Loy Yang A Power Station in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley required replacement of the Main Condenser tubing due to life expiry. PPI worked with Thermal Engineering International (TEi) for the design and supply of replacement Titanium condenser modules to execute this project.

PPI’s direct scope of work required us to design and supply handling equipment for the new and old modules, weighing up to 80 tonnes each, and to carry out the module replacement works during a 4-week period on site.

The project was successfully executed and the replacement modules successfully passed the Performance Guarantee tests.

The Cooling Water pumps at Eraring Power Station are critical infrastructure for this power plant, with the six pumps collectively providing the cooling water to all four turbo-generators. Each of these 75 tonne pumps is driven by a 5,700kW Electric Motor weighing 50 tonnes.

The pumps run in seawater, and require regular maintenance. The are completely overhauled on a routine basis usually one per year. PPI has been performing this work since 1998.

A major pump overhaul consists of removing the high-voltage motor, then withdrawing the pump from the pump pit and installing in a special maintenance cradle. After disassembly of the rotating element, required inspections of bearings, impeller and casing are  carried out. After repair, the pump is reassembled, reinstalled and commissioned.

Our period as service providers for this work has included numerous pump overhauls, as well as meeting the challenges thrown up by urgent breakdown repairs of these monster pumps.

Bayswater Power Station, located between Singleton and Muswellbrook in the NSW Hunter Valley, has 4 X 660MW Units. PPI and KPS peformed all overhaul and maintenance works on these units for period of 14 years from 1999. This contract was the first time a major utility had awarded a contract for turbine-generator works to a non-OEM.

During this period we have performed numerous overhauls, including:

• Disassembly, repair and reassembly of HP, IP and LP cylinders.
• Mechanical governor disassembly and repair.
• Generator inspections and rotor removals.
• Steam Feed Pump turbine and pump overhauls.
• Generator stator winding leak diagnosis and repair.
• On-site overhaul of main stop valves, throttle valves and combined reheat valves.
• Overhaul of main valve hydraulic actuators and associated control mechanism.

For this project, PPI worked with our partner KPS to provide the site labour force and technical oversight of the project.

Shell Australia’s Clyde Refinery in Sydney has a number of steam turbine sets to provide process steam and power for the refinery. Turbo-Alternator #3 (5MW) required overhaul and repair to enable it to be returned to service after an extended period of storage.

Our scope of work was to dismantle and inspect the turbine, main valves and governor. We then carried out necessary repairs and reassembly of the set.

The overhaul and repair works were completed on schedule, however during return to service a major HV electrical fault developed with the generator transformer and the unit return to service was abandoned after a decision to close the refinery was announced.

Bendeela Power Station is part of the Shoalhaven Scheme in the Illawarra district of NSW, a pumped storage hydro-electric scheme. Unit 2 at Bendeela Power Station required a major overhaul.

PPI was awarded this contract after another supplier had failed to provide an acceptable level of service on an earlier overhaul of Unit 1.

The scope of work included dismantling, inspection, repair and reassembly of the pump/turbine, supply and installation of various items of ancillary equipment and generator bearing inspections. Significant on-site machining repairs were required to major components, along with a substantial amount of corrosion repair.
For this project, PPI worked with our partner KPS to provide the site labour force and technical oversight of the works.

The overhaul was completed successfully and returned to service., and the unit met the performance guarantee requirements of the specification.

Pelican Point Power Station, located near Adelaide, requested the overhaul of unit GT11 to occur during September 2011. This unit is an Alstom 13E2 gas turbine of 160MW capacity.
The scope of work was to perform a major (“C”) inspection of the unit, and also to perform a “MXL” upgrade involving partial re-blade of the turbine. The generator also had a major inspection including removal of retaining rings.

For this project, PPI worked with our partner KPS to provide the site labour force for the overhaul. Alstom (as OEM) was also present on site during the overhaul in a technical supervision role.

This was the first time a non-OEM company was involved in he overhaul of on of these units.

The overhaul was completed on schedule and successfully returned to service.

Eraring Power Station, located near Newcastle NSW, was upgraded from a capacity of 660MW to 720MW. PPI with our consortium partner Doosan was awarded the contract for supply and installation of components to upgrade the turbines and generators to achieve the required performance.

PPI provided all site installation works, as well as turbine governor controls, turbine supervisory instrumentation and local project management services.

Unit 2 was the first of the units to be completed, and was independently performance tested against contract requirements. As a result, our consortium was awarded contract bonuses for exceeding contract performance requirements for turbine efficiency, generator output and reliability.

Retrofit projects on this scale provide many challenges. Adapting standard solutions to meet customer requirements and fit within an operating power station, and achieving demanding engineering results in tight timeframes presented numerous challenges. Through our relationship with our client, Eraring Energy and the selection of suitable suppliers, we were able to develop innovative solutions to meet the challenges of the project and achieve outstanding results.

Eraring Power Station, located near Newcastle NSW, was upgraded from a capacity of 660MW to 720MW. PPI with our consortium partner Doosan was awarded the contract for supply and installation of components to upgrade the boiler to achieve the required performance.

PPI provided all site installation works, as well as local project management services.

Retrofit projects on this scale provide many challenges. Adapting standard solutions to meet customer requirements and fit within an operating power station, and achieving demanding engineering results in tight timeframes presented numerous challenges. Through our relationship with our client, Eraring Energy and the selection of suitable suppliers, we were able to develop innovative solutions to meet the challenges of the project and achieve outstanding results.