Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
com/archives/special-issue-outage-handbook/2011-outage-handbook-generator-exciters/
ground being developed. The first ground wont create a flashover. The appearance of the damaged area from a flashover of the first type looks more like a gouge than flowing metal. When both flowing metal and an explosion characterize the damage, the ring fire with the flowing appearance must be the cause because it takes time to develop. The explosive damage is instantaneous and cannot be followed by a ring fire.
Selective action. A characteristic of carbon is that its electrical resistivity decreases as its temperature increases. Most materials, including copper, have the opposite behavior. This is important for understanding the term selective action, which describes an excessive movement of current load from one brush to another in the same circuit. To illustrate: As one brush heats up from friction and current, the carbon becomes a better conductor. Under certain conditions this continues until the copper gets too hot and resists the current flow. At this point, a brush that may have been carrying very little current becomes the better path.Such changes in resistivity initiate a chain reaction that results in more brushes being dropped out of the circuit. Brushes begin to arc as the functioning ones become overloaded and rapidly degrade. This scenario can progress to the point where an arc is created from the ring to the holders as the air is ionized. Eventually, it can arc to ground or to the opposite polarity, causing a catastrophic explosion-type failure. The voltage regulator senses the unstable current and reacts to the demand to maintain generator terminal voltage. In many instances, the generator trips because the maximum excitation limits are exceeded. If the condition is sustained, the damage can be severe enough to open the circuit, resulting in a loss-of-field trip. Example: Consider a generator that has oil-contaminated cooling air coming up from the bottom against the rings. The lower brushes would pick up the contamination first and start dropping out of the circuit. Uncontaminated top brushes would carry more and more current until the capacity of one lead was exceeded. Eventually, that lead would burn off and the next best connection would start taking the current until its lead failed, and so on. As more brushes come out of the circuit, arcing increases and the current path starts jumping from the holders directly to the ring, burning up the holders. Air blowing around in the compartment then starts burning other parts via the blowtorch effect described earlier (Fig 12). This progression can occur over a period of months (with rapid deterioration at the end) or within a few minutes. When inspecting your generator look for indications that selective action may have occurred (Fig 13). If it has, take immediate action to reduce the risk of a collector-ring fire. One sure way selective action will occur is if the ring wears down to the point where the helical groove disappears. Be sure your inspection plan calls for measuring and recording groove depth every time the unit is removed from service. Groove depth should be maintained at 0.035 in. (Fig 14). Any of the causes of selective action, alone or in combination, eventually results in the loss of brush-tocollector ring contact. In turn, the brushes begin to arc, the arc causes rings to go out of round, more arcing ensues, and the progression toward a catastrophic ring fire is well under way.
Warning signs
An early sign of impending problems is the presence of visible arcing. It typically progresses slowly from difficult-to-see trailing pinpoints to significant arcing around all edges of the brush. Regular visual inspection of all brushes, if possible, is important. Remember that arcing is the indicator of a problem, not the cause.Another early warning sign is the presence of photographing (also called foot printing or ghosting) on the ring surface (Fig 15). This condition can develop on a ring that is very smooth if there are stuck or
restricted brushes present. Some units are prone to photographing, which can show up within days on a freshly ground ring, and even after installing new brush holders. Load spikes and air contamination are other causes of photographing. The important thing is to resurface (true) the ring online as soon as possible. Also inspect for deposits, eroded brush holders, spring problems, brush lead restrictions, and brush binding. Discolored leads are the best visual check for the presence of selective action. As shown in Fig 14, discolored leads are easy to recognize. Taking amp readings of the individual brushes reveals the degree of selective action.Another warning sign is increased brush vibration or movement. This typically is measured with a vibration analyzer equipped with an insulated probe.Cutsforth relaxed for a bit to relate a fitting story. There was a plant in Tennessee, he said, where brush vibrations were up to 60 mils displacement and there was no visible arcing. Also, looking at the ring with photographing or ring discoloration. But, as the rings were trued, the low spots became evident. The alarm for this plant was noticing that the brush springs were breaking. The unit was very close to a ring fire, but there was very little visible evidence of the problemother than brush movement. As more and more brushes lose contact with the collector ring, Cutsforth stressed, the risk of a ring fire increases dramatically, jeopardizing operational reliability and operator safety, and ultimately causing component failure as a result of selective action.
o Be proactive about removing carbon deposits. Most brush-holder designs do not permit this activity
while the generator is operating. Some do, however. Consider evaluating the economic and safety benefits of a retrofit.
o Keep in mind that carbon deposits typically redevelop very quicklywithin hours in some casesat the
same spot from where they were removed. Deposit buildup can be difficult to eliminate in many instances because the underlying problem is rooted in the design of the brush holder.
o Eliminate poor spring tension as a cause of poor brush contact by changing out springs regularly.
However, the majority of OEM holders, and many aftermarket holders as well, are not designed for easy spring replacement during operation. Again, retrofit of user-friendly brush gear might be worth considering.
o Eliminate poor terminal connections from the holder to the brush. This is not easy to do with some OEM
holders while the generator is in operation. If this is the case at your plant, inspect connections thoroughly during every outage and change them frequently. In cases where the connection is not bolted, be aware that it is the spring portion of the quick-disconnect connection that fails. You can eliminate terminal-related problems by installing a holder and brush that have the spring portion of the connection attached to the brush. Other suggestions include the following:
o o o o o
Eliminate contaminated air by fixing oil leaks and changing air filters regularly. Maintain the spiral (helical) groove at the proper depth to prevent selective action. Inspect for uneven spring tension.n Change-out short brushes to avoid development of light spring tension. Check for proper brush-lead positioning during every brush inspection. Monitor and record brush amp readings periodically to verify proper brush-holder performance. Increase the frequency of checks if there are indications that selective action has occurred or is occurring.
Check amperage readings prior to changing brushes under load, especially when indications of selective action are present. Removing a brush carrying most of the load could trip the unit. The fewer the number of brushes in service, the more critical this is.
Take brush vibration readings quarterly at the same phase angle. Data plots will alert plant personnel when the collector ring is going out of round because of poor brush-to-ring connections that have caused electrical erosion.