OPTIMIZING THE INTERVAL FOR STEAM TURBINE GENERATOR INSPECTION OUTAGES - NEW STEPS FORWARD 'FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS THROUGH THE APPLICATION OF TECHNOLOGY'

摘要

Competitive market pressures are forcing the utility industry to reduce operational and maintenance (O&M) costs. As part of those cost reductions, the time before major dismantle inspection outages of steam turbine generators are being extended beyond their previous experience base. To address the technical risk associated with these decisions, a major insurer developed and successfully field tested a steam turbine generator risk assessment tool called TOOP (Turbine Outage Optimization Program). This was accomplished with a team of utility and insurance industry experts. After analyzing 40 turbine generators during the initial validation and early commercial phases of the program, this group has continued to enhance the program to meet power generation industry needs. This paper presents the insurer's analysis of the industry changes, the manifestations on O&M, and the continued evolution and validation of the TOOP program's risk assessment capabilities for the power generation industry.