NH3 Reciprocating compressor Oil Loss issue..

[Ref-engineer]

Recently, one of my jobsite reciprocating compressors is having oil loss issue..
approximate 2 litres per unit per day..

We has try to adjust the capacity regulation response time & double check on the oil return line,
the compressor is relatively new (1 years old) which the unloading cylinder should be in good conditon..
And there is no foaming found on the compressor..

any one can help to determine what is causing this oil loss problem?

Thanks you very much.

[Grizzly]

Hi ref-engineer.
Have you considered that your oil separator may be at fault?
You don't give many clues as to what make or what your system is designed like.
You discount mechanical wear or seal degradation. But do not say how many hrs the particular comp has ran over the last year?
With a recip mechanical wear or a seal failure is a common cause of high oil carry over.
The most common is worn or broken piston rings,which basically turn the relevant cylinder/s into oil pumps.
Some recips are very critical on what oil level they have within their crankcase. Overfill them and the oil will carry over at a huge rate.
Some more info would help.
Grizzly

[Nh34life]

if your oil return is clear and have no saturation my next guess would be check the permanently loaded head for ring / plate wear. as with Griz let us know the hours and oil level I tend to run a minimum oil level in both screw sets and recips as they tend to spit it out quicker

[Jahangir]

same as Grizzly i think more information would help to advice. also the tem. of oil and discharge is important . is it higher than normal range? and is the oil type as the recommended oil of compressor manufacture?
regards.

[shaaf]

Also head pressure

[Sandro Baptista]

Sometimes the oil separators are small when the compressors works on high evaporating regimes since the mass flow is huge. A oil separator with coalescent filter could resolve that issue or apply a secondary oil separator (oil coalescent filter).

[Kherson]

There can only be two possible problems, either the machine is now pushing out more oil than it should or the oil return system is not returning enough oil. The easiest place to start is to look at your oil return system. If you can, take apart any solenoid valves, strainers and piping that are used in the oil return system. If they are all clear and working, then your problem lies in the top end of your compressor with either broken piston rings or oil scrapers...
Something simple to look at is the machine's discharge temperature. If it has it risen over time, then that would indicate problems on the top end of your machine. Even something simpler like running the machine at a lower discharge pressure reduces the delta P and reduces oil return significantly...
Kherson

[Magoo]

Sump oil temps too high, check oil cooler may need a clean out. High oil temps and viscosity drops.