Usually there are four types of power plant air compressor failures, namely, electrical failures, thermal failures, mechanical failures, and equipment itself failures, and it is particularly important to investigate the electrical failures and equipment itself failures that are used for power plant air compressors.
Because the contacts quickly and reliably suction and release the requirements of the release of energy is large enough, and this energy is obtained by relying on the suction coil energised to obtain, however, the suction coil energised current is too large, will inevitably lead to the suction coil with the power energy consumption becomes larger, the coil's heat will be increased, thus making the coil temperature rises, the result of the vicious circle of the suction coil burnt out.
In order to avoid long term overheating of the suction coil, it is necessary to reduce the speed of the contactor suction and release, i.e. to reduce the service life of the contactor at the expense of reducing the energy consumption of the suction coil and avoiding the coil from being burnt, which will make the contactor burnt, resulting in the unsynchronised action of the three-phase contactor or the phase missing operation, which will lead to the burning of the motor.
Vibration can cause the electrical components of mechanical structure loosening, fatigue, fracture failure; closed contacts due to vibration instantaneous disconnection and failure, disconnection contacts due to vibration instantaneous closure and failure; relative motion between the moving parts, resulting in noise, wear and tear and other physical failure.
Replace the main contactor
Set up a separate electrical control cabinet
| Failure Type | Proportion | Primary Causes |
|---|---|---|
| Lubrication System Issues | 32% | Oil degradation, low oil level, clogged oil filters, abnormal oil temp (high/low) |
| Cooling System Failures | 25% | Fouled coolers, fan failure, blocked coolant circuits, high ambient temperature |
| Air Path Blockages | 18% | Clogged intake filters (dust), oil separator failure, carbon buildup in pipes |
| Mechanical Wear | 12% | Bearing failure (60%), rotor misalignment, gearbox defects |
| Control Circuit Faults | 8% | Sensor errors (temp/pressure), PLC module failure, solenoid valve sticking |
| Other Causes | 5% | Loose mounting, abnormal vibration, operational errors (e.g., frequent cycling) |
Failure times: In the failure analysis of the power plant air compressor itself, the lubrication system is the largest proportion of problems, but also easier to solve a problem; according to the survey of the average number of failures per compressor per year is about 1.2 ~ 1.8 times, of course, this is also very much related to the age of the unit, greater than ten years old unit failure rate is often higher than the new unit of more than 40% ~ 60%.
Maintenance cost: single maintenance time 8~24 hours, failure types of mechanical components failure maintenance time is the longest; replacement of rotors or bearings is the highest maintenance cost.
Regular maintenance: change oil/air filter every 2000 hours, change lubricating oil every 8000 hours.
Intelligent detection: vibration sensors with temperature online monitoring, can do bearing failure early warning
Adaptation to the environment: add dust cover (sandy area), corrosion-resistant coating (coastal area), oil heater (cold area) to the power plant air compressor.
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