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Gas Turbine Maintenance Technologies and Practices

Date and Time: Tuesday, July 7, 2020 @ 2:30pm Eastern / 11:30am Pacific

Presenter

Michael F. Dolan Jr., Chief Engineer – Fasteners

Mike carries a Mechanical Engineering degree from West Virginia University and iscurrently Chief Engineer of Fasteners for HYTORC Corporation. He also directs a team of productivity enhancing engineers that guide and support the optimization of bolting evolutions for HYTORC around
the world.

Michael has 20 years of experience in industrial bolting. He spent the first decade of his professional career optimizing the bolting techniques used on commercial nuclear reactor pressure vessels throughout the world as the Director of Engineering and a key contributor to innovations in this field.

Over the last 10 years he has managed and directed HYTORC Corporations fastener innovation group. He has directed and supported efforts that have led to the endorsement and the utilization of HYTORC Tensioning Nuts on several OEM applications in the power industry. These enhancements have allowed adopters of HYTORC technology to reduce down time while improving the safety and convenience of critical bolting work.

Presentation Synopsis

One of the most difficult and time-consuming tasks in gas turbine maintenance outages relates to disassembly bolting. Gas turbine fasteners are highly stressed and operate at temperatures above 800F for thousands of hours before maintenance is required. After exposure to these elevated temperatures, the anti-seize lubricants provide little or no protection against thread galling during removal.

As a result, a significant portion of these fasteners require destructive removal with cutting torches during unbolting evolutions. The potential need to remove a portion of the fasteners in this unpredictable and challenging manner adversely affects the continuity of planned work. Several OEMs are addressing these challenges by integrating HYTORC Tensioning Nuts on casing and other critical hardware for gas turbine maintenance.

These special tensioning fasteners allow bolts to be tensioned with conventional lightweight hydraulic torque tools. The 3-piece self-reacting geometry of these fasteners allows selective conditioning of frictional surfaces to eliminate the possibility of galling. The self-reacting aspect of this 3-piece tension nut also allows for the safest possible bolting method through a hands free remotely operated hydraulic tooling system. By integrating tensioning nuts, bolting evolution times can be reduced by as much as 75%. By eliminating the potential for thread galling, these fasteners also remove the risk of unpredictable increases in disassembly related work due to the destructive removal of fasteners.

Turbine casing and balance of plant equipment can be updated to this technology by simply replacing the top nut with a new 3-piece self-reacting HYTORC Tension Nut. Power producers and gas turbine maintenance groups are utilizing these types of upgrades to increase the predictability of future maintenance and to reduce downtime.

Key Takeaways for Users

By combining specialized fasteners and tooling, owners and maintenance companies can improve the quality, safety and productivity of the most challenging maintenance work thereby reducing the overall cost of high temperature turbine equipment operations.

Contacts

Michael F. Dolan Jr., Chief Engineer – Fasteners, mdolan@hytorc.com, 732-300-6621

About Hytorc

The HYTORC mission is to optimize safety, quality and schedule in industrial bolting through innovative solutions, and an unyielding commitment to world class customer service. With 50 years of experience focused entirely on developing the highest quality industrial bolting systems, HYTORC is the most trusted name in the industry. From steel mills and mining equipment to refineries, power plants, and wind turbines; we have developed solutions for every bolting application imaginable. For custom projects, our highly experienced engineering team is at your service to design the most efficient solution for your job with simple operation and economical pricing in mind.

We are consistently improving upon existing products, and developing new tools, based on feedback from the people that use our tools every day. Our latest product line features patented industry-firsts like hands-free operation to keep tool operators at a safe distance from the application, onboard documentation systems to provide job accountability and assurance, and industry-leading bolt load accuracy to reduce nut loosening and joint failure.

With authorized repair facilities located all over the world, fast and professional service is always available. All of our products are covered by our worldwide one-year no-questions-asked warranty, which includes free parts and labor. Our latest bolting systems are guaranteed to stop leaks on pressurized vessels and eliminate unwanted nut loosening. Our mission is to make our customers’ jobs as safe and hassle-free as possible. Contact HYTORC today to find out how we can optimize your bolting processes.