Siemens Power Generation currently offers an Inspection Interval Extension Product (IIEP) upgradepackage to all SGT6-5000F customers which consists of combustion components and various turbinecomponents. This upgrade package extends the current inspection intervals based on both hours andcycling operation while significantly reducing life cycle costs. Units where inspection intervals aregoverned by hours would eliminate two combustor inspections over the course of one major interval.Units where inspection intervals are governed by starts could also eliminate two combustorinspections over the course of one major interval. The installation could be staggered into two phasesto accommodate customer needs: combustion component installation during a combustor inspection,followed by turbine component installation during a hot gas path inspection. This paper provides adescription of the typical upgrade package, the verification and validation status, and the designapproach used during development. The approach for the development of the IIEP upgrade therebyextending inspection intervals is based on the following components: (1) Use of empirical data fromfield on the current hardware performance and identification of the distress modes as a function ofhours and starts, (2) Refined analysis by fine tuning the boundary conditions based on verification testdata at the Berlin Test Facility, and (3) Successful validation testing through the installation of thecombustion and turbine hardware into select field units followed by a series of planned fieldinspections.
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