Howden NH3 screw oil usage

[US Iceman]

Howden WRV 255 is chucking out its oil into the system - 5 litres a day.

Is this something that just started recently, or become increasingly worse as time passes?

Also, with the oil loss you mentioned... does the oil level in the separator tend to reestablish itself after some period of running time, or just continue to decrease if left unattended?

One last question. Has the mist eliminator pad been replaced recently, say before the carryover problem was noticed?

[SteveDixey]

Is this something that just started recently, or become increasingly worse as time passes?

Fairly recent event, with no previous history as far as we know. However, the previous plant operator tended to keep secrets and not tell anyone things. That is now starting to tell....

Also, with the oil loss you mentioned... does the oil level in the separator tend to reestablish itself after some period of running time, or just continue to decrease if left unattended?

Just empties and empties. It does not re-appear, or at least not soon enough to stop oil level trips.

One last question. Has the mist eliminator pad been replaced recently, say before the carryover problem was noticed?

As far as I know, no pads have been touched. The guys who inspected the separator internals did not disturb anything as they were not sure if the mesh was removable or not. I might be able to get some photos they took of the internals though.

Steve