4 March 2015

Corroserve was contacted by a power generation client, who operate a coal-fired power station in Nottinghamshire.  The client had a problem – the vanes on a high-speed turbine used in the power generation process were experiencing severe erosion from cenospheres – lightweight, air-filled hollow silica spheres, produced as a byproduct of coal combustion at thermal power plants. As the vanes erode, the turbine becomes less and less efficient.

Corroserve was contacted by a power generation client, who operate a coal-fired power station in Nottinghamshire.  The client had a problem – the vanes on a high-speed turbine used in the power generation process were experiencing severe erosion from cenospheres – lightweight, air-filled hollow silica spheres, produced as a byproduct of coal combustion at thermal power plants. As the vanes erode, the turbine becomes less and less efficient.

 

Replacing eroded vanes is a costly exercise so the client, approached us to rebuild them, restoring their original dimensions. We carried out the following processes.

 

A thoroughly clean surface is vital before adding new material so the first step was to remove all contamination from the vanes by blasting to ISO 8501-1 cleanliness standard Sa2.5.

 

Using a mesh and a glass reinforced resin system the eroded areas on the vanes were rebuilt back to their original dimensions.

 

Once cured, the vanes were coated with Plasmet HTE. Capable of working in high temperatures, Plasmet HTE combines high levels of abrasion resistance with excellent levels of chemical resistance. It is the perfect choice for use in extremely aggressive environments.

 

The full turbine refurbishment was completed at a fraction of the cost of purchasing a new unit.  The lifespan of the reconditioned unit, which may otherwise have been scrapped, has now been extended by a number of years.

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