Gas turbine maintenance and inspection

model enhancement
12/1/2024

FIG. 1. A current model of gas turbine inspection.

Improving asset performance is a major concern throughout industry and is associated

with maintenance costs, experience, machine/equipment age, and operational and
environmental conditions. This article will focus on improving the reliability and
availability of a plant gas turbine by applying best maintenance practices, operational
enhancements and performance monitoring. Moreover, an inclusive maintenance and
inspection model is proposed compared with the current common model.

The subject model consists of preventive maintenance and condition monitoring that
ensure a cost-effective maintenance philosophy. Quality assurance and quality control
(QA/QC) are key elements in the subject model as they will measure all steps and
scope and provide an improvement or change to the system processes or practices.
Additionally, fault tree analysis (FTA) and reliability block diagrams (RBDs) were the
main tools used to identify major challenges on gas turbine reliability and availability.

Current gas turbine maintenance and inspection model. The current maintenance
and inspection model of the gas turbine is based on manufacturer guidelines and
manuals. The strategy followed is time-based maintenance (scheduled maintenance):
after a certain number of hours in operation, the machine is stopped and inspected,
regardless of its current condition. However, if the operation or maintenance team
notice any abnormal condition, the machine is stopped and checked accordingly, and a
necessary unplanned inspection might be performed. FIG. 1 demonstrates the current
model including the main inspection cycles:

 Combustion inspection (CI): A CI is the inspection of the gas turbine parts that
are inside the rubber casing located between the axial compressor and the 1st
stage turbine blade. Generally, the inspection is performed every 8,000–12,000
running hours (hr), which is approximately equivalent to 1 yr–1.5 yr depending on
the operational needs and number of the critical/ technical issues discovered. A
CI is performed twice before any major inspection (MI), as indicated on the
model.
  Hot gas path inspection (HGPI): This inspection includes an inspection of
combustion parts inspection as well as turbine blades. This inspection is
performed after no more than 24,000 running hr from the last MI—between the
two CIs. At this stage, the turbine casing cover is removed so the turbine blades
of both rotors are exposed for visual inspection and replacement, if needed. In
some gas turbines operated with fuel oil, the turbine blades will be replaced due
to accumulated deposits and carbon as result of the firing temperature and
combustion system.

 MI: This calls for an inspection from flange to flange, entailing the entire gas
turbine from the bell moth (at Bearing 1) to the end of the exhaust (at Bearing 4)
in most gas turbine designs. This inspection is conducted after 48,000 hr—
equivalent to 5.5 yr—and follows two CIs and one HGPI. The MI scope is huge
and requires significant resources and planning. Every part will be exposed,
checked and replaced, as recommended.

Current model limitations and case study. It was noticed that the performance of the
gas turbines dropped even after applying and implementing manufacturer
recommendations (the current model). Premature failures for turbine internal parts
discovered during the inspection included:

 Bearing failures

 Oil leak at Bearing 1

 High exhaust temperature

 Axial air compressor blade damaged

 Wear of internals parts

 Performance drop

 Issues with auxiliary systems.

These failures were the result of inefficient scope, poor operator skills, the absence of
effective QA/QC, and the low quality of the refurbished parts used in the overhaul. Each
part of the gas turbine has a specific lifetime and should not be repaired and reused
after that limit. Unfortunately, there is no mechanism in plants or repair shops to
effectively track each part’s running hours, particularly for parts that are removed (e.g.,
liners, transition pieces, fuel nozzle, cans, buckets).

According to the history of the scheduled maintenance for the last 20 yr, no issues or
findings on the turbine blades were found during an HGPI. This indicates that the HGPI
scope can be optimized and replaced with a CI scope. Also, a borescope device can be
utilized to check the blade conditions instead of removing the turbine casing, which will
lead to improved utilization of resources.

In addition, maintenance costs increased due to inflation and the replacement of gas
turbine internal parts. The loss of experience in gas turbine maintenance personnel also
contributed to high maintenance costs and decreased machine performance.

A lack of clear inspection guidelines caused the maintenance team to change out all
gas turbine internal parts without assessing their condition, which would prevent
reoccurring failures.

As an example Case Study, it was observed during an MI that damage to Bearing 2 was
not discovered until the machine was opened after 48,000 running hr because there is
no condition monitoring program on the subject bearing.

For further improvement of gas turbine reliability and availability, the fault tree analysis
(FTA) methodology and reliability block diagrams (RBDs) are used and discussed in the
following sections. A failure mode and effect analysis can also be used to determine
system challenges or other issues related to the gas turbine, but is not part of this
discussion.

FTA. This methodology is effective in finding the root case analysis of the issues and
determining the relationship between the top event and contributing challenges, either
direct or indirect. FIGS. 2A–2F represent 24 major challenges related to the low
reliability of gas turbines, including poor performance and high maintenance costs.
Challenges were classified into two types that must be addressed and mitigated: direct
and indirect challenges. FTA depends on two gates, the AND gate and the OR gate. An
AND gate indicates that the top event will happen if the both direct and indirect
challenges happen, whereas the OR gate indicates that any challenge will result to the
top event.

FIG. 2A. Typical FTA for gas turbine challenges.

FIG. 2B. Typical FTA for gas turbine challenges—Mechanical issues.

 FIG. 2C. Typical FTA for gas turbine challenges—Electrical issues.

FIG. 2D. Typical FTA for gas turbine challenges—Instrument issues.

FIG. 2E. Typical FTA for gas turbine challenges—Maintenance issues.

FIG. 2F. Typical FTA for gas turbine challenges—Operation issues.

The major issues applicable to each major challenge are summarized below.

Mechanical issues. Vibration issues can go undetected (hidden failure) as there are no
designed vibration measurements at the internal bearings. When the bearings were
removed during the MI, it was observed that the bearing clearances were high and there
were scoring marks on the shaft.

 Signs of high bearing temperature were noticed on the bearings after removal.
This was observed again on internal Bearings 2 and 3.

 High exhaust temperature was discovered, which is a major issue related to

unreliable fuel nozzles. Sometimes fuel nozzles are blocked with carbon
deposits, or they inject more fuel than they should.

 High compartment temperature was observed with leakages of the

compartment’s insulation. Also, the ventilation was less than adequate.

 Wear of internal parts was noticed during the inspection of the gas turbine. Two
main reasons are inaccurate installation and internal vibration (shaking) while the
machine was in operation.
  Oil leak was found at Bearing 1; this is a common issue that is related to loss of
air seal as a result of blockages or dust that passes the air intake filter.

Electrical issues. These include:

 Loss of power occurred only once due to loss of the backup ultranet power
supply (UPS) while preventive maintenance was being performed on the primary
UPS.

 Cables were occasionally found to be grounded due to their age and infrequent
integrity checks.

Instrument issues. These include:

 Control valves fluctuate frequently if one of the parameters exceeds its range.
Depending on the valve and its age, frequent calibration and tuning are
required.

 Calibration issues are similar to—or part of—the issue above, depending on
personnel experience and equipment condition.

 Spike readings can happen suddenly without previous indication. Spike readings
trip the machine, affect overall gas turbine performance and push the part to its
fatigue cycle.

 Control cards failures occur frequently and are related to high temperatures
inside the control room.

Maintenance issues. These include:

 Improper inspection of internal parts, as most parts during the inspection are sent
to the local manufacturer shop for refurbishment without detailed inspection.

 Improper installation was noticed: there was wear on one side between the
contact areas (e.g., liner springs) and contact areas on transition pieces.

 Current QA is ineffective or nonexistent. QC checks repair quality (e.g., internal

clearances) but is not comprehensive.

 Root cause analysis (RCA) is ineffective as no comprehensive report discusses

all findings during the inspection.

Operational issues. These include:

 Frequent trips during startup shorten the gas turbine lifecycle by affecting hot
path parts.
  Daily monitoring is not performed. Alarm rationalization is not part of the
operational reliability focus due to excessive daily noise alarms.

 Operators lack experience for when machines are operated beyond their
operating windows.

 No technical courses are available for personnel. Operators should have the
minimum of knowledge and work to improve their skills. Machine reliability is
everyone’s responsibility.

Machine aging. This involves:

 Machines aging is a common factor throughout industry and exacerbates the

above causes or conditions.

RBD. RBDs are a representation of the FTA relations seen in FIG. 3. The relation of a
top event (gas turbine challenges) are parallel due to the AND gate between the direct
and indirect challenges. The relationship between all other issues is due to the OR gate.
Each event is demonstrated by box and number. The events from 1–13 are related to
direct challenges, while the events from 14–24 are related to indirect challenges.

FIG. 3. A typical RBD.

For example, the minimum cut set is used to determine the possible causes of the top
event, then the low performance of the gas turbine could be due to Events 7 and 19,
which are low speed and an ineffective RCA, respectively. Also, the cause could be
related to 1.14, 1.15, 1.16…and so on. In total, there will be 143 related issues if
considering the RBD in FIG. 3. Therefore, both direct and indirect challenges
contributed to the top event.

To improve and enhance gas turbine reliability and availability, it is highly recommended
to implement the following:

 Apply a condition monitoring program rather than a “run-to-fail” strategy,

especially for air intake filters and vibration monitoring.

 Conduct reliability awareness sessions for operations and maintenance

personnel.

 Place an emphasis on the root cause practice to be performed for all failure.
  Conduct failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) or any other equivalent
methods to analyze the system.

Proposed model of gas turbine inspection and maintenance. Because following

manufacturer recommendations did not yield high-quality and low-cost maintenance,
current practices and manufacturer recommendations must be challenged. The current
model should be improved in a way to capture most of the issues in the current model
and maintenance practices as identified in the FTA and RBD.

The objective of the proposed model is to extend the lifetime of the machine—as well as
increase inspection intervals—with maximum throughput and efficiency. Therefore, the
model focuses on three main areas: pre-maintenance and inspection, maintenance and
inspection, and improvement (as seen in FIG. 4). Within each of these areas, several
steps are needed to reach the ultimate goal and objective. This comprehensive model
should mitigate the current model issues in planning, execution and tracking, and
ensure all subject matter experts (SMEs) are participating efficiently and effectively. For
example, the current model planning might be performed by one entity from the
turnaround group or sometimes only by the planning engineer. However, the
comprehensive model is most effective when all experts are part of the process.

FIG. 4. Proposal model for gas turbine inspection and maintenance.

Pre-maintenance and inspection include all inputs needed to execute the work on
schedule and on (or under) budget. At this stage, documentation, planning and QC
must be performed effectively. Documentation includes all paperwork that will be used
as a reference to review old inspections and execute the current work with high quality.
Planning is essential to organize the work and should dictate the what, when, how and
where of the work. QC maintains the compliance of all inputs with respect to standards,
scope, requirements, key performance indicators (KPIs), etc. before the job is executed.

The maintenance and inspection phase comprises schedule maintenance and condition
monitoring maintenance. This phase presents some significant changes compared to
the current methods of inspection:
  Eliminating the HGPI in accordance with the machine’s history

 Extending the interval between the inspections to be up to 15,000 hr rather than

12,000 hr based on the condition review of the previous inspections

 Conducting initial inspection for the removed internal parts

 Introducing the condition monitoring as an essential element, especially for air

intake and vibration monitoring systems.

The improvement phase consists of two main steps: QC and reporting and
recommendation implementation (R&RI). QC checks the activities executed against the
planned scope, schedule, cost, standards, drawings, safety, etc. QC is ongoing and
must be conducted regularly—for some tasks, this means daily or even every shift.
R&RI is the final stage where all findings, RCA and recommendations are recorded.
Additionally, KPIs are measured to check performance, compliance, efficiency or other
measurements.

Modified FTA and RBD. After implementing the new proposed model, the expected
FTA is represented in FIG. 5. Failures or malfunctions cannot be eliminated, but they
can be predicted or minimized in terms of occurrence and frequency. For example, in
the FTA, mechanical failures can be avoided only when condition monitoring is
implemented. Also, gas turbine challenges will occur if both direct and indirect
challenges have an issue or a failure occurs. Moreover, the RBD in FIG. 6 is plotted to
determine the system boundary and most-effective shortcut. It is clear that the minimum
shortcut could be 1.5.9.10, 2.5.9.10, 3.5.9.10 or 4.5.9.10. This means that high vibration
will be a challenge without a condition monitoring program, improper operation and no
daily operation rout.

FIG. 5. Modified gas turbine challenges FTA.

 FIG. 6. Modified gas turbine challenges RBD.

In addition, it is expected that system reliability will be improved further compared with
the old model due to the addition of AND gates, which indicate further redundant
protection programs.

Takeaways. In any industry, maintenance is a major concern and can consume a

significant portion of an organization’s resources. Each maintenance philosophy must
be reviewed and enhanced to ensure successful implementation within the allocated
budget. The proposed model can be implemented and customized to any maintenance
activities to enhance overall plant and asset availability and reliability. If the proposed
model is implemented, the following benefits can be expected:

 Minimize the gap in the scope as the model is comprehensive and includes two
main gates (QA/QC).

 Reduce the number of trips and failures, which means a reduction in the thermal
effect on the gas turbine combustion component.

 A drop in maintenance costs because of a maintenance strategy change to more

proactive maintenance rather than reactive maintenance.

 An associated risk will be minimized by addressing the root cause of the internal
failure.

 The level of experience will be improved due to the additional onsite scope and
examination of the removed parts.

 Demand will be meet with high performance as monitored by proposed

KPIs. GP&LNG