Varnish Removal Technology

SMR Unit (Parker)

Varnish is the thin, insoluble film deposit that forms on oil-wetted surfaces inside a turbine lube system.

It’s formation is often attributed to higher operating temperatures, smaller fluid reservoirs, high cyclic service, and fluid base stocks that have lower solvency for varnish precursors.

The effects of varnish can be devastating to the operation of the equipment and may include:

• Sluggish controls and servo valves stiction, which can lead to expensive repairs or replacement
• Costly downtime from unscheduled outages
• Start-up delays from unresponsive control systems

This resin-based system is designed to efficiently remove varnish precursors from the oil. Doing this forces varnish deposits on metal surfaces back into the solution for further removal by the treatment skid. Treatment continues while the turbine operates, until the entire oil system is free of varnish.

The varnish removal skid can remove varnish precursors with greater reliability and efficiency because it is largely temperature independent and does not rely on mechanical interception of the varnish precursors.

With each pass through the system, varnish precursors are removed and the fluid is returned to the reservoir.