Renewable Energy - Pushing Gas Turbine Components to Their Cycling Limit!

摘要

Gas turbine maintenance intervals are determined by hours, starts, or a combination of both. The latter is often referred to as equivalent operating hours (EOH). The increasing integration of renewable energy sources into generation portfolios has meant changes in dispatch, and many traditionally base-loaded assets are being forced to load follow and on-off cycle, as seen in many gas turbine and combined-cycle arrangements across the country. With such shifts in operational patterns comes a shift in the failure modes that manifest, as well as the inspection techniques required to effectively diagnose these respective modes. Given the competitive marketplace, it is valuable to understand applicable failure modes and inspection techniques to effectively balance the fine line between scrapping parts prematurely and running hardware beyond safe conditions.