Follow-up to my previous post: We’ve now failed 6 of 8 total oil mist separators, and found the root cause to be the controls for the oil mist drain tank pump. These systems were apparently never commissioned by our startup team and were left such that the pumps will never start.
We’ve recently heard from another Wartsila tech that these oil mist separators were installed up high near the cooling water expansion tank on previous units, and ours are the first he’s seen installed down on the pipe rack. The elevation is roughly level with the crankshaft centerline, with a small drain tank underneath and a diaphragm pump that is controlled by a hi level sensor and air solenoid.
If you arrangement is similar to ours, I’d like to know if you’ve had any issues with the system. If your oil mist separators are located elsewhere, I’d like to know how they are drained, as our setup appears to be a flawed design and we see room for improvement.
Thanks in advance for any feedback,
Dave Mordecai, City of Tallahassee Hopkins Station