Identifying Unbalance in Forced Draft Fan Using Vibration Measurement Methods

Abstract

The Forced Draft (FD) Fan is a component in a power plant that serves as a supplier of secondary air to assist combustion within the boiler. The Forced Draft Fan has a motor coupled to an impeller, where this component often experiences imbalance with very high vibration values. The imbalance can affect performance and decrease the efficiency of the Forced Fan. Special maintenance in the form of balancing is required to reduce vibration values according to ISO 10816-3 standards so that the Forced Draft Fan can operate safely. In one power plant, there was a Forced Draft Fan experiencing unbalance on the impeller side. In this study, the highest vibration value for the Forced Draft Fan was found at the MOH point, measuring 4.75 mm/s, and after balancing, the vibration value decreased to 0.82 mm/s.