July 13, 2010 - HPI completed a hot gas path inspection for National Grid, an international energy delivery company. National Grid called upon HPI to help diagnose the cause of significant vibrations affecting one of the backup emergency turbines at the plant on Long Island. The 15 MW GE Frame 5 model J gas turbine is used to boot the station in the event of a power outage. HPI was able to determine that the root cause of the vibration was the deterioration of the marriage bolts. “Unfortunately, deterioration of the marriage bolts can be difficult to diagnose and correct as the rotor must be sent off to be taken apart and carefully analyzed”, says Jim Vines, Technical Director at HPI.
“Correcting the problem at the source will save time and money in the long run. More and more of the older GE Frame 5 turbines are experiencing deterioration of the marriage bolts and it is important that we recognize this problem to keep downtime at a minimum.” The HPI Mechanical Group specializes in major turbine overhaul (MTO), employing the latest borescope inspection technology. The Mechanical Group has successfully completed dozens of projects, including steam turbine overhaul. The borescope employed can often detect signs of machine degradation before there is damage to rotating equipment, loss of production and/or unplanned outages.
Based on inspection results, the Mechanical Group also provides repair of the equipment, including manufacturing, installation and maintenance of peripheral support systems beyond traditional turbo machinery. About HPI, LLC HPI remains a technological leader in turbine solutions including retrofit control, mechanical inspection/overhaul, turnkey engineering, procurement, and construction of power plants. HPI provides unique solutions to meet specific customer requirements, utilizing in-house talent experienced in project management, engineering, and design, while improving overall plant reliability and safety. Founded in 2002, many of the engineers and managers of HPI received their start in the industry from their work at Hawker Siddeley Dynamics Engineering.
HPI has expanded its capabilities from stand-alone turbomachinery control to complete balance of plant systems. In 200.5, HPI expanded its Mechanical Group to offer non-destructive testing and mechanical turbine overhaul services, which enables the company to offer a full lifecycle of services, from initial FEED studies to on-going maintenance of systems in the field.