FIRST / TBS

Gas Turbine Rotor

Consulting Capabilities
End of Life Inspections

FIRST
Consulting Company
History
FIRST = First Independent Rotor Service of Texas
Company Moto = Think FIRST Before You Commit
Incorporated in 2003
Company Description = Consulting Firm
Industry = Industrial Gas & Steam Turbine
Equipment Type = Rotating / Stationary
Services Offered = Multiple Consulting Related Tasks
Number of Consultants = 9
Years of Experience = 300 Man Years
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FIRST
Core Offerings
Work Scope
Development
End User
Rep

TIL Rotor
Compliance

Tech Repair
Packages

O&M / Site
Training
On-Site Bkt
Bld R/R

Consulting
Services
End of Life
Testing

F.E.A. Rotor
Models

Zero-Hour
Packages

Tb Wheel
Mfg

RPM Speed
Reduction

In-Situ Blade
Mod

TBS
Technical Bolting Solutions
Manufacturing Company
History
T.B.S. = Technical Bolting Solutions
Company Moto = Think We Talk the Torque
Incorporated in 2003
Company Description = Manufacturing Firm
Mfg. Locations: Texas, California, South Carolina, Illinois
Industry = Industrial Gas & Steam Turbine
Product Type = Consumable Parts for Rotating / Stationary
We currently provide over 16,000 consumable parts 4
We are a Certified GE Manufacturing Supplier

TBS
Manufacturing
Outage Bolt
Kits

TRI Seal Pins

Filling Outage
RFQs

Bucket Blade
Hardware

Mfg
Services
F3 F/9F
Rotor Bolt Kits
W-191- 501F
Rotor Bolting

Fuel Nozzle
Capitol Parts

Reverse
Eng, Mfg
Steam
Turbine
Bkt / Blades

Gaskets
Washers
Brg Seals
Oil Deflectors

F/7 T/P
Bracket Bolts
Hyd Seals

FIRST / TBS
2013 Customer Sampling

FIRST / TBS
Patented Products & Modifications
TRI Seal Pin (Special Bucket Non-Liberating Seal Pin) (*)
RPM Modification (Slowing Down Turning Gear) (*)
In-Situ Compressor Rotor Blade R/R (*)
12 Point Locking Nut (Non-Crimp Style) (*)
Repair Shop Training
In-Place On-Site End of Life Testing
On-Site Rotor Repair (Select Rotors) (Coming in 2015)

( * ) = FIRST Holds USA / International Patents

FIRST / TBS
Offerings & Products
The In Situ Modification

Without Keys

With Keys

United States Patent Pending #13 / 091864

FIRST / TBS
Offerings & Products

The In Situ Modification

United States Patent Pending #13 / 091864

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FIRST / TBS
Offerings & Products
The In Situ Modification

Old Blade is Removed & New Blade & Spacers Installed in +/- 8 Hours
United States Patent Pending #13 / 091864

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FIRST / TBS
Offerings & Products
The In Situ Modification
ESTIMATED COSTS FOR FORCED / UNPLANNED ROTOR REPAIR OUTAGE

Rotor Open / Close

Type
Turbine

Rotor
Transportation

Repair Shop
Rotor Repair

Rotor
Bolting

Adders (30%)
Discovery

Total *

F/3

$200,000

$6,000

$85,000

$20,000

$24,000

$335,000

F/5

$275,000

$8,000

$175,000

$35,000

$53,000

$546,000

F/6

$315,000

$8,000

$190,000

$35,000

$57,000

$605,000

F/7

$325,000

$10,000

$250,000

$50,000

$75,000

$710,000

F/7F

$480,000

$32,000

$450,000

$75,000

$135,000

$1,172,000

* Costs Do Not Include On-Site Crane or Cost to Buy Power

United States Patent Pending #13 / 091864

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FIRST / TBS
End of Life Testing
Technical Information Letter #1576
TIL #1576 was issued in 2007 and it discusses
the maximum allowable starts for rotors in cyclic
operation and has a maximum fired hour limit
for rotors in base load operation.
It limits rotors to +/- 200,000 factored fired hours
with some consideration of extensions and/or
5,000 factored starts for a cycle based turbine
with no extensions.
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FIRST / TBS
End of Life Testing
FIRST has developed a protocol whereas, after
the rotors have been disassembled, we
inspect specific rotor components using 3D
volumetric phased array bore-sonics and eddy
current.
We perform hardness testing & replications as
well as mechanical testing to inspect the rotors
components for changes and internal or
detrimental flaws.
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FIRST / TBS
EOL Testing & Computer Modeling
TIL 1576 places retirement for rotors with +/- 200,000 hours
or 5,000 starts. After the 2007 TIL issuance, we immediately
developed our team of experts to start testing rotor
components. There is a need to review found critical flaw(s)
to make decisions/recommendations to turbine owners. We
mfg rotor component fracture models to perform F.E.A.
analysis for found critical flaw(s).
By using the flaw size & flaw location, we have the ability to
place those flaws into our computer model to see if the
characteristic of the flaw is detrimental to the continued
running of the turbine. We can accurately determine how
many hours or starts remain in the life of the component
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containing that critical flaw.

FIRST / TBS
End of Life
TIL 1576 End of Life Rotor Life Extension
Inspections Performed
F/7B,C,E,EA = 26
F/6A,B = 2
F/5P,LA,L = 21
F3H,J,F = 2
W-501B6 = 2
To Date Total = 53
FIRST / TBS Has Completed the Largest Number of Non-OEM
End of Life Rotor Inspections

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FIRST / TBS Approach

End of Life Testing
Type of Inspections
3-D Bore Sonic Inspection for Internal Flaws
Eddy Current Inspection for Creep
Hardness and Replication for Grain Structure
Critical Diameters Measured for Bore Shrinkage
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Finite Element Analysis When Flaws are Found

FIRST / TBS
End of Life Testing
Rotor Type = GE 5001N
TIL 1576 Specific Rotor Components Tested

Stages 13 - 16 Compressor Wheels

Distance Piece
Stage 1 Turbine Disc
Stage 2 Turbine Disc

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FIRST / TBS
End of Life Testing

3.80

4.30

Approximate Location of Flaw - Indication

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FIRST / TBS
End of Life Testing

Radial Deformation Results for the Turbine Section Model

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FIRST / TBS
End of Life Testing

Flaw No.5

FIRST
End of Life Testing

Flaw No.4
Flaw No.3
Flaw No.2

Flaw No.1

Flaw Cluster as Determined by Phased-Array Inspection

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F.I.R.S.T.
End of Life Testing

Sharp projection off Flaw 2 volume

FIRST
End of Life Testing

Sharp projection off Flaw 1 volume

Close-up of Flaw Cluster as Determined Shown in Previous Slide

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FIRST / TBS
End of Life Testing
EOL On-Site Inspections

In 2013, we started performing rotor end of life

inspections on-site.

There are many on-site critical inspection points

that we can perform to assist in determining
where the rotor is along the end of life scale.
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FIRST / TBS
End of Life Testing
EOL On-Site Inspections
As the rotor continues in age, it is critical to
establish early, comparative, base-line data.

There are critical inspections that we can

perform on site to assist us in determining
where the rotor is on the end of life scale.
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FIRST / TBS
End of Life Testing
EOL On-Site Inspections
We can assist end users in setting up an End of
Life inspection protocol with on-site testing so
to provide a clear path on your rotors remaining
hours and starts.

This will allow for possible extensions beyond

the current OEM life limitations.
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Connect With
FIRST / TBS Consulting

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