METHOD FOR DETECTING METAL PARTICLES AND DETERMINING OIL FLOW RATE IN FLOW LUBRICATION SYSTEM OF BEARING UNITS OF POWER PLANTS Russian patent published in 2023 - IPC G01N15/00 G01B7/14 

FIELD: power plants.

SUBSTANCE: methods for detecting and recording metal wear particles in the flow-through lubrication system of bearing units of power plants when pumping lubrication system oil through the sensor passage channel; identification of magnetic or non-magnetic type of metal; determining the oil flow rate of the lubrication system. To detect metal wear particles in the oil flow of an operating power plant, the total oil flow is divided into N independent flows, the total cross-sectional area of which is equal to the cross-sectional area of the total input flow; working and compensation single-turn eddy current sensitive elements are placed in each of the oil channels, included in the differential measuring circuit, with the help of which metal particles are recorded in the oil flow; identify the magnetic or non-magnetic type of metal particles; determine experimentally the working zone of the sensitive element of the Zp3 sensor, in which a change in the inductance of the sensitive element to a non-magnetic metal particle moving in the direction of oil movement along the axis of the oil channel Z is observed; a piston made of non-magnetic metal with high electrical conductivity with conical sections at the ends is introduced into one of the oil channels, blocking the flow of oil in the channel and maintaining the ability to move without friction along the Z axis of the oil channel; given the length of the conical section, size and initial position, as well as the value of the maximum displacement of the piston relative to the initial position, the maximum force Fmax acting on the piston is calculated at the maximum oil flow rate in the pipeline into the gap of which the sensor is installed; calculate the stiffness and geometric parameters of the spiral spring, ensuring that, when compressed with a maximum force Fmax, the piston moves by Zmax; experimentally remove the dependence of the output signal of the measuring circuit on the oil flow rate U(V) (calibration curve); calculate the actual value of the oil flow rate V(Umeas) from the measured value of the output signal of the measuring circuit Umeas and the inverse calibration characteristic.

EFFECT: determination of the technical condition of the power plant directly during its operation, which makes it possible to timely detect the occurrence of defects in the flow lubrication system of bearing units and prevent their further development.

1 cl, 4 dwg