The equipment for steam turbine rotor thermal stability testing has to be understood by this abbreviation. The test is known as HST (heat stability test) and is carried out pursuant to the methodology given by the respective standards, e.g. SEP 1950, ASTM 472-98, etc. The objective is to check the responses – changes in radial runout of the machined turbine rotor forging or weldment under the temperature conditions that reflect the actual conditions in which the turbine is to be run. The equipment can also be used for the stress relief annealing of welded rotors.
Regarding customer needs was developed a testing and stabilizing furnace in quite a new concept, meeting, in all aspects, the requirements of the standards applicable to such equipment. Another result of the company’s own research and development is a sensor used to measure radial runouts of rotors. These measurements are taken during the course of testing one at a time, as specified. Accuracy of measurements is ± 2 μm at the actual temperature in the furnace.
The equipment enables the heat testing of forged and welded turbine rotors. The standard temperature at which the heat stability tests are carried out is 150°C higher than the rotor operating temperature. It will range around 670°C for high-pressure rotors.
The equipment can be used to anneal welded rotors up to 800°C. In the case of heterogeneous weldments, different heat treatment temperatures can be applied to individual parts of such rotors, depending on the steel types and grades from which they are made.
Together with the furnace itself, a fully original radial runout measurement analyzing methodology has been developed as well, applicable also to the thermal stabilization processes. These development efforts have also resulted in new software for the automatic assessment of measurements compliance with the requirements of the individual standards applied to this technological process.
The test running is fully automated, and is also documented automatically, including a certificate drawn up in the setup and format as selected in accordance with the applicable standards.
The quality and high utility value of the newly developed equipment can be confirmed by the fact that a total of five stabilizing furnace assemblies have been supplied in three years and hundreds of testing cycles have successfully been carried out on these systems.
The equipment is mainly comprised of the following components:
Based on the required range of the tested and/or heat-treated rotors, these systems have been engineered in two sizes.
HST60 stabilizing furnace
HST135 stabilizing furnace
We are ready to engineer and supply customized stabilizing furnaces and their accessories where different specific requirements/specifications apply.
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Fire resistance testing furnaces have been developed mainly to satisfy the needs of authorized test laboratories when they verify, test and prove the fire rating mainly of:
These furnaces are also used by a number of building material and sheet glass manufacturers for regular quality verifications of their output and also for testing, research and engineering development of new products.
The furnaces are to be used for testing up to 1350 °C (temperature inside furnace). Fire resistance testing can be carried out by means of them, with the course of the temperature copying the following fire simulation curves:
These furnaces have been designed in compliance with the requirements of EN 1363-1:1999, which defines fire-resistance testing conditions, and EN 1363-3:1998, on test furnaces characteristics and related testing procedures.