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While setting up the process industry, buying capital equipment is a very important task. Most critical being the process equipment, boiler, turbine, civil work, etc. These are the major investments for setting up any process industry. To cut down the cost or when the budget is low often customer thinks of buying used steam turbines / secondhand steam turbines. The steam turbine is a very important piece of equipment for any process industry because it generates power at a very low cost when the steam is being utilized in the process and plays an important role when the local power is not available.

Used steam turbines are available in the market and are usually sold by the agencies engaged in servicing steam turbines. Usually, design data of such user second-hand steam turbines are not available to the service agency. In such situations, it is very easy to make the mistake of picking up the wrong turbine which ends up not delivering the desired outcomes. During such time, the Customer usually invests a huge amount of monies towards civil foundations, Steam, allied piping, and electrical accessories. When such turbines fail, without any fallback to the OEM supplier and with limitations on part of the turbine services agency, the entire investment is lost. Another problem arises when the steam turbine needs spares and service. As a Turbine OEM company not being involved in the purchase process or in servicing getting spares available is a very difficult task. The downtime may lead to huge losses. Also, the turbines are not being attended to by the OEM, the plant personnel has to put their special attention to running the turbine, hence it’s a tough and challenging task, that also adds to the operating cost.

Investing in a new Steam Turbine provides short-term and long terms benefits. It is wise to invest a little more money than spend huge sums of money as expenses towards operating and maintaining used second-hand steam turbines.

Steam Turbines are essential to any Industry where there is the usage of Steam to reduce the energy cost of that industry. Steam Turbines are used in Oil and Gas, Chemical plants, Distillery, Food processing Industry, or industries where steam is a by-product.
In order to reduce the energy cost, the Steam Turbines are used extensively in process industries. It is important to ensure that the Steam Turbines that we plan to purchase are dependable and are configured in such a way that operating the Steam Turbine will not be a burden on the Plant owner or Business Owner. The Steam Turbine needs to integrate seamlessly with the utility as well the process side of the plant while catering power.
Steam Turbines can be broadly classified as Backpressure Steam Turbines and Condensing Steam Turbines besides other extraction combinations with each of these. Backpressure Steam Turbines are used in the process industry or in an industry where steam is utilized in the process. The condensing type Steam Turbines are used where the steam has no use in any process or duty to perform after exiting the Turbine.
Before purchasing the Steam Turbine, process steam requirement, future expansion plan, electrical load, availability of electricity from the grid, cost of grid power are considered to arrive at the Steam Turbine capacity and type of Steam Turbine. Once these details are finalized, based upon the process steam load, the total power requirement and the potential to generate power through Steam Turbine are studied and the suitable type and capacity of Steam Turbine are decided.
On the commercial side of the decision, it’s very important to consider the Total Ownership Cost of the Turbine. This involves the initial investment, installation costs, operating costs, and maintenance costs. A wise buyer will target reducing the TCO instead of only looking at the initial investment as the deciding factor.

Turtle Turbines Pvt Ltd is a pioneer in the field of Steam Turbines that has been serving this industry for the last 20 years and has provided successful solutions to many happy customers. They specialize in providing the best solutions to their customers by understanding the process requirement and power requirements.

team Turbines plays a very important role in the process industry, Distillery, Paper Mills, Oil Industry, Sugar Industry, Food Industry, and many others. To generate the required power with required steam pressure, steam turbines are installed in many industries. Hence proper care needs to be taken while using a steam turbine. Due to the continuous operation of the steam turbine, some spare parts run out. Maintaining proper operation of the steam turbines in the industry is the highest priority. Steam Turbines OEM replacement parts are manufactured to the high standard as the originally delivered equipment, incorporating the latest technological developments. Steam Turbine OEM is the producer of genuine spares parts for the full range capacity of steam turbines. Steam Turbine supplier uses advanced engineering techniques and high-quality materials to manufacture spare parts that help to get more out of assets. Every part is thoroughly tested and backed by a warranty, leading to improved output, increased efficiency, and extended maintenance intervals. When drawings and data aren’t available, OEM of Steam Turbine does a re-engineering process. In addition to providing manufacturing data, the CAD model provides the basis for engineering analysis. This allows offering technology improvements, including advanced materials and standard steam turbine part replacement.
Turtle Turbines are as an OEM, it draws upon its experience to provide substitutes of original components, like stationary or rotating blades as well as many other required steam turbine parts. Additionally, we can enhance the configuration and material for replaced parts upon request. We can provide strategic and logistics spares.

Strategic spares – Bladed/Unbladed rotors, Casing, gland housing, Blades, diaphragms, gland segments, Bearings, Valves, Control systems spares.
Logistics Spares – Fasteners, Gaskets and Seals, Filters, Consumables, etc. Turtle Turbines supplies all required spares within India and also abroad.

Steam turbines play a very important role in the food processing industry. Electricity, Cooling, and Heating are the critical elements of any food processing process. Maintaining costs, product flexibility and quality are extremely important. The quality of steam is very important in food processing. Steam is the most energy-efficient, reliable, and flexible means of heat transfer for activities related to food and beverage processing. Turtle Turbines offers steam turbines that help reduce energy costs, provide a reliable source of energy and manage energy needs for various processes. Turtle Turbines has provided solutions to various customers in the food processing industry by delivering robust and reliable steam generators that generate a consistent quality of power and steam.

Normal vibrations are acceptable in any component that is under the action of any continuous impact. But when these vibrations start to grow and reach an undesirable level, they cause permanent failure and, consequently, significant damage to the system.

A steam turbine’s functionality is affected highly due to the presence of vibrations in it. Structurally a steam turbine is a complex assembly compounding many delicate components. Any sort of uncontrolled vibration due to a component can cause system failure and, consequently, a significant disaster. Thus, the analysis of vibrations’ cause and intensity is essential to ensure proper operations and safety.

The possible reasons for vibrations are the unbalanced rotor and rotor parts, faulty or no stress analysis of steam piping, deposition on steam turbine blades, damage of journal bearings, actuator and governor fluctuations, improper lubrication, uneven cooling and warming of steam turbine, improper axial and radial clearance, etc.

The effects of high vibrations in the Steam Turbine machine are not only degrading the machine’s operation by increasing the risk for normal operation and shortening the machine’s life but also for operational and maintenance personnel.

Timely maintenance of steam turbines with preventive and predictive maintenance schedules, standard installation and commissioning practices, and replacement of damaged parts can avoid vibrations in steam turbines.

Jaggery is a form of unrefined sugar and is obtained by boiling raw sugarcane juice till it almost solidifies. Jaggery making is a simple process comprising crushing of sugarcane for juice extraction, filtration, and boiling of juice for concentration and then cooling and solidifying to give jaggery blocks. The juice is extracted in a conventional crusher this is then filtered and boiled in shallow iron pans.

The need for Steam turbines is derived since jaggery making is shifting from traditional methods to Vacuum Pan Boiling and other methods like juice boiling crushing in the sugar industry. After crushing the Sugarcane Bagasse is readily available. In the process, steam is required around 120 Deg C which is at 1.2 to 1.5 kg/cm2 (g) pressure. A high-pressure boiler of 32 kg/cm2 (g) and 380 deg C can be a good option for a jaggery plant of more than 250 TCD. For a 100 to 200 TCD plant, medium pressure capacity boilers can be used.

Which can be sent through a steam turbine and further sent to process for jaggery making by steam boiling method. Steam boiling is a step towards modernization of jaggery making. The steam generated is first used for Power Generation in the Steam Turbines and then used for process heating. Turtle Turbines has supplied several Steam Turbines for the jaggery industry making them self-sufficient on power and heat. Power generated by using high-pressure boilers normally fulfills the plant’s total electrical load and power generated with medium pressure saturated boiler with Grid Sync Option can meet the total electrical demand.

The jaggery plant can be run smoothly just like a sugar plant by using a boiler and Turbine in the plant. Using the already available bagasse can reduce the cost drastically.

Steam Turbine is the power generating equipment. If steam turbines shut down for a longer duration it becomes a huge loss of power and it also affects on production rate.
There are many failures that occur in the steam turbine at running condition. Following are some major failures in a steam turbine.

1. Blades failure – Blades generally failed due to crack which is the effect of fatigue, corrosion, pitting, and creep.
   There are three main causes of blade failure – The cause of failure on the blade is influenced by several factors such as fatigue, creep, oxidation, corrosion, erosion, and surface degradation due to working at high temperatures.
2. Bearing failure – Bearing failure occurs due to abrasion, bond failure, cavitations erosion, corrosion, fatigue, overheating, surface wear, structural damage.
3. Rotor Failure – This happens due to various stresses that can occur on the rotor. Various stresses can cause rotor failures – Thermal, magnetic, dynamic, environmental, mechanical, and residual. When installed and operated as designed, the stresses remain within tolerance and the motor operates properly for years.
4. Steam Turbine Rotor Vibration Failures – If the rotor gets imbalanced it increases vibration. Vibration in the rotor also occurs due to casing because of temperature fluctuations.
5. Blade Rubs – Running in the sealing of a high-pressure rotor caused bending of rotor and blade tip rubs.
6. Casing misalignment – Rotor bending also occurs due to casing misalignment between two shafts of an integrated rotor can cause an eccentricity of the mass center of the rotor, and this eccentricity at high rotational speed will produce a centrifugal force in the radial direction, causing bending of the rotor.
7. Failures can be caused by poor maintenance also.

To avoid all the above failures, the following prevention needs to take.
Stresses on blades can be reduced by making the blading stronger, using better design and quality, and by adding damping by means of caulking strips and lashing.
Bearing failures can be prevented by using the correct bearing design. Store bearings actively. Install bearings properly. Lubricate timely. Rotor failures – To prevent rotor failure, do not exceed the maximum speed and maximum mass limits for the rotor. Do not leave the centrifuge until the full operating speed is reached and appears to be running safely without incident. Stop centrifuge immediately if you notice any unusual noises or shaking. Clean the centrifuge daily or at least weekly. Remove the rotor and any sample or container holders. Interior cleaning includes the interior bucket specimen holder, rotor, and supports. To avoid rotor bending, the turbine should remain on turning gear until the high-pressure casing temperature is below 150C and the oil temperature is below 75C. Turtle Turbines has a well-trained and dedicated team for the maintenance of steam turbines. Turtle Turbines provide solutions for all types of failures in the steam turbines.

As the name suggests a Boiler Turbines Generator is made up of a boiler, a steam turbine and generator, and other auxiliary components. The boiler produces high-pressure, high-temperature steam. The steam turbine converts steam heat energy into mechanical energy. The mechanical energy is then converted into electric power by the generator.

Steam from the boiler enters the high-pressure cylinder of a condensing turbine and, after passing through it, returns to the boiler via an intermediate superheater in a boiler-turbine unit. The secondary superheated steam is fed into the turbine’s medium-pressure cylinder, then into the low-pressure cylinder and condenser. A pump removes the water from the condenser.
It then passes through low- and high-pressure feed-water heaters, as well as a deaerator, before entering the boiler.

The technological processes in a boiler-turbine unit are vastly different from those in a nonmodular power plant. In a boiler-turbine unit, the boiler and turbine both start up at the same time, allowing for a smooth increase in steam pressure and temperature, which improves the warmup conditions for the turbine and steam pipes.

In a condensing turbine, the exhaust in a vacuum goes to the condenser and it represents wasted energy. Whereas in a backpressure turbine, the exhaust from the steam turbine is used effectively in a downstream process. In certain changed situations, an existing Extraction Condensing Turbine may have to be changed to Back Pressure Turbine.

In conversation of condensing turbine to backpressure turbine, the challenge is to redesign the turbine internals within the casing boundary conditions. Turtle Turbines can convert the existing condensing turbine into a back pressure turbine with a new optimized steam flow path. By eliminating the last blade stages and implementing a new shaft sealing on low-pressure end to allow only cooling steam flow. The earlier extraction flow is reused and modified to become the new exhaust of the turbine. The turbine casing could be reused with minor modifications, minimizing the required investment and shutdown time as much as possible.

Turtle Turbines keep the same turbine casing, same layout, and foundation. The customer receives upgraded equipment that is able to deliver a significantly increased heating steam output which allows their customer to have a more profitable operation of the powerplant. Hence investment cost is minimized as new major equipment was eliminated and the upgrade was made possible without having to stop the equipment longer than usual and required major overhaul.

Steam Turbine overhauling is very important to run turbine continuously with maximum efficiency. Overhauling of steam turbine is the major thing that we need to do every year within the scheduled time. In overhauling firstly we need to consider major overhauls like detailed inspection and overhaul of the entire steam turbine generator set including the turbine casing rotor, seals, bearings, the generator, and auxiliaries such as the gear, couplings, lubrication system, and controls.

Following are the some steps we need to take into action while doing steam turbine overhauling.

1. Isolate steam inlet, remove coupling gaurd and Coupling spacer to disconnect from driven. 2. Dismantle governor and linkages with governor valve. 3. Loose the bolts connecting top half split casing with bottom casing and take out. 4. Remove bearing covers on both side inboard and outboard. 5. Remove leak off lines of carbon ring housings. 6. Take out rotor with gland box and transfer to workshop to carry further overhaul. 7. Dismantle gland box case and carbon rings and journal bearings. 8. Remove governor drive coupling, trip collar, ball bearing, steam bunters on outboard side. 9. Remove coupling hub and steam bunters on inboard side. 10. Loosen wheel lock nuts with noting proper position of wheel and remove the wheel from the shaft with the use of arbor press. 11. Perfect inspection should be carried on each and every parts in case of any damage, score, brake. 12. Assembly is the reverse procedures of dismantle. Use proper sealing compound in between casing split and bearing housing cover. 13. The following factors should be considered while and after assembling are, shaft run out, nozzle and reversing chamber condition, governor valve and trip functioning, journal bearing radial clearance and crush, carbon ring clearance, governor function, free rotation, alignment, etc. 14. Trip check should be checked before coupled with driven.

Turtle Turbines has a well-trained and dedicated team for the commissioning, maintenance, and overhauling of a steam turbine.
Turtle Turbines supplies steam turbine and also carry out overhauling and maintenance within India and abroad. For more information please visit www.turtleturbines.com