Mobile Gas Turbine Combustor Replacement Apparatus
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for replacing combustors and sequential liners in large industrial gas turbines are inefficient, particularly for lower units, as they require cumbersome and expensive systems that are difficult to access and attach, leading to increased downtime and costs.
Innovation Solution
A turbine part replacing apparatus featuring a mobile frame with a vertically extendable arm and a carriage that allows for horizontal and vertical motion, pivot mechanisms, and sliding devices to accurately position and orient combustors or liners, enabling independent and efficient mounting or demounting without attaching to the turbine casing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If annular rails are fixed around the gas turbine periphery, then combustors can be replaced systematically, but the system becomes heavy, bulky, expensive, and time-consuming to attach
Solution Approach 1:
The replacement system is segmented into a mobile frame with wheels, a separately movable arm, and a carriage that can independently position itself. This eliminates the need for a fixed annular rail system while maintaining systematic combustor replacement capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from a static fixed rail structure to a dynamic mobile frame with movable arm and carriage. The mobile frame can be repositioned, the arm can extend and rotate, and the carriage can move along the arm, providing flexible access to all combustor positions without permanent installation.
2Force
If overhead crane with sling is used, then combustors can be lifted, but lower half combustors are difficult to reach
Solution Approach 1:
The system adds vertical dimension capability through the extendable arm that can reach downward to access combustors in the lower half of the turbine. The mobile frame can also reposition horizontally, creating two-dimensional mobility that enables access to all combustor locations including those previously unreachable by overhead cranes.
3Productivity
If fixed annular rails are used, then combustor replacement can be performed, but attachment to casing takes a lot of time
Solution Approach 1:
The mobile frame is pre-equipped with the arm and carriage mechanisms before approaching the turbine. This eliminates the need for time-consuming on-site assembly of fixed rails and allows the system to be quickly positioned and deployed for combustor replacement, reducing overall attachment time.
4Reliability
If heavy bulky replacement systems are used, then combustors can be replaced, but the system is expensive and difficult to move
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces the heavy mechanical annular rail structure with a lighter mobile frame that uses wheel-based mobility. The arm and carriage use controlled mechanical movements rather than fixed rail guidance, reducing overall system weight while maintaining replacement capability.
Data Source
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AI summary
Turbine part replacing apparatus for moving a combustor (1) of an industrial gas turbine from and to a mounting port of the gas turbine, the apparatus comprising a mobile frame (101) with a moving mechanism (112, 114) for substantially horizontal translation motion on the ground, a vertically extendable arm (120) attached to and extending from said mobile frame (101), and a carriage (15) attached to said extendable arm (120) such that the carriage (15) may be moved vertically with respect to the mobile frame (101). Moreover, the turbine part replacing apparatus is adapted for receiving said combustor (1) in said carriage (15) and for vertically moving said received combustor (1) by means of said extendable arm (120) from and to the mounting port.