Turning Gear Operation

Turning Gear Operation
• This article contains recommendations for the use of the turning gear for
various situations. The recommendations depend upon the purpose and
duration of the unit outage.
This article contains recommendations for the use of the turning gear
for various situations. The recommendations depend upon the
purpose and duration of the unit outage.
•The primary purpose of the turning gear is to provide a means to obtain a
circumferentially uniform state of temperature in the turbine rotors to prevent
temporary bowing of the rotors when the tur–bine–generator unit is shut
down.
Use of the turning gear prior to any startup of the unit is essential
to ensure there is no temporary rotor bow that would be detrimental to the
restart.
A temporary rotor bow will affect shaft seal clearances and the dynamic mass
unbalance of the rotor, possibly causing rubbing and vibration problems
during startup.
(NOTE: Turning gear operation is not beneficial for the case of a permanently
bowed rotor.)
•A secondary use of the turning gear is to position the rotors during off–line
activities (e.g., installation of balance weights in rotors).
There are some situations where use of the turning gear is essential and
others where use of the turning gear is not recommended. The following
are descriptions of four basic outage categories:
• Category A: The outage is due to a temporary problem and restart of the
unit is expected imminently or within a few days during which no work is
performed on the turbine–generator that would normally require stopping
turning gear operation.
• Category B: Same as Category A except some minor work is done on the
turbine–generator unit that requires stopping turning gear operation,
either for short or extended time periods.
• Category C: The outage is due to significant maintenance and/or repair
work on the turbine–generator such that it is desirable to stop turning
gear operation as soon as possible to permit timely disassembly of the
turbine components (e.g., shells, diaphragms, bearings, rotors, etc.).
• Category D: An extended outage (weeks, months) due to lack of need for
unit operation, regulatory restrictions, etc.
Under any set of conditions, the turbine–generator bearing lube oil system must
be in operation when the turning gear is in operation to provide proper
lubrication to the bearings. This prevents damage to the bearings and rotor
journal surfaces.
Also, regardless of whether the turning gear is in operation or not, the bearing
lube oil system must be operated in a manner that will ensure that the bearing
metal temperatures will not exceed 150°C to prevent damage to the bearing
Babbitt metal. For those units that do not have bearing metal thermocouples
as part of the supervisory instrumentation, experience shows that if all shell
metal temperatures are less than 260°C, there is no risk of overheating the
bearing Babbitt metal. The general rule should be to maintain the bearing lube
oil operation if in doubt of the bearing temperature.
Guidelines for turning gear operation for the four outage categories
previously described
1. Applicable to Categories A and B:
For relatively short outages where restart is expected, continuous turning gear operation is
recommended as long as any shell metal temperature is above 260°C, as indicated by the turbine
supervisory thermocouples.
Occasionally it is necessary to discontinue turning gear operation while the rotors are still hot [as
indicated by one or more shell metal temperature(s) being above 260°C to do rotor balancing,
inspect turbine buckets, or correct some equipment malfunction. Such intervals of discontinued
turning gear operation should be kept as brief as possible, not longer than 10 minutes immediately
following a shutdown. This is to avoid a “locked rotor” condition (inability to turn the rotor system
with the turning gear). Permanent rotor bowing will not result from a locked rotor but a temporary
bow of this magnitude will delay restart of the unit until the high–temperature rotor(s) are cooled
and straightened sufficiently to start the turning gear. No attempts should be made to free a locked
rotor by defeating the turning gear overload circuit. (Note: Alternate methods of periodically
turning a free rotor may be employed in the event of a turning gear malfunction.) Steam seal
operation may be continued, depending on the circumstance, without causing excessive bearing
temperatures.
The degree of bowing, if any, of the high–pressure rotor is shown through the use of the shaft
eccentricity indicator, while the system is operating on turning gear. This device should be used to
determine, from actual experience, the normal run out as measured at the control rotor. The
device should then be used when preparing to accelerate the turbine off turning gear for any
startup to ensure that eccentricity is in the normal range before attempting to start the unit.
Eccentricity can usually be restored to normal following brief stationary intervals by turning gear
operation of ten times the stationary interval.
2. Applicable to all Categories
Following any shutdown, turning gear operation may be discontinued indefinitely
after all shell metal temperatures are less than 260°C.
Following any extended period during which the turning gear was not in operation,
the unit should be placed on turning gear for at least four hours immediately prior
to attempting restarting.
The unit should be left on turning gear until the eccentricity indication has reached
and maintained its normal minimum value for at least one hour. Rolling the unit
with a higher– than–normal eccentricity can lead to excessive rotor vibration and
radial rubbing damage, with the possibility of permanently bowing the rotor.
3. Applicable to Categories B and C:
Following any shutdown for an extended outage, the turning gear

operation may be safely discontinued at any time following the shutdown.
However, as previously stated, the bearing lube oil system must be
operated such that bearing metal temperatures do not exceed 150°C.
4. Applicable to Category D:
If the turbine–generator unit is going to be out of service for an extended

period (weeks, months), continuous or extended turning gear operation
should not be practiced because this can cause unnecessary wear of
turbine–generator rotating components and possibly lead to forced
outages. For such periods, it is recommended the bearing lube oil system
be operated for at least 1/2 hour per week to maintain a protective
surface oil film throughout the lubrication system. It is also recommended
the unit be put on turning gear for about 5 minutes during each of the 1/2
hour periods that the lube oil system is in operation.

Turning Gear Operation

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Turning Gear Operation

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Turning Gear Operation

Following any shutdown for an extended outage, the turning gear

If the turbine–generator unit is going to be out of service for an extended

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