Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Preface
The following is an explanation of the system Solar by a version designation, such as Centaur 40S -
Turbines adopted for identifying the models within 4700. The last digit of this number will typically be
â â
our product families of Saturn , Centaur , a 1 or 2, denoting single- or two-shaft gas turbine.
â New models that are uniquely different from
Mercury™, Taurus™, Mars , and Titan™ gas
turbines. For each model, the product family name Solar’s current product families will be given a new
is followed by a model number that indicates the family name and model number. Uprates or
current configuration, such as Saturn 20. A suffix modifications to existing product families will
following the family name and model number desig- maintain their family name and model number. The
nation, such as Centaur 50S, denotes whether the current product family names and ratings are given
product is a low speed power turbine (L), marine in Tables 1 and 2.
(M), or SoLoNOx™ (S) configuration. To further The uprate options available for Solar's two-
shaft and single-shaft gas turbines are listed in
identify a particular model’s build configuration, the
Tables 3 and 4 respectively.
family name, model number and suffix are followed
Table 1. Current Production Models for Compressor Set, Mechanical-Drive and Marine Applications
Thermal
Product Mechanical Rating Efficiency, % SoLoNOx
kW hp
Saturn 20 1185 1590 24.5 N/A
Centaur 40 3500 4700 27.9 Yes
Centaur 50 4570 6130 30.0 Yes
Centaur 50L* 4680 6275 31.0 Yes
Taurus 60 5740 7700 32.0 Yes
Taurus 60M 5170 6935 32.0 N/A
Taurus 70 7690 10,310 34.8 Yes
Mars 90 9860 13,220 33.3 Yes
Mars 100 11 190 15,000 34.0 Yes
Titan 130 14 540 19,500 35.7 Yes
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Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
Contents
Section Page
Preface .......................................................................................................................................................... i
Message to the GTUA .............................................................................................................................. ix
Mars Question
M-1 Current Mars Experience...................................................................................................39
Saturn Questions
S-1 Current Saturn Experience ................................................................................................42
S-2 Carbon Seal Developments...............................................................................................43
S-3 Plans for Saturn Product Line............................................................................................44
Appendix
Reference Material .......................................................................................................... A-1
Acronyms......................................................................................................................... A-3
Solar’s Customer Services Offices.................................................................................. A-5
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Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
Illustrations
Figure Page
Mars Question
33 Typical Mars Gas Turbine Cutaway ............................................................................................40
Saturn Questions
34 Saturn Two-Shaft Engine ............................................................................................................42
35 Saturn Single-Shaft Engine .........................................................................................................42
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Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
Tables
Table Page
Preface
1 Current Production Models for Compressor Set, Mechanical-Drive and Marine Applications ....... i
2 Current Production Models for Generator Set Applications .......................................................... ii
3 Uprate Options for Compressor Set and Mechanical-Drive Applications..................................... iii
4 Uprate Options for Generator Set Applications ............................................................................ iv
Saturn Questions
12 Comparison of Carbon Seals and Labyrinth Seals .....................................................................43
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Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
Dave Esbeck
Vice President
Customer Services
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General Questions
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
General Question
Number 1
Users are concerned about the experience and training of some field service
reps especially with regards to their ability to deal with both the mechanical
and instrument/electrical aspects of packages. Please clarify:
• Meaning of Solar Skill Levels (experience and training)
of FSR’s (including Solar, ESI and SAMS)
• Clarify responsibilities of Solar, ESI and SAMS
• Process for resolving customer dissatisfaction with FSR’s
• Relation of FSR’s to RFE’s
• Expectations and processing of FSR reports on visits.
ANSWER BACKGROUND
Solar’s Field Service Representatives (FSRs) are Our service support philosophy is to provide sys-
well versed in the system design of compression tems personnel to maintain Solar’s turbomachinery
and power generation equipment, as well as offskid and balance of plant equipment. Currently, our Field
ancillary and balance of plant subsystems. They are Operations Group employs 226 FSRs, 26 RFEs,
supported by Regional Field Engineers (RFEs) 408 ESI technicians, and 146 SAMS technicians.
strategically located in Solar's Field offices, design Solar’s support teams are located in six regions
engineers, and a Response Center in the Customer around the world to meet our diverse user base.
Services Support Center, which is tasked with These regions are divided into 18 service districts.
closed-loop case management for Field problems FSRs in a given region report to a District Manager
and related issues. and are supported by Regional Field Engineers
FSRs have four job classifications focused on (RFEs) in the analysis and resolution of complex
turbomachinery. Energy Services International equipment issues (Figure 1).
Limited (ESI) and Solar Asset Management Serv-
ices (SAMS) technicians provide support for turbo- Field Personnel Skill Levels
machinery, as well as a wide range of plant equip-
ment. FSRs are skilled technicians trained to diagnose,
FSRs are responsible for supporting Solar’s maintain, and repair turbomachinery equipment and
gas turbines worldwide, while ESI and SAMS tech- provide support for Solar’s fleet of more than
nicians support turbomachinery operation and 11,000 gas turbines worldwide. ESI and SAMS
maintenance services, which can require balance of technicians provide the turbomachinery operation
plant equipment. and maintenance services, which may include
Solar’s local District Service Manager should balance of plant equipment.
be contacted to resolve any dissatisfaction with an Solar’s Field personnel have the following job
FSR in the Field. classification codes:
FSRs are supported by RFEs with sophisti-
cated technical analysis of turbomachinery, driven • FSR Level I – Entry level technicians who
equipment and related subsystems. are usually recruited from Solar’s test cells
As a report of their site visit, FSRs are ex- and technical schools or who have previous
pected to complete a Customer Support Activity industrial gas turbine experience. They gen-
(CSA) form. erally provide maintenance services and
support senior level FSRs during start-ups.
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• FSR Level II – Intermediate level technicians training, and an introduction to Solar’s Response
who usually have been with Solar for five or Center. Seven days are devoted to Field safety,
more years. They generally provide the same including lockout / tagout, work place hazards,
FSR Level I service and support, as well as confined space entry, emergency, high voltage
call out assistance and product problem safety and hearing conservation. Two weeks are
resolution services. devoted to the fundamentals of turbomachinery and
subsystem operations and maintenance and control
• FSR Levels III and IV – Advanced level system logic.
technicians who usually have been with Solar
for 10 or more years. They provide system
Advanced Training. Later during the first year,
commissioning and start-up, as well as ad-
these FSRs receive an additional eight weeks of
vanced troubleshooting.
training in HRD and advanced turbomachinery
course content. HRD training includes problem
FSRs are sent to user sites based on the job
solving, influencing skills, user sensitivity, and
skills they have to provide for the required services,
technical report writing. Since control systems are
not on their classification code.
becoming more complex and integrated into the
balance of plant, considerable time and effort are
Field Personnel Training spent on programmable logic controller (PLC)
Solar’s FSR, ESI and SAMS technicians receive fundamentals and system troubleshooting, both in
continuous training through classroom courses and the lab and on simulators. Safety is integrated into
on-the-job training. In the first quarter of 2001, Solar the program at all levels.
implemented a newly developed training program Other advanced training courses are available
for all Field Operations personnel that includes on Solar’s microprocessor-based Turbotronic con-
basic technical and safety training, as well as hu- trol system and gas compressor and power gen-
man resources development (HRD) skills. eration principles and applications. These courses
are normally held at our San Diego, California, and
Basic Training. All new hire FSR, ESI and SAMS Mabank, Texas, training locations.
technicians receive a four-week training program at
Solar’s headquarters in San Diego, California. This Continuing Development. Continuing develop-
program consists of a core curriculum on under- ment training is available to increase and expand
standing Solar’s global user base, products and the skill levels of our representatives and techni-
internal business processes, which includes the cians. Technical training covers such topics as
completion of Customer Support Activity reports, microprocessor controls, surge control, vibration,
Department of Transportation (DOT) testing and analytical troubleshooting, borescoping, and fire
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Resolving Dissatisfaction with FSR age upgrades and in-situ refurbishments, including
control system upgrades. FSRs also provide Field
The process for resolving customer dissatisfaction repair of major turbine components, such as com-
with FSRs regarding an issue in the Field is to bustors and power turbines.
immediately contact the local District Service Man-
ager. Should a user have further issues, the Re-
gional Manager should be contacted. (Please refer FSR Report Processing
to the list of Solar’s Customer Services offices, Solar’s process for Field office reporting is for the
which includes addresses and telephone and fax FSR to complete a CSA form (Figure 4) upon
numbers.) completion of work done at a user’s site. This
information is provided to Solar’s local Field office
Relationship of Field Personnel and San Diego for Field issue resolution and in-
voicing. The CSA requires a user’s signature upon
RFEs are responsible for supporting the needs of
completion of the work required. A copy is left with
the FSRs, by providing sophisticated technical
the user upon the FSRs departure from the site.
analysis of, and advanced troubleshooting tech-
The remaining CSA copies are submitted to Solar’s
niques for, turbomachinery, driven equipment, and
local Field office for processing. A copy is reviewed
related subsystems. They also conduct both ana-
by the District Service Manager and filed for future
lytical and more practical hands-on training for the
reference. Copies are then sent to San Diego for
FSRs. The RFEs have access to Solar’s Response
database input and invoicing, as well as issue
Center, which identifies Field issues on a “case”
identification and resolution.
basis (Figure 3). The Response Center, in turn,
Solar’s manual CSA process is being replaced
supports the local FSR with real-time information
with a fully integrated, computerized “Field Service
from Solar’s integrated databases. Finally, the
Management” program that will allow the District
resolution for a case is fed back to Solar’s Design
office to schedule the correct level of FSR to the
Engineering and Manufacturing engineers so that
site quickly and efficiently. With electronic access to
the underlying problem is eliminated in future gen-
the equipment bill of material, package configura-
eration designs.
tion, and service call documentation, the FSR will
FSRs are responsible for commissioning and
be able to review previous repairs, providing added
start-up of turbomachinery packages and systems;
efficiency in problem resolution, identify and order
call out services are provided on a 24 / 7 (24 hours
parts on line, and review Solar’s current inventory
a day, 7 days a week) basis, supported by our
position. All data will be shared in a common data-
District offices located in 37 strategic areas in 20
base, integrating Design Engineering, Manufactur-
countries; advanced troubleshooting; in-Field re-
ing and Response Center with the Field. These
pairs on centrifugal compressors and pumps, pack-
enhancements will provide the best value of inte-
grated services for the diverse service requirements
of our users.
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01G1-4
High
High
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Author: B. Armstrong
General Question
Number 2
Please report to users on Solar’s work on compression system controls
(including surge control) especially:
• Report on internal Solar Focus Group
• Development of algorithms and selection of operating schemes
• Progress on engineering all system components.
• Plans to form strategic partnerships
• Skills of engineers and FSR’s to set up, support and trouble-
shoot control schemes.
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sor control system and (2) simplifies connections to performance so that it can anticipate when a surge
package and field instrumentation. event is about to occur. It then takes corrective
The recently developed unit-based load-sharing action, typically by opening the anti-surge recycle
feature permits load sharing and surge margin valve, to move the compressor operating point
optimization between like units without the need for away from surge. Solar’s original control system
a separate external controller. used a relationship of pressure differential across
the compressor (DP) versus pressure differential
Organization. A Balance of Plant group was cre- across the flow meter (dp) plate to model surge.
ated in 1999 within the Controls Development This was basically an electronic model of a pneu-
department to provide increased focus on com- matic control system. Also, the earlier anti-surge
pressor control. This group includes engineers with system used a straight-line approximation of this
hands-on design and commissioning experience in relationship, which meant it was accurate over only
compressor control. The objective of the group is to a narrow operating range. Two years ago, Solar
provide overall direction for compressor control and switched to a head-versus-flow relationship and a
to support design engineers and Field Service third-order polynomial equation to model compres-
personnel on more complex projects. sor performance. In addition, instead of using actual
head and actual flow, the new system uses reduced
Documentation. A Balance of Plant Functional head and reduced flow, values of head and flow
Specification was introduced as a required drawing that are mathematically reduced to remove com-
on compressor packages. This document, devel- mon factors. The result is a system that is largely
oped in conjunction with the user, defines the spe- independent of the specific gravity of the process
cific controls philosophy and logic applicable to gas and provides much greater accuracy and re-
each project and details all inputs and outputs (I/O) sponsiveness.
related to the balance of plant equipment. Figure 6 shows a typical anti-surge control
screen from Solar’s control system. The cursor
Training. Additional training and increased support indicates the operating point of the compressor.
are required for Solar’s FSRs, who are the key user From left to right, the three sloped lines are the
interface during commissioning and subsequent surge line, the control line, and the deadband line,
equipment service and authorized site changes. respectively. For convenience these are shown as
straight lines, which represent tangents to the
actual curved performance lines at the operating
Future Development. Solar’s future plans call for
conditions, as indicated in Figure 7. As the operat-
the increased use of “onskid” controls. The key
ing point moves, the slope of these tangential lines
components of the system, including the processor
will change.
and I/O modules, are mounted on the package
skid. Connection to the control room is via serial
communication links instead of multi-conductor
cabling, with a significant reduction in cost and
physical bulk. Considerable development work has
been devoted to reducing the size of the controls so
that they can be mounted onskid. The integrated
nature of Solar’s compressor controls makes them
fully compatible with the onskid concept.
Solar provides one point of responsibility for the
control system, reducing the possibility of disputes
if performance or operating problems arise. In
addition, the system uses an open architecture that
offers flexibility to users for service options.
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ENGINE COMPRESSOR
VV
SV AFTERCOOLER DV
TT FT PT PT TT
LV
SCRUBBER
FAIL OPEN
ANTI-SURGE
01G2-3 CONTROL VALVE
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Author: S. McLoughlin
General Question
Number 3
Users are concerned about quality control and change control of software.
Please address the following issues for new and existing software:
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To ensure proper verification of the software • “Standard” (composite) software modules are
during the release process, Solar uses a process to validated by an independent review of the
validate that the project software is functioning code and a test in the Systems Engineering
properly before any official release. Checking the facility control console, a test using simula-
as-shipped release software (Rev_A0) consists of tion equipment, or a test project console and
the following main steps: package.
1. Initial Check – Confirm visually that all needed • After-market and new “project” (custom)
drawing files are present, that the directory software are tested using simulation equip-
structure is correct, and that the history file is ment. Additional verification for new project
properly documented. software and after-market refurbishment
project software occurs during a dynamic test
2. Create Disks / Load Software conducted in a production test cell with the
a. Use Diskmaker Tool to verify that pointers project skid and control console in accor-
are correct and needed files are present. dance with Solar’s ISO 9000 procedures.
b. Load PLC software files into PLC to assure Post Commissioning. To promote consistent
there are no faults. handling of post-commissioning software modifica-
c. Load display software files into display tions, Solar developed an improved process for
computer to check for warnings or errors. commissioned software control and verification.
If display loads correctly, check menu se- This process is intended to ensure that software
lections and communication between PLC quality is not compromised and that the latest site
and display. software is archived for future use.
At the conclusion of a post commissioning up-
3. Diagnose Problems – If display software does
date, the FSR or RFE sends a copy to San Diego of
not load correctly, diagnose problem. Then no-
the “as-found” and “as-left” software installed in the
tify Design Engineer to make corrections and
user’s control system. An updated description of the
repeat testing with revised software.
changes between these two sets of software is also
4. Release – Archive software, notify all appropri- returned to the San Diego Release Group via elec-
ate individuals, and update release log. tronic mail, the Commissioning Engineer, or the
Customer Services Project Manager. The Controls
Control and Verification of Changes Group in San Diego reviews those software
changes made by Solar’s FSRs or RFEs only. User
In conjunction with the software release process
changes are not reviewed and, thus, Solar does
and software quality checks, Solar has uses a
not assume any liability resulting from changes
software verification process. Software is developed
made by personnel not authorized by Solar. Soft-
for new or after-market projects by modifying “com-
ware changes should be made through Solar’s
posite” software in an existing standard database.
appropriate Field Service office to ensure the safety
The project software is customized and developed
and performance of the engine / package are not
on a personal computer to create the “initial re-
compromised.
lease.” During testing of that release, required
changes are incorporated via “updates” or “inter-
mediate releases.” After test, the “as-tested” soft- Field Service Representative Training,
ware is captured and used to generate the “as- Guidelines and Authority
shipped” release. During commissioning of the Solar’s FSRs represent a well-trained, motivated
equipment, the Design Engineer may issue “other” and talented work force dedicated to resolving user
releases to be sent to the Field to resolve any user site software issues. They are empowered to
site issues. When commissioning is complete, the change the control software to ensure that the
Field-returned software is captured and sent back turbomachinery operates within normal safety and
to San Diego to generate the “as-installed” release. performance parameters per Solar's specifications.
Prior to any official release, the Design Engineer For technical support, they interact with the RFEs,
reviews all software differences and clarifies any Design Engineers or Customer Services Response
issues with the FSR or RFE. Center. The FSRs also attend an intensive one-
Solar’s internal software verification, prior to week controls system programming course, which
any “as-shipped” software release, involves the offers hands-on troubleshooting through the use of
following:
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Author: E. Corzine
General Question
Number 4
Describe new software developments.
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Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
TT4000
• TT2000
• Real-Time
TT4000 Lite
• Historical Display
• PanelView
• Trending
• Real-Time
TT4000 Brick • Predictive
• Simple Screens
• Real-Time • Windows NT / 2000
• Historical Data
• Small Historical
• Embedded Windows
• No Hard Drive
• No Display
• Windows CE
Under Development
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Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
Onskid
Controller(s)
Satellite
Controller A Controller D
Controller C
Controller B
Data Data
COMM
Solar Intranet
RS232
Radio Tower Work Station
Work Station
Internal Modem
Control Console Telephone Line Modem Pool
Web Server
Ethernet
Data
Line IBM Compatible Laser Printer
Printer
Customer Equipment
01G4-3
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Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
01G4-6
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01G4-6
01G4-7
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Author: D. Manteuffel
General Question
Number 5
Please provide update on development in time between overhaul (TBO)
management, life assessment and changes to improve TBO. This ques-
tion applies to engine and accessories. Also, address any changes in
time limited components that may permit users to defer TBO.
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Life assessment decisions are generally based more critical ones that are indicative of in-service
on the deterioration of a measured parameter condition of the lubricating oil are Total Acid Num-
trended over time, with the knowledge of the base- ber (TAN), Rotary Bomb Oxidation Test (RBOT),
line. Occasionally, an event will occur where a Foaming, and Air Release.
discrete event will precipitate a life assessment For reciprocating engines, it is normal for wear
decision. Trend data gathered while the engine is metals to gradually increase over time. A sharp
running should be, whenever feasible, supple- increase in the rate of accumulation in the lube oil
mented with information gathered from borescope would signal a potential problem. Wear metals in
inspections and a lube oil sampling program. The gas turbines with hydrodynamic bearings, however,
objective is a decision point where an engine is typically reach an equilibrium level very quickly,
removed from service for a defined cause rather then remain constant in the absence of unusual
than simply on a time schedule. wear.
Monitoring other engine parameters, such as
Removal for Cause vibrations, temperatures of oil drains, and the T5
spread, are normally used to identify an engine
TBO management by users should include a com- problem. Vibration monitoring can be particularly
prehensive maintenance program to help ensure challenging. To ensure consistent vibration meas-
that the equipment is removed for major repair or urements, the same points and equipment should
overhaul for a verified reason. (Please refer to be used for data acquisition. In analyzing vibration
Solar’s paper “Increasing Turbine Life through data, absolute vibration limits should be considered,
Improved Maintenance Procedures,” TTS104.) as well as trends to determine the operating condi-
Lube oil analysis and vibration measurements are tion of the package. This trending capability can be
critical components of this type of program. an integral part of the microprocessor-based turbine
Lube oil analysis is an excellent maintenance control and monitoring system.
procedure to help determine the condition of the Care must be exercised to differentiate a prob-
engine. Spectrochemical oil analysis is used to lem with a package component or a faulty sensing
detect changes in the condition of the oil as oper- device from a true problem with the engine. Some
ating hours increase. Solar’s engineering specifica- engines removed from service and sent in for
tion ES 9-224, contains guidelines and limits for the overhaul, due to suspected vibration problems,
measurements of oil characteristics. (Please refer were found to have vibration levels well within
to Solar's paper "Lube Oils for the Industrial Gas specification limits when the engines were tested
Turbine," TTS106.) Of these various properties, the prior to overhaul. The actual problems ranged from
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Solar recognizes that, on a limited number of Taurus 70 Gas Turbine. The Taurus 70 compres-
projects, some components, such as pumps, were sor is a growth derivative of the Centaur 40 com-
supplied that did not meet the 30,000-hour life and pressor. In order to increase the airflow for the
were not identified in the OMI manual as such. Taurus 70, two stages were added to the front of
Solar is taking corrective action to ensure that this the compressor.
will not reoccur. At the 1999 GTUA meeting in Dubai, fatigue
cracking of the third-stage compressor blade was
Durability Enhancements discussed. (Please refer to GTUA 1999 Taurus
Some examples of our focus on continuous en- Question Number 1.) Due to the critical nature of
hancement of product durability involve the Taurus the issue, Solar has continued to investigate the
60, Taurus 70 and Centaur 40 gas turbines. Mars blade design.
The engineering analysis showed the blade at-
gas turbine durability enhancements are discussed
tachment to have a relatively high stress level in the
in GTUA 2001 Mars Question Number 1.
dovetail and that the maximum alternating stress,
due to blade vibrations, was superimposed over this
Taurus 60 Gas Turbine. Over the past few years, high stress location. The subsequent redesign effort
the Taurus 60 gas turbine has received several created a more massive attachment, which decou-
durability enhancements in conjunction with a pled the location of the maximum static stress and
series of thermal uprates. The non-cooled second- the maximum dynamic stress.
stage turbine blade has typically been a life-limited The benefit of the redesign effort on fatigue life
component, although not to the extent of impacting is clearly illustrated in the Goodman diagram shown
30,000+ hours of operation. Raising the firing tem- in Figure 18. The original design using material in
perature from 1010 to 1046°C (1850 to 1885°F), the 621°C (1150°F) age condition failed to meet our
however, required a material change from IN 738 basic design goal for alternating stress capability.
LC to MAR M 247. This increase in alloy capability
Decreasing the aging temperature to 552°C
provides a life similar to that of the original Taurus
(1025°F) increased the material endurance limit,
60 engine. Our current uprate activity to raise the
and consequently the blade's capability, to above
firing temperature to 1066°C (1950°F) will include a
the alternating stress capability goal. In the redes-
change in blade material to the single-crystal alloy
igned blade, the lower mean stress and the im-
CMSX-3. This alloy selection will actually provide
proved material properties combine to provide a
greater blade life and assure the ability to provide a
substantially improved alternating stress capability.
minimum of two overhaul cycles.
As an added benefit of the redesign effort, the
The Taurus 60 second-stage nozzle has also
airfoil was slightly retapered to better position the
received a material upgrade from the cobalt alloy
airfoil’s resonant frequency with respect to the third
FS-414 to the nickel-based alloy MAR M 247. The
and fourth engine orders. This is believed to make
new alloy provides superior creep resistance and
a more robust blade design and totally eliminate the
enhanced precious metal coating performance.
potential for fatigue failures. The new blade has
Remanufacturing of the FS-414 nozzles requires a
been in full production since December 2000 for all
hot forming operation to re-establish the position of
new and overhauled engines.
the inner shroud with respect to the outer shroud.
The improved strength of the new alloy will elimi-
nate the need for this operation and improve the Centaur 40 Gas Turbine. The Centaur 40 engine
remanufacturability of the part. The alloy is also has been in production for many years and has
received several uprates to meet user require-
suitable for the 1066°C (1950°F) turbine rotor inlet
ments. The uprate from the -4500 to the -4700
temperature (TRIT) uprate. Additional component
configuration has shown an increasing difficulty in
cooling will also be utilized. Through a combination
meeting specification performance in the -4700
of the nozzle creep and the positional tolerance of
configuration, requiring specialized build techniques
the second-stage diaphragm with respect to the
to achieve acceptable performance. An engineering
second-stage rotor, a potential for interference
study was conducted; the results of which showed
existed. A design study was undertaken and the
the turbine nozzle case to be non-uniformly cooled.
outcome was to define a more optimally positioned
This, in turn, caused the nozzle case to become out
diaphragm. Since this change was put into produc-
of round, which negatively impacted the ability to
tion, rotor lock-ups due to the second-stage dia-
control tip clearances and to perform to specifica-
phragm have been eliminated.
tion. The design effort resulted in the cooling circuit
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Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
Taurus 70
17-4 PH (1150°F)
ALTERNATING STRESS
17-4 PH (1025°F)
Current Design
MEAN STRESS
01G5-2
being optimized to more uniformly cool the nozzle These product durability enhancements, along
case. This allowed for a more optimal setting of the with continuing efforts to assess engine and acces-
turbine blade clearance. The optimized engines sory life and to promote optimal maintenance prac-
have shown less engine-to-engine variation in tices, should help users make critical decisions
performance and much less difficulty in engines regarding removal for cause versus schedule.
meeting specification requirements.
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General Question
Number 6
What is Solar doing to remove the need for backup post lube
on Centaur 50, Taurus, Mars, Titan and future developments?
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Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
70, Mars and Titan 130 gas turbine products. offered as an option only, and that post lube may
Backup post lube, however, is required on these still be required with the bronze bearing option.
products to prevent overheating of the tilting-pad
babbitt material. Service Bulletin References
24 General 6
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
General Question
Number 7
Explain process for controlling the configuration of retrofits
and upgrades (especially controls but also mechanical)
“As Built” bill of materials, “As Installed” draw- 7. The detailed bill of material for retrofits and
ings and software revisions, and any subse- upgrades is reviewed as the design progresses
25 General 7
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA2001
to make certain that all parts selected are of the of the equipment and availability of documenta-
current standard and are supportable through tion.
the Service Parts organization. Solar’s Design
Change Request (DCR) process enables Future Developments
cross-functional engineering departments to
review the intended duty of parts / components Solar records and retains the Manufacturing bills of
that require modification or update. material for the original equipment under the origi-
nal project definition number. The material and
8. A copy of the sales order is sent to Solar’s configurations for subsequent modifications are
Response Center administrator for updating the recorded under their own project definition or sales
user equipment configuration database. order. In the past, updating these was a multi-step,
9. Many retrofit and upgrade kits include instruc- manual process. Our continuing effort is to auto-
tions that are formatted to be retained by the mate the process wherever possible so that the
user as an addendum to their Operation and original bill of material may be updated effectively to
Maintenance Instruction (OMI) manual. provide the user with an “active” bill of material that
accurately reflects the current configuration for the
10. If a controls logic change is required, the re- operating equipment.
vised software is provided through Solar’s local Solar is in the early phases of implementing an
office, which retains a copy. ERP initiative to significantly increase the function-
11. If Solar's Field Service Representatives (FSR) ality of the current process. With this business tool,
participate in the installation associated with the we expect to:
retrofit or upgrade, a Customer Support Activity
(CSA) report is completed to detail the work • Retain the final Manufacturing bill of material
and to document the configuration change. and then be able to “filter” it to produce a
Copies of this documentation are retained by Service, or Support, bill of material.
the user and the local Field office.
• Modify the Service bill of material, which will
12. If applicable, a copy of the “As Installed” soft- detail the major systems and maintenance
ware will be returned to Solar for archiving. items, when configuration changes do occur.
Copies are retained both in the local Field office
• Allow easy update of the Service bill of mate-
and in San Diego.
rial by the San Diego-based engineering
13. Drawings will be marked up to reflect the “As functions, or by the FSR via their reporting
Installed” configuration. Copies are retained at mechanism following completion of modifica-
the user’s site, in Solar's local Field office and tion work in the Field.
in San Diego. If revised drawings are part of the
project scope, the "As Installed" drawings will • Provide faster updating of the service parts
be returned to San Diego to be reissued. Up- lists for user equipment to facilitate the or-
dating the OMI manual depends on the vintage dering and provisioning of parts.
26 General 7
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
General Question
Number 8
Advise current experience with resolving “pancake valve” problems.
What is being done to ensure new pancake valves fit on older packages.
01G8-1 01G8-2
27 General 8
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
FROM
EXHAUST
COLLECTOR
01G8-4
FROM
COMBUSTOR
DRAIN
01G8-4
28 General 8
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
29 General 8
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
General Question
Number 9
Please update users on Titan and Mercury experience and failure mechanisms.
30 General 9
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
31 General 9
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
Mercury 50 Gas Turbine Experience stood. One of the key design requirements for the
Mercury 50 engine was to optimize the modularity
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) initiated a of the design. Since hot section components,
program for advanced turbine systems (ATS) to particularly combustion liners, are the highest
serve industrial power generation markets. The maintenance items in the engine, the engine was
objective of the cooperative agreements granted arranged to allow for the easiest replacement of
under the program was to join the DOE with in- these components. It was determined that the
dustry in research and development, leading to optimal layout of the engine would position the
commercial offerings in the private sector. The compressor behind the turbine. This would simplify
ATS program was envisioned to provide a power the recuperator interface and reduce the size of
plant with ultra-high efficiency, environmental the package. This novel engine layout was one of
superiority, and cost competitiveness. Solar’s the most significant innovations of the Mercury 50
Mercury 50 engine (Figure 24) was the result of engine definition. Shaft dynamics, combustor size,
this program. cost, and overall package dimensions were all
The Mercury 50 evolved into a 4.2-MWe recu- factored into the engine arrangement decision.
perated-cycle, single-shaft turbine with 38% effi- This unique arrangement also allowed for the
ciency (versus baseline of 28.2%) at the terminals smallest engine / package footprint (Figure 25).
on a 15°C (59°F) day at sea level. This engine met
all the ATS program goals (Table 9).
In-House Test Results. Throughout testing of the
A significant effort was spent over the first
Mercury development engines, a great deal of
several months of the contract in refining the
data was obtained. Some of the data are still under
concept for the Mercury 50. During this period,
evaluation. Much of the data has verified the de-
engine cycle studies played a major role in deter-
sign calculations and was used to make success-
mining the progress of the engine layout. Each
ful design improvements. The development test
contributor to overall thermal efficiency was ex-
cell is configured to do a wide range of tests effi-
amined in detail so that the sensitivity and relation-
ciently and has a staff that is knowledgeable with
ship of each aero-thermal and mechanical design
the engine hardware, the engine’s operating char-
parameter to the efficiency goal was fully under-
acteristics, and the instrumentation necessary to
acquire critical data.
To date, nearly 3000 hours of in-house testing
have been completed on three development en-
gines (Figure 26). In addition, more than 4000
hours of Field evaluation testing have been com-
pleted on the two high-time Field units.
Solar performed a total of six short-term de-
velopment tests in our development test cell using
two development engines. The objective tests
ranged from thermal paint tests to blade dynamic
tests (Table 10). In addition to these short-term
tests, Solar performed an extended endurance test
at our Harbor Drive facility (Figure 27). A complete
Mercury package was installed and connected to
the local grid. This unit provided the majority of
01G9-2 electrical power required at the Harbor Drive facil-
ity throughout most of 2000. More than 2500 hours
Figure 24. Cutaway of the Mercury 50 Engine of operation have been accumulated on this unit.
32 General 9
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
33 General 9
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
34 General 9
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
Author: R. Eimers
General Question
Number 10
Does Solar have any new developments of interest to users?
ANSWER
New developments at Solar include uprates of the
Taurus 70 and Taurus 60 gas turbines, a new
Taurus 60 mobile power unit, and advancements in
combustion system technology.
BACKGROUND
Taurus 70 Gas Turbine
The Taurus 70 was introduced in a hot-end drive,
two-shaft configuration (Figure 28) in 1995 and in a
cold-end drive, single-shaft configuration (Figure
29) for generator applications in 1999. The air
compressor section of the engine consists of a 01G10-2
35 General 10
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
36 General 10
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
Table 11. Taurus 60-7800 ISO Performance – 15°C (59°F), Sea Level
37 General 10
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
Combustor Pressure Oscillations. The introduc- Currently, more than 100 dual fuel engines have
tion of lean-premixed combustion systems for gas been sold and the high-time unit has more than
turbines has raised manufacturer awareness of the 45,000 operating hours. Dual fuel injectors are
consequences of large combustor pressure oscilla- available for retrofit into existing gas-only turbine
tions. Simply put, lean flames have a greater ten- engines.
dency to cause pressure oscillations, which can The need for dual fuel injectors to have gas
lead to engine damage. It is recognized that the and liquid fuel main passages, gas and liquid fuel
reduced stability of a lean-premixed flame contrib- pilot passages, and a pilot air passage makes these
utes to combustor oscillations. injectors very complex. Blockage of liquid fuel ports
One of the keys to the long-term resolution of or the degradation of liquid fuel injection patterns
this problem is design optimization of the fuel in- due to coking is a major concern in the dual fuel
jector premixing section. Improved fuel injector SoLoNOx design and is the primary focus of our
configurations have now been developed. Pressure near-term development efforts.
oscillations are low at all points within the operating
envelope and do not require high levels of pilot fuel. Advanced Combustor Liners. The development
These new fuel injector designs are now being of an advanced combustion liner with more effec-
incorporated into production machines and have tive cooling technologies will provide a two-fold
provided additional margin against the NOx guar- benefit in terms of emissions. First, CO emissions
antee level of 25 ppmv. will be reduced due to the improved ability to control
reaction quenching. Second, the lower CO levels
Control Systems. The SoLoNOx gas turbine con- will allow combustor reoptimization to a lower flame
trol system is identical to the conventional gas tur- temperature. This will produce lower NOx levels,
bine control system at start-up and low-load opera- along with lower CO concentrations.
tion, but differs when the gas turbine operates in the A enabling technology being advanced is the
low emissions mode (above approximately 30 to augmented backside cooled (ABC) liner. Backside-
50% of the rated load). The control system for cooled liners forego cooling air injection completely.
SoLoNOx engines modulates the variable geometry Instead, combustor wall temperatures are con-
systems to keep the combustion primary zone trolled solely through convective cooling by a high
temperature within a specified range. Accurate velocity airstream on the cold side of the liner. In
control of the primary zone temperature is critical to most instances, the high heat flux from the flame
controlling NOx and CO emissions. Future operat- requires augmenting of the backside convective
ing objectives will require advanced control algo- process to keep liner wall temperatures from be-
rithms and closed-loop control systems with electric coming excessive. Turbulators in the form of trip
actuation of variable pilot and main fuel control strips, fins, and pins act to increase the cooling flow
valves to more accurately maintain the engine turbulence at the liner wall and augment the heat
primary zone temperature (Tpz). removal process. An additional degree of liner
protection can be achieved through the application
Dual Fuel Capability. Dual fuel capabilities can of a thermal barrier coating (TBC) on the hot sides
improve equipment availability during periods of of the liner walls. Development test results with this
primary fuel curtailment and potentially offer the technology are very encouraging, with significant
ability to arrange a more user-favorable price reductions in emissions and uniform combustor wall
structure for the primary fuel. The first dual fuel temperatures. Field testing of a production configu-
SoLoNOx combustion system in the Centaur 50 ration is under way and several additional units will
gas turbine was commissioned in November 1994. be commissioned in the near future.
38 General 10
Mars Question
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
Author: C. Brown
Mars Question
Number 1
What is current experience with T14000 and T15000
and what failure mechanisms have been seen?
39 Mars 1
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
metal bearing was replaced with the bi-metal bear- 5.9/103, 6.5/107, 6.5/108, 6.5/109, and 6.6/102
ing design, in addition to other improvements. announced improvements to the post shutdown
(Please refer to GTUA 2000 Mars Question Num- lubrication system, re-emphasizing to users the
ber 3 and GTUA 1999 Mars Question Number 3.) need for proper post lubrication and maintenance of
The bi-metal bearing has not suffered a corrosion the subsystems associated with providing this
failure in the Mars product line to date. Approxi- lubrication.
mately two- thirds of the nearly 750 Mars 100 and Compressor Blade Failures. Since 1989, one
Mars 90 engines in the fleet have the latest bearing Stage 8 and six Stage 14 cast compressor blades
configuration. have failed in high-cycle fatigue. The problem,
whose root cause was improper grinding of the
Interruption of Post Shutdown Bearing Lubrica- dovetail, has been corrected in manufacturing for
tion Failures. The radial bearings in the Mars both new production and overhauled units.
engine must go through a post shutdown lubrication
cycle. If this cycle is interrupted for more than 20 Variable Stator Vane Lockup. Several Stage 3
minutes, bearing damage will likely occur, most and Stage 4 forged compressor blades failed in
notably to the No. 2 and No. 3 bearings and espe- high-cycle fatigue. The root cause of the failure was
cially if a restart is attempted before the bearings attributed to external contamination of the inlet
have had a chance to cooldown. Service Bulletins guide vane (IGV) mechanism, preventing proper
40 Mars 1
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
guide vane operation and causing amplified aero- Number 7. The SoLoNOx process, which uses a
dynamic blade excitation. (Please refer to Service lean premix of fuel and air, must maintain a balance
Bulletin 8.6/107.) between emissions control and combustor pressure
oscillations or combustor rumble. Oscillations
Current Issues and/or rumble have been reported at some Mars
gas turbine installations where operation over a
SoLoNOx Engines and Part-Load Operation. wide range of ambient temperatures at varying
Three issues have been associated with some loads is necessary. Information on combustion
Mars SoLoNOx units run primarily at part load and instability characterized by combustor oscillations
particularly at low ambient temperatures: and rumble, together with the description of a kit for
monitoring oscillations is described in Service
1. Case bleed duct hose failures Bulletin 5.4/116.
2. Combustor liner cracking Combustor oscillations were resolved by the
new SoLoNox injector P/N 300457. The injector fuel
3. Combustion instability
spokes were moved 3/8 of an inch downstream,
fully attenuating the 360-Hz oscillations. The techni-
First, the single 4-in. diameter bleed hose be-
cal details of this effort are found in ASME paper
tween the combustor case and the exhaust collec-
number 99-GT-052.
tor was developed to replace the injector bleed
In conjunction with the P/N 300457 injectors
manifolds on SoLoNOx units. The design and
described above, a variable pilot fuel system was
implementation of the hose was accelerated to incorporated to maintain part-load emissions com-
provide an immediate remedy to the injector bleed pliance and increase rumble margin. In very general
hose failures, which had potential safety implica- terms, smaller percent pilot is required at or near
tions. The engineering qualification process, which full load to meet NOx compliance, and percent pilot
was delayed until after the hoses were installed in is increased at lower load ranges to provide com-
the Field, found the hoses to be subject to high- bustor stability without compromising emissions.
cycle fatigue failure. Subsequently, the 4-in. di- The variable pilot system uses a new wide
ameter hoses are being replaced with a 6-in. di- range fuel control valve. The entire system is now
ameter hose. Since March 2000, approximately 40 standard on all new production packages and is
units have received the larger hose and no prob- recommended for Field units. A Service Bulletin
lems have been reported. The 6-in. diameter hose describing the availability of the wide range fuel
kit can be ordered through Service Bulletin control system is forthcoming.
8.8/108B.
Second, testing conducted in Solar’s develop-
ment test facilities in San Diego found that changing
Collapsed Oil Drain in Engines with a Scav-
the extraction of bleed airflow from the injectors to enged Bearing Lubrication System. An oil drain
a port on the combustor case caused a disturbance tube collapsed in a Mars 100 standard combustion
in the combustor liner cooling flow. It was deter- dual fuel unit on the test stand. The engine was
mined that during part-load operation, a vortex is designed with a scavenged bearing lubrication
set up in the region between the bleed port and the system for operation on an oil and gas production
combustor liner. This vortex is strong enough to tanker (FPSO). The drain collapsed because stiff-
draw combustion air back through combustor liner ening tubes were not installed in the drain pas-
cooling holes in the liner. This uneven temperature sageway as specified on the engineering drawings.
distribution caused some liners to crack down- Oil backed up into the compressor diffuser housing
stream of the disturbance. A baffle was designed and turbine nozzle case areas. The insulation
and is available as a Field retrofit. A Service Bulletin surrounding the No. 2 bearing housing became
to announce this retrofit will be issued shortly. soaked with oil and caught fire. This problem was
Third, operation of Mars SoLoNOx engines at successfully corrected. Also, a retrofit kit is being
part load may cause combustor instability. This developed to repair the 13 known units in the Field
subject was reported in GTUA 1999 Mars Question with this particular scavenged bearing lubrication
Number 4 and GTUA 1997 Mars Question system design.
41 Mars 1
Saturn Questions
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
Author: J. Frailich
Saturn Question
Number 1
What is the current experience with T1600 and what failure mechanisms have been seen?
• One unit – High vibration levels Figure 34. Saturn Two-Shaft Engine
• One unit – High emissions
Product Improvements
The product was also upgraded in two significant
areas, which were prompted by ongoing product
improvement: 01S1-2
42 Saturn 1
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
Author: J. Frailich
Saturn Question
Number 2
What developments are underway to improve carbon seals throughout Saturn range.
43 Saturn 2
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
Author: C. Aylwin
Saturn Question
Number 3
Please confirm that there are no plans for phase out of Saturn. Advise
plans for upgrades to Saturn including on skid controls and SoLoNOx.
Advise any developments of a successor in the 1 MW class.
ANSWER shaft 1210 kWe rating for generator sets. There are
no plans for further power upgrades at this time or
Solar does not have any plans to phase out the for the incorporation of a dry low emissions (DLE)
Saturn gas turbine, to upgrade the Saturn gas combustion system. New production units are
turbine for SoLoNOx combustion system, or to available with onskid controls.
develop a successor for the Saturn gas turbine. The Solar’s Package Refurbishment facility in
Saturn gas turbine, however, is now available with Mabank, Texas, offers a wide range of package
onskid controls. and control upgrades for the Saturn product, in-
cluding:
BACKGROUND
• Onskid PLC controls with remote
Since its introduction in 1960, the Saturn industrial communications options
gas turbine has been an industry leader in the
1000-kW (1500-hp) class with its rugged durability • Fuel, start and lubrication systems
and 4800 units installed throughout the world. • Increased power output
The current plans for the Saturn turbine are fo- • Compressor restages
cused on refinement of the package features at its
two-shaft 1185-kW (1590-hp) rating for compressor • Package enclosure with fire systems
sets and mechanical-drive packages and its single- • Water injection for emissions control
44 Saturn 3
General All Question
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
Author: S. Sedgewick
01GA1-1
Figure 36. Solar's Updated Web Site
45 All 1
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
products and services, as well as applications of Solar’s objective is to enhance customer per-
our products. Users are encouraged to register sonalization for their specific site, making the cus-
since that will provide a more personalized web tomer's experience more comfortable, pertinent and
experience. As Solar continues to expand our web efficient. Solar is also developing additional func-
site and enhance the site's functionalities, some of tionality through targeted applications designed to
the features to be made available through a series empower and inform our customer' regarding plan-
of web site releases include: ning and procurement processes. Understanding
that each customer's relationship and interface with
• Detailed product brochures Solar is unique, by design the site will focus on
complementing our existing support and communi-
• Technical training course information cation channels through this information technology
and scheduling pathway.
• Service Bulletins Solar has dedicated a team of people actively
engaged in growing our web site to address the
• Technical papers breadth of our customers' needs. Leveraging the
• Customer-specific as-shipped photographs openness and goodwill throughout our end-user
constituency, we aspire to work closely with our
• Case studies customers to refine and enrich their experience with
• Customer-specific Operation and Solar's web site.
Maintenance Instruction manuals
46 All 1
Appendix
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
Appendix
REFERENCE MATERIAL
Source material referenced in Solar's GTUA 2001 Report are provided in this section.
Section
Number Title Reference
Technical Papers
ASME 99-GT-052 Passive Control of Combustion Instability in Lean Premixed Combustors ...............M-1
TPSoLoNOx Developments in SoLoNOx Low Emission Systems...............................................G-10
TTS104 Increasing Turbine Life through Improved Maintenance Procedures ......... GS-1 (1998)
G-5
TTS106 Lube Oils for the Industrial Gas Turbine ...................................................................G-5
Service Bulletins
2.0/102A Mars Overrunning (Sprag) Clutch)............................................................................. M-6 (1999)
M-1
2.0/103 Starter Clutch Improvement ...................................................................................................M-1
A-1 Appendix
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
Engineering Specification
ES 9-98E Fuel, Air, and Water (or Steam) for Solar Gas Turbine Engines............................... M-7 (1997)
M-4 (1999)
G-5
A-2 Appendix
Author: K. Kubarych/A. Criqui
Presenter: A. Criqui
(At the GTUA session on June 15, 1998, Solar showed actual data on early
engine returns, expressed as an annual percent of the operating fleet of similar
engines. Returns for extraneous causes, such as mentioned herein, were not
included. These data are not included in this book for competitive reasons.)
The recommended overhaul interval for all Solar As a general rule, corrosion and high cycle
engines is 30,000 hours. Actual experience varies fatigue are the primary concerns of the cold
widely and the following sections explain the factors sections of the engine such as the compressor. The
involved. This recommendation not to exceed hot section has life limitations from creep/stress
30,000 hours between overhauls applies to all rupture, high and low cycle fatigue, high
engines rated for continuous duty service temperature oxidation, and hot corrosion. Life of oil
irrespective of the actual load profile. Solar does not film journal and thrust bearings is theoretically
apply a penalty for start cycles except where unlimited, but, practically, may wear or suffer
multiple starts per day are routine, as in marine corrosion effects due to degraded oil.
propulsion service.
COMPRESSOR SECTION
BACKGROUND
Corrosion of the compressor section has historically
Solar has developed life determination been a significant life-limiting factor. However, with
methodologies over the past 35 years that are the use of more corrosion-resistant materials, such
intended to assure designs that provide long and as 17-4 PH stainless steel and Alloy 718, and the
reliable service lives. The goal of any design life development of compressor coatings, such as the
methodology is to adequately account for any widely used SermeTel inorganic aluminum coatings
potential failure and wear-out mechanisms. In most and better inlet air filtration, compressor corrosion
cases, a balance between component design life is much less of a problem in today's gas turbines.
and cost must be made. The design of a complex The primary design consideration for compressor
machine, such as a gas turbine, requires extensive durability is the avoidance of fatigue failures.
analysis and testing. Unlike flight propulsion Careful design analysis is required to accurately
engines, industrial gas turbines do not experience understand the natural frequencies of each airfoil,
a "typical" duty cycle. One engine may be in a both rotating and stationary. The analytical
base-load power generation application, another in capability available to today s design engineer has
a low power gas compression application, and a significantly improved with the implementation of
third in intermediate or standby service. These computer modeling and finite element analysis
require the gas turbine designer to resort to the (FEA). Sophisticated computer modeling can
worst-case scenarios while developing the design. accurately predict the airfoil natural frequencies,
Solar has traditionally based its design life on allowing rapid optimization of the airfoil geometry so
continuous duty at maximum power or $T5 topped# as to avoid any known sources of excitation. The
conditions. The fundamental life-limiting results are typically shown on a Campbell diagram
considerations typically are creep and stress (Figure GS1-1). Because knowledge of excitation
rupture, high and low cycle fatigue, corrosion, high sources is incomplete and the fact that white noise
temperature oxidation, and wear. Each one of these is always present, accurate fatigue properties of the
material degradation mechanisms must be airfoil materials are required and used in an
accounted for in a successful design. analysis to assess the airfoil durability under a
GS-1
Figure GS1-1. Campbell Diagram and Computer-Generated Mode Shapes
forced excitation. The design goal is to have temperature air heats the airfoil and, with today's
adequate dynamic capability to withstand firing temperatures, the airfoil, if not cooled, would
reasonable levels of broad band excitation. only have a life of a few hours. By passing
compressor discharge air through the hollow airfoil,
TURBINE SECTION the metal temperature is reduced. A balance must
be struck between the amount of cooling air used
Stress Rupture Considerations
and the airfoil wall thickness. The greater the
The hot section of a gas turbine represents the
amount of air used, the cooler the airfoil metal will
most challenging section of the engine in terms of
be, however, this comes at a loss to the
assessing life. Many components are expected to
thermodynamic cycle efficiency. Likewise, the
operate for long periods of time at high
thicker the airfoil wall, the lower the stress and the
temperatures and at high stresses. It is the clear
longer the life. However, a thicker wall is more
challenge of a gas turbine design effort to
difficult to cool and requires more cooling air.
accurately establish the temperature the materials
Typically, a Solar gas turbine air-cooled blade
must withstand and create a geometry that
design goal will be based on a 60,000-hour life so
develops stresses at a level that yields adequate
as to allow for two overhaul periods. The blade
life. The life can be set by either using creep or
airfoil stresses and temperatures will then be
stress rupture criteria depending upon the quality
optimized to achieve this life goal.
and availability of the materials data. Due to the
The design methodology typically employs
greater abundance of stress rupture data, these
stress rupture data in the form of a Larson-Miller
data are the most commonly used criteria.
parameter plot and must be developed by material
For example, an air-cooled Stage 1 turbine
testing at conditions similar to those expected in the
blade is the collaborative effort among an
engine (Figure GS1-3). The Larson-Miller
aerodynamicist, a heat transfer engineer, and a
parameter combines temperature and time into one
structural design engineer (Figure GS1-2). The
variable and, when plotted against stress, provides
airfoil shape is optimized to extract an optimal
a means to rapidly optimize blade life.
amount of work from the gas path air. This high
GS-2
Figure GS1-3. Creep/Stress Rupture
Material Testing
Environmental Considerations
In the design of high temperature components, the
effects of high temperature oxidation must also be
considered. Oxidation rates for a particular material
must be measured experimentally in a laboratory.
Then, through a knowledge of the gas turbine
component temperature, an assessment of life can
be made. Because it is nearly impossible to
reproduce in the laboratory the exact conditions a
Figure GS1-2. Cooled Turbine Blade gas turbine component will see, a certain amount of
Design Generation empirical judgment is also required. Hot corrosion
GS-3
is another life-limiting concern and is most
commonly associated with the effects of fuel
contaminated with sodium and sulfur, although air
contaminated with sodium and potassium can lead
to severe corrosion attack. The sodium and sulfur
combine in the combustor to form sodium sulfate,
which can precipitate as a liquid salt on hot section
component surfaces. This molten salt tends to flux
away the native protective oxide on the superalloy
surface, leaving it essentially unprotected and
vulnerable to additional oxidation. Rapid material
wastage rates can result from these cooperative
actions and will significantly reduce component life.
Fatigue Considerations
Turbine blades experience forced vibration due to
perturbations in the gas stream. Most significant are
integral excitations caused by wakes coming off
upstream components, such as struts, injectors and
nozzles. The blockages or disturbances to the
steady gas stream superimpose multiple excitations
per revolution or engine order (EO) excitations.
These frequencies or integral order excitations are
carefully avoided by tuning the airfoil s natural
frequencies to avoid resonance within the operating
range.
In addition to forced vibration of integral
sources, random vibration is experienced as the
perturbations in pressure fields mix out in the gas
stream. The response due to the low level, random
forcing functions is damped out through the
combination of mechanical damping systems and
designing to robust fatigue margins.
Component testing is carried out to verify
natural frequencies and fatigue resistance. Solar s
frequency response test facility incorporates laser
holography and shaker table vibration testing to
ensure durable operation (Figure GS1-4). Figure GS1-4. Natural Mode Frequency Testing
TURBINE DISKS
area is subjected to significant thermal transient
A critical design element in a gas turbine is the disk. conditions caused by start/stop cycles. The
Compressor disks are not significantly influenced by resulting thermally induced strains can give rise to
temperature, making their design fairly LCF cracking. The interaction between stress
straightforward and typically very long lived rupture and LCF in this region is very complex and
(~250,000 hours). On the other hand, turbine disk not well behaved. Therefore, Solar uses a
design is very much affected by temperature and conservative approach of designing for low stresses
requires careful evaluation of stress rupture and low and eliminating fatigue as a concern in areas that
cycle fatigue (LCF). Typically, the entire volume of are life limited by stress rupture. Working with
the disk must meet the stress rupture life criterion, materials engineers, a careful choice of disk
which is generally set at ~100,000 hours. This materials is made in order to assure the proper
becomes a bit challenging in the vicinity of the blade performance in this region. A critical safety
attachment slots due to the stress concentrations consideration is the design margin in the hub region
arising from the fir-tree configuration. This same
GS-4
of a turbine disk. The disk must be protected from as relatively heavy, low stress castings and have no
overspeed conditions. The design philosophy impact on the TBO of an engine. Corrosion and
utilized at Solar is to set section stresses such that thermal fatigue cracking can and do cause distress
the strongest blade will separate before the to housings and casings on occasion, although this
weakest disk post will fail and that the disk burst distress is rarely the primary cause for an engine
speed is higher than the blade shed speed. This overhaul. However, the damage does increase the
assures a blade shed will occur prior to a disk burst. complexity of the overhaul and repair activities and
The hub of a turbine disk is also susceptible to LCF is, therefore, an issue of concern to the design
damage and consequent failure. LCF loading is community. Solar makes extensive use of coatings
strongly influenced by start/stop thermal transients. to inhibit corrosive attack, and advanced thermal
A detailed thermal analysis is performed to modeling is being employed to minimize cracking.
accurately predict the thermal strains and their Advanced repair techniques are being developed
locations. Typically, the high stress locations are in and deployed to extend the useful life of these
the vicinity of a center bore or through bolt holes components. A recent example is with the Mars
(Figure GS1-5). Solar designs for 5000 start/stop turbine nozzle case. A small portion of the forward
cycles or greater than once per day for 100,000 end of the nozzle case is subjected to high
hours. This limit is set through a combination of temperatures and suffers oxidation damage to the
material properties and imposed stresses, including extent that, once out of service, the part cannot go
consideration for fatigue crack growth rates. The back into service. A repair has been developed,
useful life of a turbine disk is highly dependent upon fully qualified, and is currently in production that
the quality of the disk material, and careful removes the damaged forward portion and a new
nondestructive inspections are employed during forging is electron-beam (E-B) welded to the
component manufacturing. remaining aft portion. The E-B weld is located in a
low stress area. After welding, the part is machined
STATIC COMPONENTS to regain the original design intent and recoated to
the same requirements as a new component
Housings and casings are typically industrial style, (Figure GS1-6). Development and field testing have
rugged and long lived. They are generally designed indicated the repaired part to be the equal of a new
component.
GS-5
TRIBOLOGY through stringent control of the gas temperature
during the start cycle to eliminate any unacceptable
Wear can occur wherever adjacent components high temperature conditions that would lead to
experience relative motion. Clearly, an area subject accelerated life consumption. Solar routinely utilizes
to wear is the bearing. Solar uses fluid-film bearings a hot restart during shop testing to expose the
that are proven to be durable and capable of engine to the worst-case thermal transient prior to
providing long-life service, provided the fluid film measuring the guarantee performance point. This
remains intact. Solar strives to provide bearings and assures the user that the engine has experienced
lubrication systems capable of meeting the service the most adverse condition due to thermal
requirements. Seals represent another potential transients while still meeting the guaranteed
area subject to wear. Care during the design is performance and that further loss of performance
taken to select the most appropriate materials and due to thermal transients will be minimal.
establish the most effective dimensional tolerances Start/stop cycles do lead to LCF life
to minimize contact, yet provide adequate sealing. consumption, which affects primarily the turbine
Solar conducts extensive development testing to disks. First-stage turbine nozzle trailing edges are
identify optimum seal configurations and material also prone to thermal/mechanical fatigue, which
pair combinations (Figure GS1-7). presents neither a performance nor a durability
liability during the standard overhaul period. This
type of cracking does, however, affect component
reuse and remanufacturability and is, therefore, the
subject of continuing development work to enhance
crack resistance through improved cooling and/or
the use of thermal barrier coatings.
The results of Solar s marine turbine program
directly support the success of our design
philosophy. The leading experience with high
start/stop applications is in the Taurus 60 Marine
program where our high time engine has
experienced service lives of more than 9000 hours
and greater than 2300 start/stop cycles, with no
reported loss in performance as measured by
vessel speed. This very demanding service is giving
the Taurus 60M gas turbine a tough test, and the
results are showing that the turbine design is
meeting the challenge.
GS-6
LIFE ESTIMATION METHODS
Solar believes that there is a better way to estimate
the remaining life of a gas turbine than time
between overhauls (TBO) or mean time between
failures (MTBF). This is because a turbine is
normally overhauled at prescribed intervals and,
thus, does not operate in the wear out zone of the
failure curve.
Figure GS1-8 is a general failure rate-versus-
time curve, often called the $bathtub# curve. It
applies to most devices, even to human life. There
are three distinct zones. The first is the infant or
start-up failures region. This is followed by a period
of roughly constant failure rate, attributed to random
causes. The third region, where the curve slope Figure GS1-9. Mean Time between Failures or
begins increasing, is the wear out failure area. This Time between Overhauls
three-region curve can be constructed for anything
that has a finite service life. Each region can be
treated mathematically, such as by using Weibull virtue of factory testing. Then, by overhauling at the
analysis, to quantify behavior. For a device that is recommended interval, the engine is kept out of the
operated until it fails, such as a light bulb, the MTBF wear out failure zone and should operate for
is the point where half of the original population of several overhauls until the time limit of some
similar light bulbs has failed (Figure GS1-9). component is approached and the engine is retired.
However, most gas turbines are overhauled at An example would be the turbine disks as
regular intervals to restore performance. While a discussed above.
few users do run their engines to destruction, this is The true risk is then that of random failures up
seldom wise from an economic viewpoint. With to the next scheduled overhaul. With proper care
modern turbines, with their cooled blades and and maintenance, the concern should be not with
nozzles and other expensive components, the mean time between failures, but with the failure rate
economics almost always favor periodic overhaul in the middle zone where virtually all operation
rather than running until a failure occurs. Other takes place. This middle risk zone of random
factors here are the high costs of consequential failures is, of course, a major focus for Solar s
failures and of unplanned production outages. technical and support functions as we deploy tools
Referring to Figure GS1-10, the user of a gas such as pareto analyses and root cause-and-effect
turbine obtains protection against infant failures by analysis to minimize failures.
Figure GS1-8. General Failure Rate-vs-Time Curve Figure GS1-10. Risk Assessment
GS-7
Of course, the operating environment plays a role ency. (Please see the paper $Increasing Turbine
too. Figure GS1-11 shows, in a relative way, the Life through Improved Maintenance Procedures,#
effects of certain variables on turbine life. If the TTS 104 in the appendix of this book for more on
middle line is for typical service, the lower line this.)
represents an engine in part-load operation, at low Users frequently ask to see actual failure data
ambient temperatures, and with excellent air, fuel for each engine model. To be meaningful, this
and water quality, along with the best level of information must be such that the user can rely on
maintenance. Engines such as these are it for planning, budgeting and comparison of
sometimes returned for their first overhaul with competing products. Engines are returned for many
more than 80,000 hours. The upper line represents reasons other than for failures chargeable to the
full load, high ambient temperatures, poor air, fuel manufacturer. These range from elective uprates to
and water, and substandard maintenance. It is not high time (scheduled) overhauls to failures due to
possible to put numbers on these factors, but they unpredictable events such as lightning strikes. If
certainly do affect life as well as operating effici- returns for all reasons were included, then the
results would be distorted and not useful for
planning.
At the GTUA session on June 15, 1998, Solar
showed actual data on early engine returns,
expressed as an annual percent of the operating
fleet of similar engines. Returns for extraneous
causes, such as mentioned above, were not
included. Significantly, the return rate is
independent of time in service, supporting the fact
that the engines do not enter the $wear-out# zone,
but remain in the middle zone of the curve where
$random# causes predominate.
GS-8
Author: M. Kelly
(Since the Taurus 70 compressor is derived from the Centaur 40 compressor
with the addition of two forward stages, the 0 and 00 stages, Solar refers to a
blade in the third row, or “third stage blade,” as a first-stage compressor blade.)
Solar has development activities under way to
design an injector that avoids oscillations over a
broad range of pilot fuel levels. Development
testing of SoLoNOx injectors is an ongoing task,
and the latest improvements will be made avail-
able as they move into production.
We also modified the first-stage (third-row)
compressor blades to substantially improve the
fatigue endurance limit. The new blades are
being used on all current Taurus 70 production
gas turbines and are available for replacement at
overhaul or in the field.
!
Solar’s approach to oscillation control is to (1)
carefully optimize injector design so that pressure
pulsation’s caused by the combustion heat
release process are minimized and (2) add pilot
fuel to stabilize the primary zone fuel-to-air ratio.
In the Taurus 70 gas turbine, oscillations are
avoided at low levels (below 2%) of pilot fuel
addition and at high levels (above 8%) of pilot
fuel addition. The mid-ranges of pilot fuel flow do
tend to excite oscillations and are to be avoided.
A few packages, through a miscommunica-
tion that has since been corrected, had the pilot
fuel set up to run in the range where oscillations
are promoted, which resulted in fatigue damage
to the combustor liner and surrounding sheet
metal structure. The typical type of liner damage
experienced is shown in Figure 33. In those
cases where the mid-range flows were used, the
pilot fuel levels were adjusted to a non-oscillating Figure 33. Failed Combustor Liner
43 Taurus 70-1
condition and the problem has not reoccurred. origin. Fatigue failures are random and probabil-
When operating at low pilot fuel flow levels, the istic, particularly when considering the fact that
gas turbine’s ability to handle large load tran- two Taurus 70 gas turbines have accumulated in
sients can be problematic and careful tuning of excess of 23,000 failure-free operating hours.
the control system is required. Nevertheless, to add even greater design
Field operation of Solar’s SoLoNOx systems margin to the Taurus 70 compressor blade,
has shown that fuel quality, especially fuel-borne modifications were made to the blade profile to
condensed liquids, is also a major contributor to increase the blade’s first fundamental bend mode
combustor oscillations. (Refer to Engineering and to the heat treatment of the 17-4 PH material,
Specification ES 9-98 and Service Bulletin which provided a substantial improvement in the
3.5/102 provided in the Appendix of this report.) fatigue endurance limit. All current Taurus 70
This form of contamination has been identified as production gas turbines use the new blades. All
a potential source of Taurus 70 gas turbine field other Taurus 70 gas turbines will be upgraded
issues. To resolve this, the affected user was with the new blades at their next scheduled over-
requested to install coalescing filters and provide haul or may be replaced in the field, which is fa-
a minimum of 6C (10F) fuel superheat to cilitated by the horizontally split compressor case,
remove the liquids from the gas. At another user at the appropriate service opportunity.
site, improved fuel handling techniques has
apparently not totally eliminated the oscillation
condition, although it is not as yet known why.
Consequently, a set of prototype development
injectors was installed at this site to enable a field
evaluation of a new injector design. These
injectors are less prone to cause oscillations, but
are not optimized for emissions. The injectors are
operating oscillation free, giving confidence that
the development work is progressing in a positive
direction.
Taurus 70-1 44
Author: R. Morgan
'
"
()'
SB5.9/103
SB6.5/107
SB6.5/108
SB6.5/109
49 Mars 3
*
# &+
!
Solar continues to develop advanced combustor
liner cooling concepts to reduce the amount of
cooling air required to maintain acceptable liner
metal wall temperatures. This reduction in the level
of required cooling air provides three major
benefits:
Mars 4 50
pilot fuel, low flame temperature caused by Currently, Mars gas turbine packages use a
incorrect parameters in the gas turbine control logic, fixed continuous pilot arrangement (pilot No. 2) with
or blockage of the gas distribution spokes within the fixed No. 1 and No. 3 pilots for start-up and
fuel injector caused from fuel that does not meet the transient conditions. A variable continuous pilot
cleanliness requirements in Solar’s Engineering arrangement with a range of 1-to-10% pilot fuel,
Specification 9-98 (provided in the Appendix of this which combines the No. 2 and No. 3 pilot functions,
report). is being developed. This is similar to the current
A different potential form of acoustic pressure SoLoNOx pilot system used on the Centaur gas
fluctuations within a SoLoNOx combustion system turbine. A wide range pilot system that consolidates
is referred to as “combustion-induced pressure all gas fuel pilot functions into one valve is also
oscillations.” These oscillations are at a higher being developed.
frequency (200 to 500 Hz) than “rumble” and are Sustained operation in a “rumble” or “com-
the result of an aerothermal/acoustic coupling bustor oscillation” mode can significantly com-
between the fuel injector and the combustor liner promise reaching the full durability potential of the
volume. Solar controls these oscillations through SoLoNOx system and should be avoided. With
careful design of the fuel injector geometry or proper set-up and maintenance, the SoLoNOx
through use of pilot fuel to stabilize the flame. The system has demonstrated the ability to meet and
effusion-cooled combustor liner volume is similar to exceed the product durability targets.
the original louvered design and, thus, has no
significant effect on combustor oscillations.
51 Mars 4
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA’99
Author: D. Bergen
Mars Question
Number 6
Explain experience and any issues around electro-hydraulic starts and sprag
clutch.
55 Mars 6
GTUA’99 Solar Turbines Incorporated
Mars 6 56
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA2000
Author: T. Batakis
Mars Question
Number 1
Provide details of developments to overcome dual fuel nozzle plugging.
25 Mars 1
GTUA2000 Solar Turbines Incorporated
Fuel Injector Fouling and Erosion promotes hot corrosion of the fuel injector face
shroud. Reports from the problem engine sites
Several users of Mars dual fuel conventional show that the damaged injectors were in the lower
combustion engines reported severe fuel injector engine positions, while the upper injectors were
fouling of the swirler air passages and erosion of undamaged.
the face shroud, after operating on liquid fuel. In
The effectiveness of the liquid fuel purge de-
some cases, the cause of this problem was found
pends on the duration of the purge timer and the
to be inadequate purging of the liquid fuel manifold
engine condition when the liquid fuel supply is
(Figure 21) after liquid fuel operation.
terminated. Upon shutdown from full load on liquid
Liquid fuel is purged from the fuel injectors,
fuel, the purge starts with full engine pressure,
supply manifold, and connecting tubes whenever
which decays as the engine decelerates. Upon
the liquid fuel is turned off. The purge system uses
shutdown from idle, the purge starts with lower
high-pressure engine air to force residual fuel back
engine pressure and decays as the engine decel-
through the manifold inlet port and then into a drain.
erates. After a fuel transfer from liquid fuel to gas
A control timer limits the purge duration.
fuel, the purge has full engine pressure available for
Fuel that is not purged from the fuel system will
the duration of the purge. After a failed start on
settle in the bottom of the manifold and flow into the
liquid, the purge has only engine crank speed
combustor case through the lower injectors. This
pressure for purging.
fuel cokes up the hot fuel injector heads and
Mars 1 26
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA2000
27 Mars 1
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA2000
Author: R. Morgan
Mars Question
Number 3
Provide general update on bearing modifications and recent experience.
31 Mars 3
GTUA2000 Solar Turbines Incorporated
Mars 3 32
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA2000
Author: T. Batakis
Mars Question
Number 4
Provide update on problems associated with effusion cooled injectors.
BACKGROUND
The two major components of the combustion
system are the combustor liner and the fuel injector.
These two components function together to mix and
burn the fuel and air and deliver hot gas to the
turbine with a prescribed temperature profile.
Proper distribution of fuel and air within the liner is
critical in achieving the performance objectives of
the combustion system. These objectives include
controlled emissions limits, high combustion
efficiency, adequate flame stability, and limited liner
metal temperatures to satisfy the system life
requirements.
In late 1996, the Mars 100 conventional com-
bustion fuel injector was changed from P/N 173470
(gas fuel) and P/N 198337 (dual fuel) to P/N
198834. This change was made to incorporate an
effusion-cooled face shroud on the injector tip,
reducing tip metal temperatures and eliminating
premature thermal erosion of the injector tip. Figure 24. Previous Fuel Injector
33 Mars 4
GTUA2000 Solar Turbines Incorporated
Mars 4 34
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA2000
Additional Enhancements
To further enhance performance of the combustion
system, modifications to the combustor liner were
investigated. The liner modifications consist of
shortening the film cooling panels to increase the
Figure 26. Modified Fuel Injector overall film cooling effectiveness in the primary
zone, shortening the cooling strip overhang to
increase its stiffness, and redistributing the cooling
Engine and rig qualification tests were con- air to provide more air to the high heat flux area.
ducted to validate the modified fuel injector design. The combustor liner design change currently in
This design has been incorporated in production process is intended to offer an additional im-
and overhaul engine configurations and is available provement in liner durability, but again is not re-
for field retrofit. quired to achieve the system design life with the
Rig tests were also conducted to determine the modified fuel injectors. Modifications to the com-
level of combustor liner damage that can be bustor liner will be incorporated in production and
tolerated with the modified fuel injectors. From this overhaul engines upon completion of development
testing, criteria have been established to assess and design qualification testing.
35 Mars 4
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA2000
Author: D. Baker
Mars Question
Number 5
Provide an update on current experience and development of sprag clutch.
37 Mars 5
GTUA2000 Solar Turbines Incorporated
Figure 27. Comparison of Current Sprag Clutch Assembly and New Spline Clutch Assembly
Mars 5 38
Developments in SoLoNOx
Low Emissions Systems
Contents
Page
INTRODUCTION 1
LEAN-PREMIXED COMBUSTION 1
SOLONOX DEVELOPMENT 3
MAINTAINING PRODUCT STABILITY 8
ADVANCED COMBUSTOR TECHNOLOGIES 10
SUMMARY 14
BIBLIOGRAPHY 15
1
Conventional
AIR 3700˚F
NOx EMISSIONS
INLET 2000˚F
NOx
SWIRLER
FUEL
Notes:
FLAME TEMPERATURE
Lean
Lean Premixed Premixed
PREMIXING
ZONE
PILOT MAIN
FUEL FUEL FUEL/AIR RATIO
981484-005M
2
ness of the consequences of large combustor pres- • Exchangeability – SoLoNOx engines to be
sure oscillations. Simply put, lean flames have compatible with conventional packages with
a greater tendency to cause pressure oscillations only minor package modifications.
that can lead to engine damage. It is recognized that
Combustion System
the reduced stability of a lean-premixed flame
contributes to combustor oscillations. Despite in- Development of the SoLoNOx combustion system
creased awareness, however, manufacturers are still required modifications to the following gas turbine
working to develop design methodologies and com- components:
bustion system features that prevent excessive com- • Combustor liner
bustor pressure oscillations.
• Fuel injectors
The three lean-premixed combustion system char- • Variable geometry systems
acteristics previously identified represent significant • Engine casings
constraints in efforts to develop advanced combus-
• Control system
tion systems that will further reduce gas turbine NOx
and CO emissions. • Fuel system
Combustor Liner
SOLONOX DEVELOPMENT
The lean-premixed combustor liner is generally similar
In 1987, Solar began a major development effort to to a conventional liner in terms of geometry, materials
integrate dry, low NOx combustion technology into its and construction (Figure 3). The most significant
product lines. Several potential low NOx combustion difference in the lean-premixed liner is an increase
techniques were evaluated and lean-premixed com- in combustor volume. The larger volume is required to
bustion was selected as the most promising approach ensure complete combustion and low CO and UHC
for near-term application. Advantages of lean-premixed emissions at the lower overall flame temperature of
combustion include the concept’s proven potential for the lean-premixed combustor (Figure 4). Since
low NOx emissions, general similarity of combustion combustor length, was constrained by the engine
system hardware to that used in conventional gas exchangeability objective, the increased combustor
turbines, and Solar’s extensive lean-premixed tech- volume was achieved by increasing the outer liner
nology base developed through earlier research work. diameter. The larger liner required an increase in the
The goals and objectives established for the SoLoNOx diameter of the combustor housing (Figure 5).
development program were:
• Emissions (ppmv @15% O2)
– Natural Gas:
NOx < 42 (introduction level)
< 25 (final level)
CO < 50
UHC < 25
– No. 2 Diesel
NOx < 96 (introduction level - gas start only)
< 60 (final level)
CO < 50
UHC < 25
• Low Emissions Operating Range – Continu-
ous compliance over the 50-to-100% load range
of the engine with ambient temperatures above
-20°C (0°F).
• Performance – Unchanged design point output
power and heat rate compared to a conventional
unit.
082-055M/S
• RAMD – Unchanged reliability, availability,
maintainability and durability levels compared to Figure 3. Lean-Premixed Annular Combustor
the conventional unit. Inlet Section
3
been developed to give improved CO compliance at
ambient temperatures below -20°C (0°F).
The current production SoLoNOx combustors use
louvers on the inside of the liner to direct air axially
along the walls to produce a protective film of cooling
air between the wall and the hot combustion gases
(Figure 6). This method of liner cooling is commonly
used in industrial and aircraft gas turbine combustors.
The cooling air film gradually mixes with the hot gas
stream; thus, a succession of louvers must be
placed along the liner to maintain the required tem-
peratures. This method of wall cooling uses relatively
HE-0129 high levels of cooling air because the wall just down-
stream of the louver must be overcooled in order to
Figure 4. Comparison of Conventional and
SoLoNOx Combustor Liners keep the wall adjacent to the next louver below the
maximum temperature limit.
Effusion cooling of the combustor walls has been
developed for the SoLoNOx combustor liners in order
to reduce the cooling air required and, in turn, reduce
CO emissions.
The injection of cooling air along the combustor
wall can quench the combustion reactions in the
CONVENTIONAL wall region and, thus, contributing to CO and UHC
emissions.
The basic geometry of the effusion-cooled liner is
the same as the louvered version. Effusion cooling is
obtained by starting a film of air with a cooling louver
at the front of the combustor and then continuously
feeding this film with additional air through a
multitude of small diameter holes laser drilled at an
SOLONOX angle of 20 degrees to the wall surface (Figure 7).
An effusion liner has the total cooling air reduced by
20% relative to the louvered liner. The thermal gradi-
ents in an effusion liner are significantly less than in
082-054M/S
COMBUSTOR CONVECTOR
WALL
Figure 5. Comparison of Conventional and
SoLoNOx Combustion Systems
(Cross Sections)
4
COMBUSTOR EFFUSION CONVECTOR
WALL HOLES
HOT GAS
COOLING
AIR
FILM STARTING
SLOT
120-003M
5
Titan™ gas turbines than were used for the Centaur® Engine Casings
and Taurus 60 gas turbines. Each technique, how- New combustor casings are required for the
ever, ultimately provided control of the primary zone SoLoNOx system due to the increased diameter of
airflow to maintain the primary zone fuel/air ratio near the combustor liner and larger fuel injectors. This
its optimum low emissions level during part-load larger combustor case also requires modification to
engine operation. the mating compressor diffuser and gas producer
Casing Bleed. Two-shaft Centaur 40S, Centaur 50S, turbine cases. The overall length of the engine
and Taurus 60S gas turbines used for gas remains unchanged.
compression and mechanical drives, bleed air from
the combustor casing at part load. This method of Control System
variable geometry has proved effective in controlling The SoLoNOx gas turbine control system is identical
the CO emissions while using the production bleed to the conventional gas turbine system at start-up and
valve of conventional engines. A consequence of air low load operation, but differs when the gas turbine
bleed, however, is a deterioration in engine part-load operates in the low emissions mode (above approxi-
thermal efficiency since compressed bleed air no mately 30 to 50% of rated load). The control system
longer enters the turbine section of the engine to for SoLoNOx engines modulates the variable geom-
produce power. etry systems to keep the combustion primary zone
Inlet Guide Vanes. Single-shaft Centaur 40S, temperature within a specified range. Accurate control
Centaur 50S, and Taurus 60S gas turbines used for of the primary zone temperature is critical to control-
power generation, maintain optimum primary zone ling NOx and CO emissions; however, direct mea-
fuel/air ratios by modulating the compressor inlet surement of this temperature, which is greater than
guide vanes (IGV). Closing the IGVs reduces the 1540°C (2800°F), over an extended period of time is
airflow through the engine compressor and combus- impractical. Standard gas turbines use the power
tor. No bleeding of high pressure air is required. turbine inlet temperature (T5) as an indirect measure-
Swirler Inlet Valve. In addition to casing bleed, ment of the combustor exit or turbine inlet tempera-
Centaur 40S, Centaur 50S, and Taurus 60S gas ture. The initial release of the SoLoNOx gas turbine
turbine fuel injectors have a two-position swirler inlet also used T5 for control.
valve (SIV) located upstream of the main air swirler, To control the SoLoNOx engine primary zone
which is used to control the airflow into the combustor temperature (Tpz) , the combustion zone temperature
primary zone. This valve is pneumatically actuated is derived from a thermodynamic heat balance across
from outside the combustor casing. In the open the combustion system. The parameters used in this
position, full airflow passes through the swirler. In the calculation are the compressor discharge tempera-
closed position, the slotted SIV reduces the primary ture, the power turbine inlet temperature, the flow split
zone airflow. By closing the SIV, the primary zone between the combustor primary zone air and the total
fuel/air ratio is changed in a step-wise fashion. Addi- combustor airflow, and the ratio of the power turbine
tional low emissions combustor operating range is inlet temperature to the first-stage turbine inlet tem-
obtained without any heat rate penalty. perature (T3).
Injector Bleed. In an effort to improve part-load heat
rate, the initial fuel injectors for the Taurus 70 and Mars Fuel System
gas turbines incorporated a different type of variable The natural gas fuel system for SoLoNOx gas
geometry system. A bleed port upstream of the main turbines includes two separate fuel circuits: one for
air swirler of each injector was used to bleed compres- the pilot system and one for the main. Separate fuel
sor discharge air slectively from the injectors. The 14 manifolds are used to supply pilot and main gas to the
fuel injector bleed ports were connected to a common respective fuel circuits of each fuel injector. The pilot
manifold and a single butterfly valve was used to and main throttle valves are both controlled with a
control the bleed flow. Bleeding primarily from the fuel single fuel actuator. During start-up and low load
injectors reduced the total amount of bleed air and, operation, both fuel circuits are active. When the
thus, minimized the effects on heat rate. Due to engine is in the low emissions mode, a pilot fuel
system cost and durability issues associated with the shutoff valve closes. A fixed percentage of the total
air ducting components, injector bleed has now been fuel continues to flow through the pilot circuit via an
replaced with a casing bleed configuration on these orifice in parallel with the pilot shutoff valve. This fixed
engines. pilot flow is used to stabilize the flame.
6
Initial Field Test Engines designs are now being incorporated into production
The first prototype production SoLoNOx gas turbines machines and have allowed the NOx guarantee
used in gas transmission service were installed at level to be reduced to 25 ppmv.
customer field evaluation sites in 1992. A Centaur Dual Fuel Capability
50S gas turbine, rated at 4100 kW (5500 hp), was
The design of the prototype dual fuel injectors
installed at the El Paso Natural Gas Company (EPNG)
installed in three Centaur 50S generator packages in
Window Rock Station near Window Rock, Arizona
Germany at the end of 1994 is shown in Figure 11. The
(Figure 10). In mid-1992, a Mars 100S gas turbine,
design concept is based on an air-blast injection
rated at 10 500 kW (14,000 hp), was installed at the
system for the liquid fuel delivery. This design has
Pacific Gas Transmission (PGT) station near Rosalia,
been successful in meeting the introductory require-
Washington.
ments for the liquid fuel option, but development to
Recent In-House Development meet the final emissions goals continues.
The most recent SoLoNOx development activities Production Engines
have been concentrated in two main areas:
Production Centaur, Taurus, Mars and Titan SoLoNOx
• Fuel injector modifications to allow a gas turbines are now in service as prime movers for
reduction in the guaranteed NOx level gas transmission, mechanical-drive applications, and
from 42 to 25 ppmv on natural gas fuel power generation throughout the U.S., Canada, Eu-
• Fuel injector development for No. 2 rope, and Japan. These engines have demonstrated
diesel firing the capability of meeting the emissions guarantees at
ambient temperatures between -20°C (0°F) in Canada
25 ppm NOx Guarantee Level and 50°C (120°F) in the Arizona/California desert.
Early development testing of the SoLoNOx Operation has also been successful on lower Btu fuels
system revealed that the combustion pressure such as Dutch Groningen gas, but with slightly higher
oscillations became unacceptably high as NOx emis-
sions were reduced to target levels. This was ad-
dressed in the short term by raising the pilot fuel flow
that reduced the pressure oscillations to acceptable
levels. Increasing the pilot fuel flow, however, in-
creased both NOx and CO levels, limiting SoLoNOx
production units to a NOx guarantee of 42 ppmv. MAIN GAS
The key to the long-term resolution of this problem FUEL SPOKES
LIQUID
was design optimization of the fuel injector premixing FUEL
section. Improved fuel injector configurations have
now been developed. Pressure oscillations are low at
all points within the operating envelope and do not
require high levels of pilot fuel. These new fuel injector
PREMIX
CHAMBER
LIQUID
082-063M/S INJECTION
PORTS 082-062M
7
CO emissions than natural gas. The experience to • Ability to address technical “surprises” that arise
date has shown excellent durability of the SoLoNOx during product introduction or extended opera-
combustion hardware. Inspections of the high time tion in the field. A prime example is the occur-
engines indicate that these engines will have life rence of unacceptably high combustor pressure
expectancies equivalent to Solar’s conventional en- oscillations, which have forced combustion sys-
gines. Table 1 presents a compilation of SoLoNOx tem design changes throughout the entire gas
engine operating experience. turbine manufacturing community.
In this environment of ever-changing driving forces,
Table 1. SoLoNOx Experience through Dec 1999 it is unlikely that low emissions combustion systems
will be able to maintain complete design stability.
Type Units Sold Estimated Hours
Combustor Performance Functions
(Millions)
A well-designed gas turbine combustor must satisfy a
Centaur 40 81 1787
wide range of performance criteria. The primary goal of
Centaur 50 91 1509
achieving essentially 100% combustion efficiency is
Mercury 50 9 2
only one of many requirements. Other requirements
Taurus 60 249 3645
include:
Taurus 70 83 659
Mars 90 34 660 • Producing a specific radial exit temperature
Mars 100 124 1393 profile in the gas flow delivered to the turbine
Titan 130 11 10 section of the engine
Total 682 9545 • Having a generally uniform circumferential exit
temperature (as reflected in the pattern factor) to
ensure turbine nozzle durability
MAINTAINING PRODUCT STABILITY • Having sufficient operating stability to permit
It is understandable that one might assume SoLoNOx engine light-off and acceleration to full-load
to be a mature Solar gas turbine technology now that conditions
eight years have passed and hundreds of turbines • Providing combustion stability during large on-
have been installed since 1992. Yet, numerous forces and off-load transients operating without exces-
have been at work over this time period that have sive combustor pressure oscillations
required SoLoNOx to evolve technically. A look to the
• Maintaining sufficiently low material tempera-
future suggests that these same forces will continue
tures to meet durability requirements (30,000
to act. To remain competitive, SoLoNOx, as well as
hours for Solar) even under highly cyclic operat-
other dry low emissions (DLE) systems, will have to
ing conditions
evolve. The forces that are driving the evolution of
SoLoNOx include: • Burning widely different fuels (gases and liquids)
in dual fuel systems
• Continuing need to reduce NOx emissions to 25 • Avoiding coking of combustor components dur-
ppm and lower to meet increasingly strict air ing liquid fuel operation
quality regulations
• Functioning acceptably with engine inlet tem-
• Promulgation of increasingly strict CO emis- peratures that may range from -20°F to as high
sions limits as 120°F
• Market desire for dual fuel capability (natural gas • Functioning acceptably in different configura-
and No. 2 distillate) at many power generation tions of the same turbine product. For example,
sites and the growing desire to utilize a broad gas turbines for power generation have different
range of alternate fuels that need to have no operating characteristics than engines for me-
visible smoke when operating on liquid fuels, chanical-drive applications. In addition, operat-
even during transient operation ing characteristics may vary in engines that are
• Product cost reductions specifically designated to operate at extremely
• Need to uprate engine performance over time to hot or extremely cold customer sites.
meet customer requirements • Meeting all of the above requirements while
• Desire to introduce new turbine products to maintaining trace emissions concentrations
provide a more diversified product line (NOx, CO and UHC) at low ppm levels
8
Clearly, combustor development can be a chal- • Uniformity with which fuel is delivered to each of
lenging activity, particularly when stringent emissions the 12 to 14 injectors. Non-uniform fuel flows will
requirements exist. Compounding this challenge is lead to non-uniform flame temperatures in the
the complexity of the gas turbine combustion pro- combustor. High local flame temperatures will
cess. The combustion process involves highly turbu- contribute to high NOx, while low temperature
lent, reacting, high temperature, two-phase (for liquid zones may cause excessive CO emissions.
fuels) flows that defy accurate quantitative modeling. • Variable rates of air leakage through seals be-
Consequently, commercial combustor development tween the combustor and other engine compo-
always involves an iterative process of analysis, nents can lead to air maldistributions. Seals
design, and performance testing. must provide for differential thermal expansion
Meeting Emissions Guarantees between engine components without allowing
excessive air leakage through the seal.
Although gas turbine output, efficiency and cost are
the most important considerations for the majority of One final phenomenon that impacts engine test
turbine operators, emissions have become a “gate” success relates to the occurrence of unacceptably
through which turbines must pass to compete in high combustor pressure oscillations. Combustor
emissions-sensitive markets. oscillations tend to be of the “rumble” type (below 100
Simplistically, the turbine manufacturer has two Hz) or of the “buzz” type (200 to 500 Hz). Excessive
emissions-related milestones that must be met to oscillations can lead to engine shutdown from high
ensure a viable low emissions product. First, the rotor vibrations or component failure due to high-cycle
turbine manufacturing process must be sufficiently fatigue. At the present time, the elements of combus-
repeatable to ensure that new engines consistently tor design that lead to high amplitude oscillations are
meet their emissions guarantees during both pre- not well understood.
shipment testing and engine start-up at the customer’s The primary means of combating oscillations is
site. In addition, the manufacturer must establish a through the use of pilot flames to enhance the stability
design that is sufficiently robust to meet emissions of the main flames downstream of each fuel injector.
guarantees over an extended period of operation at the In cases where oscillations occur, the amount of fuel
customer’s site. needed for the pilot injectors varies from engine to
engine. This is largely a reflection of manufacturing
Meeting Emissions Guarantees at the Factory
variability. In extreme cases, the pilot fuel required to
By and large, the major challenge in routinely meeting dampen oscillations may be so large as to push NOx
emissions guarantees with new engines relates to emissions above guaranteed levels. Combustor pres-
airflow management within the turbine. Production sure oscillations are undoubtedly the most frustrating
processes and tooling must be maintained so that the characteristic of lean-premixed combustion systems.
precise airflow distribution required within the engine Two engines, nominally identical, may have very
is achieved. This includes the percentage of air different levels of oscillations. Attempts to correlate
flowing to the fuel injectors and combustor liner, and oscillations with engine hardware characteristics
through other passages used to cool turbine compo- (manufacturing variances) have not been completely
nents downstream of the combustor. Manufacturing successful.
variations in any of the injector flow areas (there are
12 to 14 nominally identical injectors in Solar’s low Meeting Emissions Guarantees in the Field
emissions engines), in the open area of the combus- The sensitivity of emissions to combustor and engine
tor liner, or in the orifices used to control turbine component design features was discussed above.
cooling will have a direct impact on the flame tempera- From that discussion, it is clear that degradation in the
ture in the primary zone of the combustor. Since NOx combustion system components through extended
emissions are exponentially sensitive to flame tem- operation in the field may also impact emissions. The
perature, airflow distribution is critical in meeting potential mechanisms for emissions degradation are
emissions guarantees. If too much air passes through many, including:
one or more of the injectors, CO emissions may be
• Blockage of liner cooling holes by particulate
excessive. If too little air enters the combustor through
matter or thermal distortion of the liner cooling
the injectors, NOx emissions may be higher than
louvers
guaranteed.
Other factors that influence the emissions achieved • Fretting of component interfaces that leads to
with new turbines include: increased air leakage with time
9
• Formation of local cracks in the liner due to high- The development of robust low emissions gas
cycle fatigue, thermal stresses, or oxidation turbines across a product line is now fully appreciated
blockage of gas fuel ports, typically near 0.89- as the formidable task that it is. Low emissions turbine
mm (0.035-in.) diameter, or liquid fuel ports by development in a regulatory environment, in which the
fuel contaminants emissions targets are changing with time and are
• Blockage of liquid fuel ports or the degradation established on a regional basis, adds additional com-
of liquid fuel injection patterns due to coking plexity to an already complex task. Manufacturers
• Fuel leakage within the injectors due to thermal have to stretch their development resources to ad-
or mechanical stresses. The need for dual fuel dress issues at two levels. At the first level, the
injectors to have gas and liquid fuel main pas- challenge is to maintain a growing fleet of engines and
sages, gas and liquid fuel pilot passages, and a assure that current emissions regulations can be met.
pilot air passage makes these injectors very At another level, resources are needed to continue
complex. The potential for internal leakage is technology development for the stricter emissions
considerable. requirements that are anticipated for the future, but
not quantified definitively (either control level or imple-
Since component life is affected by turbine duty mentation date). Virtually every aspect of gas turbine
cycle, so too are emissions. Engines experiencing manufacturing is in a cascade effect (Figure 12). The
frequent cyclic loading and engines operated at peak engineering and manufacturing challenges are con-
conditions can be expected to show degradation in siderable. The costs to the manufacturer are much
hardware more rapidly and have a higher potential for greater than the cost increments reflected on the
undesirably high emissions. engine price tag.
Additionally, regarding turbine component degra- In light of the now recognized technical challenges,
dation with time, two other factors may be significant the progress made in the last eight years in reducing
in causing turbine emissions to be different in the field gas turbine NOx emissions from hundreds of parts per
from emissions measured at the factory. First, a wider million to under 25 ppm should be recognized as a
variation in ambient temperatures at the operator’s major technical achievement and a significant factor
site will almost always occur relative to Solar’s test in improved air quality. Manufacturers, however, are
venue in San Diego. Extremely hot or cold ambient still working to stabilize their product lines to consis-
conditions will impact NOx and CO emissions. In tently meet the 25 ppm NOx need. Industry needs a
addition, as neither natural gas nor No. 2 diesel are reasonable time to complete this step before it can
pure fuels, fuel composition variations can cause effectively address the development of cost-effective
variations in emissions levels. This may not only systems for even lower emissions levels.
occur between two different test sites, but also at an
operator’s site where significant fuel composition ADVANCED COMBUSTOR
variations occur over the life of the engine. TECHNOLOGIES
Product Stability Status In response to the trend toward more stringent emis-
sions regulations, gas turbine manufacturers are
Based on the rapidly growing experience base with
assessing their current lean-premixed systems to
lean-premixed combustion systems, gas turbine manu-
establish viable combustion system enhancements.
facturers are now well aware that emissions are
The areas that exhibit the greatest potential for lower
extremely sensitive to a number of factors, some of
emissions include advanced combustor liners and
which are beyond the control of the manufacturer.
more effective variable geometry systems.
These factors include:
Advanced Combustor Liners
• Combustor and engine design parameters
The present generation of lean-premixed combustors
• Manufacturing variability
primarily uses film cooling to maintain acceptably low
• Ambient conditions combustor wall temperatures. Film cooling involves
• Fuel composition variations the passage of cooling air through holes in the liner
• Component degradation over time and the formation of a cooling film on the hot
side of the liner using internally positioned louvers.
• Fuel quality (contaminants)
Preliminary research has shown that the method
• Engine duty cycle used to cool a lean-premixed combustor liner can
• Combustor pressure oscillations have a significant effect on emissions. Specifically,
10
• Air Management • Radial Profile • T5 Spread
MANDATED COMBUSTION • Low Emissions • Emissions Tradeoffs • Pattern Factor
EMISSIONS SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
ISSUES Operating Range • Oscillations
REDUCTION REDESIGN • Transient Stability • Rumble
• Rig Modifications
DEVELOPMENT • Controls Development
TEST • Field Testing
• Competing GT Manufacturers
COST • Other Prime Movers
• Electric Utility Grid
• Injectors
• Liners
DURABILITY
• Nozzles
• Blades
• Reliability
FIELD • Maintainability
SUPPORT • Overhaul Frequency
• Retrofit Capability
• Availability
19990469-001M
conventional film cooling can lead to reaction quench- are controlled solely through convective cooling by a
ing at the combustor primary zone wall. This quench- high velocity airstream on the cold side of the liner
ing process leads to high CO emissions because the (Figure 13). In most instances, the high heat flux from
CO, a combustion intermediate, is prevented from the flame requires augmenting of the backside con-
oxidizing to CO2. The quenching is traceable to the
injection of a relatively large flow of cooling air into the
BACKSIDE-COOLED
primary zone. CYLINDER CONVECTOR
The development of an advanced liner that does COOLING AIR
not promote reaction quenching will provide a two-fold
benefit in terms of emissions. First, of course, CO
emissions will be reduced. Additionally, the lower CO
levels will allow combustor reoptimization to a lower
flame temperature. This will produce lower NOx levels
PRIMARY
along with the lower CO concentrations. ZONE
Development work is ongoing in an effort to
mitigate the reaction quenching characteristic of
film cooling. Technologies being studied include
augmented backside-cooled (ABC) and ceramic com-
COOLING AIR
bustor liners. BACKSIDE-COOLED CONVECTOR
CYLINDER
Augmented Backside-Cooled (ABC) Liners 120-004M
Backside-cooled liners forego cooling air injection Figure 13. Augmented Backside-Cooled (ABC)
completely. Instead, combustor wall temperatures Combustor Cross Section
11
vective process to keep liner wall temperatures from gas turbine in a joint Solar/Department of Energy
becoming excessive. Turbulators in the form of trip (DOE) program . One of the primary program goals is
strips, fins, and pins act to increase the cooling flow to explore the potential for lower emissions using
turbulence at the liner wall and augment the heat these advanced combustor technologies.
removal process. The ABC combustor utilizes a backside-cooled
Although effective in reducing CO formation through primary zone with the dome and dilution sections
quenching, backside cooling is a challenge to maintaining the current production metal configuration
implement because of the high flame temperatures (Figure 14). A yttria-stabilized zirconia TBC is applied
and heat fluxes associated with gas turbine to the hot sides of the two primary zone cylinders.
combustors. An additional degree of liner protection Testing to date has been very successful. A short
can be achieved through the application of a in-house gas turbine test documented performance
thermal barrier coating (TBC) on the hot sides and acceptable wall temperatures at full-load condi-
of the liner walls. These TBCs are frequently com- tions. A 50-hour cyclic test was completed to evaluate
posed of zirconia-based materials that are plasma- the TBC spalling resistance. Results from both tests
sprayed on the liner. A typical TBC of approximately are encouraging and significant emissions reductions
0.25 mm (0.01 in.) can reduce wall temperatures by with this liner design were observed. Figure 15 pre-
approximately 40oC (72oF). sents typical ABC liner emissions data.
Ceramic Combustor Liners
The ceramic combustor addresses the CO quenching
issue in the same manner as the ABC liner. Cooling air
injection through the liner is avoided, thus providing
potential emissions benefits. These emissions ben-
efits have been found to be very similar to those of the
ABC combustor.
In the ceramic combustor configuration employing
a continuous fiber ceramic composites (CFCCs) de-
sign, the inner and outer combustor cylinders that
form the combustor primary zone have been rede-
signed to incorporate CFCC cylinders. The ceramic
cylinders are housed within metallic cylinders that
bear the structural and pressure loads on the assem-
bly.
The advantage of the ceramic combustor versus
an ABC combustor is that ceramic materials can 120-007M/S
tolerate higher temperatures. Typical CFCC materials
are expected to give good service at liner tempera- Figure 14. ABC Combustor for Centaur 50S Turbine
tures near 1100oC (2011oF) as opposed to the 850oC
(1560oF) limit for typical metallic combustor liners.
25
Monolithic ceramics can tolerate even higher tem-
peratures, but are characteristically brittle. Currently,
NOx AND CO @15% O2, ppm
12
At the present time, a field test of a production Variable Geometry Systems
prototype Centaur 50 ABC combustor is ongoing. The Variable geometry systems provide control over the
field test will demonstrate performance over an ex- airflow entering the gas turbine combustor primary and
tended time period and over a wider range of turbine dilution zones. In a non-variable geometry combus-
operation. More than 10,000 hours of successful tion system, the flow split between the primary and
operation have been logged. The prototype ceramic dilution zones remains constant as turbine load var-
combustor design parallels the ABC design (Figure ies. As a result, the operating range over which low
16). emissions can be maintained is quite narrow. Varying
The primary zone combustor cylinders of the the combustor airflow split allows the primary zone
production Centaur 50 gas turbine liner were replaced stoichiometry to be maintained at an optimum condi-
with SiC CFCC cylinders. The combustor has under- tion across a larger portion of the turbine load range.
gone extensive testing at Solar in both combustor rigs The ultimate benefit is a wider range of low emissions
and an in-house gas turbine. The testing has docu- operation due to a finer degree of control over the
mented that the CFCC combustor meets all perfor- combustion process.
mance goals established for the liner and has Current lean-premixed gas turbines use compres-
emissions essentially identical to the ABC combus- sor air bleed or inlet guide vane (IGV) modulation to
tor. perform the variable geometry function. Although
At this point, the development focus is on CFCC effective, both approaches have a negative impact.
material durability. In a 4000-hour field evaluation, the Air bleed results in a loss in turbine efficiency at part
CFCC cylinders showed a moderate degree of oxida- load. IGV modulation is suitable only for single-shaft
tion. It has been determined that the 1200oC (2190oF) gas turbines, where the compressor and gas genera-
temperature limit specified early in the program for tor are mechanically linked, and for cogeneration
these materials is too high for a gas turbine environ- applications which can result in excessive boiler inlet
ment. Design modifications have been completed to temperatures at part-load conditions.
augment the cooling of the CFCC cylinders and to drop Variable power turbine nozzles can be used
the temperatures to the 1100oC (2011oF) level. Dura- to perform the variable geometry function; however,
bility is expected to increase at the lower temperature. the use of modulating components in the high
Field testing of this combustor design is under way. temperature turbine section raises gas turbine
In general, the Solar/DOE program results have durability issues.
demonstrated a significant emissions advantage Development work is focused on a system that will
with the CFCC and ABC combustors. In terms of the enhance the performance of low emissions gas tur-
CFCC liner, additional testing is expected to docu- bines at part load.
ment material durability. CFCC costs, however, are
still considered too high for widespread commercial Variable Geometry Valve System
acceptance. Solar is developing a variable geometry system for
near-term applications where this function is removed
from the fuel injector and performed by a series of
valves external to the combustor liner/fuel injector
subsystem. Figure 17 depicts such a system being
developed for the new 14.5-MW (19,500-hp) Titan 130
gas turbine.
In the Titan 130 gas turbine design, variable geom-
etry valves are integrated into the combustor housing.
The housing divides the compressor discharge flow
into two airstreams that flow separately to the injec-
tors and the combustor liner. The series of 14 vari-
able geometry valves can be modulated to alter the
flow split between the injectors and the liner.
The variable geometry valve system has the poten-
tial advantage of better durability than the variable
120-009M/S
geometry injectors due to of its rugged design. This
valve system, however, does have two shortcomings.
Figure 16. CFCC Liner for Centaur 50S Gas Turbine First, it provides flow control over the total airflow to
13
VARIABLE Concept Description
GEOMETRY
VALVE Catalytic combustion produces extremely low NOx
levels by operating at very low flame temperatures of
1250 to 1350oC (2280 to 2460oF). Catalytic combustor
flame temperatures are below levels that can be
sustained in a lean-premixed combustor. The major
element of this ultra-low NOx technology is a catalytic
reactor that initiates and stabilizes the combustion
process at conditions not normally sustainable
through homogeneous (lean-premixed) combustion.
Catalytic combustor components for gas turbine
applications are illustrated in Figure 18.
The catalytic system has a number of features that
are reminiscent of lean-premixed combustion and, in
fact, a catalytic combustor can correctly be consid-
ered a catalytically stabilized, lean-premixed system.
A typical catalytic combustor includes the following
120-013M/S
components: preburner, fuel injection/premixing sec-
tion, catalytic reactor, homogeneous burn-out zone,
Figure 17. Titan 130 Gas Turbine Variable part-load injector, and variable geometry system. All
Geometry System but the preburner and catalytic reactor are found in
some form in the lean-premixed combustor.
14
emissions gas turbines and develop new and cleaner BIBLIOGRAPHY
combustion technologies. Etheridge, C.J., 1994, “Mars SoLoNOx Lean-Premix
Improvements being advanced for lean-premixed Combustion Technology in Production,” ASME Paper
combustion systems include advanced liner cooling 94-GT-255, International Gas Turbine and Aeroengine
technologies and more effective variable geometry Congress and Exposition, The Hague, Netherlands.
systems. These technologies are well along in their Mutasim, Z.Z., 1998, “Coating Technology Ad-
development and are nearing or are already in the vancements for Industrial Gas Turbines,” TTS117,
field-test stage. Full commercialization will depend Turbomachinery Technology Seminar, Solar
upon a combination of technical success, market Turbines Incorporated, San Diego, California.
need, and economics. Rocha, G., Etheridge, C.J., and Hunsberger, R.E.,
Experience with lean-premixed systems over the 1998, “Evolution of the Titan 130 Industrial Gas
last few years indicates that there is a practical lower Turbine,” TTS122, Turbomachinery Technology
NOx limit associated with lean-premixed combustion. Seminar, Solar Turbines Incorporated, San Diego,
This limit appears to be in the 9-to-15 ppmv range. To California.
achieve NOx levels below this through low emissions Schneider, P.H., 1998, “New Technologies in Ad-
combustion, gas turbine manufacturers are looking to vanced Turbine Systems,” TTS130, Turbomachinery
catalytic combustion as the most likely candidate. Technology Seminar, Solar Turbines Incorporated,
Although under development for nearly 20 years, San Diego, California.
catalytic combustion has yet to prove itself totally in Smith, K.O. and Fahme A., 1996, “Experimental
a gas turbine environment. This is attributable to both Assessment of the Emissions Benefits of a Ceramic
unresolved technical issues and the lack of a signifi- Gas Turbine Combustor,” ASME Paper 96-GT-318,
cant market need. The state of catalytic combustion International Gas Turbine and Aeroengine Congress
today is comparable to the status of lean-premixed and Exhibition, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
combustion 10 years ago. Significant rig testing is Smith, K.O. and Fahme, A., 1997, “Testing of a Full
ongoing, but the technology has not yet progressed to Scale, Low Emissions, Ceramic Gas Turbine Com-
the long-term field-test stage. Significant technical bustor,” ASME Paper 97-GT-156, International Gas
milestones in the areas of catalyst and substrate Turbine and Aeroengine Congress and Exhibition,
durability, system integration and controls remain to Orlando, Florida.
be achieved. Additionally, the economics of the tech- Smith, K.O. and Fahme, A., 1998, “Backside-
nology need to be established as acceptable for the Cooled Combustor Liner for Lean Premixed Combus-
catalytic combustor to succeed in the marketplace. tion,” International Gas Turbine and Aeroengine
One issue affecting the development of advanced Congress and Exhibition, Stockholm, Sweden.
gas turbine combustion technology is the uncertainty Solt, J.C., 1997, Catalytica, personnal communi-
in emissions levels that will be required in the future cation, Mountainview, California.
and a timeline for their implementation. Manufactur- van Roode, M., Brentnall, W.D., Smith, K.O.,
ers are unable to focus development resources cost- Edwards, B.D., Faulder, L.J., and Norton, P.F., 1996,
effectively on well-established emissions targets, but “Ceramic Stationary Gas Turbine Development
must broaden development efforts to meet a range of Program-Third Annual Summary,” ASME Paper 96-
emissions constraints. With limited resources avail- GT-460, International Gas Turbine and Aero-
able, this results in a slower pace of technology engine Congress and Exhibition, Birmingham, United
development. Kingdom.
15
Turbomachinery Technology Seminar
Page
INTRODUCTION 104-1
BACKGROUND 104-1
INLET AIR CONSIDERATIONS 104-2
WATER QUALITY ISSUES 104-5
FUEL QUALITY ISSUES 104-7
LUBE OIL CONSIDERATIONS 104-8
VIBRATION PROBLEMS 104-9
HEAT RECOVERY PROBLEMS 104-10
MAINTENANCE PROGRAM BENEFITS 104-10
SUMMARY 104-11
BIBLIOGRAPHY 104-12
104-1
745-to-3730 kW (1000-to-5000 hp) range are a result quate supply of clean air. Most air inlet systems have
of poor maintenance practice and that most unsched- metal ducting and supports made of carbon-based
uled equipment outages are preventable. steel. This steel is painted first with an inorganic zinc
If all unscheduled equipment failures could be primer, then with an epoxy polyamide primer and,
eliminated, the average product TBI in the 745-to- finally, with a polyurethane top coating.
3730 kW (1000-to-5000 hp) range could be increased These metal air inlet ducts generally use rubber
by 17%. From an equipment cost standpoint, this gaskets and waterproof sealants at joints and flanges
equates to a 22% overall reduction in overhaul costs to prevent air from bypassing the filter media. How-
that turbomachinery owners would pay if mainte- ever, even the best air inlet systems often deteriorate
nance programs were improved to avoid unsched- with the passage of time and exposure to the ele-
uled equipment outages. ments and, without corrective maintenance, some of
With this basic understanding of how costly un- these materials may break loose and cause FOD to
scheduled gas turbine outages can be, several pri- the compressor. For example, compressor damage
mary areas should be reviewed where poor and fouling may result from:
maintenance practices typically result in premature • Chipping or scaling (Figure 2) of the
gas turbine overhauls and failures. These areas paint in the air inlet system
include inlet air, water, fuel, lube oil, vibration, and • Rust scale (Figure 3) where oxidized
heat recovery systems. Some of these maintenance material is ingested into the engine
issues are relatively well known to experienced tur- • Ingestion of sound attenuating or
bine users, but problems continue to occur which silencing material
could have been prevented by proper maintenance
programs and timely corrective action.
104-001M/S 104-005M/S
Figure 1. Typical New Air Inlet System Figure 3. Area Rusted through in Air Inlet System
104-2
Ducting gaskets and sealing material also may In addition, some air inlet systems are rendered
become hardened or brittle and crack with age. If ineffective due to cavitation of the filter media (Figure
these materials disintegrate, they can enter the inlet 7) or improper sealing or seating of the air filters in the
airstream and cause damage when they are ingested filter housings.
by the engine. In cases of premature overhaul or failure, the air
inlet system itself all too frequently has not been
Unfiltered Contaminants
included in a planned maintenance program. The
The ingestion of contaminated air resulting from air entire air inlet system should be inspected both inside
inlet system leakage or dirty or deficient filtration and out on a yearly basis, preferably prior to the start
media also can cause extensive corrosive pitting of the winter operating season.
throughout an engine. Compressor blades and stator
Maintenance Recommendations. The system
vanes (Figure 4) sustain the majority of the damage.
should be checked thoroughly for signs of rust, peel-
Contaminated air also can enter the buffer seal air
ing paint on the inside of the air inlet ducting, leaks in
passages, causing friction, wear and damage to the
the air inlet system, and cracking of gasket or silicon
carbon seals (Figure 5). Wear on the forward turbine
material on ducting joints and covers. For a 2983-kW
seal allows oil to seep past the seals and into the
(4000-hp) ISO-rated gas turbine, a 25.4 mm (1 in.) air
compressor airstream, adding more contamination
inlet system pressure differential causes a power
to the compressor section.
loss of approximately 0.5%. Proper operation of all air
Air inlet systems frequently are equipped with
inlet “blow-in” doors should be verified and the differ-
“blow-in doors,” which are actuated and opened
ential pressure measurements across the filter media
(Figure 6) if the pressure differential across the filter
must be within allowable limits.
media becomes too high. Without proper mainte-
nance, these systems sometimes malfunction or
simply remain open if the differential across the air
filter remains high. As with other types of leaks in the
air inlet system, an open blow-in door will cause a
reduction in air inlet filter back pressure, but unfiltered
air will continue to enter the turbine.
104-006M/S
104-003M/S 104-007M/S
Figure 5. Damaged Carbon Seal and Bearing Figure 7. Air Inlet Filter Needing Replacement
104-3
lt is important to ensure that any silencing material
used in the air inlet system has not deterior-
ated so it will not break loose and cause FOD to the
compressor section. ln some cases, as when operat-
ing conditions have changed substantially or where
damage or deterioration to the existing air inlet
system is extensive, it may be advisable to install a
new air inlet system (Figure 8) with maintenance-
saving features, such as self-cleaning pre-filters
and/or stainless-steel duct work for offshore and
corrosive environments.
Avoiding dirty or fouled engine air compressors
may be the biggest opportunity for turbine opera-
tors to increase efficiency and reduce operating costs.
However, compressor water washing (Figure 9) is a
routine maintenance task that often is taken
for granted.
Some turbine owners clean their turbine air com-
pressors on a regular time interval, while others will
perform compressor cleaning only when compressor
discharge pressure (Pcd) has declined, usually about
5% from baseline (Figure 10). It is best to establish
the compressor discharge pressure baseline, which
may vary somewhat with changes in ambient tem-
perature, when the equipment is new or when the gas
turbine has just been overhauled.
A fouled compressor penalizes engine operation
because more fuel is required to maintain the same
power output. ln T5 temperature-topped operation,
reduced compressor discharge pressure associated
with fouling equates to a loss in mechanical or electri-
cal output. Every year, several gas turbines are 104-010M/S
removed from operating service for overhaul Figure 9. Typical Water Washing Process
only to find that the loss of performance was due to a
fouled compressor and that the compressor section
of the turbine needed to be thoroughly cleaned.
104-008M/S 104-011M/S
Figure 8. New “Huff-and-Puff” Air Filter System Figure 10. Typical Turbotronic Display of Pcd over Time
104-4
The gas turbine manufacturer’s guidelines pro- the air inlet duct, which allow water to seep into the
vided in the operation and maintenance manuals and inlet system, or moisture, which puddles in low spots
in applicable service bulletins should be followed inside the air inlet duct. After solidifying, the ice slags
carefully when compressor cleaning is undertaken. off and impinges upon the first-stage compressor
Using the right quantity of compressor cleaning blades.
agent is essential because an insufficient amount Many turbine operators have the impression that
will not provide adequate results and using too ice ingestion is a serious problem only in extremely
much cleaner may cause bent airfoils in the compres- cold ambient temperatures. However, most damage
sor, as well as bearing damage from excessive from ice ingestion occurs during turbine operation in
loading. Another important step is to ensure that all ambients between -7 and 5°C (20 and 40°F) and
liquid is purged from the engine following routine when there is some evidence of moisture, such as
water-wash cleanings. Some overhauls become nec- fog, rain, or snow.
essary as a direct result of inadequate purging of Ice ingestion damage to an engine generally will
cleaning fluids that subsequently cause corrosion in result in a slight loss of turbine performance and often
the compressor variable guide vane area. is accompanied by a noticeably different noise profile
The operator also should make sure that the entire during turbine operation.
diameter of the compressor is cleaned. Cleaning one Maintenance Recommendations. Although anti-ic-
section of the assembly will improve compressor ing features are available commercially for air inlet
discharge pressure only slightly and may create an systems, the best means to prevent ice ingestion is to
imbalance that will cause compressor rotor vibration. seal any leaks in the system and to prevent water or
Use of abrasive turbine compressor cleaning agents snow from accumulating on top of them.
should be used as a last resort on some engines
and never on second-generation engines with com- WATER QUALITY ISSUES
pressor coatings and internally cooled nozzles and ln recent years, overhauls have increased due to
blades. To prevent thermal shock to engine compo- operators using water beyond specification limits in
nents, a cool-down procedure may be required be- combustor water-injection systems for NOx emission
fore water or other liquids are injected into the control (Figure 12) or in evaporative coolers to cool
compressor assembly. the turbine inlet air.
Ice Ingestion Hot Corrosion
During winter, engines may fail from ice ingestion. Before the recent introduction and acceptance of dry,
The FOD generally is not extensive because the lean-premixed combustion technology for NOx pre-
ingested ice ordinarily damages only a few first-stage
compressor blades (Figure 11) and then breaks up
and melts as the ice moves aft through the compres-
sor rotor. The ice usually forms due to either leaks in
104-009M/S 104-012M/S
Figure 11. First-Stage Compressor Blade Figure 12. Typical Package with Water Injection
with Ice Damage for NOx Control
104-5
vention, the most popular means to reduce NOx
formation was to inject water or steam into the com-
bustor. While this process has been effective, several
engines have sustained significant hot corrosion dam-
age in their combustor and gas producer sections
due to the high levels of sodium commonly found in
untreated water. Figure 13 shows a first-stage tur-
bine blade that sustained extreme hot corrosion
damage after a few hours of operation with water for
NOx control which did not meet manufacturer speci-
fications.
Evaporative coolers or chillers (Figure 14) have
been used by turbine operators in locations with high
ambient temperatures and relatively low humidity to
reduce air inlet temperatures and, thus, to increase
engine output. However, water or mist carry-over into
the turbine can occur from evaporative coolers.
If the water used for the evaporative cooler does
not meet manufacturer specifications, extensive dam-
age to the turbine hot section components can occur.
Figure 15 illustrates the damage to a first-stage blade
where untreated evaporative cooling water carried
over into the turbine.
Maintenance Recommendations. To overcome
problems associated with hot corrosion of turbine 104-014M/S
components, the water specifications always must Figure 14. Typical Evaporative Cooler
be adhered to stringently for all water ingested.
This includes water that is used for wet NOx
control, evaporative air inlet coolers, or compressor
wash water.
Continuous water quality monitoring is essential
for water-injected NOx reduction systems because,
given the large quantities of water required, even a
few hours operation with water that is out of specifi-
cation can cause serious damage. The turbine should
104-015M/S
104-6
3356-kW (4500-hp) turbine operating with a 0.65 wa-
ter-to-fuel ratio.
fuel ports occurred in several of the nozzles. This b. Condition with Clogged Fuel Injectors
restriction or blocking (Figure 17) forces the natural
gas out of the other unblocked ports at a higher Figure 17. Combustor Flame Patterns
pressure, which causes the flame pattern in the
combustor to move aft. The aft movement of the
flame pattern will cause thermal erosion on the first-
stage turbine nozzle (Figure 18). The blockage also
will divert the gas flow and can cause thermal erosion
of the combustor outer liner as well (Figure 19).
104-020M/S
104-018M/S 104-021M/S
Figure 16. Carbon Build Up on Fuel Nozzles Figure 19. Combustor Liner Thermal Damage
104-7
Liquid Fuels filter and separator systems are installed. At sites
Liquid fuels also have the potential to become con- where fuel gas pressures drop more than 14 bar (200
taminated, most commonly due to the presence of psi) to operating fuel gas pressure, consideration
water or paraffin waxes or through poor or dirty fuel should also be given to the installation of fuel gas
storage. Liquid fuels need to be checked periodically heaters to prevent liquid condensation.
on dual fuel and standby power generation units for
water accumulation and contamination. LUBE OIL CONSIDERATIONS
While gas turbines can operate on a wide variety Turbine failure due to lube oil issues has caused
of fuels, a review of fuel suitability and compli- problems for some operators. Wear metals and con-
ance with manufacturer specifications is critical for taminants that are not filtered out of the lube oil
turbine life. system can cause scoring on bearings and journals.
Maintenance Recommendations. Damage to en- Contaminated Oil
gines from liquid hydrocarbons in the fuel gas can be Lube oil contamination frequently is a result of adding
avoided by the installation and proper maintenance oil or oil additives which do not comply with manufac-
of fuel filter and separator systems (Figure 20) in- turer specifications. ln the case of turbine-driven gas
stalled near the turbine package. Analysis of gas fuel boost compressors with wet oil seal systems, the oil
contaminants always should be made and liquids in can become contaminated after extended use and
the gas fuel control filter should be checked. Scrub- reflect an increase in acidity. ln other cases, sealing
ber vessels, while important for removing large quan- material commonly used on gearboxes and intercon-
tities of liquids, usually are not adequate for gas nect coupling covers can deteriorate and be carried
turbine fuel systems. into the lube oil sump.
Proper maintenance of scrubber vessel level Figure 21 shows thrust bearings from a gas turbine
switches and dump valves is required, even if fuel that has been operated with contaminated lube oil.
There are numerous small scratches on the surface
of the babbitt material and the accumulation of babbitt
in the oiling glands of the aft thrust washer. Over an
extended period of time, this babbitt would build up in
the oiling glands and restrict the flow of lube oil to the
bearing, resulting in oil starvation and bearing failure.
Some lube oil-related failures are the result of
starting or operating the engine in cold ambient
temperatures without heating the lube oil sump
or bypassing the lube oil coolers until the lube oil
has reached a satisfactory operating temperature.
104-022M/S 104-023M/S
Figure 20. Typical Fuel Gas Filter/Separator Figure 21. Thrust Washers
104-8
Depending on lube oil type, the oil operating tempera-
ture without a sump heater should be between 16 and
30°C (60 and 85°F).
Maintenance Recommendations. Lube oil analy-
sis (Figure 22) is an excellent maintenance tool
to help determine the condition of the engine. Spec-
trochemical oil analysis to detect increas-
ed levels of wear metals is available from a variety
of sources. The analysis also should check for oil
viscosity, the presence of water, and the total
acid number.
The key to a successful lube oil analysis program
is to watch for changes and trends in the condition of
the oil over time. Turbine lube oil needs to be changed
only if the oil is beyond manufacturer specifications.
In the event of a change to a different lube oil or oil
additive when the oil tank is refilled, the operator must
make sure it meets the gas turbine manufacturer’s 104-025M/S
104-9
Many good vibration analysis programs (Figure 25)
are available to customers. As with lube oil analysis,
the key to good equipment vibration
programs is establishing a vibration baseline or sig-
nature at the time a new turbine is installed or just
after overhaul.
104-10
AIR INLET EXHAUST EXHAUST
FILTER BYPASS SILENCER
SILENCER
DIVERTER
VALVE SUPPLEMENTARY
BURNER
104-029M
When allowed to persist, all of the problems dis- cline in Pcd would result in a loss of approximately
cussed above, including inlet air considerations, wa- $300 every day on power produced at $0.08/kWh.
ter quality issues, fuel quality issues, lube oil
considerations, vibration problems, and heat recovery SUMMARY
problems, will result in a reduction in equipment Turbomachinery owners should make the effort to
performance and possibly either immediate or long- improve or correct maintenance practices to improve
term damage to the turbine equipment. Component equipment performance, extend the time between
damage as a result of these problems almost always overhaul, and increase the life of the equipment.
will be evident at overhaul. Operators should witness the disassembly of the unit
Furthermore, problems such as a dirty turbine in the overhaul shop, even if an exchange engine is
compressor section or a high air inlet filter differential used, because this will help them understand what
can result not only in earlier and costlier turbine was wrong inside the unit and gain additional insights
overhauls, but also in loss of turbine efficiency and into what may have caused the damage. Owners
additional operating costs. For example, a 3505-kW should review the condition of the engine, study the
(4700-hp) turbine will lose about 22 kW (30 hp) for engine condition report and then take the next steps
each psi of compressor discharge pressure lost due by performing a root-cause analysis of the problems.
to contamination. A 5% decline in compressor dis- Those findings should initiate positive changes in
charge pressure would equate to a loss of 145 kW maintenance and operating procedures.
(200 hp), with the fuel flow remaining constant. If the One of the major advantages of recent advance-
natural gas cost were $2 per thousand scf, this would ments in microprocessor-based turbine control sys-
result in an additional fuel cost of $35,000 annually. tems is their ability to not only record performance
The most serious economic effect on the turbine data, such as compressor discharge pressure, vibra-
operator, however, would be the loss of production tion data, operating temperatures, and turbine power
and profit that the equipment could have generated. output, but also to trend the data and to predict when
If the 3505-kW (4700-hp) turbine in this example corrective action such as compressor cleaning needs
were in a power generation application, the 5% de- to be performed.
104-11
By incorporation of improved maintenance prac- Lehmann, D.M. and Keller, B.B., 1986, “Techno-
tices and control system advancements, turbine us- logical Advancements for Servicing of Turboma-
ers can help avoid unscheduled equipment outages, chinery,” TTS35, Turbomachinery Technology
increase the average time between inspections (TBls), Seminar, Solar Turbines Incorporated, San Diego,
reduce the cost of overhaul expense, lower the cost of California.
turbine operation, and increase the value of their Hsu, L.L. and Aurrecoechea, J.M., 1995, “Air, Fuel
turbomachinery. and Water Management,” TTS89, Turbomachinery
Technology Seminar, Solar Turbines Incorporated,
BIBLIOGRAPHY San Diego, California.
Corzine, E.S., 1995, “Turbine Control Systems Ryan, W.T. and Tse, K.B., 1995, “Interpretation of
Update,” TTS72, Turbomachinery Technology Vibration Data on High Speed Turbomachinery,”
Seminar, Solar Turbines Incorporated, San Diego, TTS112, Turbomachinery Technology Seminar,
California. Solar Turbines Incorporated, San Diego, California.
Jepson, P.B., 1989, “Documenting and Reducing Woods, C.S. and Bliss, W.J., 1992, “Quality in
Gas Compression Equipment Maintenance Costs,” Maintenance,” TTS81, Turbomachinery Technology
TTS58, Turbomachinery Technology Seminar, Seminar, Solar Turbines Incorporated, San Diego,
Solar Turbines Incorporated, San Diego, California. California.
104-12
SERVICE BULLETIN
NOTICE: The Type of Change and Recommended Compliance specified reflects Solar’s best judgment regarding the Ser-
vice Bulletin. All questions should be directed to your Solar Field Service Representative. Solar, Saturn, Centaur,
Taurus, Mars, SoLoNOx, and Turbotronic are trademarks of Solar Turbines Incorporated. Cat and Caterpillar are
trademarks of Caterpillar Inc. Specifications subject to change without notice.
NUMBER: 2.0/102A
ISSUED: April 1998
REVISED: February 1999
PRODUCT: Mars
MODEL(S): All
Specifics: Mars Turbines with Hydraulic, Pneumatic and Electric Start Systems
Purpose:
To alert Customers of the availability of an improved sprag clutch for the Mars start system.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Continued product development has resulted in the availability of an improved overrunning (sprag)
clutch for the Mars Turbine start system. Solar now incorporates the newest version Accessory
Drive Assembly (P/N 117850-30) in all new production start systems and the improvement is avail-
able for all replacements in the field.
DESCRIPTION:
The previous P/N 117850-10 and P/N 117850-20 Accessory Drive Assemblies can be upgraded to
a P/N 117850-30. The new overrunning starter clutch has inherent friction that causes the starter to
rotate after starter dropout. It is normal for this to occur, and speeds up to 5400 rpm can be reached
without any detrimental effect to the starter system.
NUMBER: 2.0/103
ISSUED: April 2001
REVISED:
PRODUCT: Mars/Titan
MODEL(S): All
Specifics: Mars/Titan Turbines with Hydraulic or Electric Start Systems
Purpose:
To announce the availability of an improved clutch for the Mars and Titan start systems.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Continued product development has produced an improved clutch system for the Mars and Titan
turbine starter systems. This improved design incorporates a Synchro-Self-Shifting Clutch system
that will improve the Mars and Titan clutch assembly’s reliability. In addition, the new clutch as-
sembly will not cause the starter to rotate after starter drop-off.
Solar now incorporates this improved design of the starter clutch assembly, P/N 301575-100, in all
new production hydraulic and electric start systems. The previous P/N 117850-10, P/N 117850-20
and 117850-30 clutch assemblies employs a sprag clutch (Figure 1) and can be upgraded to the
improved design P/N 301575-100 (Figure 2), at the customer’s discretion.
Please contact the local Solar Field Service office for assistance as required.
NUMBER: 3.3/106A
ISSUED: June 1999
REVISED: April 2001
PRODUCT: Mars 90, Mars 100
MODEL(S): All
Specifics: Mars Standard Combustion "Dual Fuel" Applications
—REVISION NOTICE—
This revision replaces Service Bulletin 3.3/106. The previous
bulletin must be removed and discarded. This version announces
the availability of an improved retrofit kit.
Purpose:
• To announce the availability of an improved retrofit kit to alleviate the fuel migration
problem of dual fuel Mars engines.
• To inform customers about additional kit modifications and control logic changes to
optimize the purging of the air assist and liquid fuel lines after a turbine shut down.
DESCRIPTION OF KIT:
1. ORIGINAL KIT:
The PCD forward purge system has been developed for the Mars dual fuel standard en-
gines to alleviate the fuel migration problem on a running turbine. This system prevents
the entrapment of liquid fuel into the gas passageways of the dual fuel injectors and the
resulting plugging of these passageways with coke and carbon. A positive flow of PCD
air through the gas fuel manifold and the gas passageways of the injectors prevents the
entrance of liquid fuel. This positive flow of PCD is achieved by the use of a connect-
ing line between the combustion chamber housing and the gas fuel manifold through
two automated high temperature shutoff valves. The pressure drop across the combus-
tor liner provides the pressure differential to achieve the airflow. Without this purging
ACTION REQUIRED:
Gas fuel line purge kits have been developed for field installation on dual fuel packages to correct
the fuel migration problem. Contact your local Solar Field Service office for assistance in ordering
the appropriate Retrofit Kit and to schedule its installation. The kit will be provided free of charge.
The software included in the new kit also addresses and corrects the additional fuel line purge
problems mentioned in this Service Bulletin. Most modifications are software changes only, but
one small wiring change is required for full implementation of the modifications. The torch drain
valve solenoid (L 348-3) must be electrically separated from the liquid torch valve control (L348-1)
and must be connected to a separate discrete output of the PLC. In most applications, both solenoid
valves are already individually wired from the control panel to the valve inside the package; but
they are operated by a single common output relay in the control panel. Wiring changes are limited
to separating this common control signal inside the control panel.
Customers using an earlier version of this kit should obtain and incorporate the latest hardware
changes and software modifications. Contact your local Solar Field Service office for assistance.
NUMBER: 5.4/116
ISSUED: October 1996
REVISED:
PRODUCT: Mars
MODEL(S): All
Specifics: SoLoNox
Purpose:
1. To inform Solar Customers of the potential for combustor oscillations and combustor
rumble in Mars SoLoNox systems.
2. To inform Solar Customers of the field retrofit kit designed to monitor combustor
oscillations.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
- Combustor Oscillations
Mars SoLoNOx engines have occasionally exhibited an oscillation phenomena during operation.
This is caused by pressure pulsations inside of the combustor. These pulsations reduce and increase
fuel flow through the injectors, in turn amplifying the oscillation effect. An open bleed valve also
contributes to this activity, so oscillations at part load are even more likely to occur. The oscillations,
normally seen at approximately 360 Hz, can be picked up on the number three bearing proximitor
probe. Extended operation of engine with excessive oscillations could result in decreased durability
of combustion and other system components.
- Combustor Rumble
Another rare but potential phenomena that is unique to lean burn, low emissions engines is known
as combustor rumble. It is important to differentiate between combustor oscillations and combustor
rumble. The rumble is a low frequency (25-35 Hz), partial flameout phenomena that occurs only
when there is injector clogging or other fuel supply problems. This is usually audible in structures
surrounding the equipment and sometimes from distances of several hundred feet. The condition is
very serious and can quickly lead to severe engine damage.
A monitoring setup for engine rumble is presently being developed and will be announced via a
revision to this Service Bulletin. If this condition is observed in the field it should be reported
immediately to your local Solar District Office.
ACTION REQUIRED:
– If the kit is not installed, order and install per kit instructions. The kit is provided free of
charge. Contact your local Solar District Office for assistance.
– Contact your local Solar District Office as soon as possible to report any package where
alarm annunciations have occurred or previous prolonged periods of vibration are suspected.
– Contact your local Solar District Office to report any instance of combustor rumble.
KIT REQUIRED:
Field retrofit kit number 1006692-103.
NUMBER: 5.9/103A
ISSUED: October 1997
REVISED: June 1999
PRODUCT: All
MODEL(S): All
Specifics:
—REVISION NOTICE—
This revision replaces Service Bulletin 5.9/103. The previous
issue must be removed and discarded.
Purpose:
To ensure your battery charger is adjusted correctly for your battery type.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
In several recent instances, engine bearings have been damaged after loss of AC power. The root
cause was traced to improper settings on the battery charger that resulted in the battery not being
charged sufficiently to perform the required backup post-lube cycle when commercial AC power
was lost.
When commercial AC power is lost the DC backup post-lube cycle is critical to prevent damage to
engine bearings. Both 24 volt and 120 Vdc systems are affected.
Battery chargers that are supplied by Solar are usually pre-adjusted for use with lead-calcium
(VRLA) batteries. (A tag in the battery charger indicates the factory settings as-shipped.) In-field
ACTION REQUIRED:
The required float-voltage and high-rate-voltage settings are accomplished by adjusting appropriate
multi-turn potentiometers which are on a printed-circuit card in the battery charger. See the battery
charger operations manual for specific instructions. (For chargers in NEMA-3R enclosures, the
manual is in a pocket on the inside of the door.)
SET POINTS
Unless indicated otherwise for specific sales orders, the following settings should be used. Before
making these adjustments, ensure the battery charger output current is less than half the charger
nameplate rating. Voltmeter used for adjustments should be accurate within ± 0.5%.
OPERATIONS NOTE
Refer to battery charger operation and maintenance manual for specific step-by-step instructions.
Although the above procedure is accomplished with the battery charger operating, the following
comments apply any time that it is necessary to turn the charger "ON" or "OFF":
1. Manual turn-on of the charger should be accomplished by using the AC switch or circuit
breaker. That is, the DC output circuit breaker should be closed first, then the AC switch
or circuit breaker should be closed.
2. When turning the battery charger off, the AC switch or circuit breaker should be opened
first, then the DC circuit breaker may be opened.
3. Make sure the turbine is shut down and the post-lube cycle is complete before turning
off the battery charger.
NUMBER: 6.0/123A
ISSUED: July 1996
REVISED: June 1999
PRODUCT: MARS
MODEL(S): ALL
Specifics:
—REVISION NOTICE—
This revision replaces Service Bulletin 6.0/123. The previous
issue may be removed and discarded.
Purpose:
To clarify changes recommended in operating Mars Turbine Packages. The recommended
changes help to increase the turbine oil life and to avoid oil related problems:
• Inform customers about recent design changes in Mars Turbines to reduce oil oxidation.
• Announce the widening of the acceptable lube oil temperature range to allow package op-
eration with lower bulk oil temperatures.
• Recommend lowered package lube oil temperatures for continuous operation.
• Give guidelines regarding the package lube oil pressure in order to optimize oil flow to the
turbine bearings.
• Revision A: Clarify the modifications recommended on "Jordan" temperature control
valves.
Oil life is directly related to oil temperature. In order to reduce the oil temperature, Solar has ap-
proved lower lube oil supply temperatures for all Mars turbines. High oil temperatures in the
bearing #2/3 area and sump temperatures are being reduced by lowered supply oil temperatures,
lowered heat conduction and increased bearing oil flow.
Customers can further slow the lube oil degradation with simple operational changes and better
thermal management in the existing lube system. Solar recommends reducing the bulk oil temper-
ature by lowering thermostat settings and avoiding marginal oil pressures.
PRESSURE REQUIREMENTS:
• Mars Turbine Supply Pressure:
Solar specifications require a lube oil pressure of 26 to 45 PSIG (1.8 to 3.1 bar) at the oil
inlet flange of a Mars turbine. All turbine oil seals are designed for this lube oil pressure
range and no internal or external oil leaks should occur during normal operation or during
the post lube cycle.
NOTE
Packages should not be operated continuously with a manifold pressure be-
low 30 PSIG (2.1 bar). The minimum lube oil pressure of 26 PSIG (1.8 bar;
instantaneous shut down) is an absolute minimum threshold and is intended
to avoid a trip during relatively short system upsets.
RECOMMENDATION:
Maintain the package manifold oil pressure at 35 ± 5 PSIG (2.4 ± 0.3 bar). If necessary, adjust the
lube oil pressure regulator to remain within this pressure range under all operating conditions. Do
not operate Mars turbine packages for extended periods with lube oil manifold pressures below 30
PSI (2.1 bar).
In most Solar packages, air-to-oil coolers are used to maintain the desired lube oil temperature. At
low and moderate ambient temperatures, the temperature control valve (thermostat) is modulating
and partially bypassing the lube oil cooler to keep the oil temperature within the recommended
operating range. At high ambient temperatures, the temperature control valve is wide open and
the lube oil manifold temperature starts to drift upwards. The oil cooler will now maintain a fixed
air-to-oil differential temperature.
To increase the customer awareness about possible lube oil degradation at increased operating tem-
peratures, Solar recommends to lower the "Lube-Oil-Temperature-High" alarm setting to 160F
(71C) for lube oils with a viscosity grade of C32 or C46.
Table 1 lists the modified alarm setpoints and recommended lube oil header temperatures.
• Newer packages are equipped with larger oil coolers and are able to maintain the lowered
oil temperatures at all specified ambient temperatures.
• Older packages can achieve lowered oil temperatures during cold and moderate ambient
temperatures only, when the thermal control valve is operating and is diverting part of the
lube oil flow around the cooler. The oil temperature cannot be reduced on a really hot day
due to cooler limitations (all the oil is already pumped through the cooler).
RECOMMENDATION:
• Take advantage of the widened lube oil temperature range on Mars turbines and reduce
the operating oil temperature of your package. Most packages use temperature control
valves with fixed thermostat cartridges. The whole cartridge must be replaced in this case.
On certain packages, an adjustable setpoint can be lowered on the temperature control valve
(Table 1).
• Lower the "High Lube Oil Temperature" alarm setpoint to 160F (71C) if you operate your
package with C46 grade oil. Do not lower the shut down level of 180F (82C; C46 grade
Continuous
130 - 165F 110 - 160F 150 - 180F 125 - 160F
Operating
54 - 74C 43 - 71C 66 - 82C 52 - 71C
Limits
Recommended
140 - 145F 120 -125F 155 - 160F 135 - 140F
Operating
60 - 63C 49 - 52C 68 -71C 57 - 60C
Range
High
160F 160F 175F 160F
Temperature
71C 71C 79C 71C
Alarm
High
165F 165F 180F 180F
Temperature
74C 74C 82C 82C
Shut Down
Please note that the individual site cooler performance may be insufficient to maintain
lowered header temperatures at very high ambient temperatures.
ACTION REQUIRED:
1. Verify Lube Oil Pressure:
• Maintain a lube oil manifold pressure of 35 ± 5 PSIG (2.4 ± 0.3 bar). Review your
records and note the lube oil manifold pressure at different ambient temperatures and
loads. Adjust the lube oil pressure regulator, if the manifold pressure falls outside
these limits under certain operating condition.
• Inspect the lube oil system in your Mars package. Make sure that pressure losses
between the lube oil manifold and the turbine inlet flanges are minimal. Do not run
turbines in commercial operation with flow meters or start-up strainers installed. If
required, increase lube oil header pressure to offset flow meter or start-up strainer
pressure losses.
2. Lower Lube Oil Operating Temperatures:
Temperature control valves from several different vendors are used in Mars turbine pack-
ages and adjustment procedures differ. To lower the lube oil operating temperature, the
The minimum oil temperature required for package start-up and the
maximum acceptable oil temperatures are not affected by above
changes. The setpoints for “start permissive” and high temperature
“alarm” and “shut down” should not be changed except where noted.
NOTE
The cartridge valves actually perform a double duty, being combined ther-
mostat / differential pressure valves. The cartridge valves will also open, if
the pressure drop across the cooler exceeds 50 PSID (3.5 bar d).
Procedure:
• Determine the correct temperature range of your replacement cartridges from
Table 3. Use a similar procedure as described under the "Robertshaw" valves.
• Order five new cartridges per package and replace existing valves. All replace-
ment cartridges are supplied with new o-rings.
NUMBER: 6.5/107
ISSUED: June 1997
REVISED:
PRODUCT: All
MODEL(S): All
Specifics:
Purpose:
To provide information to customers on post lube oil requirements for the engine bearings. This
service bulletin emphasizes the importance of the post lube oil in protecting the engine after shut-
down.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Solar Turbines packages are equipped with a primary post lube oil system to protect the engine
bearings from damage due to heat soak from hot internal engine components. Depending upon
the type of engine and application, many packages are also equipped with a backup post lube oil
system. The primary post lube oil pump is usually driven by either an A.C. power or pneumatic
motor. The backup post lube oil pump is usually driven by a D.C. motor.
After engine shutdown, the post lube oil is automatically supplied by the primary post lube system.
In the event of the failure of the primary system, the post lube is supplied by the D.C. backup; if
installed on the package. In most cases, the post lube systems on Solar packages have been adequate
and have worked properly in protecting the engine bearings after engine shutdown. However, there
have been some engine failures because the primary post lube and it’s backup system did not operate
after the engine shutdown.
1. A minimum four hour cycle. The post lube cycle must be completed even if it is
interrupted by an aborted start or test crank. The cycle may be continuous or consist of
a continuous one hour cycle followed by a three hour intermittent cycle of 2.5 minutes
post lube on and 9.5 minutes post lube off. Many Mars units in the field have a three
hour intermittent cycle of 2.5 minutes post lube on and 12.5 minutes lube off.
2. The minimum lube oil header pressure allowed for the post lube cycle is 8 psig,
maximum pressure allowed is 25 psig.
Saturn 10, 20, Centaur 40, 50, Taurus 60, (SoLoNOx and Non- SoLoNOx)
A post lube cycle is initiated after any gas turbine shutdown, other than fire emergency, where the
gas producer has exceeded 65% (Ngp) of rated speed. For new engines built in 1997, post lube is
required when the engine has achieved light off (T5 average ≥ 400F). The post lube cycle allows
lube oil to continue to be pumped though the gas turbine bearings to remove the residual heat build
up in the bearing areas. The turbine can be started any time during the 55 minutes post lube cycle.
The post lube cycle consists of the following:
1. A minimum 55 minutes continuous cycle. The post lube must be completed even if it is
interrupted by an aborted start or test crank. Many Saturn 10 units in the field have 30
minutes continuous post lube cycle.
2. A minimum lube oil header pressure allowed for the post lube cycle is 6 psig, maximum
pressure allowed is 25 psig.
Post Lube in the Event of Fire or Plant Emergency Shut Down (for all Engines)
If the engine is shutdown due to fire, the engine shall continue to be lubricated until the run down
timer is done. The post lube shall then be postponed for a maximum time of 20 minutes. The post
lube can be started any time during this period by acknowledging and resetting the alarm. After the
20 minutes timer is done, the control shall initiate the post lube. If a post lube is still not desired, a
manual intervention is required to stop the post lube.
If a hot engine has been without post lube for longer than 20 minutes, the engine bearings may
require inspection.
NUMBER: 6.5/108B
ISSUED: April 1998
REVISED: March 1999
PRODUCT: Mars
MODEL(S): All
Specifics: Turbotronics Controls Systems
Purpose:
To announce the availability of backup post lubrication control system enhancements designed to
increase the reliability of the backup lube oil supply system.
NOTE
The intent of this Service Bulletin is to improve product reliability to safe-
guard our customer’s equipment in the event of a shutdown. The information
in this Service Bulletin implements enhancements to assure the post lube
oil pump operates for the full post lube cycle. There may be facility related
circumstances which necessitate the site operator to interrupt the post lube
cycle. These site related circumstances should be considered when incor-
porating the backup postlube enhancements contained in this document.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Solar Turbines Mars packages are equipped with an auxiliary pre-post lube oil system to lubricate
the bearings before start-up and to protect the engine bearings from damage after a shut down due to
heat soak from hot internal engine components. The auxiliary post lube oil pump is usually driven
During and after engine shutdown, the post lube oil is automatically supplied by the auxiliary post
lube system. In the event of the failure of the auxiliary system, the post lube is supplied by the
backup system. In most cases, the post lube systems on Solar packages have been adequate and have
worked properly in protecting the engine bearings after engine shutdown. However, there have been
some recent engine failures which occurred when A.C. power was lost and the D.C.or pneumatic
backup system failed to operate after the engine shutdown. Packages with electrically driven main
lube oil pumps appear to be the most susceptible to this type of failure.
Investigation of the failures has led to several control system enhancements and new recommended
maintenance procedures. The first recommendation was communicated in Service Bulletin 5.9/103,
"Battery Charger Adjustments" released October 1997. The second recommendation "suggested
annual battery maintenance and testing of backup lube system" was communicated as Service Bul-
letin 6.5/109, released June 1998. The third recommendation communicated by this bulletin is to
incorporate controls modifications to improve and periodically test the operation of the backup post
lube pump and to lockout the turbine upon loss of post lubrication as defined in this Service Bul-
letin.
Solar has developed a retrofit kit #1028812-1XX that is designed to perform several functions that
will increase the dependability of the backup post lube system. Logic change recommendations
included in the kit are tailored for Turbotronics 2.0 and 3.0 control systems, but the hardware and
generic instructions can also be used to modify older packages in similar ways. The key features
of the kit are:
– Modifications of the P.L.C. logic to perform a backup lube pump check every 24 hours.
NOTE
Daily use of this check may not be practical for pneumatic backup lube sys-
tem due to fugitive emission issues. Solar recommends that this check be
done as often as is practical subject to site condition requirements.
– Incorporation of a "fail-safe" DC backup pump relay which activates the emergency lube
pump when the 24 Vdc control power fails.
Solar control systems are designed for uninterrupted power supplies. If the PLC fails or the 24 Vdc
control power is interrupted, the logic changes recommended in the above kit will correctly activate
the backup pump ( 120 Vdc must be available if back up lube is DC operated).
ACTION REQUIRED:
Order retrofit kit #1028812-1XX (at no charge) from your Solar Service Parts representative. It is
recommended that Solar Field Service personnel perform the installation of the kit. The installa-
tion of the kit involves modification of control system logic, electrical wiring modification, piping
modification and system verification. Please contact your local Solar District Field Service office
for assistance.
NUMBER: 6.5/109A
ISSUED: June 1998
REVISED: June 1999
PRODUCT: All
MODEL(S): All
Specifics:
—REVISION NOTICE—
This revision replaces Service Bulletin 6.5/109. The previous
issue may be removed and discarded.
Purpose:
To provide a recommended procedure for a monthly inspection of the battery system, semi-annual
battery maintenance and annual operational check of the backup lube system to ensure that these
systems are operating properly and are capable of providing the full lube cycle.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
In recent instances, engine bearings have been damaged after loss of ac power. In some of these
situations, the cause was traced to improper settings on the battery chargers. This issue has been
addressed by Service Bulletin 5.9/103A. A procedure has also been implemented to perform brief
daily tests on the backup lube system operation on Mars and Taurus 70 packages. These package
modifications are addressed by Service Bulletin 6.5/108B.
ACTION REQUIRED:
Remember that the battery is electrically live at all times and cannot
be isolated in the conventional sense, although the voltage at any
point can be reduced by the removal of the appropriate inter-unit
connectors. Take care that short circuits are not caused by acciden-
tally dropping or touching metal objects onto the cellblock terminals.
When working with batteries, always wear the proper protective
equipment.
PROCEDURE:
1. Check general appearance and cleanliness of the battery rack and battery rack area.
Inspect the battery rack for stability and signs of corrosion. Clean as required. Check
that all bolts are properly tightened.
2. Check general appearance and cleanliness of the battery. Check battery cellblocks for
cracks or leakage of electrolyte. Clean as required. (Do not use solvents on battery cells.
See manufacturer’s instructions for maintenance procedures.)
3. Where applicable, visually check the electrolyte level of all battery cells. If required, add
distilled or de-ionized water to bring the electrolyte up to the desired level.
4. Visually confirm that all battery connections are in place.
5. Check general appearance and cleanliness of the battery charger. Check the float
voltage on the charger voltmeter. Confirm this reading corresponds to the voltage given
in Service Bulletin 5.9/103A: Battery Charger Adjustments, for the appropriate battery
type.
6. Record and retain data for future reference.
Prior to start of work, follow proper lock out and tagging procedures
to isolate hazardous energy sources. Read the battery manufacturer’s
Material Safety Data Sheet and understand the hazards associated
with handling or working with the battery electrolyte / acid. Batteries
generate Hydrogen Gas that is highly flammable. To avoid risk of fire
and explosion, keep sparks or other sources of ignition away from
batteries.
Lead Acid Battery - the sulfuric acid is a strong corrosive agent that
can burn the skin, eyes, and respiratory system. Do not inhale or in-
gest.
PROCEDURE:
1. Perform steps 1 through 5 in the Monthly Battery Inspection section above.
2. Measure the overall voltage of the complete battery assembly (or of the two 60-volt
sub-assemblies). Also measure the voltage of individual cells (or of multi-cell blocks if
individual cells cannot be measured). Record these measurements for future reference.
3. 3. If the voltage of one or more cells is noticeably lower than for other cells, it is advisable
to measure the specific gravity of all cells (excepting "sealed" cells). Low specific gravity
for a lead-acid cell usually indicates that the cell is not charged. The specific gravity
of nickel-cadmium cells does not change with charge-discharge conditions. Refer to
manufacturer’s electrolyte instructions for appropriate specific gravity readings.
4. If the battery checks indicate that the battery is within acceptable tolerances, then
re-connect the cable that may have been used to isolate the two sections of the 120V
battery. Re-coat the battery terminal connections with no-oxide grease, but do not allow
grease to get onto plastic components on the cell covers. For automotive/truck batteries
Preliminary Conditions - Batteries should be fully charged prior to performing these tests. Per bat-
tery manufacturers’ definitions, this requires that the batteries be on float charge for a minimum
72-hour continuous period with no loads which exceed the battery charger output current capabili-
ties. (If there were no loads on the system at the end of the charge period, the battery charger output
current would be less than two amps.)
PROCEDURE:
1. Select a suitable test time when the engine is not used for eight hours and the station is
manned for the first two hours. Make sure that batteries are fully charged as described
above. Complete Semi-Annual Battery Maintenance procedure as described above.
2. Hook up a voltmeter or a strip chart recorder to the battery terminals. Do not continue test
if battery voltage does not correspond to the voltages given in Service Bulletin 5.9/103A:
Battery Charger Adjustments.
3. Install a dc clamp-on ammeter into the dc motor supply lines and monitor the motor
current. Some systems have a shunt installed in the motor supply lines to facilitate this
reading.
4. Turn off battery charger.
5. Activate backup dc lube oil pump. Run the pump for a continuous period as noted in the
table below.
6. Monitor lube oil header pressure. The post-lube pressure must be at a minimum as listed
in the table below at all times. If this minimum pressure cannot be maintained, interrupt
test and correct system.
NUMBER: 6.6/102
ISSUED: March 1992
REVISED:
PRODUCT: Mars
MODEL(S): All
Specifics: Units with pneumatic backup lube oil pump
Purpose:
To announce the availability of new pneumatic motor (Solar Part Number 186998-1) and pump
assembly (P/N 190234-100).
GENERAL INFORMATION:
The pump/pneumatic motor P/N 120520-3 has been discontinued and replaced by pneumatic mo-
tor, P/N 186998-1 and pump assembly, P/N 190234-100. Minor system alterations are required as
specified in the retrofit kit, P/N 179821K100. Performance of the new motor/pump assembly is the
same as the replaced assembly.
ACTION REQUIRED:
When replacement of the pneumatic motor, P/N 120520-3 is required, order the replacement retrofit
kit, P/N 179821K100. The kit includes all necessary instructions for removal of the replaced assem-
bly, all the necessary parts, and the installation procedure for the new pump and motor assembly.
NUMBER: 8.6/107
ISSUED: February 2000
REVISED:
PRODUCT: Mars 90 and Mars 100
MODEL(S): All
Specifics:
Purpose:
This Service Bulletin alerts the field that variable stator vanes can lockup, a condition that poten-
tially could lead to engine failure.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
There have been reports of compressor failures related to variable stator vane lockup. Lockup can be
caused by excessive rust buildup that bonds the stator shafts to the housing bushings (see Figure 1).
Additionally, contamination from particulates can build up and cause the vanes to lockup. When
individual vanes in a stator row are locked in a fixed position or become stiff (limited rotation),
these vanes could be out of position with the remaining vanes in that row. This could disrupt airflow
through the compressor and create localized areas of turbulent air. As the compressor blades rotate
through this turbulent air, abnormally large dynamic forces are applied to the blades. These forces
may result in fatigue failure of the compressor blades.
ACTION REQUIRED:
Proper maintenance is important to ensure proper turbine operation and prevent unscheduled down-
time. The following recommendations should be part of the maintenance program to ensure proper
turbine operation and longevity.
NOTE
Under no circumstances, should an engine be operated with seized
stators. Rust or particular buildup must be removed from around
the guide vanes prior to continued engine operation. If assistance
is required to remove contamination or to repair a bent stator arm
contract the local Solar district office.
In addition to the maintenance checks, the following are documents that provide information rele-
vant to proper stator vane operation.
• Engineering Specification (ES) 9-62 verifying the proper fluids and procedures for ingestive
cleaning are being met (especially run time after water wash).
• ES 1565 (section 4.1) verifying that all air filter requirements for the Mars engine are being
met.
• Service Bulletin 8.6/106 provides information to set up and adjust the Inlet Guide Vane
(IGV) and variable stators to an optimum schedule.
To obtain a copy of the Service Bulletin or the Engineering Specifications referenced in this Service
Bulletin please contact the local Solar district office.
NUMBER: 8.8/108B
ISSUED: November 1998
REVISED: June 2000
PRODUCT: Mars 90S, Mars 100S
MODEL(S): All
Specifics: Mars SoLoNOx “Gas Fuel Only” Applications
PRODUCT SAFETY
—REVISION NOTICE—
This revision replaces Service Bulletin 8.8/108A and announces
updated retrofit kits and a separate kit providing a new more
durable 6" bleed duct replacing the previous 4" bleed duct.
Purpose:
The purpose of this Service Bulletin is to announce the availability of an updated retrofit kit to
change Mars SoLoNOx engines from the injector bleed system to a case bleed system. This change
eliminates the injector bleed hose and therefore eliminates a safety hazard first describe in Product
Advisory 8.8/108A released August 1997. This bulletin also announces durability improvements
to the case bleed system, available both in the updated kits and as a separate retrofit kit. Included
in these improvements is a 6" bleed duct configuration that replaces the 4" duct originally provided
with the case bleed system that had experienced some premature failures.
Background Information:
Since December 1995, four Mars SoLoNOx injector bleed hoses have ruptured during operation.
These failures caused a significant discharge of high temperature, high-pressure air near the en-
gine, and discharged metal debris from the hose. In one instance, fire was reported exiting the
failed injector hose. In each of these cases, the extent of damage was minor and no personnel have
been injured. Although only four incidents of bleed hose failures have been reported a hose rupture
presents a potential serious personnel safety concern.
The aforementioned incidents led to the introduction of the case bleed system described below.
Most of the operating fleet has been retrofitted with the system. Subsequently, reports of bleed
duct failures at several sites configured with case bleed have been received. Packages operating
for extended periods at part load/high bleed conditions appear to be the most susceptible. Damage
from 4" bleed duct failures have varied from hot Pcd bleed air leakage into the surrounding areas
to full separation and rupture of the hose, creating a serious potential safety issue.
General Information:
Solar has developed an alternative method for removing bleed air from the combustor in order to
maintain control over emissions during part load operation. This is achieved by bleeding air directly
from the combustor case, similar to the design of 2-shaft Centaur and Taurus 60 SoLoNOx engines.
This system can be easily retrofitted onto existing Mars engines by removing the injector manifold
bleed system, and replacing it with a single port case bleed. This new bleed system was incorporated
in new production engines and overhaul engines beginning in August 1998.
The case bleed retrofit requires removing the injector bleed hoses from each injector, removing the
bleed manifold, 6" bleed valve and ducting. A 3" combustor bleed port is available on the right
side of the engine (aft looking forward) and a 90-elbow 3" to 4" adapter piece is attached to this
port. A new 4" bleed valve is mounted to the flange and a new 6" flexible duct is then attached to
As indicated above, the latest version of the case bleed retrofit kit incorporates the change from a
4" bleed duct to a 6" bleed duct to address durability and safety concerns. No physical changes are
required on the fuel injectors, other than removing the flexible bleed ducting, and installing a cap
on the injector bleed flange. This cap is secured in place with the same clamp that was used to hold
the flexible ducting.
ACTION REQUIRED:
1. one Actuator kit (1032269-1XX) for units with ‘Tactair’ actuator or (1032269-2XX) for
units with ’Moog’ actuator. (Figure 3)
2. one Package kit (1032271-1XX). (Figure 4)
3. one 6" Bleed Duct and Diverter kit (1042502-XXX). (Figure 5)
NOTE
The following actions (A, B, and C) are still in effect until your package has
completed the retrofit to case bleed. These modifications were announced
in Service Bulletin 8.8/108A in June of 1999.
A. A retrofit kit has been developed for installation on the bleed manifold to allow for
detection of fuel within the bleed system. The kit, P/N 1025052-100, includes tube, ball
valve, clamps, brackets, and all necessary components to install on your package. The
kit is designed for use with Customer supplied gas monitors or other detection system.
Detection of 2% of Lower Explosive Limit (L.E.L.) indicates a potential injector fuel
tube leak and requires an immediate shutdown of the engine for further investigation.
At that time fuel injectors should be inspected immediately and replaced as required.
Contact your local Solar District Field Service office for assistance. Order kit P/N
1025052-100 from Solar Service Parts. The kit will be provided at no charge.
B. Solar is available to perform an inspection of your fuel injectors. Please contact your
local Solar District Field Service office to schedule injector inspection.
C. Solar has completed a design for a rigid bleed system cover, initially intended to replace
existing insulation blankets on bleed system components. When installed, this cover
would also significantly minimize the potential for injury in event of a hose rupture.
Please contact your local Solar District Field Service office for information.
II. Units already configured with the case bleed system and with
the original 4" bleed duct.
Contact your local Solar Field Service office for assistance in ordering the appropriate Retrofit Kit
(provided at no charge). For each package order one 6" Bleed Duct and Diverter Kit (1042502-
XXX). See figure 5 to select the appropriate kit.
NUMBER: 8.8/112
ISSUED: June 1999
REVISED:
PRODUCT: Mars
MODEL(S): M 100
Specifics:
Purpose:
The purpose of this Service Bulletin is to alert Customers to a potential durability issue with Mars
standard combustion combustor liners.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
A number of Mars 100 standard combustion combustor liners (P/N 241600) have been found by
boroscope inspection to be suffering from thermal distress after a relatively low number of hours of
operation. This distress is initially manifested as cracking emanating from cooling air holes located
immediately downstream of the injectors, and may progress to thermal erosion and burn-through
of the cooling holes. This distress in its early stages has been found in engines with as few as 1,700
hours and can reach a significantly more advanced stage of deterioration by 4,000 hours of opera-
tion. Factors such as poor fuel quality, particularly liquids in gas fuel, and continuous operation at
full load can accelerate the deterioration. The existence of this deterioration is not initially apparent
from either turbine performance or T5 spread measurements and must be detected by boroscope
inspection. If allowed to go unchecked, the liner distress may require a replacement of the combus-
tor liner. No cases to date have resulted in collateral damage to the engine.
ACTION REQUIRED:
Each of Solar’s District Field Service offices has a list of those engines, which are or may potentially
be at risk, and they will be contacting customers with such engines to set up an inspection of the
combustor liner and fuel injectors. You can also contact the local Solar District office to confirm
which, if any, of the engines in your Mars 100 fleet may be at risk and discuss actions required.
A modification to the current injector design has been confirmed through testing to substantially
reduce outer liner temperature. This injector (P/N 301380) will be incorporated in all new and over-
hauled engines and will be available for retrofits over the next several months. Pending availability
of this injector, an alternate injector design (P/N 124835-500 for gas fuel and P/N 198337-20X for
dual fuel engines) can be installed temporarily to arrest or prevent combustor liner thermal distress.
Combustor liner replacement may also be required based on assessment of combustor liner condi-
tion during boroscope inspection.
In the event that either the combustor liner or the fuel injectors require replacement, it is essential
that the replaced parts be returned as expeditiously as possible to Solar’s refurbishment center in
Mabank, Texas. Solar personnel on site to perform the component replacements will provide assis-
tance to help ensure prompt return of replaced parts.
NUMBER: 8.12/102A
ISSUED: June 1995
REVISED: March 2001
PRODUCT: Saturn, Centaur
MODEL(S): All
Specifics:
—REVISION NOTICE—
This revision replaces Service Bulletin 8.12/102. The previous
bulletin must be removed and discarded. This version announces
availability of an improved drain valve, retrofit kit, and installation
instructions.
Purpose:
To announce the availability of improved combustor/exhaust drain valve and field retrofit kit.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
The existing valves, Solar P/N 901086C91 and 190786-100 (Figure 1) have been in operation for a
number of years. Some of these valves develop combustor discharge gas leaks through the gasket
or sealing ball and fitting. Solar has developed an improved higher-pressure valve, together with in-
structions for installation. The new valve, Solar P/N 1020281-100 (Figure 2) has been successfully
laboratory and field-tested. The new valve is used on current production models. The new valve
assembly has twelve bolts at the flange, compared to the old valve assembly, which has only six
bolts.
ACRONYMS
ABC Augmented Backside Cooled
ACS Application Check Sheet
ATS Advanced Turbine Systems
CED Cold-End Drive
CGCM Combination Generator Control Module
CO Carbon Monoxide
CSA Customer Support Activity
DCR Design Change Request
DF1 Communications Protocol of the External System Link
DIN Deutches Institute der Normen (German Specification Institute)
DLE Dry Low Emission
DOE Department of Energy
DOS Disc Operating System
DOT Department of Transportation
DP Differential Pressure (compressor)
dp Differential Pressure (flow meter)
ERP Enterprise Resource Planning
ESI Energy Services International Limited
FOD Foreign Object Damage
FPSO Floating Production, Storage and Offloading
FSR Field Service Representative
HED Hot-End Drive
HMI Human Machine Interface
HRD Human Resources Development
HTML Hyper-Text Markup Language
IEC International Electrical Code
IGV Inlet Guide Vane
I/O Input/Output
ISO International Organization for Standardization
KVAR Kilovolt Amp Reactive
LSM Line Synchronization Module
NEMA National Electrical Manufacturers' Association
NOx Oxides of Nitrogen
ODBC Open Data Base Connectivity
OLE Object Linking and Embedding
OMI Operation and Maintenance Instructions
OPC OLE for Process Control
A-3 Appendix
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
ACRONYMS, Contd
O2 Oxygen
Pcd Compressor Discharge Pressure
PD Project Definition
PLC Programmable Logic Controller
P/N Part Number
RBOT Rotary Bomb Oxidation Test
RFE Regional Field Engineers
RS Recommended Standard of the Electronic Industries Association (EIA)
SAMS Solar Asset Management Services
SCADA Supervisory, Control and Data Acquisition System
TAN Toxic Acid Number
TBC Thermal Barrier Coating
Tpz Primary Zone Temperature
TRIT Turbine Rotor Inlet Temperature
T5 Power Turbine Inlet Temperature
VAMS Variable Air Management System
VBA Visual Basic for Applications
XML Dynamic Markup Language
A-4 Appendix
Solar Turbines Incorporated GTUA 2001
Argentina Indonesia
Turbigas Solar S.A. P.T. Solar Services Indonesia
rd
J. Salguero 2745 – Office 21/22 Gedung Menara Perdana 3 Floor
(1425) Buenos Aires, Argentina Jalan H.R. Rasuna Said Kav. C-17
Phone: [5411] 4802-8200 Jakarta, Indonesia 12940
Fax: [5411] 4801-0066 Phone: [6221] 522-0860
Fax: [6221] 522-0864
Australia – Melbourne
Solar Turbines Australia Ireland
38 Kingsley Close Energy Services International Ltd
Rowville, Victoria 3178 Australia Boghall Road, Bray County, Wicklow Ireland
Phone: [613] 9764-1411 Phone: [3531] 2768400
Fax: [613] 9764-0025 Fax: [3531] 2867797
Anchorage Miami
Solar Turbines Incorporated Solar Turbines Incorporated
th
524 West International Airport Road 10691 S.W. 88 Street, Suite 109
Anchorage, AK 99518-1105 Miami, Fl 33176
Phone: (907) 562-2440 Phone: (305) 279-6270
Fax: (907) 561-2591 Fax: (305) 595-2575