The use of condition-based maintenance strategies will enable extension of the intervals between two service outages and extension of the total life time of a gas turbine. The shift from time-based corrective maintenance to condition-based preventive & predictive maintenance can be made with DECIDE remote decision support.

Looking for increased production and cost reduction

Gas turbine operators are striving for opportunities to extend the intervals between maintenance services and prolongation of the total life time of their power plants. Extending service intervals is a highly effective way to defer maintenance investment and reduce maintenance costs.

Sustainable maintenance improvement

VBR Turbine Partners is focused on systematic operation & maintenance improvement for GE LM gas turbines. In order to improve reliability, availability and maintainability in the long term, VBR’s aim is to shift from reactive corrective maintenance to proactive preventive & predictive maintenance. This approach helps to prevent unnecessary disruptions to production and the related costs and delays. This approach also allows for long-term optimization of scheduled maintenance planning and the associated reduction of maintenance costs. To realize these benefits it is essential to proactively monitor the health condition of a gas turbine.

Human factor

Another major factor affecting gas turbine profitability are the operators. As mentioned in our solution for human error reduction, approximately 42% of preventable lost production in the global process industry is primarily the result of human error. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the global availability and profitability of a gas turbine depends considerably on the knowledge and skills of its operators & maintenance engineers. VBR supports on-site operators, engineers & mechanics with education & training aimed at fine-tuning gas turbines for a higher efficiency and at preventing and solving technical problems. VBR also provides a help desk for non-urgent technical support.

Solutions for engine life extension in specific situations

All gas turbine based in Europe have to comply with the new NOx emission limits required by the European Industrial Emissions Directive (IED). Emission reduction retrofits can assist to prolong engine life.

Where a hot section suffers from vitrified sand deposits obstructing the air inlet, cleaning the hot section is a cost effective way to prevent premature renewal. VBR has achieved good results in hot section cleaning by dry ice blasting. Another option is to perform a hot section exchange on site with minimal disruption to production.

Where a control system is obsolete or mature, a control system retrofit will bring owners and operators higher reliability, availability, performance and maintainability.

If a control system is new but does not function optimally or reliably a full recommissioning will improve its reliability, availability & maintainability.