Extending the Life of a 40-Year Old Turbine

You have to check each and ever part, magnaflux, visual inspection etc all are to be done and then the useful items to be retained, may be with a bit of rework (eg polishing of journals- that will result in a new set of bearings) ...

We have more than that age turbines running, with a bit of lower efficiency. Now we, as OEMs are asked to recondition and uprate them at shoe string budgets. We have done quite a few already and others are on card. I am from the manufacturing proper, so know only outline. There is a big team of RLA specialists that carry out this job (vibration analysis, metallurgists, NDT, Design,... for the whole system Turbines, Alternators, Boilers...).

BTW: I have seen some papers - though no exactly on this, I think it was on GT from GE. Source I have forgotten, either in ASQ journal on RLA or in some of the NDT journals. I am sure the soft copy should be there on net too. Try RLA study of Turbine in search engine.

We're going to completely refurbish a 40-year-old turbo-genset ('TGS') for sale.

We'll send the TGS to the original manufacturer, who'll remove the turbine from its skid, refurbish the lube oil and fuel-feed system, replace the gearing and the alternator / electrical devices / controls with modern equipment. The whole will then be mounted in a pair of 40-foot shipping containers.

One of the containers will contain the electrical stuff (switchgear, controls) and a room like a small lunchroom, where the operator will be able to sit and supervise the TGS if he needs to.

The thing will be better than the original: the control will modern, as opposed to c. 1970 ones, same for the elctricals, etc. Pricewise, we'll be selling this for $4M USD, where a new 5.4 MW (6.3 MW peaking) TGS like this would be much more expensive.

Cheers! DZ

P.S. Anyone looking for a TGS, by the way? The $4M USD FOB Vancouver (West Coast) Canada, also includes a spare, never-been-used turbine stored in nitrogen.

Depending on the size and type, it may be worthwhile to do a re-power overhaul. Unless there's been serious damage, most steam turbines are worth looking at. I have a 10MW air-cooled Westinghouse unit installed in 1955 that still runs like a champ.

The rotor can usually be rebuilt on-site. If blades need replaced you will want to send it out to a repair shop, because you will want to have a high-speed balancing done. All of the diaphragms should be inspected, weld-repaired & annealed as necessary, then sand-blasted to remove all foreign material. The complete lubrication system, including journal and thrust bearings, should be thoroughly inspected.

I've had very good experience with TurboCare, as most of their people are former OEM field engineers. Whether you have ABB, Siemens, GE, Westinghouse, Mitsubishi or some other brand, TurboCare will likely have an employee with training and experience in that particular product.