovenror
Valve

High PressureSteam(Control)

High PressureSteam Header

Now, if the governoris suddenlyloaded,the speedof the generatorwill little lessthan

1500rprn, instantaneously.Then the govemorwill actuatethat is govemoroutputshaft
movesclockwisedirection(increasefuel). So that the pilot valve movesdown wardby
linkagearrangement then the pressureoil enterto the power cylinderwhich movesthe
govemingvalve up, the more steamflows to the turbine to maintainthe speedof the
generatorthrough1500rpm.

Reversibly,if the generatoris suddenlyunloaded,the speedof the geneNator will little

higherthan 1500rpm, instantaneously. Then the governor outputshaffmovcscounter
clockwisedirection (decreasefuel). So, that the pilot valve movesupwardby linkage
arrangement,pressureoil cut the flow to the power cylinder wlrich moves the
governing valve down, then steamflow decreasesto the turbine as a result Egoerator
speedwill become1500rpm again.

Someadditionalitemswhich areto adjustto the governorduring operation.

COMPENSATION: Compensationsystemis to give sthbility to the governor and

obtainssteadystatespeedcontrol by adjustingthe needlevalve orifice, which control
pistonandoil surnp.
the oil flow betweenboth compensation

DROOPMODE: Droop is the decreasein speedtakingplacpwhenthe governoroutput

shaftmovesfrom minimumto maximumfuel positionfulresponseto a loa{ increase.
Droop: [(No load speed- Full load speed)/ Full iodd speed]X 100:3.5%
Reducingdroop to zero allows the turit to changethe lOadVithout changingspeed,
which is calledISO-mode.Only JFCL,Grishrbine Geilerator(GTG)runslSo-tnode.

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LOAD LIMIT
The purposeof the load limit control is to hydraulicallyand mechanicallylimit, the
load that can be placedon the turbineby restrictingthe travel of the governoroutput
shaftin the increasefuel direction.
The load limit control may also be usedfor shuttingdown the turbureby turning it to
zero.

A brief descriptionof the Governorcomponentswill facilitateunderstanding

the speed
settingandoperationof the governor.

OIL PUMP
The oil punp (Gearpump) is driven by governordrive shaft,which is driven by the
primemover (Turbine).Oil flow is directedinto the accumulatorsystem.

ACCUMULATOR
The purposeof the accumulatoris to store oil under pressurefor operationof the
governor.

POWERPISTON
The powerpiston is to rotatethe govemoroutput shaftto the increaseor decreasefuel
position.

PILOT VALVE SYSTEM

The pilot valve plungerand bushing is to control the oil flow to or from the bottom of
the powerpiston.

BALL HEAD SYSTEM

The ball head systemis to sensespeedchangesof the prime mover (Turbine) as
comparedto the speedsetting referencegiven by the speederspring and to give
positionthe pilot valveplunger.

REMARKS

Old modelgovernorhasno internaloil pump,control oil is suppliedto the govemorby

externalarrangement, but moderngovernorhasinternaloil pump (gearpump)which is
used for better and safe operation.WOOD WARD GOVERNOR CO. LTD. USA is
only modern govemormanufacturerin the world. They do not suggestrepairingthe
governorlocally but we haverectifiedalreadysomegovemors,which areon runningin
the plant.

To test and to calibratethe governorby the governortest benchis availableonly in

CUFL in Bangladesh.Now a day, Electronicsgovemor, which is most modern and
sophisticatedequipment,is trsedin turbine or enginecontrol system.In our factory,
JFCL.only electronicssovernoris usedat GTG.

1+i t[ - t , s
REMARKABLEGOVERNORMAINTENANCEWORKSIN JFCL

Only WOOD WARD GOVERNORCO. LTD. USA, in the world manufactures the
governorand they advicethe usersnot to do maintenanceworks. But we alreadyhave
donemaintenance worksof many govemors.Followingexamplesof governortrouble
andrectificationworksaregiven:-

l) In JFCL, Carbon-di-oxideCompressor'sminimum governor speed was

comparativelyhigh. It wasnearaboutrated speed,which was observedduring startup
period sinceerectionDecember1991. For this reasonsteamturbinespeedbecomes
suddenhigh andturbinewasbeinghuntingfor long time. This adjustrnentespeciallyin
high speedand high power turbine was so risky on running condition.Any mistakes
during adjustmentmay causeseveredarnage.But we overcomethis situation by
adjustingpilot valve system.

2) Gear operatedmanualspeedsettingKnob of lnduceddraft fan (lDF) turtine was

broken and the minimum governorspeedof IDF turbine was becomeundefined.We
followed the trial and error method at startup period and defined the minimum
governorspeedsuccessfully.

3) NG compressorsealoil turbine governor(SG governor)was hunting for long time.

For this reason,we havetried to rectify the problem.We replacedthe newball bearing
in drive end side of the turbine.We fabricatednew couplingbush with governor.We
also dismantledconhol valve for inspection,but the hunting of the turbine existed.
Later on we adjustedthe droop of the governorby openinggovemorhead.Then the
huntingstopped.

4) Due to fire in Natural gas (NG) compressor,PG-PL governor was completely

damaged.This govemor was stored under opan sky for long time. Later on this
govemordismantledand checkedeachand every partsof the governor.We replaced
somepartsby anotherrejectedgovemor.And we madeit fully in sewicecondition. lf
we wantedto buy this type of governorfrom WOOD WARD CO. LTD. USA, we wilt
haveto needsevenlacestaka.So,We areableto savethatmoneyof JFCL.

5) Leanturbine governorspeedsensingdevicewas brokencompletely.We make it in

JFCL workshopby our own designandwe setit successfrrlly
for operation.Now this is
runningwith goodcondition.

CONCLUSION

We can solve any adjustment,calibration, setting and trouble shooting regarding

turbine control system.We havetoo confidentto do rectificationworks of any trouble
of wood ward governorin Bangladesh.

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