I've got four 125 Vdc trip coils on a steam turbine that are ENERGIZED to trip the turbine.

Is there a way to monitor the health of the trip coils?

The trip coils are part of the control and stop valves and cannot be replace. We would have to replace the actual valves which is big bucks.

Thanks for any help.

 

What flavor (brand) of turbine. And I'm not doubting you, but you are 100% sure all the coils (solenoid right?) require power to trip? That wouldn't seem like a wise design.

There still is a mechanical (manual) overspeed trip, right?

 

Yes it is an unwise design but that was actually the way it was done in the past for A LOT of steam turbines.

The turbine is an Ansoldo 55mw steam turbine at a geothermal site and was installed in 1991. It has two control valves and two stop valves.

And yes, I'm 100% sure they are energize to trip.

 

You might find theses links helpful. They are a sampling of available devices to monitor trip coils.

http://www.selinc.com/SEL-2652/
http://www.e-maxinstruments.com/raw.html
http://www.con-elec.com/download/SM6Broc.pdf (need to page down a bit)
http://store.gedigitalenergy.com/FAQ/Documents/MIN/GET-8465.pdf

William (Bill) L. Mostia, Jr. PE
Sr. Consultant
SIS-TECH Solutions, LP
Any information is provided on Caveat Emptor basis.

 

I'd take a look at the ABB SPER01C1 - I've used it many times in HV-breaker trip circuits.
http://www.abb.com/product/db0003db004281/c12573e700330419c2256a0000366ffd.aspx

 

There are ways to monitor 125Vdc trip coils. We have a design that provides monitoring for a variety of trip coils (AC or DC) that will fit in a UEG-30 Phoenix enclosure. We provide immediate information regarding the coil condition (NORMAL (de-energized), ACTIVE (energized), OPEN, SHORT, and POWER (Loss of Main Power) and provide dry contacts to report fault and trip conditions. Contact me offline if you want to learn more of what we have to offer at [email protected] or [email protected].