Borescope inspections reveal 7EA users ongoing

battle against clashing, IGV rubs, shim migration

Posted on November 20, 2011 by Team CCJ

If one were reconstructing the E F Hutton financial services ad for the

gas-turbine generation sector of the electric power industry, it might go
something like this: When Rod Shidler talks, everyone listens. Thats
why the 7EA Users Group steering committee invited Shidler, a founder
of Advanced Turbine Support Inc (ATS), Gainesville, Fla, the wellrespected inspection and technology services firm, to open the
organizations 2011 conference two weeks ago in San Antonio.
A solid first presentation is critical to the success of any conference. Get
attendees focused early and they will carry the meeting. Shidler speaks
the users language and may know more about whats going on inside
7EAs than any other independent source in the industry. ATS performs
hundreds of borescope inspections on these and related engines
annually. There isnt much, if anything, that escapes the trained eyes of
the companys inspectors.
The steering committee members who developed the program for the
San Antonio meeting were Pat Myers, plant manager, Ceredo Generating
Station, American Electric Power Co; Ray Lathrop, maintenance
supervisor at Corn Belt Power Co-ops Earl F Wilson Power Plant; Jim
Beveridge, plant manager, Nebo Power Station, Utah Associated
Municipal Power Systems, Progress Energys Amy Alix, and Lane Watson
of FM Global. If you are a 7EA owner or operator and not a member of
the 7EA Users Group, join today at no cost (http://ge7ea.usersgroups.com) to participate in the organizations forums and get access to
the presentations from this and previous meetings.
Shidler opened his presentation with a review of what he considers the
OEMs most important Technical Information Letters (TILs) regarding the
7EA, specifically:
* 1132-2R1, IGV (inlet guide vane) rubs.
* 1562, stator vane shim migration.
* 1090-2R1 R17 blade movement.
* 1744 Stage S17 and EGV (exit guide vane) stator ring rail and CDC
(compressor discharge case) hookfit wear.
Next, he discussed the importance of performing inspections in
accordance with TIL recommendations, or sooner, depending on unit

condition. Shidler stressed the importance of proper documentation of

findings to obtain the correct engineering deposition. Documentation also
is important to condition trending, he continued, which helps plant
personnel decide if a review of operating procedures is in order. Baseline
inspections of unit condition after major overhauls should be followed-up
with annual or biannual inspections to identify any damage caused by
rubs, foreign objects in the gas stream, corrosion pitting, deposits,
cracks, coating loss, and component wear, movement, or loss.
Typical IGV damage found during an inlet-condition assessment is
shown in Figs 1 and 2. TIL 1132-2R1 speaks to IGV spring and thrust
washersincluding when these components should be replaced. X-gap
clearances should be inspected annually. Rotor blade-to-compressor case
rubs were next, with Shidler pointing to R1 rolled metal and R2 tip
liberation found (Figs 3-6). Where casing rubs have been identified, he
advised users to specify remote dye-penetrant testing of blade tips to
check for cracks. If tip discoloration or rolled metal is found, those blades
should be dye-penned every 25 starts. ATS has determined that this
interval is conducive to identifying cracks prior to the liberation of
material. He added that the interval is not affected by tip grinding. ATS
regularly finds cracks on units that have been tip-ground.
[Show as slideshow]

More than a dozen photos of clashing seemed to send a shiver up

user spines. The term is used to describe contact between rotating
blades and stationary vanes in Frame 7 compressors. There have been
no catastrophic failures to date. Clashing is relatively common and has
been discussed at every 7EA meeting for the last several years.
However, its cause remains unknown and owner/operators are
sufficiently concerned to take action independent of the OEM (see
following article). One utility reported clashing in 20 of 27 machinesall
in peaking service. Those engines just run up to full load, operate for a
few hours at most and then are shut down. Discussions among 7EA
users focus on R1/S1 clashing; among 7F users the focus is R2/S2. In
virtually all instances, reports indicated the clashing was concentrated at
or near the 6 oclock position.
Whats unnerving is that clashing remains unpredictable. One 7EA user
told the group at an earlier meeting that clashing was found in five of six
engines at his site. Four of the five affected units each had accumulated
a nominal 1000 fired hours and 200 fired starts since COD. A year later,
after only 20 more fired starts and 60 more fired hours, it was found on
the sixth engine.
Shim migration has been discussed several times in the pages of the
COMBINED CYCLE Journal, along with its solutionssuch as vane
pinning. Figs 7 and 8 show S2 and S3 shim migration. Shidler told the
group that owner/operators should inspect the front ends of their
compressors to develop a shim map for stages 1 through 4. There are 16
locations in those four stages where shims might have been installed.
Locations having shims should be checked during each borescope
inspection, he advised. Any shims protruding from the case by less than
half an inch should be monitored every 25 starts until they reach one
half inch. At that point, the shims should be removed or ground off as
recommended in TIL 1562.
Stator vane platform stepping, which affects stages 5 through 8, was
next on Shidlers checklist (Fig 9), followed by rotor blade movement in
stage 17 as described in TIL 1090-2R1. Movement can be significant:

Shidler showed photos of blades that had moved by as much as 0.25 in.
Discussion of inspection points in the combustion section followed along
with photos of cracks in liners (Fig 10) and transition pieces (Fig 11).
Shidler wrapped up his presentation with photos of relatively common
turbine section ills: coating loss on first-stage nozzles, first-stage bucket
pin liberation, damage to the first-stage nozzle discourager seal, and
bucket impact damage downstream of the first stage.
[Show as slideshow]