G410 - Clyde Maughan’s Maintenance of Turbine Driven Generators

3.5 days - 2.3 Continuing Education Units Awarded

Beginning in the mid-1970s there was a general contraction in the amount and quality of technical support provided to power-generation companies by the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). This void has been partially filled by independent service providers. But often, owners have been left uncertain as to the quality and accuracy of the available information.  Particularly is this true with respect to determining the cause of a failure since onsite maintenance personnel normally are trained only to perform typical maintenance operations, e.g., stator rewinds, stator re-wedging, field rewind.  Determining the root cause of a non-obvious failure tends to be an order of magnitude more difficult than performing the necessary repairs.

The purpose of this course is to provide a maintenance outlook which will help turbine-generator users remove some of these uncertainties, and thereby work more effectively and efficiently with their service providers in maintaining high reliability of their generators without unnecessary expenditures.

The course is presented from a manufacturer perspective, based on an experience background in generator design, manufacturing and service, as well as many years as an independent consultant.  Focus of the material will intentionally be narrowly focused toward including only information directly relating to making optimum maintenance decisions.

For operating companies with strong in-house generator maintenance capability and programs, it is hoped that this course will be of assistance in improving and fine-tuning those programs.  For those large majority operating companies depending primarily on outside technical sources, it is hoped this course will assist in appraising the quality and accuracy of maintenance recommendations.

In both cases, it is hoped that this book will assist owners in implementing more cost-effective maintenance programs for each of their power generators.

OBJECTIVES
Upon successful completion of this Seminar the participant will be able to:

 OUTLINE

Design:  General Considerations, Technical Considerations to include Armature Winding Design Failure Mechanisms, Field Design Failure Mechanisms, Core Design Failure Mechanisms, Frame Design Failure Mechanisms, Internal Cooling Design Failure Mechanisms, Excitation and Auxiliary Design Failure Mechanisms
Operating Problems: Load Cycling, Loss of Cooling, Temperature Control, Over-Loading, Start/Stops, Turning Gear Operation, Off-Line Stationary, Cleanliness, Contamination, Unbalanced Armature Currents, Asynchronous Operation, Short Circuit Events, Synchronizing Errors, Loss of Excitation, Over Fluxing, Loss of Lubricants, Cooling Water Leaks, Oil Entry, Overspeed, Collector and Brush Rigging.
Failure Modes: Stator, Fields, Miscellaneous, Trends, Root Cause Diagnostics.
Monitoring and Protection Equipment: Vibration, Torsional Sub-Synchronous Resonance, Shaft Voltage, Field Ground, Core Condition Monitor, Auxiliary Systems, Field In-Turn Short Circuit, Partial Discharge.
Inspection: Field in Place, Field Removed, Duties on Components, Inspection Procedures for End Windings and Connections, Core, Frame, Coolers, Fits/Hardware, Bushings, Bearings/Seals, Field, Excitation Equipment, Auxiliaries.
Testing: Over-Voltage, Over-Voltage Procedures, Off-Line Corona Tests, Partial Discharge, Radio Frequency, Ultrasonic Probe, Power Factor and Tip Up, Mechanical Tests, Copper Resistance.
Maintenance Practices:  Predictive Maintenance, Interval Extension, Condition Based Maintenance, Cleaning/Painting, Armature Winding Repair, Stator Damage, Field Repair.