Frame 6

Shared by David Lucier, founder and GM, PAL Turbine Services LLC Use correct names of gas-turbine components to avoid confusion Components and auxiliary systems for GE gas turbines have specific names. It is important to use correct names when communicating with the manufacturer or service companies to be sure you’re understood. For some, it may […]

A year has gone by since Abel Rochwarger, chief engineer at Gas Turbine Controls (GTC), shared with CCJ ONsite’s editorial team his report on an incident in which the Mark V control system on a GE F-class gas turbine inexplicably shut down all the unit’s lube-oil pumps causing extensive damage. Rochwarger said the customer’s team

The main technical program at Frame 6 meetings begins at 8 a.m. Tuesday morning (June 11 in 2019), following Monday’s engine familiarization workshop and welcome reception and dinner. Roundtable discussions led by members of the steering committee and one of the two invited vendor presentations fill the first-day program until the vendor fair and reception at

The Frame 6B OEM was responsible for the Wednesday technical program and split the day with the morning dedicated to fleet-wide topics suggested by the steering committee and the afternoon divided among three discussion-focused breakout sessions catering to specific user interests. A “state of the frame” presentation launched the GE Day program with highlights of

The user-only compressor session in 2018 didn’t include any new topics, at least while the editors were in the room. At most 6B meetings, discussions include filter experience (HEPA in particular in recent years), online and offline washing, corrosives and particulates in the air impacting compressor cleanliness (and how to remove them), inlet bleed heat,

With much of the time at Frame 6 meetings devoted to user presentations and deep discussion, there remains limited time for vendor presentations. Each year, the steering committee chooses two third-party vendor presentations in tune with what owner/operators are experiencing in the field. The topics selected for the 2018 meeting dealt with combustion hardware and

Discussion on the turbine section always is robust at Frame 6 Users Group meetings, likely because there are many “senior” machines in the fleet—those with well over 100k operating hours. Current thinking of the OEM and a few others is that an end-of-life inspection should be done at about 100,000 hours and that the rotor

Turbine Tip No. 2, from the Dave Lucier’s PAL Turbine Services O&M solutions library, applies to General Electric Frame 5 models K-LA and M-P, and early 6Bs, 7Bs, and 7Cs, equipped with Y&F fuel regulator and Speedtronic™ Mark I, II, and IV controls. Overfiring a gas turbine during startup can be a serious condition, particularly

High wheel-space temperature issues were discussed by an owner/operator with three 42-MW 6Bs (Model 6581B) that had been commissioned in 2003. Two units completed their second major inspections in 2018, the third in 2019. High temperatures were noticed in the second and third turbine stages of one machine during startup following the major inspection. The