The Significance of Steam Turbine Generator Maintenance
Release time
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Jan 28,2026
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Turbine maintenance is a systematic process involving planned, targeted inspections, cleaning, repairs, and testing to identify potential equipment defects, eliminate operational failures, and restore rated performance.
The Significance of Turbine Generator Maintenance
Turbine maintenance is a systematic process involving planned, targeted inspections, cleaning, repairs, and testing to identify potential equipment defects, eliminate operational failures, and restore rated performance. It transcends simple “breakdown repair,” functioning as an integrated equipment management system combining prevention, diagnosis, and restoration. Its core objective is to ensure turbines and auxiliary systems operate safely and efficiently at all times, guaranteeing stable full-load power generation for the unit. Compared to general mechanical maintenance, turbine generator maintenance features high technical barriers, stringent operational procedures, and demanding precision requirements. It necessitates developing customized maintenance plans based on equipment operational data, wear patterns, and industry standards.
I. Critical Significance of Maintenance for Unit Operation
1. Ensuring Operational Safety;
Critical components such as turbine rotors, blades, and bearings may develop defects like cracks or wear. During high-speed rotation, these defects can lead to severe failures like fractures or seizure, causing equipment damage and potential personnel injuries. Timely maintenance eliminates such defects at their source, mitigating safety risks.
2. Enhancing Economic Efficiency;
Component wear and seal failures reduce turbine thermal efficiency and increase energy consumption. Data indicates that standardized periodic maintenance improves thermal efficiency, significantly lowering power generation costs.
3. Extending Equipment Lifespan;
Core turbine components are costly. Scientific maintenance slows wear and repairs damage, extending equipment service life and substantially reducing replacement expenses.
II. Primary Types and Cycles of Turbine Maintenance
Turbine maintenance can be categorized by initiation cause into planned maintenance, emergency repairs, and ad hoc repairs. Planned maintenance is the industry standard, further divided into overhauls and minor repairs based on depth and frequency.
1. Planned Maintenance (Overhaul + Minor Repair)
Planned maintenance is scheduled based on equipment condition, component wear patterns, and industry standards. It follows a defined cycle and checklist, effectively preventing unexpected failures. Overhauls, as in-depth maintenance, aim to comprehensively identify and rectify equipment hazards while restoring original performance. They typically occur every 2–3 years. Note that newly installed units require an additional overhaul after one year of operation to address component break-in and system adaptation issues, eliminating residual defects from installation and initial operation. Overhaul tasks include general and special items, covering full inspections, cleaning, repairs, and testing. Minor overhauls represent targeted maintenance, generally conducted every 6 to 8 months. They focus on addressing defects exposed during operation and inspecting vulnerable components. The core purpose is to rapidly eliminate faults, optimize equipment operating conditions, and lay the groundwork for major overhauls. Notably, the final minor overhaul before a major overhaul must prioritize verifying major overhaul items. Through meticulous inspection, it identifies defect locations and severity to ensure the major overhaul plan is precise and feasible.
These maintenance activities are reactive, differing primarily by the severity of equipment damage. Accident repairs are emergency interventions forced by critical failures rendering equipment inoperable—such as rotor fractures or blade damage—requiring swift restoration to resume unit operation. Temporary repairs address minor defects occurring during unit operation with existing faults, conducted without disrupting basic functionality to prevent defects from escalating into major failures.
III. Core Objectives of Each Maintenance Type
1. Core Overhaul Projects:
Overhaul projects cover a broad scope, categorized by nature into general and special projects:
General projects include routine and non-routine maintenance, with the core being comprehensive upkeep:
- Disassembly, inspection, cleaning, and repair of critical components like turbine rotors, blades, bearings, and bulkheads; Removing, cleaning, testing, and inspecting generator rotors; Eliminating accumulated operational defects; Performing routine tasks like shaft alignment, seal replacement, and oil system flushing; Completing periodic tests such as unit start-up/shutdown and performance evaluations to ensure all equipment parameters meet standards.
Special projects address technically complex scenarios involving substantial workloads or structural modifications, such as steam turbine flow path modifications, bearing structure optimization, control system upgrades, blade replacement, cylinder centerline deformation repair, internal cleaning and inspection of generator rotor slip rings, slip ring replacement, and stator coil insulation remanufacturing. These require customized plans based on equipment aging conditions and technical improvement needs.
2. Core Items for Minor Overhauls:
Minor overhauls adhere to the principle of “efficient troubleshooting and precise repair,” focusing on core wear-prone components: prioritizing the elimination of operational defects to prevent accumulation; conducting thorough inspections of wear and corrosion on blades, seals, bearings, and other susceptible parts; and performing cleaning, adjustments, and performance tests on critical components as needed—all without requiring full equipment disassembly to balance maintenance effectiveness and operational efficiency.
IV. Maintenance Principles
Turbine generator maintenance must follow the principle of “diagnosis first, plan later”; Before major or minor overhauls, clearly define maintenance items and priorities by analyzing equipment operation records, defect logs, and component wear patterns. During overhauls, strictly control assembly precision and testing standards to ensure post-repair performance compliance. For unplanned maintenance, rapidly assess fault impacts, prioritize personnel and equipment safety, conduct post-incident reviews to optimize scheduled maintenance plans, and reduce unplanned outages.
Standardized turbine generator maintenance serves as the lifeline for the safe and economical operation of power equipment. Mastering the cycles, scope, and key points of different maintenance types, while developing scientifically sound plans based on actual equipment conditions, not only effectively mitigates failure risks but also maximizes equipment performance, thereby safeguarding power generation operations.
he high-pressure main steam valve is manually operated via a handwheel. Five high-pressure regulating valves and X extraction steam regulating valves are each driven by a hydraulic actuator through a lever mechanism.
Turbine maintenance is a systematic process involving planned, targeted inspections, cleaning, repairs, and testing to identify potential equipment defects, eliminate operational failures, and restore rated performance.
First, understand a key fluid dynamics concept—the boundary layer. According to Prandtl's boundary layer theory, when viscous steam flows over a blade surface, an extremely thin fluid layer forms near the wall.
Condenser vacuum is a core parameter in the thermal cycle of steam turbine units. Vacuum leakage represents one of the most common failures in power plant turbines, occurring when external air or non-condensable gases infiltrate the condenser or vacuum system through equipment gaps.
Shaft displacement Refers to the displacement of the shaft. Generally, axial displacement changes are small in magnitude. When axial displacement is positive, the shaft moves toward the generator.
Main steam pressure refers to the pressure value of the high-temperature, high-pressure steam generated by the boiler before it enters the steam turbine, typically measured in megapascals (MPa).
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