 Turbine Alignment
Turbine alignment has come a long way.
Gas, Steam and Hydro Turbine Alignment
As electronic devices of all kinds become more a part of our lives in ways few could imagine a short time ago, the corresponding need for reliable power generation continues to grow worldwide. To meet the demand, new generating plants are being constructed and existing ones are retrofitting. Plant operators are endeavoring to reduce costs and shorten outage durations when they occur. Efficiency, reliability, and availability, always the watchwords of power companies, are being stressed anew. And so plant maintenance has become more important than ever.
Conventional methods of turbine alignment are being eclipsed
Traditional alignment methods for turbine applications involve tight wires, oil-filled cans, feeler gauges, optics and sound micrometers; and they come with the additional complication of long measurement distances. Such methods are sensitive to nearby vibration and often require the cessation of other work in the area. They provide adequate though not always precise accuracy and routinely take a tremendous amount of time to perform well.
Given our ever-growing demand for power, insistence on the shortest outages under any circumstances, and more competitive power markets, an easier, faster, more accurate method of alignment was needed. It arrived in the form of ››laser alignment systems just as turbine efficiency was becoming ever more instrumental to profitability.
Today's turbine alignment standard is a laser system
Today's advanced laser systems can reduce the time required for gas, steam, hydro and even wind turbine generator alignment by 50% and above. What's more, these systems afford an exponential increase in accuracy as well. Turbine efficiency can improve dramatically as a result. Turbines aligned with laser systems have significantly less vibration and run faster. After precision laser alignment, a turbine at shutdown can take several times longer to stop rotating than it did beforehand.
Principal advantages of alignment by laser system:
- Less sensitive to vibrations
- Easy to learn and use
- Results automatically appear on display screen
- No manual calculations
- Measurement data transfers to evaluation software on PC
- Maintain power production of surrounding equipment
Laser-alignment system perform measurements for:
- Plumbness of vertical turbine shafts
- Flatness of axial bearings
- Straightness of bearing positions
- Flatness of foundations
- Shaft straightness
- Static runout
From steam turbine alignment to every other kind, VibrAlign provides every service
VibrAlign engineers and technicians are experts in the following services for gas, steam and hydro turbines from most leading manufacturers.
- Bearing pedestals
- Continuous laser monitoring and thermal growth
- Couplings of all kinds
- Diaphragms
- Frames
- Glands
- Inner and outer casings
- Rotors
- Shaft straightness & flatness
- Shaft plumbness on vertical turbines
- Turbine centerline tops on and tops off
All services include complete documentation for quality assurance and compliance.
For more information on turbine laser alignment
VibrAlign is the North American distributor for the USA for the entire line of Fixturlaser laser alignment systems and products. For further information on turbine alignment or related services, or Fixturlaser laser alignment systems, please ››contact VibrAlign at 800-394-3279 or info@vibralign.com.
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