Igniter storage rack system
Granite Ridge Energy
Owned by Granite RidgeEnergy LLC, Operated by NAES Corp
730-MW, gas-fired, two-unit, 1 × 1 combined cycle located in Londonderry, NH
Plant manager: William Vogel
Key project participants: Dana Troian, maintenance technician; Dan Jorgensen maintenance manager
Challenge.
Granite Ridge Energy has a 501G gas turbine with 16 igniters. With the high number of igniters, starting reliability had become an issue within the fleet and at GRE. Plant staff desired to increase lifespan and reduce the cost of expensive igniters while keeping unit reliability as high as possible.
Solution.
The maintenance staff created a rack to hold the igniters in place following removal and during transport (Fig 123). This rack system gave a fixed place for igniters that would prevent damage to both cables and igniters themselves and provides secure storage during the outage.
Results.
As past igniter failures were not tracked reliably, the exact starting reliability improvement cannot be calculated. However, based on plant personnel feedback and tracking of igniter failures since, the igniter failures certainly have been reduced significantly.
