Design and Development of a Novel Technique for the Maintenance of a Gas Turbine–A Case Study

Abstract

AbstractGas turbine is a practical prime mover. Gas turbine assembly consists of compressor, combustion system, power turbine, and integral equipment. Gas turbines are being used in many industry sectors—oil and natural gas, marine, industrial mechanical drives, aerospace, etc. Availability of gas turbine means that the gas turbine should be available whenever its service is required. In order to increase the turbine’s availability or uptime, maintenance is done. Thus, maintenance would help in extending the useful service life of a gas turbine. Existing maintenance methods such as preventive and breakdown have many limitations. This has made researchers and practitioners to look for new techniques for maintaining a gas turbine. In this context, reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) assumes special significance. The objective of RCM is to bring down the total maintenance cost. In RCM approach, critical components of a gas turbine are identified, and appropriate maintenance policies are recommended. In the current research work, a novel technique based on RCM is being developed for the maintenance of a gas turbine. MATLAB software is employed for performing analytical network process (ANP) computation, which is required, for identifying the critical components. RCM would help in enhancing gas turbine’s availability and will also help in achieving safety of the operators and reliability of the gas turbine. In this context, the current research assumes special significance. The proposed method of maintenance is novel in that it overcomes many of the limitations of the existing approaches. Research findings presented in this paper are going to help academicians, practitioners, and researchers.KeywordsGas turbineMaintenance policy selectionAvailabilityReliabilityReliability-centered maintenanceFMEAANP