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RCM in Power Plant Practice Illustrated on Observation of Material Aging and

Defining of Component Life Exhaustion

Conference Paper · January 2002

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.4067.9443

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 In Proceedings of International Conference
POWER-GEN Middle East 2002, Abu Dhabi, UAE,
21-23 October 2002, paper No334

RCM IN POWER PLANT PRACTICE

ILLUSTRATED ON OBSERVATION OF
MATERIAL AGING AND DEFINING OF
COMPONENT LIFE EXHAUSTION
Vera Sijacki Zeravcic1 , Ph.D,
Gordana Bakic1, M.Sc.,
Dragomir Markovic 2 , B.Sc,
Dusan Milanovic1, M.Sc.,
Milos Djukic1 M.Sc

1
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering., University
of Belgrade, 27 marta 80, 11000 Belgrade,
Yugoslavia, Tel: +381-11-3370375 Fax: +381-11-3370364,
bgoca@alfa.mas.bg.ac.yu

2
The Thermal Power Plant ″Nikola Tesla ″,
11 500 Obrenovac, Yugoslavia, drmark@sezampro.yu
Abstract
Reliability centered maintenance (RCM) has a key role in the quality system of thermal power
plants. Electricity production is definitely not only production of a product, but also becomes a
customer service. Reliability is the top quality tier of this service. Incorporation in the Integrated
energy system means fast transformations of organization on all levels. The reliability of modern
generation components basically influences the efficiency and capacity of a power plant as a
whole. This paper presents the results of RCM practice on Unit Two of The Thermal Power
Plant ″Nikola Tesla -B″, 2x600 MW, Yugoslavia. RCM implementation on current problems
during exploitation emphasized problems with the boiler tubing system. The methodological
approach included outages analyses, marking of the most significant ones, determination of main
causes of damage (determination of the material exhaustion state based on expert analyses),
application of adequate remaining life assessment methodology and finally the
recommendations. Based on these analyses, certain technical solutions were performed and as a
result, the mean time between failures of the plant increased, as well as its reliability. According
to cost efficiency, RCM methodology presented the most effective cost-benefit method for
reliability upgrade.

1. INTRODUCTION

The specific aspects and the complexity of elctricity production power require a well thought
out approach to enhancing the quality of the production process itself. In view of the
deregulation and introduction of the energy market, the crux of quality enhancement shifts to the
field of services. It is there where the fundamental parameter resides, the one which must be
observed over time, which expresses the quality of the thermal power plant as a whole, the
number of customer complaints. This is followed by pricing, availability, reliability, rationality,
employment, and so forth. This was further promoted by demands proposed by
envirnomentalists, insurance companies, responisibility issues, etc, all of which are playing ever
more important roles. Such requirements have promoted preventive engineering and
maintenance systems into the forefront, which because of their inherent complexity require
teams of experts capable of timely reaction in crisis situations, and RELIABILITY, a category
which ultimately encompasses all influences upon any plant and its realistic operation results /1/.
Satisfying the market requirements, the needs of the consumers, becomes the task with the
highest priority, which requires investments into making the production more reliable, while
attaining greater reliability with economically optimized maintenance become the challenges
because they must at the same time also mean competitive price of the generated power.
Maintenance of complex systems could be viewed as a very complex sequence of activities
which can and must lead to the desired objective – for any plant to be in full function,
performing as it should, within required limits. Although the importance of maintenance is well
known, it is perhaps not understood well enough just how large are the possibilities of well
designed and performed maintenance as per a clearly defined, made in advance concept with a
defined objective. Proper selection of the maintenance concept is of particular importance for
plants nearing the end of their nominal service life not only regarding quality of operation, but
also in view of safety. The RCM (Reliability Centered Maintenance) concept has a significantly
more general meaning in relation to common practice and encompasses the processes of
maintenance, job execution, technical state of the equipment and analysis of plant indicators. The
outcome of the RCM principle implementation includes:
• reduced plant breakdowns
• precise identification and stocking of spare parts
• more efficient planning of PM (Preventive Maintenance) measures
• reduction of corrective maintenance costs.
This paper will deal with a maintenance system centerd to reliability and implemented on one
of the 620 MW units of the thermal power plant Nikola Tesla in Serbia, which has clocked about
120,000 operating hours, and on the effects which soon became appearent.

2. DATA GATHERING AND SYSTEM SELECTION

The relevant and necessary data regarding the RCM system of the Nikola Tesla B unit, 2x620
MW, was obtained by examining and systematizing of all relevant documents, notes and reports
from its exploitation history and the archives of operating orders issued for corrective
maintenance. The next step was to systematize all gathered data, with special attention being
paid to block outage analisys, arranged as per the following criteria:
 • location where the failure occurred, with as close identification of system-subsystem-
component as possible;
• frequency of failure/outage occurrence;
• outage duration time interval;
• costs caused by individual outage.
From the aspect of planning preventive measure to upkeep full functionality, it has been
shown that it is best to perform an RCM analysis for the entire system. In most plants, systems
are usually well defined. After concluding that the system is practically speaking the best level of
compound systems to which an RCM analysis is applicable to, a question follows: »Which
systems need to be focused on, and in which sequence of priority?« One of the possible
approaches could be to review all plant systems. Nevertheless, it has been found that this
approach is inefficient (least effective in terms of its costs), since there are systems with an
insignificant number of failures, or those whose maintenance costs are so small that they do not
merit being included in any cost savings scheme. With this in minds, criteria were formed to
select an RCM approach yielding best overall results, such as /1/:
1. Systems with a large share in overall preventive maintenance (PM) costs, and/or overall
PM costs;
2. Systems with large numbers of activities in corrective maintenance (CM) in past periods;
3. A combination of 1. and 2. above;
4. Systems with high corrective maintenance (CM) costs (the number of activities of
corrective maintenance do not always correspond to cost effects);
5. Systems with a large share in overall number of complete or partial failures as per
exploitation history data;
6. Systems with pronounced safety and environmental aspects.
Using the above criteria, from the entire unit 2 of the Nikola Tesla thermal power generation
plant, the boiler tubing system with hot reheated steam pipeline system was selected for RCM
approach implementation.
Why this system? The basic postulate of the RCM methodology is to »preserve system
functioning«, while available data showed that parts of this system caused:
• the largest number of outages (boiler tubing system with a 22% share in
total number of failures and a 31% share in forced outages);
 • the largest maintenance/repair costs (hot reheated steam pipeline) in
order to provide for system functioning and to satisfy the safety criteria.

3. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

Two units, 620 MW each, form the Thermal Power Plant Station Nikola Tesla-B. The first
unit was put into operation at the end of 1983 and the second at the end of 1985. By late 2001,
the first unit had clocked ∼140.000 and second ∼120.000 operating hours. The units form the
base of the power system of the country, accounting for almost a quarter of the power generation
of Serbia. The past operation of the units has showed a high level of availability and reliability
and their generators have always had a very high level of utilization (on average 7286 hours per
annum each unit).

Table 2: Technical data for boiler and fuel characteristics

Maximum permanent production of primary steam 1880 t/h
Minimum production of primary steam 750 t/h
Primary steam pressure 186,5 bar
Temperature of primary steam 540 °C
Hot reheated steam flux 1703,2 t/h
Hot reheated steam pressure 42 bar
Hot reheated steam temperature 540 °C
Maximum temperatures of feed water 259,2 °C
Exhaust gas temperature after air heater 150 °C
Coal properties
Lower calorie value 6,699 MJ/kg
Average moisture content 45-53%
Average ash content 10-23%

The Nikola Tesla Thermal Power Station-B and the other part of Nikola Tesla power station
complex are fired with Kolubara lignite, the characteristics of which are shown in Table 1. The
daily rate of consumptation of coal varies from 17.000-19.000 tons per block. Coal is transported
from loading points at the mine to the power station by special trains carrying about 1.500 tons
and running on standard gauge electrified industrial track.
Eight fan-type mills, capacity 140t/h, have been installed for coal combustion preparing
purposes, where it is subjected to grinding and drying. Since the coal has a high xylolite content,
a special fan type coal mill has been developed for this boiler; the largest ever built for moist
coal. Once ground and dried, the powdered coal is finally fed into 24 burners arranged on 3
levels. The furnace of the boiler is square at 20x20m, and its volume amounts to 23.000 cu.
meters. The entire pipe system is flexibly suspended from the top part of the steel structure,
allowing free downward expansion. On each side of the square-shaped furnace, there are two
coal mills and 6 burners. Sixteen residual oil burners, capacity 3,5t/h each, have been installed
for the purpose of firing and possibly supporting /2/.
The boiler is the once through tower type, single-draught with membrane tube walls.
Schematic view of boiler is presented in Figure 1. Primary steam heating is performed in four
stages. Regulating primary steam temperature uses three injections: injection 1 between
superheaters 1 and 2, injection 2 between superheaters 2 and 3, and injection 3 between
superheaters 3 and 4. Reheated steam is produced in three reheaters with biflux between first and
second stages. Regulating reheated steam temperature uses two injections: injection 1 between
biflux and reheater 2, and injection 2 between reheater 2 and 3.
Both Nikola Tesla B thermal power plant units have clocked a very high number of annual
operating hours. Block 2 has an average availability of 82,93%; Figure 2 illustrates its annual
operation and the duration of overhaul periods. Overhaul and reserves account for 62% and 10%
respectively of the total duration of all outages, while on the equipment side, the boiler tube
system accounts for 9% of all outages. This type of data is most relevant for any economic
analysis of improving the plant operation.

.
 t=259 oC
p=231,5 bar
117m RL
ECO 1 tg=327oC
t=396oC
φ 38 x 4 (4,5; 5) K 18(St 45.8)
114m t=338oC
p=44,1bar
RC
112,9m t=375oC
ECO 2
108m
t=332oC
t=47 oC 109m
p=223, bar tg=475oC p=20 bar

φ 63.5 x 4/ K18/III(St45.8)
105m MP 1 t=46 oC
p=20 bar
t=382oC 101,7m
t=394oC
p=210, bar
p=43, bar
φ 51 x 5(5,6) / 16M/15HM
97,7m
t=426oC (15Mo3/13CrMo4 P1 p=43, bar
p=208, bar 98,5m
4) tg=600oC t=406oC
RR 31 φ 63.5 x 4 / 16M/15HM 94,2m
95m
(15Mo3/13CrMo4
4)
MP 2 o
p=4 bar
t=468oC
t=426oC tg=660 C
p=206, bar φ 33.7 x 4(4,5; 5; 5,6;) / RR 10
91m
(13CrMo44/10CrMo91
15HM/10H2M P2 p=42, bar 91,8m
t=478oC 0) tg=740oC t=456oC
RG 10 p=204, bar
φ 63.5 x 4(4,5; 5; 5,6; 7,1) /
15HM/10H2M(13CrMo44/10CrMo91 MP 3 RB 84,9m
85,9m p=186 bar t=540oC 0) o
tg=815 C t=540oC
80,5m
RA t=484oC
p=190, bar
φ 38 x 4(4,5; 5; 5,6) /
X20C M V121
P4 p=42,02 bar

t=463oC
RR 32 RR 33 tg=900oC
79,6m
t=500oC
74,8m p=192, bar φ 38 x 4,5(5; 5,6; 6,3; 7,1) /
t=442oC
p=199, bar
15HM/10H2M(13CrMo44/10CrMo91 P3
0) φ38 x 7,1/ 16M tg=1040oC 72,6m
(15Mo3)
t=375oC

φ38 x 5/ 16M
(15Mo3)

17°27'

- Water
t=332oC - Primary steam
- Two phase fluid

- furnace wall

Fig. 1. Schematic view of steam boiler, unit 2, Nikola Tesla B power plant
 8000 - OPERATION - OVERHOUL

7000

6000

5000
Hours (h)

4000

3000

2000

1000

0
1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000
Year
Fig. 2. Annual operation and the duration of overhaul periods of unit 2 /2/

4. FUNCTIONAL BLOCK DIAGRAM AND DEFINING OF SYSTEM LIMITS

System limits are defined by the flow through of the working media: from entering the
economizer tubing system to the main high pressure turbine valve, the part from the turbine
output returning to the boiler for reheating and then returning back to the turbine under the
desired temperature, while the main system function is maintaining the operating parameters for
a defined, selected block operation load. It is clear that within this system, there are in fact three
main subsystems:
• the high pressure subsystem,
• the medium pressure subsystem, and
• the steam pipeline subsystem which, because of its location (outside the boiler circuit),
could be viewed as an independent subsystem.
In order to facilitate reviewing, these subsystems were not shown individually, but jointly as
parts of a system called "the boiler tubing system". It was found that the basic functional system
breakdown applied to boiler tubes cracking. Figure 3 shows the functional diagram of the boiler
pipeline system with steam lines and shows the operating limits and influences on overall system
operation and functional breakdowns (outages).
 A W H C M A W S H

FEEDWATER
RESERVOIR
RL
ECO 2 ECO 1

INTERLINK W
PIPING W C D O S W
H

FUNNEL SPIRAL EVAPORATOR VERTICAL

EVAPORATOR CAGE EVAPORATOR

W C
S W O H
A D
W S

SEPARATOR HANGER
PIPING RR

M W

SUPERHEATER SUPERHEATER SUPERHEATER SUPERHEATER

1 2 3 4
B I F L U X

TURBINE
A W H C W S S W RA
W
M, W, S RB
D
RC
TURBINE

REHEATER 1 REHEATER 2 REHEATER 3

H S W A C H S W W S

RR

Fig. 3 Functional block diagram and boiler tubing system boundary with influencing factors /3/

Legend: RL-fed water piping, RA-primary steam pipeline, RB-hot reheated steam pipeline,
RC-cold reheated steam pipeline, RR-injection
Influencing factors: A–abrasion, W–welded joint, D–dilatation, O–overheating, C – corrosion,
M–material, H–thermo-hydraulic factors, S-secondary factors
5. ANALYSIS OF OUTAGES OF THE OVERALL SELECTED SYSTEM AND
CRITICAL ELEMENTS

Figures 4 and 5 illustrate the Pareto analysis of the number and duration of outages on unit 2
respectively. As a cause of unit 2 function losses, the boiler takes the first place both by number
and duration. However, it is important to note that the first three indicators (boiler, testing, coal)
related to the analysis of duration are mutually related and in correlation, according to Figure 5.
Fraction in total outeges number, %

Fig. 4 Share by number of outages of individual systems in unit 2

Fraction in total outeges duration, %

Fig. 5 Share by duration of outages of individual systems in unit 2

 In view of the fact that the quality of the coal used is unsatisfactory, this is primarily related
to the following indicators:
• coal → mills, burner system, air mixture ducts, ….
• testing → constantly required control and testing to determine whether the system is
functioning within its operating limits,
• boiler → due to abrasion, there is too much damage on the boiler tubing system,
especially in the economizer tubes.
Figure 6 shows the bath tube curve for the boiler tubing system, where the boiler system has
been set apart by the Paretto analysis as critical for the entire installation operation for the whole
unit functioning. By analyzing Figure 6, one can note infant mortality stage as well as the steade
state stage. If we analyzing the diagram up to the 14-15 interoverhaul period it can be concluded
that the unit began to entered to final, aging stage. However, by RCM approach applying the
main cause of failure rate increasing is eliminated, which means that the failure rate narrow again
to the level which corresponded to the second stage of exploitation /4/.

Fig. 6 Bath tube curve for boiler tubing system of unit 2 /4/
A: The next Pareto analysis was made for the boiler boiler system, Figure 7

Fraction in total outeges number, %

Fig. 7 Share by number of outages of individual heating surfaces of the unit 2 boiler

According to the analysis, function losses of the system were mostly caused by economizer
tubes cracking, despite the fact that their share in the overall number of outages has been greatly
reduced since 1990. As previously mentioned, the cause for these outages was very intensive
tubes abrasion caused by poor coal quality, but also due to economizer construction, with far too
small steps between tubes in view of the used coal type and quality. Solving the problems related
to economizer tubes, meaning control and reducing O&M costs and increasing installation
operating time, was one of the first successes of the RCM - "shields" were installed to protect the
tube bends from abrasion /5/.
Of the remaining heating surfaces in the boiler, by number and duration of outages, reheater
2 takes the significant second place. However, the reasons for pipes cracking in reheater 2 are
different to those related to the economizer, and are caused by corrosion of tubes from the
waterside. After the first more frequent cracks, an expert analysis of the cracking causes was
performed /6, 7/, which clearly showed that the cracking zone was localized to the part of the
reheater made from material PN 15HM (class 15Mo3-DIN). As immediate causes of failure from
the comprehensive case study analysis, the following were listed:
• inappropriate chemical composition of the tube materials;
• inappropriate mechanical characteristics of the tube materials;
 • inappropriate microstructure of the tube materials, with numerous manufacturing faults
and shortfalls (banded structure, numerous MnS inclusions, uneven distribution of grains
by size and shape, decarburisation, segregation, uneven perlite distribution in tube wall
thickness),
all of which by mutual activity influence a pronounced decrease of this material's resistance to
corrosion.
From the aspect of the classic approach to maintenance, the only way to prevent outages is to
change parts of the reheater 2, made of this class of steel. However, the objectively hostile
circumstances under which the Serbian power generation industry operated over the last decade
forced finding of alternative modes to overcome problems which in their core directly
implemented the RCM philosophy - use extremely short overhoul periods to enable the desired
system functioning with as little cost as possible.
How was the problem solved? By using the NDT device to detect the presence, magnitude and
degree by corrosion caused damages on the waterside of tubes.
What did this device make possible? To make the number of outages caused by tube cracking
of the reheater 2 truly minimal, to have the time set aside for planning of
purchases and preparing the tubes for exchanges, and to reduce the costs of
corrective maintenance.
How? During each overhaul, tubes were examined by this device to determine the corrosion
attack level related to metal of reheater 2 tubes, thus indicating which tubes
should be changed at once, and which according to their degree of corrosion
can and should be exchanged in the next service round.
Why? This device allows for a very short time interval, requiring no special preparations or
prolonging of overhaul, to examine an extremely large number of tubes and
to obtain excellent insight into the corrosion state of metals along the entire
heating path.
By using the above method, the number of system outages cause end by sudden tubes
cracking in the reheater 2 has, over the last two years, been reduced to zero /8/.
 B: The next problem is related to the hot reheat steam pipeline, which in the overall outages
of unit participates with only 1%, and that only till 1991. This pipeline system was constructed
using 0.5Cr0.5Mo0.25V, and has four main branches with auxiliary lines (dimensions: ∅558x32,
∅813x45, ∅457x30, ∅1016x56, ∅660x38). At the time the thermal power plant was being build
up, world manufacturers of associated equipment were aware that this material did not have such
characteristics which would completely qualify it as suitable for making high temperature loaded
components due to its unsatisfactory creep characteristics and poor welding properties when
welding higher thickness and diameters of pipes.
Problem? Based on the engineering maintenance report of 1991, an entire group of
problems was noted which were related to hot reheated steam pipelines, the solution to which
required extensive works and unplanned expenditures for repairs, as well as prolonged overhaul
works. Problems appeared at the first mostly with factory welded joints (first cracks appeared
after only two years of operation), and were related to:
• appearance of cracks on factory, but also on mounting welded joints;
• appearance of cracks after welding or repairing of joints;
• undefined prestraining during welding;
• undefined technologies of welding, repair and thermal treatment;
• imprecise defining of repair and thermal treatment criteria;
• undefined criteria of operation monitoring, regarding the intervals of examining and
anticipating certain repair works.
By 1991, some welded joints had been repaired using classic methods two times already,
which is the maximum allowable number of repairs on any one and the same welded joint. What
was to be done? One had to find an alternative solution which would surely deviate from
standard recommendations of equipment manufacturers, but would not only be usable, but would
also have to provide for a selection of PM measures to enable reliable and anticipated system
functioning.
Solution : Use of austenite electrodes for repairing of welded joints.
The process itself is significantly simplified in comparison with classic methods - no
preheating or annealing are required, there is no heat affected zone on the base material side to
speak of, the fusion zone is narrow and has good strength characteristic, while the procedure
itself can be used on the same place more than twice. Beside the shorter time interval required
for repairs, the procedure itself is significantly cheaper than the alternatives, as shown by the
following simplified analysis:
• in case of the pipeline leaking at the welded joint, e.g. for medium caliber size pipe, the
classic method requires 5 days of overhaul time. If one accepts the minimum purchase
price of power of $ 0.03/kWh which must replace the halted local production, one
quickly arrives at the sum of $ 1,95 million for five days for a 620 MW plant;
• for the same joint, when using austenite electrodes for repairing welds one needs no more
than 2 days, or $ 0,78 million.
If this analysis is now enlarged to a overhaul period of 45 days, which assumes examining
50% of all welded joints (and there is a total of 284 such joints), then the examining itself lasts
about 25 days, with the provision that after 12 days one can initiate preparations of some welded
joints. If one has planned for parallel repair of two welded joints, then this means that in 33 days
one has available, using classic methods one can repair 13 joints. However, if the found number
of welded joints needing repair is greater than 13, the overhaul time interval will have to be
prolonged. Every two additional welded joints needing repair work cause additional 5 days of
overhaul time to be required, and therefore additional expenditures of $ 1.95 million. When one
uses austenite electrodes, the planned repair time can support repairs of significant number of
welded joints.
Also, as already noted with plants operating in their base regime, use of austenite electrodes
will cause savings which can be taken as direct savings, since the lacking amount of electrical
power can be replaced by simple purchasing alone.
The most important aspect of RCM approach in this case is preventive preserving of system
functioning. Because we know that welded joint of hot reheated pipeline present the potential
weak point of the unit, by applying of planned NDT testing and timely weld repairing pipeline
outages are completely avoided.
 6. CONCLUSION

In the base of RCM approach always lies the cost-effective preventive measure which
provide reliable system functioning. In the case of presented critical boiler system, the resolved
factor for RCM methodology applying was large number of outages (boiler tubing system),
potential large number of outages (hot reheated steam pipeline welded joints), generaly large cost
of repairing/maintenance and finaly safety factor. Specific solution of preventive maintenance
applyed on Nikola Tesla-B power plant present cumulative and sucsessive effect of RCM and
experts approaches.

LITERATURE

/1/ A. M. Smith, Reliability-Centered Maintenance, McGraw-Hill.Inc., New York, 1993

/2/ D. Markovic, Coal Quality Influence on Availability and Reliability of Two 620 MW Lignite
Fired Units After 100.000 Operating Hours, VDI, Braunschweig, FRG, 1997, pp 247-260
/3/ D. Markovic, Tehnika, Vol. LV, N0 4/5, 2000, pp 22-26
/4/ G. Bakic, V. Sijacki Zeravcic, D. Milanovic, M. Djukic, Power Plant Reliability Enhance on
the Bases of Expert Analysis of Outage Statistic, Proc. of the 4th DQM Conf. – Maintenance
Management 2001, Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia, 2001, pp 381-387
/5/ Internal Report 9/90, TENT-B Power Plant, Obrenovac, Serbia, 1990
/6/ Report 12-04-12.04/1995, Fac. of Mech. Eng., Belgrade, Serbia, 1995
/7/ Report 12-11-12.04/1998, Fac. of Mech. Eng, Belgrade, Serbia, 1998
/8/ V. Sijacki Zeravcic, G. Bakic, M. Djukic, B. Andjelic, D. Milanovic, Experience in NDT
Unit EMF3-MI Application on Corrosion Damages Detection of Boiler Piping System, Proc.
of the 3th Conf. – Enegetika Srpske 2001, Teslic, Republic of Serpska, 2001, pp 156-161

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