Application Case Studies

THERMOCOUPLE DESIGN PREVENTS OIL LEAKAGE IN COKE PLANT COMPRESSOR BEARING HOUSING

Industry: Steel
Application: Coke Plant – Compressor Bearing Housing

Customer Requirement:
The instrument shop at U.S. Steel Clairton Works had a concern about the thermocouple they were using in the coke plant compressor bearing housing. The spring-loaded device was sealed so the lubricating oil would not be able to penetrate into the thermocouple enclosure, but the design was not working. Oil was leaking into the enclosure and shutting the compressors down and the manufacturer of the thermocouple could not solve the problem. U.S. Steel could not live with the situation, so they asked Conax to submit a new design.

Conax Design Solution:
After reviewing a sample thermocouple, Conax submitted a design featuring a SLANS spring-loaded mounting system with a Viton O-ring. Because a 0.250" diameter was required to connect into the compressor bearing, and the customer wanted a 0.125" diameter probe for faster time response, a 0.25" stainless steel support tube was added to the assembly. The customer was very happy with the results and to date has seen no problem with oil leakage into the housing.