Tribology in Particular Reference to Power Station Application

The functioning of an atomic power station, a wrist watch, a bi-cycle or a large turbogenerator in power plants, or of a bullock cart is equally dependent on bearing provision, and most maintenance consists of overcoming the effects of wear.

Energy Losses and Economic Consideration

A tribologist also has to be aware of the absolute magnitude of the energy losses involved and the likely consequences of the ensuing heat release. It may be worthwhile and significant to mention here that in case of very large turbo generators like 500 MW TG sets a frictional dissipation of only one tenth of one percent would equal to a heat value of nearly one half megawatt. This heat is confined to a fairly localised region of the rotating system and lub-oil circuit and would therefore, require special consideration from the designer. In large machines the tribological heat release could result in undesirable thermal distortion with consequential effects.