Pick, Skid and Drive System Speeds up Power Station Maintenance

 

24 hour Exchange of Complete Generator

 

Leading heavy lift equipment specialist, Enerpac Heavy Lifting Technology, has developed a ‘Pick, Skid and Drive’ strand jack gantry system for power plant maintenance activities. With a lift capacity of 450 ton, the strand jack gantry allows generators and turbines to be easily swapped out for maintenance, ensuring minimal disruption to power generation capacity.

 

Overcoming space restrictions and obstacles in power generation plants poses a major challenge for exchange and maintenance activities. The space needed to remove, and service power generation equipment in-situ is too restricted. Moreover, the turbine will be off-line for a number of weeks. Using the Enerpac gantry allows the generator or turbine to be effectively picked up and transported over building and machinery obstacles and replaced with another generator or turbine within 24 hours, maintaining power generation capacity.

 

The Enerpac ‘Pick, Skid and Drive’ system comprises an aerial track of skid beams and support legs, strand jack gantry combining skidding and strand jack technologies, and a self-propelled modular transporter (SPMT) or electric trolley system.

 

Pick, Skid and Drive’ System

 

With the strand gantry skidded into position, the turbine generator is disconnected and lifted off its foundation using four Enerpac HSL2000 strand jacks. Once clear of any turbine hall obstacles, the generator is skidded using four HSK1250 skid beams below the strand jack gantry to the far end of the skid beam track. It can then be lowered onto either a self-propelled modular transporter (SPMT) or electric trolley system mounted on steel tracks and moved to a maintenance area. Installing the replacement generator is the reverse of the ‘Pick, Skid and Drive’ process and allows generator exchange within 24 hours.

 

“The ability of the strand jack gantry system to effectively ‘pick, skid and drive’ the generator out for the turbine hall for maintenance is much quicker than other methods; and is less disruptive to power generation capacity. It gives specialist heavy lift contractors the ability to assist power equipment suppliers and power station operators in a wide range of maintenance tasks without the need for expensive and time-consuming civil engineering works,” says Mart Hinnen, managing director, Enerpac Heavy Lifting Technology.