Vibration-Based Analysis for Detecting Turbocharger Blade Defect on High-Power Diesel Generator

This study is concerned with 12-MW capacity turbochargers on diesel power generators. These are generators equipped with 18 cylinders. Our previous studies [1] showed that the processing of vibration signature collected from a power generator is very complex, insomuch the dominant vibration remains the one originating from explosion frequency in the diesel generator cylinders, with a fairly high number of cylinders. This vibration drowns out all other possible vibrations, which can expose defects. The study at hand is focused on turbochargers with 20,940 rpm, while the rotation speed in the diesel engine is 600 rpm only. With the turbocharger rotating at very high speed, it results in severe mechanical constraints on the rotor shaft in the turbocharger and its related organs (turbine blades). The wear of turbine blades can result in breakdowns in the turbocharger. This article is an attempt to early detect defaults in turbine blades based on vibration signature that can be experimentally determined. We noted in our investigations that a diesel engine and its turbochargers do not bear the same mechanic loads. While the diesel engine is the seat of violent shocks brought about by explosions in cylinders, the turbochargers are driven by the action of exhaust gas from explosions, without being affected by explosion shocks. The study found that explosion frequency in the diesel engine cylinders, which disrupted the vibration signals in the diesel engine and alternator, did not impact on the vibration signals in the turbocharger. We experimentally determined, following several campaigns of measurements, a vibration signature on the turbochargers under study, which corresponds to a defect in turbine blades.