Efficiency enhancement for reverse engineered rotor

Sulzer engineer with steam turbine
Customer Biowaste power plant
Location Taiwan
Industry Power Generation
Key Services

EFFICIENCY INCREASED

2 %

PROJECT LEAD-TIME

12 months

NEW BLADES SUPPLIED

826

STEAM TURBINE CAPACITY

20 MW

THE IMPACT

Breadth and depth of varied turbomachinery expertise and database offers operators an excellent option for technical-demanding projects with no compromise on quality.

The Challenge

Pushing the envelope for energy efficiency & operational continuity

  • The biowaste power plant has a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the local grid while supplying biowaste generated power.
  • Its trusty 20MW steam turbine operated without hiccups for since commissioning.
  • Operators decided that it would be prudent to source a spare rotor for the turbine for operational continuity and to prepare for any unexpected contingencies.
  • The maintenance and engineering teams had lofty ambitions and to push the envelope further, they desire a 2% efficiency enhancement, through a re-rate.
  • The OEM and a few other turbomachinery service providers were engaged for this endeavor.
  • The OEM could only deliver the spare with a re-rate in 16months, due to a production backlog - the lead-time wasn’t ideal.
  • The other turbomachinery service providers were either not able to offer a re-rate or could not commit to the tight timeline.
  • Sulzer was eventually appointed to deliver as our offer ticked all requirements from timeline, expertise and offer.
  • There was only a 5 days window period during the plant’s scheduled shutdown, to conduct all necessary scanning, data gathering and analysis as part of the project.
  • All work were to be done on the operational rotor.
  • To add complexity, none of the existing turbine blades could be dismantled from the rotor during the shutdown.
 Gallery
Biomass power station
Sulzer engineer with steam turbine
Sulzer engineer with steam turbine
steam turbine
steam turbine
Engineers
steam turbine group image

The Solution

Methodological expertise for re-rate & reverse engineering

  • Our technical experts got on to work round the clock for all the necessary work during the turnaround.
  • Combining absolute precision with expediency, the team completed the process within the shutdown period.
  • The re-rate strategy which was to re-design the turbine blade airfoils to modify and expand the surface and angle.
  • This approach was the most practical on a timeline and cost perspective which negated the need to overhaul the structural design of the rotor extensively such as diameter, stages and flow.

The entire reverse engineering and re-rate endeavor comprised of:

  • On-site scanning, measurements and materials analysis.
  • Multi-faceted feasibility study comprising of aerodynamics, structural & modal analysis, creation of virtual model of the proposed turbine re-rate.
  • Re-design of required components- blade attachments and airfoil.
  • 826 new blades were engineered and manufactured for the project.
  • Inspection: mechanical, hardness, ultrasonic, magnetic particle, dimension and heat stability testing.
  • Assembly and high-speed balancing.
Develop Manufacture Drawing

Explore our solutions

  • Functional design of a gas turbine
    Lifetime assessments
    Turbine rotors of gas and steam turbines can be greatly affected by stress, fatigue, corrosion, embrittlement, or cracking. All these factors can limit operational lifetime. Our lifetime assessment can maximize the life cycle of your rotor.
  • Our employees are specialists in upgrades and revamps
    Retrofit services
    Sulzer modifies older machinery to comply with modern requirements. We perform technical analyses of the status of each component in order to determine the actions required to improve the performance of your equipment.
  • Gas turbine rotor arriving on site
    Relocation

The Customer Benefit

Spare rotor project that ticked all boxes

  • The entire project fulfilled all criteria set out by the operator, from technical, timeline to outcome and costs.
  • OEMs are typically set-up and geared towards for new equipment development and production as its core business strategy which might undermine its post-sales support.
  • Sulzer’s extensive experience with different turbomachinery models and brands offered technical breadth and depth with flexibility to apply innovative engineering solution with no compromises in quality and effectiveness.
  • The project was delivered in 12 months, 4 months faster than what the OEM could deliver.
  • The key benefit had to be the 2% efficiency enhancement as desired by the operator with expected OPEX savings to be gained in time to come.
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