In-situ machining extends turbine compressor life
A
Metalock Engineering product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Aug 1, 2002
Metalock Engineering has recently remachined two rows of stator blade dovetail slots of a 160MW gas turbine to restore the design dimensions enabling the blades to be properly secured.
To extend the life of the compressor discharge casing of a 160MW gas turbine in the Czech Republic - about 100km north of Prague - Metalock Engineering has recently remachined two rows of stator blade dovetail slots to restore the design dimensions enabling the blades to be properly secured.
The alternative was an expensive new casing and the added problem of a long production lead time from the manufacturers.
Loosening of the blades in their dovetail slots had been caused by vibration due to compressor stalling resulting from running the machine at a greatly reduced load for prolonged periods.
Following investigation, Wood Group Heavy Industrial Turbines, who had been called in by the operator to overhaul the turbine, elected to carry out weld repairs to slots E1 and E2 and in-situ machine them to restore the original dimensions.
Although Wood Group HIT had used in-situ machining on similar projects it had never performed such an operation on a unit of this size with slots of 1.5m diameter and 50mm wide.
After consultation with mechanical engineering and metallurgical colleagues, Wood Group HIT's project manager contacted Metalock Engineering.
Metalock had no hesitation in accepting the task, knowing that it had the expertise and equipment to cost effectively in-situ remachine the slots in the cast iron casing to the accuracy required.
To assure the best results, Metalock used one of its heavy-duty boring units.
This was supported in the horizontal joint face of the casing bearing housing either side of the E1 and E2 grooves with the two casing halves bolted together.
It took Metalock's team six 12-hour shifts to complete the work which was well within the time and budget allowances.
While the machining was being carried out Wood Group HIT, which provides integrated, independent industrial gas turbine maintenance services for power utilities and independent power producers worldwide, had the blades restored to original dimensions at its component repair centre in Dundee, Scotland.
They were then refitted to the slots, the machine rebuilt and recommissioned.
Wood Group HIT's engineers have since returned to the customer's site to do other work and found the repair extremely effective and that their customer was very satisfied with the result, particularly the cost saving over the alternative course of action.
Not what you're looking for? Search the site.
Google Ads
Contact Metalock Engineering
Related Stories
- Lambert fits Schmitt AEMS into Bryant grinder
- Fraser-Nash completes ventilation system redesign
- Idac supplies support services for FPSO project
- Idac safety-checks temporary access platform
- Idac undertakes torque investigation
Articles by product category
- Consultancy and Services (903)
- Machine Building (4,517)
-
Engineering Design Software (6,179)
- Engineering Design Software (12)
- 2D CAD software (200)
- 3D CAD software (1,157)
- FEA and structural analysis software (369)
- Fluid, thermal, noise, vibration software (334)
- Simulation, modelling, validation software (914)
- Rendering, visualisation, styling software (196)
- Materials design and moulding design software (151)
- Process, instrumentation, automation software (258)
- Electrical design software (164)
- Publishing and documentation software (229)
- Maths, charting, statistics, QA software (317)
- Data, document management software (310)
- CAM, CNC, production management software (568)
- File conversion software, data capture (351)
- PLM and collaboration software (649)
-
Drives, Motors and Controls (3,361)
- Drives, Motors and Controls (1)
- Precision Motors and Gears (411)
- Industrial Drives/Controls (1,276)
- Linear Drives and Motors (114)
- Industrial Motors (497)
- Stepper and Servo Drives, Motors, Controls (1,060)
- Small Mechanical Components, Joining, Tools (1,975)
-
Control and Instrumentation (5,028)
- Plantwide control (1,324)
- Plant- and Machine-Wide Communications (1,174)
- Smaller-Sized PLCs (387)
- CNC and Motion Controllers (184)
- Mid-range and Large PLCs (201)
- Power Supplies, Uninterruptible Power (562)
- HMIs/Operator Interfaces (294)
- Logic Controllers, Timers and Relays (96)
- Cabling, Conduit, Signal Conditioning (806)
-
Monitoring, Measurement and Quality (5,459)
- Monitoring, Measurement and Quality (1)
- Data acquisition Software and Communications (494)
- Data Acquisition Hardware and PC I/O Boards (472)
- Electrical and Electronic Testing, PAT Equipment (630)
- Form/co-ordinate, optical, vision instruments (703)
- Gauges, Indicators and Instruments (440)
- Data loggers (422)
- Materials testing equipment (421)
- Telecomms/network test equipment, software etc (154)
- Testing and Calibration Services and Information (500)
- Testing, analysing and monitoring equipment (1,222)
-
Electrical and Electronic Equipment Design (4,160)
- Batteries, chargers and circuit protection (555)
- Connectors, Terminals, Busbars, Slip Rings (679)
- Enclosures and Equipment Cooling Fans (709)
- Knobs, Handles and Enclosure Hardware (420)
- PCs and Embedded Systems (798)
- Electrical and Electronic Subassemblies (369)
- Electrical and Electronic Components (630)
-
Materials and Processing (2,963)
- Materials and Processing (5)
- Materials and components (2,215)
- Rapid Prototyping (458)
- Materials processing and testing (285)
-
Engineering Industry News, Resources (6,093)
- Engineering Industry News, Resources (4)
- Engineering Business News, Views (388)
- Engineering Exhibitions, Events (562)
- Engineering Conferences (425)
- Engineering Seminars (400)
- Engineering Industry Developments, Awards (633)
- Engineering Guides, Newsletters (349)
- Engineering Recruitment, Employment (219)
- Engineering Training Courses (433)
- Engineering Education, Resources, Standards (838)
- Engineering Industry Reports, Surveys (597)
- Electronic Resources for Engineers (278)
- Health and Safety Legislation (402)
- Health and Safety Strategy, Risk Assessment (113)
- Health and Safety Consultancy, Software (175)
- Health and Safety Events, Training, News (277)
-
Powertrain Design (3,598)
- Powertrain Design (2)
- Bearings (939)
- Chains and belts (326)
- Gears, brakes, couplings and engines (1,441)
- Hydraulic Components (471)
- Lubricants (418)
-
Capital Equipment (3,387)
- Capital Equipment (1)
- Manufacturing Machinery and Plant Equipment (468)
- Production line blowers and fans (62)
- Compressors and Air Treatment (510)
- Electronics Manufacturing, Tools, Instruments (192)
- Electrical hardware (131)
- Machinery and Production Equipment (1,093)
- Robotics, Handling and Storage (930)
-
Sensors (7,080)
- Sensors (8)
- Accelerometers and Vibration Sensors (427)
- Loadcells, Force Sensors, Torque Sensors (699)
- Pressure sensors (621)
- Flowmeters and Flow Sensors (618)
- Level Sensors and Leak Detectors (527)
- Linear Position Sensors (399)
- Rotary Position, Tilt and Angular Sensors (546)
- Proximity Sensors (700)
- Gas, Chemical, Radiation, Magnetic Sensors (284)
- Humidity and Environmental Sensors (152)
- Temperature sensors (612)
- Vision and Colour Sensors (1,384)
- Barcode Sensors (103)
- Valves, Pumps, Process Hardware (3,623)
