Outage Optimization

of Steam Turbine and Auxiliaries

Parichart Suttiprasit#1, Santhiti Chanthauthai#2, Wannadit Umpuch#3
Steam Turbine Department, Mechanical Maintenance Division
Electricity Generating Authorityof Thailand (EGAT), Thailand
1
parichart.su@egat.co.th
2
santhiti.c@egat.co.th
3
wannadit.u@egat.co.th

Abstract - There is no standard of outage interval that power

plant maintenance should be followed as the guidance, because
the core of maintenance is to execute in the least cost. Condition
Monitoring becomes the first priority tool to plan maintenance
work analytically. Moreover, the nature of each power plant is
really specific, so all outage need to be arranged upon the
equipment condition. This is called Outage Optimization, which
is a necessary system that collects monitoring data to update and
analyze the equipment health all the time before planning. This
paper presents the optimization of 115 MW Steam Turbine and
Auxiliaries in South Bangkok Combined Cycle Power Plant
which was first synchronized in 1995. What the monitoring data
should be collected, how to collect them and how to analyze them
are included. Moreover, the maintenance planning and the
results of this condition based maintenance compared with the
previous time based maintenance are disclosed. We trusted that
this optimization method can be applied with specific equipment
of all power plants to process their results.
I. INTRODUCTION
The outage maintenance work of Steam Turbine normally
is the critical path of all outage activities. It is obvious that
the equipment working needs to be planned thoughtfully. The
configuration is series type, so it has no standby component.
And Steam Turbine’s condition has to be analyzed cautiously.
Therefore, it needs maintenance experiences, conceptual
consideration, and economic analysis to achieve this outage
optimization completely. The main objective of outage
optimization is to maintain the same effectiveness which is
plant reliability and performance in the same time. In addition,
the Auxiliaries which are overhauled in the outage need to be
monitored for their condition. It is very crucial to gather all
information to plan the outage.
Ideally, the uptime must be 100 percent, and the downtime
needs to be zero. Although, it cannot be maintained in the
ideal world, the main objective of maintenance world is to
perform preventive maintenance only with the equipment
which has abnormal symtoms. The results which we can gain
shows a decrease of defect, the most efficient power
generation, a decrease of downtime, cost savings which
includes spare parts inventory, manpower, maintenance cost,
etc. Also, the root cause of equipment problem can be
pinpointed instantly.
II. STEAM TURBINE
The 115 MW- Steam Turbine of South Bangkok Combined
Cycle Power Plant (SB-C10) which was first synchronized in
1995 had been executed with 4 minor inspection (MI) and 1
major overhaul (MO) outages. During the MO scope planning
in 2008, the feasibility to minimize the outage duration has
been found by our record and analysis as follows.
A. Condition Monitoring
Steam Turbine vibration record was measured by ADRE#7
analyzer and Bentley 3300 transducer and analyzed by EGAT
Mechanical Testing Department. The overall shaft vibration
was recorded at bearing no.1, 2, 3 and 4. The bearing no. 1
and no. 2 support HP-LP Rotor and the rest support generator
rotor. The vibration trend presented as in the following figure
tended to be decreased and the latest record was in admissible
range, 90 μmp-p, accepted by MHI criteria [1].
In case of physical oil analysis, the lubricaiton oil particle
count record has been in normal range since 1998. As regards
to thermal technique, the bearing metal temperature which is
represented the bearing load condition was started collecting
in 1997. All of the temperature record was not exceeded 91oC
which was much less than the alarm setting at 107oC. It can be
described that the bearing condition is in good condition and
the oil is confined in sufficient amount. So, the possible
problem of oil leakage, babbit melting, bearing damage hardly
occurs. Another measurement of thermal concern was
implemented by an infrared camera, ThermaCAM PA695,
earlier before the outage to point out the temperature on high-
temperature zone which is shielded by insulation such as high
pressure (HP) turbine, HP bolt, the main steam pipeline, and
the main steam stop and control valves. According to the
sample of temperature record in the appendix 1, the
measurement of this unit does not reveal the overheated or
leakage point of insulation.
 Admissible Range 90 μm p-p
1996 (MI) 1999 (MI)
Fig. 1 Vibration Trend of Steam Turbine from the year of 1996 to 2006
B. Performance
The Steam Turbine performance test was reported in 2007
by EGAT production efficiency division following ASME
PTC6 testing standard [2] , which showed that the heat rate
from 1998 to 2006 increased from 10216.37 to 10285.72
kJ/kWh respectively. Therefore, this result can be diagnosed
in 2 sections as follows.
1) Loss of fuel: The Efficiency of Steam Turbine decreased
only 0.24% in an 8-year operation. The assumption had been
identified that heat rate since 1995 will be increased in the
constant rate of 69.35 kJ/kwh per 8 years in case the Turbine
is not performed with any maintenance activities. The power
plant will lose in fuel cost as shown in the calculation below.
Fuel Cost of SB-C10 (Natural Gas) = 1.271 Baht/kwh
Loss of Fuel
= (1.27 Baht/kwh)(115 Mw)(24 hr/day)(1/2)(120.35(15) -
104.31(13) year.kJ/kwh)
= 79.82 million Baht
Therefore, this Steam Turbine which is operated
continuously in this condition in the next 2 years must be
calculated for the loss of fuel to be 79.82 million Baht. Indeed,
the fuel price tendency is increased year after year, so the loss
of fuel as shown above is the minimum loss which can
possibly occur. Because we may lose the fuel cost upon the
performance, we have to conduct economic analysis to decide
whether we should shift the MO outage onto another 2 years.
2) Economic Analysis: According to the entire
organizational synergy, the replacement energy concept is
applied. All EGAT power plants which are regularly base load
operation type comprise coal, natural gas, and petroleum fired
plants.
They are classified by generating fuel cost as the first,
second, and third rank respectively. The conceptual emphasis
on energy preservation and reduction of the overall fuel cost is
to manage electricity generation and distribution in Thailand
1X
2001(MO) 2003 (MI) 2006 (MI)
efficiently. And operation and power loss are neglect in this
concept.
So, this combined cycle plant which is gas-fired type of
HRSG, SB-C10, should be operated rather than other thermal
power plants where petroleum-fired type of boiler functioned
in.
Obviously, Bangpakong Thermal Power Plant, BPK-T3,
which is oil-fired plant, was selected to be an operating
replacement by SB-C10 because fuel oil of BPK-T3 is in
highest cost rank. The fuel cost difference between BPK-T3
and SB-C10 is 1.78. It is summarized that the current MO
outage duration would reduce to 8 days as a result of
avoidance to overhaul the Steam Turbine. The result was
calculated as shown below.
Given, Standard MO duration = 45 days
MO – overhaul Steam Turbine duration = 37 days
If BPK-T3 was operated instead of SB-C10 which is
comprised of 2 x 110 Gas Turbine and 1x115 Steam Turbine
as a full block, the fuel cost would be increased:
= (1.78 Baht/kwh)(335 Mw)(24 hr/day)
= 14.31 million Baht per day
So, the fuel cost savings for 8 days operation would be:
= 114.49 million Baht
Comparatively, the fuel cost savings was approximately
twice more than the fuel loss by lower efficiency; therefore,
this outage plan had to be optimized to 37-day duration
without Turbine overhaul, so the savings is 34.67 million Baht
by deducting 79.82 from 114.49 million Baht (1.06 million
US$; 32.58 Baht = 1 US$ [4]). Additionally, the operation and
maintenance cost which was not included in this calculation
would be considerably reduced.
C. Risk Assessment
In addition, we need to identify the risk by multiplying the
failure effects and failure mode likelihood. Referring to Table
I and II below, we can indicate risk in this case as 1 of “Very
unlikely” mode and multiply by 10 of failure effect weight
that can be affected in unit shutdown. However, the result is
equal to 10% as the moderate probability, we can mitigate by
our Steam Turbine life assessment record. Rarely the critical
failure, for example, stress corrosion cracking, corrosion
fatigue, thermal fatigue cracking, can be usually found earlier
than 20 years of its lifetime. Some failure damages such as
erosion at turbine nozzle or a crack on high-pressure casing
had been repaired by the mean of welding and/or grinding
simply.
TABLE I
FAILURE MODE LIKELIHOOD
1 Very unlikely has not happened to equipment or similar
equipment
2 Unlikely >2 times in 5-10 years to equipment or similar
equipment
3 Likely >3 times in last 5 years

6 Likely >2 times in last year

10 Very likely many times to this equipment

TABLE II
WEIGHT OF CONSEQUENCE/FAILURE EFFECT
Failure Effect Weight
Unit Shut down
Unit Through put Loss
Minor Through put Loss
Start up Delay
Personnel Hazard
Personnel Hazard – Low Probability of Injury
Environment Regulations Event – Major Incident
Environment Regulations Event – Incident
Environment Regulations Event – Near Miss
III. AUXILIARIES
Biannually, managing the outage plan interval along with
Time Based Maintenance (TBM), we determine the number of
the Auxiliaries to overhaul. Most of Auxiliaries to be
considered in Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) are
pumps as shown in quantity (EA.) in Table IV. The
optimization of the work scope to overhaul the really needed
equipment by its health is our main concept. The primary
reason why there should be no standard of outage interval like
TBM is to execute at the least cost of maintenance. The tool
that we applied in CBM plan is “Condition Monitoring”
which was started roughly 3 months before the outage. We
selected the auxiliary equipment to be inspected in the MO
scope from January 29th to March 3rd, 2008 as summarized in
table IV.
A. Condition Monitoring
In terms of human senses, we inspected various items such
as looseness, leakage, cleanliness, as well as tightness at base
plate and bolts. We also measured noise level, cavitation
formation by stethoscope also noise condition at bearing as in
the following figure. Our professional team had diagnosed
noise pattern and pinpointed what can possibly be the source
of the abnormal noise. For thermal measurement, we applied
the infrared thermometer to indicate the bearing temperature.
Fig. 2 Stethoscope Measurement of Bearing Noise Condition
10 As for vibration technique, the vibrometer told us the
8 overall vibration which was initially analyzed. The acceptance
criterion is ISO standard 10816-3[5] in velocity range and
4
mm/s rms unit of measurement.
4 Our teamwork which comprised engineering team,
10 operators and the owner had the meeting together to optimize
5 the outage work scope by all of collected information and data.
The one of our report on condensate pump in appendix 2
10
shown as the example of condition monitoring inspection
7 sheet. Referring to their condition, we finally summarized
3 which Auxiliaries need to be overhauled and what the specific
parts need to be inspected in the overhaul. The result is
presented in table IV.
B. Performance
Not only was the Auxiliaries’ health, but also power
consumption which is derived from efficiency consideration.
We identified power consumption at shop test and current
condition as shown in appendix 3, and then the optimum time
to overhaul was found out from the concept when the
cumulative cost of increased power consumption equals the
overhaul cost.
When; Pi = Intial Power Consumption, kW
Po = Current Power Consumption, kW
M = Motor Efficiency, %
E = Electricity Cost per unit
= 2.37 Baht/kwh (Updated June 2007)
C = Capacity of Operation, %
Therefore, the deterioration cost, d, is equal to;
d = (Po – Pi)(E)(C) Baht/hr
M
The deterioration cost in 1 month, D, must be multiplied by
720 hr.
 TABLE III
OPTIMUM TIME TO OVERHAUL AUXILIARIES, SB-C10

TABLE IV
LIST OF AUXILIARIES AND OVERHAUL COST IN THE MO SCOPE, SB-C10

Since commissioning in 1995, the operating duration is 132 IV. CONCLUSIONS

months, so the average deterioration cost rate is given from
dividing by 132. The optimum time to overhaul (T), month,
can be calculated from [6]:
T= 2(Overhaul Cost per EA.) m To minimize the risk, the outage plan needs to be diagnosed
The Avg. Deterioration Cost Rate
The sample result of closed cycle cooling water pumps and
condensate pumps is presented in table III that the optimum
time to overhaul these was not earlier than 6 years. It supports
our analysis that the Auxiliaries were not needed to overhaul
this time.
C. Economic Analysis
We not only recorded all conditions of Auxiliaries, but also
considered the cost savings that we gained from CBM on
Auxiliaries. Although the Auxiliaries work scope management
cannot reduce the downtime duration in this MO like Steam
Turbine, we approached this case by comparing the overhaul
cost-savings between TBM and CBM in the followings. Only
once MO concerning did we get benefits of 2.5 million Baht
(0.08 million US$) from.
In summary, this condition monitoring can help us to
optimize the outage of Steam Turbine and Auxiliaries which
was executed in 2008. It means what the maintenance work
has to be performed relies on specific condition of equipment.
with the history data, operation and maintenance data, and
experiences of maintenance team. In addition, this
dynamically planned outage resulted in the maintenance cost
savings of Steam Turbine around 34.67 million Baht from 8-
day downtime reduction by assuming that heat rate will be
constant in 2 years. Also according to the auxiliaries’
optimized scope, we can get the cost savings of 2.5 million
Baht. In the outage compared with the previous one, it totally
results in the cost savings of 37.17 million Baht (1.14 million
US$).
However, outage optimization needs to preserve overall
equipment effectiveness, when the outage had been executed;
it needs to be assessed plant availability, performance, and
quality rate as well.
Moreover, the future plan is to monitor all of the equipment
conditions to arrange maintenance plan continuously. The
maintenance management such as turnaround management,
reliability centered maintenance, total productive maintenance,
must be the target to be accomplished in asset management
eternally.
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
As in the previous section, I have relied on comments and
information from a number of engineers with whom I have
worked and cooperated on a number of projects over the past
years. Their comments and observations have been of
considerable assistance in identifying areas where more
detailed information is required and in bringing to my
attention subjects that I may not have been, at that time,
addressing in sufficient detail, or even at all. For these reasons,
their assistance and advice has been invaluable.
As in this paper, my special thanks go to my colleagues
Wannadit Umpuch and Nattawut Piriyachita for allowing me
to interrupt his work. Their review and input from their
experience have added considerably to any value other plant
engineers may find in this paper. Their concept and the time
taken to read and comment on the text and the way it has been
arranged have been invaluable.
I would also like to acknowledge the input from the
following engineers. Each has made information available to
me or has been prepared to discuss certain aspects of units and
our joint experiences.
Santhiti Chanthauthai, head of Engineering Section in
Steam Turbine Department, Supaniti Songsawas, Manassavee
Thuphom, Sayan Pansang, Thaweesak Thaviroon, Nissara
Siddhichai, Bothkanin Lumlertprasert of other departments in
Mechanical Maintenance Division, EGAT, R.N. Pal, head of
Training and Administration, and assisting lecturers at Indian
Institute for Production Management, India.
To make the text clearer, I have used several of figures and
tables. Some of these were presented at the power plant site,
conferences, and seminars I attended.
Special thanks go to my office staff in Steam Turbine
Department, for their assistance, especially Kobchai
Wasuthalainan and Tawatchai Chairerk. Their help in
particular was invaluable.

REFERENCES
[1] Mitsubishi Heavy Industry, Allowable Shaft Vibration, Japan, 1997.
[2] American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) PTC6 Testing
Standard, Steam Turbine, 1996.
[3] Production Efficiency Division, Electricity Generating Authority of
Thailand, Marginal Cost/Price of Electricity in Thailand, 2006
[4] Oanda Corporation (2008) homepage [Online]. Available: ,
http://www.oanda.com/convert/fxhistory
[5] International Organization for Standardization, Mechanical Vibration
–Evaluation of Machine Vibration by Measurements on Non-Rotating
Parts, ISO 10816-3, 1st edition, French, 1998.
[6] H.P. Bloch, and A.R. Budris, Pump User’s Handbook: Life extension,
New York, 2004.