A client’s generator suffered an unexpected fault recently, resulting it in having to be taken out of service. The fault could not be cleared on site so the rotor was removed from the assembly, collected by LH Marthinusen (LHM) Denver for assessment in their Power Generation Facility.
The in-depth assessment revealed significant degradation in the rotor winding dove-tail connections, necessitating the removal and repair of all the windings. In additional the rotor had a high level of residual magnetism which necessitated the degaussing of the unit at the LHM Denver works.
As the failure occurred just before the festive season and a plan was put in place to accelerate the repair process to ensure the client’s generation unit is returned to service in the minimal period process thus limiting his operational financial loss. The challenge was to ensure materials were procured prior to the festive closure of the industry thus ensuring that the repair could continue over the festive period. Wilec, another division in the ACTOM Group, was mobilised and they worked tirelessly to ensure that the imported material was delivered before the festive break.
The on-site work on the stator was undertaken by LH Marthinusen’s Durban branch with testing and site component degaussing support provided by Denver’s Field Services operation.
On completion of the rotor the unit was high-speed balanced at an off-site facility.
LHM partnered with Turbo Generator Services of KZN to install and align the generator to the steam turbine.
The combined works team was lead by Manny Faria, LHM’s General Manager of Power Generation, who worked tirelessly with the team to bring back to operation the turbine alternator twelve days ahead of schedule.