Turbine Zero Position

By asking the mech dept.?

How about the installation manual that was supplied with it?

How about a phone call to the equipment supplier?

One more: if the vibration sensors' settings are made at the alleged zero position and the thing is turned away from it, then there should be no negative readings from those sensors, perhaps?

Are you refering to shaft "float position"? That is where the shaft is positioned against the active thrust pad of each bearing. When a turbine is rotating at 10000 rpm and under load, the reactive axial thrust on the shaft is considerable. By positioning against the thrust bearing it prevents any significant axial displacement of the shaft. It also allows you to set up your axial vibration sensors in such a way as it is not only indicative of the axial displacement towards the inactive thrust pad (resultant of excessive load conditions) but also the wear on the active thrust pad.

In this case, the C&I engineer is lost. Perhaps, the mech dept. can find him.

There are only 3 probes that require "0" position 1- The differential Expansion position sensor 2- The active thrust probe 3- The inactive thrust probe You have to consult the manual on the probes to understand how to set the differential probes. The thrust probes are set after setting the unit to the midpoint of the allowed thrust clearance for the thrust bearing. This clearance is different from turbine to turbine and is also determined by the size of the turbine. The mechanics use a dial indicator and a mechanical jack to move the unit to the midpoint of the thrust