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Service application of polyolester lubricant to solve in-service maintenance problems.

Author(s) : SMITH A. M., MOFFAT P. M.

Summary

The paper looks at the application of a polyolester (POE) lubricant to a large scale centrifugal refrigeration compressor. The long term plan was for the machine to be retrofitted to HCFC-134a, however since the gearbox was of the type that is vented to atmosphere there was a problem in the choice of lubricant. Ideally, the lubricant used in the gearbox would be miscible with the working refrigerant, thus if any lubricant did leak into the refrigeration system it would not cause any compatibility problems. However, the only HFC-134a compatible POE lubricants available were known to be relatively hygroscopic, with the potential to hydrolyse, resulting in acid build up in the lubricant. Also, when operating on the previous mineral lubricant, this machine had a history of suffering from accelerated wear of the pinion bearing in the step-up gearbox between the 2-megawatt electric motor and the compressor input shaft. In the absence of any trial data on this type of POE application the decision was taken to trial a standard refrigeration POE as a gearbox and system lubricant.

Details

  • Original title: Service application of polyolester lubricant to solve in-service maintenance problems.
  • Record ID : 1998-1599
  • Languages: English
  • Source: Le ultime tecnologie del freddo e del condizionamento./ Latest technologies in refrigeration and air conditioning.
  • Publication date: 1997/06/27
  • Document available for consultation in the library of the IIR headquarters only.

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