Recently, a new client asked Howden Maintenance Partners for assistance in identifying the cause of strong vibrations in their turbine (ALSTOM type TM2, 22 MW). After the vibratory analysis carried out on-site, the diagnosis was indisputable: the steam turbine had to be opened for a more in-depth inspection. When it was opened, we observed that a seal of the watertight casing had shifted axially and was rubbing against wheel 1. The latter being severely damaged, the rotor was sent to our workshop in Belgium for repair.

After the visual, geometric and dimensional inspection and analysis of the material, it appeared that the damaged wheel had to be replaced.

However, thanks to our welding robot and the expertise of our engineers, HMP had the capability and know-how to repair this rotor and prevent the end client from having to procure a new rotor.

• The wheel is machined up to the shaft of the rotor.
• The reconstruction is carried out using our welding robot.
• We then proceed to the machining stage and actual fitting of the blades. The blades are attached in compression in accordance with the original design.
• The final step balancing the rotor in our high speed balancing machine.

The rotor is returned to the client after only 4 months of work, ready to be put back into production.

Result for the client:

• Works carried out with a high focus on safety and quality thanks to our MASE-, VCA/SCC- and ISO certifications
• A project managed A to Z by our teams: from on-site repair to return to service, including repair of the wheel and balancing of the rotor in our workshop
• Shorter delivery times and lower costs than ordering a completely new rotor

More information

If you have any questions about services on steam turbines, please contact us via +32(0)3 541 71 40 or send us a message using the form below:

Howden Maintenance Partners becomes the single service center for Howden steam turbines (including the Kuhnle, Kopp & Kausch brand) in France.

For any request for quotation of spare parts or intervention, please contact the HMPF team:

Howden Maintenance Partners France

16 Bd Cardiff

44000 Nantes

0033 2 72 74 89 65

info@mp-howden.com

This new organization will combine the expertise of the manufacturer Howden, the warranty of OEM parts and responsive service for our customers.

BETHLEHEM, PA — 2023 — Rotating Machinery Services, Inc. today announced an alliance with Howden Maintenance Partners to service hot gas and nitric acid expanders in Europe and the Middle East.

This signed agreement combines Rotating Machinery Services’ (RMS) industry-leading Hot Gas Expander expertise and technology with the skilled, local repair capability of Howden Maintenance Partners (HMP) to better service customers within European and Middle East (EMENA) region. RMS’s world-class equipment knowledge, engineering and component sourcing combined with HMP’s proven repair capabilities in Europe will assure the flawless overhaul and repair of both Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) and Nitric Acid Expanders. RMS and HMP have previously collaborated and both organizations feel this is a natural partnership that will enable a process that brings greater reliability and maintainability, and equipment performance for their customers.

John Bartos, Chief Executive Officer of Rotating Machinery Services explains, “This collaboration allows RMS to provide our decades of experience with FCC and Nitric Acid Expanders to customers in the European theater that prefer to have their equipment serviced in Belgium. RMS is proud to work with the exceptional team at Howden Maintenance Partners. Both RMS and Howden Maintenance Partners share a culture committed to quality solutions for our customers and minimizing the long-term cost of ownership of critical rotating equipment.”

Wim Schelfaut, Managing Director and Director Regional Development at HMP added, “RMS and Howden Maintenance Partners have worked well together for many years on a supplier-customer basis. By strengthening the cooperation through this agreement, we combine the expertise of RMS with the field service and workshop capabilities at Howden Maintenance Partners. This creates a European centre of excellence for expanders that allows us to improve the efficiency and reliability of the customer’s production process.”

“The collaboration between HMP and RMS means that customers with the EMENA region now have Expander Service backed by RMS, the global leader in FCC and Nitric Acid Expanders, and Howden Maintenance Partners, Belgium-based ISO 9001:2015 certified workshop.”

Dan Jones Vice President of International Sales at RMS goes on to say, “Our mission is to provide customers with RMS’ proven engineering expertise, hardware and guidance coupled with fast execution at a European facility.  RMS will be responsible for the technical aspects of the repair and Expander services while the Howden Maintenance Partners team will execute the shop work. All repairs will be in accordance with RMS standards and backed by RMS.”

 About Rotating Machinery Services

RMS was established in 1998 with the vision to reinvent the concept of an aftermarket turbomachinery business and provides global engineering, repair, and maintenance services to the rotating equipment supporting critical infrastructure. RMS ensures the continuous reliable & safe operation of large industrial rotating equipment essential to the energy, petrochemical, food & beverage, mining, and steel industries. RMS is the OEM for AC Compressor and CONMEC turbomachinery,  the OEM for the former Siemens Hot Gas FCCU Expander line, and serves as an alternative source for aftermarket engineered solutions & service to all other nameplates of rotating equipment.

For more information: https://rotatingmachinery.com/

About Howden Maintenance Partners

Maintenance Partners, founded in 2001, is a leading provider of aftermarket services focused on the maintenance, repair and overhaul of industrial compressors, pumps, electric motors, blowers, steam turbines and generators of any brand. Headquartered in Belgium, Maintenance Partners serves principally European and North African customers in the Industrial, Thermal Renewables and Petrochemical, Oil and Gas markets. Maintenance Partners was acquired by Howden in 2021 and is now one of Howden’s European aftermarket Service Centres, providing responsive local service for all needs.

Howden Maintenance Partners is a highly flexible provider of aftermarket services, backed by world-leading OEM Howden. The company combines workshop and field services and extensive engineering capabilities, to improve the reliability of rotating equipment and turbomachinery.

For more information, please call us at +32 3 541 71 40 or send a message using the form at this page: https://maintenancepartners.com/en/contact/

Open Door Day May 19 2022: Discover Maintenance Partners by Howden

We are pleased to invite you to our unique open door day which will take place on Thursday, May 19.  On this day, we will take you on a journey through the world of Maintenance Partners by Howden.

Since 2001 Maintenance Partners is the one stop shop for service of rotating machines. A year ago we became a part of the Howden group and have become the Howden After Market Centre for the Benelux area. Howden is a global leader in fans, blowers, compressors and steam turbines. The company is strongly committed to the development of advanced maintenance concepts and digital solutions such as Uptime.

Together with Howden, we can take the next step to further roll out our Smart Fit approach and improve the reliability of your rotating machinery!

During the open door day, we will put our activities in the spotlight and you will discover the complete offer of Maintenance Partners and Howden. The program includes:

• A tour through rotor shop and workshop
• Various workshops by specialists of Howden & Maintenance Partners
• Various Howden information stands:
  • • Data Driven Advantage (Howden Uptime)
    • Howden Netherlands (Cooling Fans)
    • Howden Compressors
    • Howden Turbo (KK&K & Peter Brotherhood)
    • Howden Axial Fans
    • Howden ČKD Compressors
    • CPI (Reciprocating Compressors)
    • Howden Thomassen Compressors
• Maintenance Partners job stand

Practical information

• Doors open at 10.00
• Ends at 18.00
• Vitshoekstraat 6, 2070 Zwijndrecht

Registration

For practical reasons we would like to ask you to register your attendance via the form below (form invisible? Please visit this page)

 

Maintenance Partners, a business within Howden Group and a leading provider of aftermarket services for turbomachinery equipment, has acquired all assets of Turbine Europe SRL based in Liège, Belgium. This acquisition is the latest step in Howden’s strategy to grow our aftermarket business and provide customers with a full range of these services close to their operations.

Turbine Europe is an independent service provider of turbo expanders, used primarily in air separation and mid-stream and downstream gas processing. The asset deal combines Turbine Europe’s expertise of turbo-expander services with Maintenance Partners extensive turbomachinery engineering and workshop capabilities. Together with Howden’s technology and digital service solutions this acquisition will provide customers with a ‘one stop shop’ for their turbo-expander needs to maximise the reliability of their operations. 

Turbine Europe will be fully integrated with Maintenance Partners, part of Howden Group, providing services across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and India (EMENA).
 

At Howden we seek to support our customers’ assets throughout their life cycle. For parts and services through to enhanced maintenance solutions and optimised performance. This is true for customers’ Howden equipment as well as equipment from other manufacturers. Bringing together the capabilities of Maintenance Partners and Turbine Europe extends this approach to turbo-expanders which are a key application in our customers’ processes. This move will also give Turbine Europe’s customers access to Howden’s full range of technology, engineering and digital service capabilities.

In 2020, Howden Maintenance Partners started to participate in the PRIAM project with the partners Performance for Assets, I-care*, I-Pulses SPRL and Pôle MecaTech.

PRIAM stands for PRojet d’Intelligence Artificielle pour la Maintenance (Project of Artificial Intelligence for Maintenance).

Thanks to the support of Digital Wallonia, we were able to build a demonstrator testbench and develop digital forms.

Testbench

The testbench represents a production line on a small scale with various components and is used to demonstrate our platform’s capabilities to register data inputs from various sensors (vibration, temperature, ultrasonic, …) and multiple types of data (structured & unstructured).

Digital Form

The digital form allows users to fill in data that is not monitored automatically. This data is then stored in the database and included in the algorithms that analyse the equipment’s behaviour.

In this video Philippe Mol & Pierre Colon explain the progress that was made in the PRIAM project (to change subtitle language use Youtube’s subtitle function):

Contact us:

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us using the form below:

We are pleased to announce that Maintenance Partners is now part of Howden (a portfolio company of KPS Capital Partners, LP “KPS”). 

Howden is a global provider of mission critical air, gas and steam handling equipment and services to customers around the world in highly diversified end markets and geographies. We provide cutting-edge expertise and knowledge to support our full product range including fans, heaters, compressors, blowers and steam turbines. Find out more about our products here. 

Working with our customers, we design our solutions to excel in any application and create value through reliability and efficiency. In addition, our technology can be equipped with our unique digital solutions, providing you with real-time access to critical information that delivers optimised equipment and plant performance, and reduces Total Cost of Ownership. Find out more about our digital solutions here. 

An exciting future for Maintenance Partners and Howden 

This acquisition is a further step in Howden’s strategy to provide customers with a full range of aftermarket services close to their operations. The acquisition of Maintenance Partners adds to Howden’s digital maintenance solutions and global engineering expertise and will provide the combined customer base in the EMENA region with advanced solutions to maximise the performance and uptime of their critical process equipment.

What does this mean for Maintenance Partners customers?

The acquisition will not change the way Maintenance Partners operates on a daily basis.

• Maintenance Partners will continue to serve all brands of rotating equipment and turbomachinery in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
• For the brands of equipment that are part of the Howden group, Maintenance Partners can now also offer full OEM support including spare parts and engineering.
• Your point of contact at Maintenance Partners will remain the same and we look forward offering you the same level of service.

We are committed to keeping you informed, and will be in touch with any updates or changes during the integration with Howden. 

We look forward to a continued business relationship with you, working together to meet your needs.  If you have any questions, please contact us by phone +32 3 541 71 40 or send us a message:

Impeller Optimization

Maintenance Partners designs and manufactures impellers (open and closed) as replacement components for centrifugal compressors and pumps.

We often receive questions about the optimization and engineering of impellers and have decided to organize a webinar about this subject. In this webinar we explain a real life case of a compressor impeller that was optimized by MP.

Contents of Webinar

• Centrifugal Compressor Operating Principle
• Types of Impellers and Diffusers
• Losses within Centrifugal Compressors
• Performance Prediction and Optimization Tools
• Real Case Scenario

Preview the webinar

View Entire Webinar

To watch the full webinar on impeller optimization, please fill in the form below and click Submit:

Now that there is a light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel, companies are preparing for turnarounds and repairs that have been postponed due to COVID.

We notice that customers are now busy planning for 2021 and 2022. This confirms the expectation that postponing jobs and projects and projects is leading to an increased demand for maintenance services in 2021 and later.

Maintenance Partners strives to offer its customers an optimal service. The sooner we are informed about your maintenance plans, the better we can prepare ourselves together with you.

Do you have turnarounds or maintenance on the horizon? Let us know by filling in our questionnaire. This way you can be sure that your maintenance is executed as planned.

Maintenance Partners was contacted by a customer that was not able to restart its Atlas Copco GT 078 L3K1 integrally geared compressor after a planned shutdown.

The machine is critical to the production process of the air separation plant and the customer needed to restart the compressor as quickly as possible. Despite Covid-19 related restrictions, Maintenance Partners was able to dispatch a service engineer immediately to analyze and solve the problem.

Situation

After a planned shutdown of two days, the customer was not able to start-up the unit again as it was tripping on high vibration on the 2^nd and 3^rd stage bearings. Following this, the plant’s rotating equipment engineers decided to make a second attempt to start the machine with raised vibration trip limits, which was successful. After loading the compressor, the vibration level could be stabilized just around the initial trip limits. But it was clear, that immediate action was required to investigate and rectify the cause for the measured high vibrations.

Despite the Covid-19 restrictions, Maintenance Partners was able to mobilize a service engineer to the client site immediately after being contacted.

As there were some requirements to meet by the customer, a stop of production was the least desirable outcome. The contingency plans made by the customer did indicate that we would only be able to get a two-day maintenance window in two weeks.

Preparation / Investigation

From this point on, several things had to be done in parallel to be ready for each possible outcome:

• Troubleshooting and analysis of the problems
• Checking of spare parts availability and condition of them
• Inspection of special tools
• Checking of required tooling and lifting equipment
• Checking the availability of consumables and sourcing of them
• Sourcing of local manpower for a potential overhaul
• Detailed planning of the jobs with different scopes depending on the findings
• Writing of detailed work instructions
• Exploring different scenarios including repairs and high-speed balancing in case needed

The root cause analysis which ran in parallel, together with the customer’s competence center and the specialist from the vibration monitoring system revealed following findings:

• 2^nd stage vibrations most probably due to unbalance
• 3^rd stage vibrations caused by restricted shaft movements
• No explanation could be found why both problems appeared at the same time after a two-day shutdown

Based on the findings and the status of the preparation, the customer was confident to de-mobilize the Service Engineer of MP for one week which was needed to fulfill their production obligations and then re-mobilize to execute the planned intervention. In the meantime, all missing items identified were purchased and the last preparations were finalized.

Execution

Immediately, after arrival on site, work on the machine began. The detailed preparation allowed the customer to have all required permits issued, tools and lifting equipment ready and the crew briefed in depth about upcoming work. This allowed us to work very efficient with no waiting time or stops because of unexpected findings and problems.

The stages were completely, disassembled, cleaned and inspected. Where needed, corrective actions were taken to rectify the problems.

Findings

The main findings were:

• The 2^nd stage impeller was not only affected by some deposits but also subjected to erosion damages which contributed to the impeller imbalance.
• The 3^rd stage bearing exceeded the designed bearing clearances by factors
• 3^rd stage carbon seals were blocked which cause deep grooves on the shaft

Further, several dimensions like impeller line-up, axial clearances, etc. were found out of spec.

Due to the time constrains and in order to stay within the given shutdown window, only the most severe problems could be addressed while other non-critical issues were postponed to the next planned major overhaul.

Start-up

After the two day intervention, the machine was successfully re-started on the third day with vibration levels way below the alarm level. This makes us confident, that the customer will be able to operate the compressor until the next planned major overhaul in April 2022.

We are looking forward to plan and prepare together with the customer the up-coming overhaul of three integrally geared machines next year and the execution of it in 2022.

Result for the customer

Thanks to the quick intervention, the troubleshooting could be executed within the available 2-day maintenance window and effect on the customer’s production was reduced to a minimum.

Moreover, the customer is able to continue to keep the compressor running until the scheduled major overhaul.

Contact us

Would you like to know more about our services on turbocompressors or about troubleshooting in general? Call us 24/7 at +32 (0)3 541 71 40 or send us a message using the form below:

Maintenance Partners recently rewound a 2650kW high voltage low speed electric motor in its Zwijndrecht workshop. After the rewinding, this motor from the 1970’s is ready to run for years to come!

For more information, visit https://maintenancepartners.com/en/electric-motors/ or send us a message using the form below:

Check the tension of belt driven applications in the safest and easiest way using Gemex! In this video we demonstrate how the belt tension of a fin fan is checked without even stopping the unit:

Gemex offers many advantages over  traditional belt tensioning systems:

For more information, visit our GEMEX webpage or send us a message via the form below:

Maintenance Partners fue contactado por un cliente después de la avería de una turbina de vapor monoetapa.

Los daños en la turbina eran graves: las alojamientos de los rodamientos, el piñón y los dientes del engranaje principal estaban dañados.

Para empeorar las cosas, la carcasa superior estaba agrietada. Varias empresas informaron al cliente que la turbina era una pérdida total y que la única solución era reemplazar toda la turbina.

Maintenance Partners, sin embargo, nunca dice que no a un desafío. Nuestros expertos encontraron una solución y propusieron al cliente reparar la turbina. La reparación de la turbina resultó ser mucho más rápida y económica que la sustitución de la turbina por una nueva.

Ingeniería inversa y reparación

Después de que el cliente aceptó la propuesta de reparación, la turbina fue desmontada en el taller de MP y nuestros ingenieros comenzaron el proceso de ingeniería inversa. Como la turbina había estado funcionando durante más de 4 décadas, los planos no estaban disponibles. Las partes dañadas fueron escaneadas en 3D y se prepararon los planos de fabricación.

El piñón y el engranaje principal no podían ser restaurados y las nuevas piezas se fabricaron utilizando los planos. Los cuatro rodamientos y los alojamientos de rodamientos también fueron renovados completamente. Una rueda de turbina de repuesto que el cliente tenía en stock fue montada en el eje con el piñón. El rotor ensamblado fue equilibrado a baja velocidad.

Para restaurar la carcasa, se realizó un análisis de materiales para determinar la aleación del material existente. Se fabricó una nueva pieza que se ajustaba al material para que encajara en el hueco de la carcasa. La carcasa fue pre-mecanizada antes de unir la nueva pieza a la carcasa. Finalmente, la carcasa se mecanizó a las dimensiones originales.

Cuando todas las partes fueron fabricadas, la turbina fue ensamblada y lista para su puesta en marcha in situ.

Resultados para el cliente

La turbina de vapor monoetapa se había considerado como una pérdida total, pero Maintenance Partners encontró una solución más rápida y económica para el cliente.

Contáctanos

¿Desea más información sobre las posibilidades de ingeniería inversa o mantenimiento de las turbinas de vapor monoetapa? Llámenos al +34 673 876 303 o envíenos un mensaje usando el formulario de abajo:

Maintenance Partners is excited to be part of “PRIAM”: Project of Artificial Intelligence for Maintenance. AI technologies dedicated to predictive maintenance and performance optimization based on many data sources with the partners Performance for Assets, ICARE*, I-Pulses SPRL and Pôle MecaTech.

Based on a consortium of 4 companies with high level of complementary expertises in industrial sectors (assets repair and reliability), AI and analytics, a new project has been launched to show through a proof of concept that the technical access and economical profits are available to any company. Indeed, based on the results shown by this POC, all the industrial actors and more specifically SME will have access to these tools to offer more services and to add value to their actual portfolio which could be extremely important in the actual context.

Furthermore a more global solution could be offered to any other sector of activities which want to use these digital tools and to switch to a digital transition thanks to Artificial Intelligence and 4.0 Technologies.

This project is more than an idea today as a first prototype of this solution has already been tested on the field with many different sensors and data bases with extremely good results. But now, thanks to this POC, many additional sensors and data from different natures will be downloaded simultaneously to maximise the use of this tool for any application.

The goal is also to prove the efficiency of Data Analytics tools and the fact that any company could use this solution to start a digital switch or to add a new weapon to its AI and Digital tool.

Of course, many updates will follow with some practical examples to show more in details and on the filed what is possible to do.

More information

For any request, if you want to test this solution in your company or even to know more about this specific project, don’t hesitate to contact us:

A customer operating a biomass fired powerplant contacted Maintenance Partners about a vibration alarm that was generated by the steam turbine control system.

Initial Data Analysis

The initial analysis of the data trends provided showed that the vibration was generated inside the steam turbine – possibly caused by friction.

Any contacts between rotor and stator (even if initially small) create local heating spots by friction.

These heating spots initiate a deformation of the shaft and as a consequence a residual unbalance, which further increases the heating.

This is called the Newkirk phenomenon is auto-amplifying and eventually leads to the trip of a turbine. A detailed vibrational analysis can be used to identify this phenomenon.

Detailed Vibration Analysis

By studying the Nyquist diagrams, the vibrational specialists of Maintenance Partners were able to locate the origin of the problems and could validate the necessity to open the turbine.

The inspection of the steam turbine confirmed that oil mist particles had entered the first labyrinth of the gland steam stuffing box. The oil mist particles had carbonized, creating contact points.

Maintenance Partners installed an online vibrational monitoring device, connected to a remote connection. Specialists from MP Belgium and France then joined in efforts for remote diagnosis.

A team of technicians then opened the turbine and clearly identified the problem.

First analysis on Friday and turbine opened on Wednesday !

After the inspection, the rotor was sent to Maintenance Partners’ Rotorshop for repair and balancing.

More information

For more information about our remote monitoring solutions for steam turbine generator sets, please visit this page.

You can also send us a message using the form below:

During a crisis of these massive proportions, business is not as usual. Maintenance Partners has taken a number of measures to continue offering an optimal service for its customers.

What is still possible?

Workshop activities

Our workshops in Ghent, Naninne and Zwijndrecht remain open. All of our workshop activities can continue, while respecting the latest measures imposed by the Belgian government to ensure a safe workplace for our employees.

Transport of goods

Goods can still be transported to and from our workshops. So far we have experienced that most transports between EU countries continue as usual. In some cases, delivery times have been slightly delayed. Transport from and to countries outside the EU continue as well.

Our logistics team is ready to find solutions for any transport challenge that may arise.

Onsite works

Maintenance Partners limits travel as much as possible during the Corona crisis. However, we are able to travel when technical emergencies occur. We remain at your disposal and will evaluate each request on a case-by-case basis.

Contact us for more information

If you have any questions or requests, please do not hesitate to contact your MP-representative or our head office +32(0)3 541 71 40

Stay safe and healthy!

Dear supplier,

We have closely followed the evolution of the spread of the COVID-19 virus and the guidelines of the FPS public health. Maintenance Partners definitely wants to contribute in the fight against the spread of the Corona virus. For that reason, please carefully review the information below and immediately cascade to your employees working with us at Maintenance Partners.

Wherever possible, we encourage to make use of online technology available for virtual meetings and other business communication (e.g. Skype, Microsoft Teams, … ). If a visit is soon planned with one of our employees, we will check whether the content of the appointment also allows us to work remotely.

BEFORE THE VISIT:

All visitors will be asked by invitation to confirm whether they:

• Have been in a risk area in the past 14 days?
• Have been in direct contact with anyone who has been in a risk area in the past 14 days?
• Have symptoms of Corona-virus (fever, cough, shortness of breath, muscle aches, tiredness) or have been diagnosed with the virus?

If your answer is YES to any of the options below, the access will be refused and you cannot enter our site. This question will be asked again upon arrival at the company at the reception.

This also applies to transporters who report to the warehouse. For all deliveries we would like to ask you to take the necessary preventive measures and to follow the guidelines.

DURING THE VISIT:

Please take note of the following measures:

• Avoid close physical contact, such as shaking hands;
• For transporters: remain in your vehicle if possible;
• Wash your hands thoroughly and regularly;
• Cough and sneeze into a paper towel or sleeve. Throw the paper towel into the trash immediately.

AFTER THE VISIT:

We require urgent notification if an employee of a supplier is diagnosed with confirmed infection of COVID-19 after visiting our location. Please inform your Maintenance Partners contact immediately, so we can mitigate further infection risk as quickly as possible.

Because the safety and health of our customers, suppliers and employees is critical to Maintenance Partners, the same requirements apply to everyone. On-site contractors and external consultants working on-site are also asked to apply the same rules. Please distribute these instructions to your employees. For further questions you can always contact qshe@maintenancepartners.com .

Together we prevent the virus from spreading further.
Thank you for your understanding and all the best.

Maintenance partners is following all the guidelines that have been communicated by our government and has taken a number of extra measures to ensure a safe work environment for our employees, customers and suppliers.

This means that our workshops in Naninne, Ghent and Zwijndrecht can remain open. Repairs that are not possible onsite can therefore be carried out in our workshops. Our transport service remains available for transport to and from the customer’s sites.

In case your internal services have insufficient capacity due to the situation, you can always count on the support of Maintenance Partners as an extension of your maintenance activities as you would expect from us.

For further information you can reach us on +32 (0)3 541 71 40 or send us a message using the form below:

Maintenance Partners recently carried out a conversion of an electric motor platform at a chemical plant in the Netherlands.

The existing motor platform was replaced by an IEC 315H Gemex system. This type of Gemex is suitable for IEC 315 motors with a weight of +/- 1000KG and consists of 2 separate feet each with a mechanical/hydraulic cylinder, which are hydraulically coupled together.

Reduced Downtime 

This Gemex system supports an electric motor drives an exhaust fan. This extraction fan is essential for safety in the factory. For the customer it is important that the downtime of the extraction fan is reduced to a minimum.

Thanks to the Gemex system, belts  can be changed quickly and safely, without having to re-align the motor. In addition, the correct alignment and belt tension ensures a longer life of v-belts, pulleys and bearings.

Assessment

Maintenance Partners can make a detailed assessment of all your belt driven applications without any obligation. An inventory is made of the unit in question with a report on the possibilities, costs and ROI. MP takes care of the complete conversion from engineering to installation.

Contact us

Would you like to know more about the alternative for your traditional belt tensioning system and how it can improve your safety, productivity and reliability? Contact us for more information or a pilot project to test the Gemex system at your facilities.

Call us at: +32(0)3541 71 40 or send us a message via the form below:

Machines today are no longer built to last forever. Just think of a computer that lasts an average of four years and then needs to be replaced. It used to be different. For example, electric motors that were put into operation in the middle of the last century are nowadays still used daily in industrial processes, almost everywhere in the world. Over the years, however, expertise on these machines has gradually declined. A company that uses a twentieth-century turbo machine, i.e. an aging asset, becomes vulnerable when that machine needs maintenance. The original manufacturer no longer exists and very few companies can still provide the maintenance service.

Hairpin coils

The Sautter-Harle Ljungström (or STAL radial flow) turbine-generator set in question dates from 1956 and can be called very compact and durable, but at least atypical. While in more recent steam turbines the steam usually moves axially, this turbo machine consists of a radial turbine that drives two 2310 Kva generators. 

In addition, the generator is equipped with a single-layer winding, which is still rare. With a normal winding, the coils are inserted through open slots, which are inserted from the inside. This type, which works with hairpin coils (or piercing windings), is very different. These are semi-closed slots. The coils are pushed through and have to be shaped completely by hand on the outside. A labour-intensive and very specific job, for which many companies no longer have the knowledge in house. For the same reason, this type of winding is no longer used in modern machines. The advantages of a smaller turn do not outweigh the cost of this expensive system.

Mechanical & electrical expertise

The great added value that Maintenance Partners was able to offer this client was the possibility of tackling the machine as a whole. The great advantage of having everything under one roof, both the mechanical and the electrical aspects, undeniably contributes to the economically interesting and fast solution that could be offered. The machine was dismantled on site and transported to the workshop in Zwijndrecht. There, 2 separate teams worked on the machine, a mechanical and an electrical team with a project manager who monitored the whole operation and provided the customer with daily updates.

Were there other possibilities for this paper manufacturer than using Maintenance Partners for the maintenance of this machine, including the rewinding of the hairpin coils? As long as there is a choice to recover, there are also other players on the market. However, with the combination of expertise in both mechanical and electrical fields and the possibility of producing spare parts by itself, MP can offer great added value.

Moreover, years of experience in working with rotating machines ensure an ideal before and after process. From electrical measurements, parameter recording and problem analysis, to inspections, dimensioning and data recording for a 3D drawing, to the production of spare parts and rewinding, each phase of the preparation contributes to controlled execution of the maintenance procedures. When the installation is reassembled at the customer’s premises, after maintenance, the paper manufacturer has also completely modernised the generator protections.

Pollution

It goes without saying that it is the customer himself who decides on the steps he takes for the maintenance of his machinery. Nevertheless, a proactive maintenance partner can be of inestimable value. At the premises of this paper manufacturer, a huge contamination of the generator was found during a visit to the site, which was not actually going to be repaired. However, due to the state of the turbo machine, local discharges occurred between the coils and the mass and between the coils themselves. If nothing is done about these risks, at some point, it could have a decisive impact on the mass. The result is a damaged insulation system which can cause production to stop suddenly. This large and above all sudden cost of externally purchased electricity would be much higher than having a generator repaired.

An alternative that the customer could have opted for was, of course, the complete replacement of the old machine. However, this is an operation that should not be underestimated, with a considerably longer delivery time than an extensive overhaul.

Result for the customer: Ready for the future

At the beginning of March, the generator was delivered by MP, after it was reassembled at the customer’s site and put back into operation by MP’s start-up engineer. This means that the entire process from the first contact with the customer to the final delivery took 9 months. In the shortest possible time, after thorough maintenance and rewinding, the customer was able to continue with his existing extremely solid machines.

The future was also considered. Maintenance Partners has carried out a number of works on the machines that make it possible to monitor the machine remotely in the long run and thus to guide the customer as a kind of external helpdesk.

In one single project, an old machine was upgraded to today’s specifications and prepared for the future. 

Contact us:

Do you want to know more about the inspection, repair or rewinding of generators? Call us at +32(0)35417140 or send us a message using the form below:

A company that operates steam turbine generator sets (STG) relies on the stability of their assets to assure the continuity the plant’s activities. To assure this continuity, steam turbine generator sets need, as all equipment does, to be maintained regularly to prevent issues that could lead to breakdowns. For this purpose, Maintenance Partners has developed a specific Long-Term Service Agreement for steam turbine generator sets that unburdens the client completely.

Moreover, long term service agreements can be tailored to suit the needs of our customers. 

LTSA

An LTSA is an agreement between MP and the customer that can run for 3, 6, 10 or more years for the maintenance of the complete steam turbine, gearbox and generator. All the maintenance that needs to be done on the turbine-generator set during this period is included, such as the minor or major overhauls and the annual inspections.

In case of unforeseen problems, LTSA customers have the advantage that MP knows the installation very well and that MP can intervene quickly. Response times in case of emergency can also be defined in the LTSA.

Generally, the supply of spare parts is also included in an LTSA. This offers customers the convenience of knowing in advance what the lead times and prices are for spare parts that are critical for maintaining the turbine-generator.

MP Connectivity (available separately)

MP Connectivity is a package that synchronizes connections to all relevant turbine equipment (eg. turbine controller, process PLC, electric protections, excitation system, vibration monitoring). It also establishes a connection to a cloud based database where historical data is recorded.

MP Connectivity’s very high data acquisition rate of 100 ms allows troubleshooting for advanced trips and failures by our experienced turbine and generator specialists.

Available after 2021: 24/24 Helpdesk (only in combination with MP Connectivity and LTSA)

When MP Connectivity is set up, the LTSA can also be extended with a 24/24 helpdesk service: a dedicated department that is available 24/7. This means that – even at night – a 24/24 Helpdesk client can contact MP and an engineer can remotely access the control panel of the steam turbine generator in case unexpected problems occur.

Based on the information gained from this platform, the MP-engineer can give instructions to the local operators on how to fix the problem, ensure continuity and decrease revenue losses. This service truly connects MP support to the client at any time, even when the MP staff is not present on site.

P4A (available separately)

P4A is a predictive system that checks and follows up on the main parameters such as temperature, vibration, performance, etc. of the turbine and generator. P4A can be bought as a standalone service, but can also be used combination with MP Connectivity.

The system correlates data and warns in advance when problems will occur so they can be prevented instead of cured, which again is more cost effective for the client and simply more efficient. P4A offers:

• Big Data Collection
• Statistical Correlations between relevant parameters
• Efficiency Calculation Model
• Study of Historical Data
• Dashboards to visualize data
• Predictive Maintenance

Customer Benefits

An LTSA is, apart from the certainty that a steam turbine generator set is well looked after, also a cost-effective partnership. For the running of the agreement the pricing is fixed. That way the owner can take his mind of his steam turbine and count on MP to keep it maintained.

• Clear view of costs during LTSA contract period (minor/major overhauls & inspections)
• MP Connectivity
• 24/7 Service support
• Predictive Maintenance

Signing a long-term agreement with MP means stepping into a partnership with a company that is as professional as it is reactive. Thanks to the well-equipped workshop and the state of the art technology Maintenance Partners manages to continuously offer the all-round service the customers are used to from their partner in maintenance.

Contact

Would you like to know how our long term service agreements for can be tailor-made for your steam turbine generator sets? Call us at +32(0)35417140 or send us a message:

We are pleased to announce that Maintenance Partners Sweden AB has been established. The newest addition to the MP family is the next step in developing  the Scandinavian market.

MP Sweden will further improve our services to the Swedish industry.

Maintenance Partners Sweden AB is located at:

Challenge Mill AB

Mellanvägen 3

980 41 Hakkas

Norrbottens län, Gällivare kommun

For questions about Maintenance Partners’ services in Sweden, please contact:

Wim Schelfaut   +32(0)3541 7140

Erik Carlsson      +46 (0)70 235 9330

Or send us a message using the form below:

When a company depends on large machinery, e.g. for generating electricity, it is never safe to gamble on the health of these machines. Steam turbines need to go into maintenance occasionally. Maintenance Partners France recently solved complex problems for a company that tried to push the limits of an Alstom TM2 Steam Turbine.

Steam Turbine Specialists

MP France, the French branch of Maintenance Partners, is located in Nantes and employs close to twenty people. The unit that joined the MP family in May 2016 is specialized in steam turbines and is, just as big brother MP Belgium, not only a partner in maintenance to its customers but also an expert that can identify and resolve complex problems.

Alstom TM2 Steam Turbines

The Alstom TM2 steam  turbine that would be subject of this maintenance is an atypical machine. It has two rotors, one high pressure and one low pressure, and is mounted in a barrel.    

The machine needs to be mounted in a specific way and to assemble it special tools are needed. In addition to the atypical design of this turbine, the Alstom TM2 is characterized by the honeycomb packing seals that are used to avoid steam leaks and provide a very good efficiency. These seals require adapted start up procedures when they have been replaced.

Postponed Maintenance

A company, that has been a customer of MP France for over 10 years, was contacted in 2017 about the six-year maintenance of their Alstom TM2 steam turbine that was due at the beginning of 2018. The customer however decided to postpone this overhaul.

The last major overhaul on the customer’s Alstom TM2 was performed in 2011. By postponing the next overhaul, the customer took a risk that was strongly advised against by the engineers at MP France. In addition, the customer was also late in ordering the spare parts. These two risk factors combined resulted in a machine shutdown due to high vibration and a long-term shut down.

In the beginning of 2018, the customer contacted MP France about vibration problems. They didn’t want a large intervention at that time either, so MP fixed as much problems as possible without opening the machine. The customer was told about the importance of opening everything up to do the complete maintenance. As the client refused, three or four small interventions were done, but at a certain point the client had no other option than to open up the machine and do the major overhaul they were contacted about the year before.

Major Overhaul & Problem Solving

When the machine was eventually opened, MP France found a lot of problems. One of the main issues was the alignment of the bearings and the internal parts.

Also, the turbine supports did not stand evenly on the  foundation. This also contributed to the vibration problems. The rotors, diaphragms and bearings were shipped to the workshop in Zwijndrecht for inspections and thorough corrections. The rotating parts were balanced at nominal speed in MP’s high speed balancing machine.

In meantime, the team on site fixed the problems with the turbine supports. The entire turbine was reassembled at the customer’s location and a successful commissioning and start up was done.

Conclusion

This case clearly shows that postponing minor or major overhauls  and delaying spare part orders can cause more problems and lead to more costs than it saves. Another conclusion can be drawn as well:

It is one thing to perform maintenance on a machine that functions well, but it’s a completely different story to do it on a machine that doesn’t work properly. Maintenance Partners has experience In both fields. It performs the easier replacing of parts to prevent issues on working machines, but also the much harder job of locating problems and solving them.

More information

Read more about our services on Alstom steam turbines at this page or read a case on maintaining Alstom TM2 steam turbines at this page.

For more information about maintenance, repairs or overhauls of steam turbines and other turbomachinery, call us at+32(0)35417140 or send us a message using the form below:

Rewinding… Maintenance Partners knows all about it. Every year, at least 100 electrical machines are rewound in Maintenance Partners’ workshops. It is safe to say that MP’s rewinders excel in their profession. Perhaps for that reason, the team was asked to perform a very special task.

MP was selected to rewind a high voltage generator in the engine room of a ship: a unique project.

The ship is an offshore supply ship that is used to support offshore oil platforms and the installation of wind turbines at sea.   

A generator manufacturer (OEM) contacted Maintenance Partners in August 2018 about the repair of a 5134 kVA generator with a voltage of 6600 volts and a speed of 720 rpm at 60 Hertz. This generator is one of three identical generators aboard that provide the ship with electricity. The generator had failed and the other two weren’t in perfect condition either. Because of this, the ship could not operate at full capacity.

The generator’s problems were caused by the use of magnetic wedges that keep the windings in the slots. This type of wedge is mechanically weak and degrades over time. One of the degraded locking wedges had come loose and was dragged along by the rotor which damaged the insulation of the winding as a result.

Crucial Preparations

In-situ rewinding aboard a ship is very different from rewinding in the workshop. The fact that the engine rooms of this type of ship are crammed with machines and equipment causes the generator to be fixed in its position. Moving the ship to a dry dock and removing a part of the hull was not an option for the customer as the ship could not be taken out of service for a long period of time. In this case, the shipping company choose to repair the generator aboard, even if in difficult circumstances. Before the works could begin, the rotor had to be removed. But there was not enough space so a couple of pumps had to be removed and a hole was cut in one of the sidewalls.

The team then proceeded to inspect the generator with a borescope. During the inspection, the stator core was also checked for short circuits. The stator core turned out the be in good condition so the rewinding could proceed.

For projects like these, a highly detailed preparation is crucial. Not a single item can be forgotten as missing tools and equipment are disastrous for the completion of the job.

These generators are constructed with a soft coil system and are entirely impregnated under vacuum. A soft coil system under VPI is difficult to remove.

Re-engineering to resin rich coils

The removal of the coils took the most time. The new windings can not be treated in the same way as there is no vacuum impregnation tank available. To overcome this, the customer agreed to modify  the soft coil system to resin rich hard coils. The resin rich system is an older design than the soft coil system, but equals its modern counterpart in quality. The reverse engineering of the coils was performed inhouse by Maintenance Partners. After the rewinding, the customer and a classification society had to approve the repair as original manufacturer to allow the ship to be insured again.

Result for the customer: “a piece of art”

Thanks to the in-situ rewinding aboard the ship, a repair in the dry dock could be avoided and the ship could return to service in a shorter time.

The successful result of this intervention allows Maintenance Partners to show its expertise and eagerness to step out of its comfort zone. The customer called the result  ‘’a piece of art’’.

Contact us

For more information about in-situ rewinding of generators, call us at +32(0)35417140 or  send us a message using the form below:

We currently have a number of new & unused low voltage electric motors from our stock that are available immediately.

• 0,06 – 4kW
• 920 – 3470RPM
• Cast Iron, Aluminium
• Eexe, IP55
• 50Hz & 60Hz
• Brands: ABB & Svend Høyer

Pricing and availability

For pricing and availability, call us at +32(0)35417140 or send us a message using the form below:

Are you looking for a new challenge? Maintenance Partners is continuously looking for technical talent with a hands on mentality.

Click one of the vacancies below to find out more and to apply:

Not all motors are the same. While Maintenance Partners is a jack of many trades in terms of the repair and rewinding of motors for a wide range of customers, some projects require special attention. At the start of 2017, a European energy company with multiple power plants contracted Maintenance Partners. A customer with a special project related to high voltage motors.

Previously, Maintenance Partners had already regularly repaired electric motors for the energy company, and carried out maintenance work as a contractor. Now a different question was raised: fifteen high voltage high voltage motors needed a total refurbishment, which meant a full stripping and renewal of the machines.

Refurbishment book

A special project requires a special approach. While a test report is issued to the customer for standard revisions or rewinds, for this project a refurbishment book is drawn up for each machine: a 50-page document that, in consultation with the customer, lays down all wishes regarding the refurbishment. This book serves as a guideline that is strictly followed by all employees who work on the machine during the different phases of the refurbishment.

Process 

There are many steps between reception of the machine in the workshop and its completion. The motors, which are sent by the customer in stages to Maintenance Partners, are first subjected to a series of tests, during which all necessary information is recorded. Mechanics then fully disassemble de motor, measuring all fits. A magnaflux inspection is carried out on the shaft, looking for cracks in the material. An NDT examination is carried out on the flanges for the same reason. In addition, the winding is evaluated (number of turns, thickness of wire, rotations per minute). Various hold points and witness points are scheduled during this process: points at which the customer comes to witness, when the motor is disassembled.

Once the winding is removed from the stator, a core test is performed. The customer has asked for a new stator core, but new coils and bearings are also always provided. The entire machine is also sandblasted and gets a new coating to prevent corrosion. The core package is measured, built, lasered and stacked in the blasted casing.

This is followed by the rewinding and coupling of the electrical ends to the coils, and electrical circuits are coupled in the same way as before the disassembly. Various tests and measurements are also carried out during these phases. Finally, the motor goes to the VPI tank, where the windings are impregnated under vacuum.

After the rotor is installed again, various tests are performed to check whether everything was reinstalled correctly.

As good as new

Every motor is thus given a full makeover, that gives the customer a guarantee that the machines will be operational again for a longer period of time. An alternative, of course, is to order new machines. However, this process often takes over a year, because – in particular for these types of motors – nothing is standard, as everything needs to be tailor-made.

Refurbishing is therefore faster, and is certainly equally efficient. A refurbished motor is not inferior in terms of quality to a new motor, and often operates better than when it was first taken into use, especially the insulation thanks to the use of the best materials. The result is a motor that is as good as new, or even better!

High voltage in the industry

This also takes away the concern shared by many companies that use high voltage motors, and that are wondering whether their machine will be of the same quality after the repair or rewinding. By the way, it is not just energy company that can bring their high voltage motors to Maintenance Partners. Other industries, such as petrochemicals, food, steel and rubber production can also benefit from the solutions offered by Maintenance Partners. These motors, which may be critical to the production process, require extra attention and knowledge.

Maintenance Partners has this knowledge. The specialist in electric motors has the people and experience to take on larger scale projects.

More information

Do you want to know more about repairs of  electric motors? Visit our page about electric motors, call us at +32 (0)3 541 71 40 or send us a message using the form below:

The rotor is one of the most critical components of any turbomachine.  A rotor is subject to many factors that influence its condition, such as gases or steam, vibrations, pollution, abrasive parts in the medium, temperature variations and starts/stops. Over time, these factors will lead to erosion, corrosion, cracks or even broken parts.

Rotor inspections can detect faults at an early stage and repairs can prevent unplanned outages. That is why rotor inspections are an essential part of maintenance programs for turbomachinery.

We regularly receive questions about rotor inspections and repairs and hope to answer the most frequently asked questions below.

Did you know that Maintenance Partners performs rotor inspections according to the API687 standard?

To ensure the quality of rotor inspections and to clearly define the contents of a rotor inspection, Maintenance Partners has implemented the API687 for rotor inspections of centrifugal compressors, axial compressors, steam turbines, gears, expanders and positive displacement rotary screw type compressors.

What is API687?

The API687 standard has been drawn up by American Petroleum Institute and is a recommended practice for repairing rotors. API687 is the only written standard covering rotor inspection and repairs in all aspects and defines what vendor and equipment owner responsibilities are during the inspection/repair process. Inspections and repairs generally follow the following sequence:

During the entire process the equipment owner has the lead for approving job scopes, work procedures, welding procedures and quality plans. The vendor shall have all details of repairs, material certificates and records of heat treatments available for the equipment owner.

API divides the inspection process into two phases:

• Phase I, Inspection: Assembled Rotor
• Phase II, Inspection: Disassembled Rotor

How is API687 implemented at Maintenance Partners?

Embedding the API687 workflow in our ISO9001 procedures has resulted in standardization in sales and operations. Maintenance Partners uses standard job scopes, quality plans, procedures and reporting templates.

What if a rotor needs to be repaired?

Maintenance Partners’ rotorshop is fully equipped with state of art equipment for all types of rotors. Depending on the condition of the rotor, the rotor repair may include the following:

• Rotor journal repairs by welding, laser cladding or HVOF coating
• Spare parts: manufacturing of new impellers, shafts, blades, diaphragms, blade carriers, etc.
• Reblading
• Replacement of seal strips
• Low speed balancing
• High speed balancing
• Over speed test
• Impeller spin test
• Coating application on compressor impellers for corrosion protection, reduction of fouling rates and a smooth surface, resulting in an increased efficiency

Are spare parts for rotors available?

Lead times of parts can be very long. To overcome this, Maintenance Partners offers reverse engineering. Our engineering capabilities enable us to carry out the entire re-engineering process internally. From scanning, redesigning and modeling to manufacturing. We supply blades, shafts, rotor discs, single impellers as spare parts, but also completely assembled rotors.

Our spare parts are manufactured according to the most stringent standards and are 100% compatible. We combine the highest standards of turbo machinery knowledge with an in-depth understanding of material specifications, manufacturing standards and tolerances:

• Fast delivery
• Inhouse engineering
• Inhouse manufacturing
• Inhouse high speed balancing
• Onsite installation & commissioning

More information

For more information, please visit the pages about rotor repairs and reverse engineering of parts on our website. You can also call us at +32 (0)3 541 71 40 or send us a message using the form below:

Meet Maintenance Partners at the Euromaintenance conference in Antwerp on September 24-27!

As a sponsor and participant, Maintenance Partners will have a booth at the exhibition where we will showcase our capabilities and Maintenance 4.0 solutions.

On Tuesday September 25 (15:50  –  16:10), MP will present “How to Extract Actionable Intelligence from Data on Your Steam Turbines”.

For the complete program and registration, please visit the Euromaintenance website: www.Euromaintenance.org

Maintenance Partners was contacted by a customer after the breakdown of a single stage steam turbine. The damage to the turbine was severe: the bearing housings, the pinion and bull gear teeth were damaged. To make matters worse, the top casing was cracked. Several parties advised the customer that the turbine was a total loss and the only solution was to replace the entire turbine.

Maintenance Partners, however, never says no to a challenge. Our experts found a solution and proposed the customer to repair the turbine. Repairing the turbine proved to be much quicker and more economical than replacing the turbine by a new one.

Reverse engineering and Repair

After the customer accepted the repair proposal, the turbine was disassembled in MP’s workshop and our engineers started the reverse engineering process. As the turbine had been running for over 4 decades, drawings were not available. The damaged parts were scanned in 3D and manufacturing drawings were prepared.

The pinion and bull gear could not be refurbished and new parts were manufactured using the drawings. The four bearings and bearing housings were renewed entirely as well.

A spare turbine wheel that the customer had in stock was mounted on the shaft with the pinion. The assembled rotor was balanced at low speed.

To restore the casing, a material analysis was performed to determine the alloy of the existing material. A new piece matching the material was manufactured to fit the gap in the casing. The casing was pre-machined before stitching the new piece to the casing. Finally, the casing was machined to original dimensions.

When all parts were manufactured, the turbine was assembled and ready for commissioning onsite.

Result for customer

The single stage steam turbine was considered to be a total loss, but Maintenance Partners found a solution that was quicker and more economical for the customer.

Contact us

Do you want more information about the possibilities of reverse engineering or maintenance of single stage steam turbines? Contact us using the form below:

On April 19, Maintenance Partners had the pleasure and the unique opportunity to invite NASA engineer and professor Clement Hiel for an exclusive presentation.

During the evening, two presentations were held:

• Performance for Assets: Turning Data into Actionable Intelligence – Jean-Louis Counet
• Big Data & Artificial Intelligence: Past & Future – Prof. Dr. Eng. Clement Hiel

About Clement Hiel

Internationally renowned engineer Prof. Dr. Eng. Clement Hiel is known for:

• The last Fleming who visited Obama for receiving the prestigious Tibbets award
• Technological innovations such as the composite tower, fire safety for transformars and low energy loss powerlines
• Professor at UCLA Los Angeles and Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Clement Hiel (Melsele, 1952) went to university after school and later became an industrial- and civil engineer.

The combination of a hands-on mentality with theoretic knowledge allowed him to join NASA in 1987 and to become a specialist in composite materials.

About Performance for Assets

The unique Performance for Assets (P4A) platform was developed to centralise, synchronise and analyse all asset data. Each asset is followed by up to 50 self learning models.

These hybrid models  use data that is present in the company. Most available data currently remains unused for analytics. The models provide short and long term acties to increase production, increase uptime, save energy, reduce operational costs or compensate the loss of knowledge.

For more information visit: www.performanceforassets.com

Presentations

The presentations from this information are available upon request. You can request the presentations by filling in the form below.

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More information

Please do not hesitate to contact our sales department if you would like additional information:  +32(0)35417140

The new workwear will be introduced in the coming weeks. Maintenance Partners wanted to change the traditional blue overalls for more modern workwear that matches the colors of MP’s corporate identity.

After comparing and testing different overalls, a choice was made based on the following criteria:

• Stylish appearance, two-tone, contemporary designs with colored details, contrasting stitching and high-quality color fastness.
• Very practical: Multiple convenient pockets offer optimal space for tools
• Freedom of movement and comfortable to wear: use of tricot material from under the armpits to the shoulder blades.
• Strong and robust: high quality wear-resistant materials, and with reinforcements in places that are prone to wear

Safety

For Maintenance Partners it is important that workwear meets the highest demands and safety standards. The field overalls are equipped with signal bands on the sleeves and trouser legs. This increases the visibility of our employees, but also offers improved safety over a flammable fluorescent vest.

Besides this, the overalls for our field service teams are made from Delta Multiprotect fabric. This material has been developed for maximum protection, comfort and style. The workwear is flame retardant, anti-static and protect against electric arc and chemicals

Maintenance Partners has recently completed a full refurbishment of a Mitsui steam turbine rotor and blade carriers.

The video shows the rotor’s condition upon arrival and the different steps to complete the refurbishment:

• Inspection and cleaning
• Seal strip removal
• Inspection and repair of blade carriers
• Blade removal
• Sand blasting
• 3D scanning of diaphragms
• Laser Cladding
• Installing seal strips
• Installing high pressure blades
• Machining seal strips to final dimensions
• Installing laser hardened low pressure blades
• High speed balancing according to API617 7e standard

The end result is a fully refurbished and perfectly balanced rotor that is ready for installation at the customer’s factory!

Watch the video on Youtube:

Video not visible? Go to Youtube

More information

For more information, please visit our rotor repairs page. If you have any questions feel free to contact us directly at +32(0)35417140 or send us a message using the form below:

Production processes continuously generate data (vibration, pressure, temperature, flow, etc.). Besides this, an enormous amount of information is available from various sources, such as reports, documents, environmental factors and human behavior.

Out of all available data, companies only use 1/3 for analysis. The potential of the remaining 2/3 is left untapped because the current tools aren’t powerful enough or are inadequate.

Maintenance Partners offers auto-learning analysis software that compares and analyses unlimited sources of live data, historic data and theoretic models. This provides customers with a powerful decision making tool. The software can for example be used for:

Energy savings

Measuring and analyzing a wide variety of parameters on equipment, component and subcomponent level allows for determining energy saving opportunities

Predictive Maintenance

Enables customers to evolve from curative to predictive maintenance, then reducing downtime and costs

Increase efficiency of Purchase

Benefit from benchmarking and historical data to improve the scope of purchase for any investments in equipment

Production Optimization

Performance analysis result to increased output, increased lifetime and/or flexibility & efficiency

Compensate loss of Knowledge

Automated reporting and help to employees to cope with increasing amounts of data that are used in the decision making process. This compensates for a loss  of knowledge that industrial companies in Europe will suffer in the coming years

More information

Do you want to know how data analysis can benefit your organisation? Call us at +32(0)3 541 71 40 for an introduction or send us a message:

A European fertilizer manufacturer contacted Maintenance Partners to overhaul a multistage turbo expander. The expander was built in 1965 and was showing severe signs of wear and tear after years of use.

Turbo expander specifications

• Manufacturer: Worthington
• Process gas: tail gas nitric acid plant
• Power: 9843 kW
• RPM: 6600
• Rotor lay-out: 4 opposed flow (8 rows in total)
• Mass flow: 27900 kg/h
• Inlet conditions: 7,1 BARa / 675°C
• Exhaust conditions: 1,05 BARa / 350°C
• Year: 1965

New rotor vs repaired rotor

The rotor was considered irreparable by the original equipment manufacturer and a new rotor was offered. However, the delivery time of the new rotor was expected to be around 2,5 years. For the customer this was not acceptable and Maintenance Partners was contacted to check if a repair was possible in a shorter time frame.

Repair

Maintenance Partners offered to repair the turbo expander in 8 months time. The repair consisted of:

• Replacing 8 tie bolts
• Reblading 8 rows including riveting
• Laser cladding and grinding of 2 stub shafts
• Producing 3 new diaphragms
• Repairing 3 old diaphragms
• Renew white metal bearings
• High speed balancing
• Producing new steam turbine rotor for the same train

Engineered Services

Reverse Engineering & parts manufacturing

Combining process and equipment knowledge allowed Maintenance Partners to re-engineer new diaphragms, bearings, labyrinths, nozzle and tie bolts and a complete new steam turbine rotor. In addition, all parts were manufactured in MP’s machine shop.

Rotor dynamic model & high speed balancing

To improve the turbo expander’s reliability a rotor dynamic model was created. This model is used to calculate right bearing clearances and to verify the required bearing type. It also predicts the rotor’s dynamic behavior at nominal speed.

This particular rotor had never high speed been balanced before (only incremental and low speed). This model helped to achieve very low vibrations of 0,06 mm/s rms during the final run in Maintenance Partners’ Schenck high speed balancing machine.

Benefits for the customer: Quick Delivery & Machine runs better than before

Instead of the 2,5 years it would take to order a new rotor, Maintenance Partners got the turbo expander running in perfect condition 8 months after the order was placed. The high speed balancing has significantly reduced rotor vibrations, as opposed to before the repair.

Contact us

Do you want to know more about inspections, repairs or re-engineering of turbo expanders? Contact us using the form below:

By acquiring Leroux & Lotz Turbomachines (now MP France) in 2016, Maintenance Partners has gained years of expertise and experience on Alstom TM, TM2 and HTM steam turbines.

Experience & Know-how – Full alternative to OEM

Throughout the years, Maintenance Partners France has performed many Alstom steam turbine overhauls. As a result, MP has massive knowledge of various types such as:

For these types of Alstom steam turbines, Maintenance Partners offers OEM quality support with the flexibility of an independent service provider.

Reverse Engineering & Manufacturing of Alstom Spare Parts

Thanks to our in-house engineering team, Maintenance Partners provides complete reverse engineering support for Alstom TM, TM2 and HTM turbine parts. We have all the capabilities required for the reverse engineering and improving of any part, from stop valve, inlet control valve, blade carriers, blade, peripherical honeycomb seal, carbon seal, oil seal, thrust bearing & journal bearing.

After reception in our facilities, a comprehensive non destructive inspection is carried out. Incoming inspections can include material analysis and dye penetrant-, ultrasonic- or magnetic particle testing. After NDT, a report and a repair proposal are made.

Depending on the needs and application, the proposal can also include modifications and upgrades to improve durability and efficiency. The proposed optimizations are always based on process, operational and maintenance data.

Manufacturing of spare parts

The state of art equipment in our workshop allows us to manufacture high quality spare parts in our own facilities with significantly reduced lead times:

Why choose MP?

All spare parts are manufactured according to the most stringent standards and are 100% compatible. In addition, we combine the highest standards of turbo machinery knowledge with an in-depth understanding of material specifications, manufacturing standards and tolerances:

• Fast delivery
• In-house engineering
• In-house manufacturing
• In-house high speed balancing
• Onsite installation & commissioning

Read more

Alstom TM2 Steam Turbine Case: Why maintaining your machinery is the only option

Need support?

Are you looking for an OEM alternative for your Alstom steam turbines? Send us a message using the form below:

Sinds de management buy out in 2015 is Maintenance Partners gegroeid van 180 naar 225 werknemers. Ondertussen zijn we op zoek naar meer dan 15 nieuwe collega’s voor de functies:

• CNC draaier/frezer
• Elektro-monteur
• Field Techniekers
• HR Manager
• IT Application Engineer (ERP)
• Quality Business Partner
• Service Technieker Transformatoren
• Service Techniekers Mechanica
• Technieker Rotorshop (NDT)
• Zandstraler/Reiniger

Vanwege uitbreiding in de komende jaren zijn we voor de middellange termijn onder andere op zoek naar:

• Draaier-frezers
• Lassers
• Monteurs (werkplaats en buitendienst)
• Project managers
• Reliability & Material Engineers
• Sales & Technical support voor Salesafdeling
• Sales Transformatoren
• Wikkelaars

Wat bieden we?

Maintenance Partners biedt je een job in een technische, boeiende omgeving. Je komt terecht in een aangenaam team waar ruimte is voor persoonlijk initiatief. We bieden je de kans om jezelf te ontwikkelen binnen een dynamisch bedrijf met een lange geschiedenis en een uitdagende toekomst.

Interesse in een job bij MP? Kom naar onze jobdag op 28/6!

Heb je techniek in je DNA en ben je op zoek naar een job? Bekijk  onze  vacatures op deze pagina en solliciteer direct of kom naar onze jobdag op woensdag 28 juni 2017.

Praktisch

• Adres: Vitshoekstraat 6, 2070 Zwijndrecht (BE)
• Bezoek ons doorlopend van 14u30 tot 19u30 uur: kom en ga wanneer je wilt
• Gratis, inschrijven is niet nodig
• Parkeren kan rondom het gebouw

Vragen?

Heb je vragen over vacatures of de jobdag, bel onze HR afdeling op het nummer +32(0)3 541 71 40 of stuur een bericht via het onderstaande formulier:

Fouling is a common problem that affects vacuum pumps, resulting in unbalance, vibrations and reduced flow.

Besides this, vacuum pumps can be damaged by cavitation and aggressive or acid liquids. After sandblasting, the damage to the rotor is clearly visible:

These problems have a negative impact on the pump’s reliability and expected lifetime. This can lead to unexpected outages. To keep vacuum pumps running, a good maintenance approach is a must.

Maintenance Partners offers a variety of services such as inspections, overhauls and durability improvements for vacuum pumps:

Services | Overhauls & Repairs

A repair or overhaul of a pump generally consists of an Inspection, Repair/Modification and a final Report.

A standard overhaul at Maintenance Partners consists of:

• dismantling
• cleaning
• inspection
• Measuring clearances and dimensions
• Replacing bearings, seals & parts
• Assembly
• Painting
• Final control

In case the pump is damaged, Maintenance Partners can cover all required repairs:

• Chemical cleaning of pump
• Coating of pump parts
• Balancing of rotor
• Polishing & redressing bearing place, sealing glands on both sides
• Welding and machining of bearing places on both sides

Services | Improved Durability

To prevent unplanned outages, most of our customers choose to apply an anti-fouling coating on the inside of the pump during an overhaul. This coating has a very smooth surface which reduces the chance of fouling. Moreover, the coating offers an improved protection against wear and tear.

Besides this, Maintenance Partners can apply hard wearing material to the bearing places.

In general, our customers experience that these improvements can double the meantime between failures for vacuum pumps.

Why Maintenance Partners?

As an independent service provider, Maintenance Partners is familiar with all types and brands, including:
NASH | Gardner Denver | Sterling-SIHI | Dekker | Atlas Copco | Graham | Samson | Siemens | Tuthill | …

Thanks to the experience and know how, Maintenance Partners offers a full alternative to the OEM, with the following benefits:

• Price
• Lead time and flexibility
• Improved durability

Contact us

Are you interested in lowering your maintenance costs or improving the reliability of your vacuum pumps? Call us at +32(0)3 541 7140 or send us a message using the form below:

Maintenance Partners offers a full solution for the inspection, repair and rewinding of magnetic couplers that are used in motor driven reels (gantry cranes, port cranes, loaders, unloaders, stackers, …).

We repair magnetic couplers for marine & offshore clients as well as for industrial customers.

To ensure functionality after the repair, all magnetic couplers are fully tested before installation.

Inspections

The first step when repairing a magnetic coupler is the inspection, this includes:

• Torque check
• Coupling ring inspection
• Backstop bearing inspection
• Air gap inspection

When the inspection is finished, an inspection report is drawn up with recommendations for repair. Besides the coupler, Maintenance Partners also offers inspections & repairs of electric motors and gearboxes.

Overhauls or Repairs

After approval of the recommendations for repair, the execution of the repair or overhaul works begins. The scope of work may vary, but can include:

• Disassembly
• Inspection and cleaning
• Assembling (including new bearings and seals)
• Torque adjustment
• Painting

The final report is written after testing and includes measurements from before and after the repair. When possible, recommendations for operating, inspecting and maintenance are also included, resulting in more reliable operations and less unforeseen breakdowns.

Rewinding

In case of severe damage to the magnetic coupler, we rewind the inductor. This includes removal of the old windings, cleaning of the inductor housing and installing the new windings. A high quality varnish resin is applied to protect the windings against humidity and corrosion.

Testing

All magnetic couplers that are overhauled by Maintenance Partners are thoroughly tested to ensure the quality before re-installing at the customer’s site or vessel.

Exchange Service

When a magnetic coupler breaks down, a spare component might not be immediately available. To keep your equipment up and running, we offer an exchange service for magnetic couplers. The benefit of this service is that a broken coupler can quickly be exchanged for a refurbished one.

Your benefits

Maintenance Partners offers a full alternative to the OEM:

• Expert in repairing electrical rotating equipment since 1974
• High Flexibility (24/7)
• Located near the ports of Antwerp, Rotterdam, Ghent, Zeebrugge, Le Havre, Saint-Nazaire and Bremen
• Save costs by repairing instead of replacing

Contact us

For more information about repair, refurbishment or exchange service of magnetic couplers please send us a message using the form below or call us 24/7 at: +32 (0)496 57 21 33 or +32 (0)496 57 21 25

From now on we offer the possibility to receive invoices digitally. Digital invoices offer numerous advantages, including:

✅ Fast & Efficient

You will receive the invoice as a PDF file in your mailbox immediately after the invoice has been drawn up

✅ Reduction of paperwork

Invoices no longer need to be scanned and can be linked to your accounting package for digital processing and archiving

✅ Contribution to sustainability

Digital invoices are no longer printed or transported. By switching to digital billing, you contribute to the reduction of paper usage and CO2 emissions

How do I receive digital invoices?

Switching to e-invoicing is simple: Simply send us a message using the form below stating the email address to which the e-invoices can be sent. We will then adjust the data in our system and send invoices digitally.

More information

For more information contact your MP representative or call us at +32 (0) 3 541 7140

Being the owner or operator of a wind farm, regardless of the long-term contract you have, you should be able to know in what state your turbines are, how much they are going to produce and what benefits you will receive from that production.

But are you sure that you know what’s going on in your machines now and in the future? Does your O & M tells you everything you need to know to estimate future costs in a better way?

Many wind turbine owners have an availability higher than 97%, is this enough? When production declines, can you be sure it is due to a “bad wind year” or are there other hidden causes? Don’t you think your machine could be producing more?

The world of wind turbine maintenance is changing and at Maintenance Partners we are anticipating these changes:

WINTELL: Turning your Data into Profits

Any small deviation in turbine operation inevitably generates a loss of production affecting cost-effectiveness.

Over the years, we have developed our concept of Engineered Services aiming to go far beyond than maintenance of rotating machines. To support this philosophy, we have developed a platform able to anticipate problems that can occur on WTGs: a complete platform providing a unique set of scalable web services to manage and optimize the critical assets.

The result of the collaboration between companies and universities, after years of work and an investment of more than 6 million euros, is the WINTELL ASSET PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PLATFORM, which we are proud to present today.

Do not let chance control your wind turbines

With the WINTELL ASSET PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PLATFORM, Maintenance Partners can tell you if your machine produces everything it can, everything it should and when it does it.

WINTELL provides you with all necessary information the state of the big components in detail and thanks to the system, we can correct the slightest deviations in production. This allows you to increase the profitability of your wind farm.

Unlike other platforms on the market, the Wintell system is a complete tool for:

✔ ️Industrial equipment connection to a centralized infrastructure

✔ Prediction of both Performance drifts and failure/degradations of equipment

✔️ Reduction of maintenance costs through Condition Based Maintenance programs

✔️ Performance optimization and Operational costs reduction

✔ Accurate wind and production forecast

Wintell allows you to take full control of your machine!

Contact us

Are you interested in discovering the benefits Wintell can offer? Fill in the form below to arrange a meeting to discuss the possibilities to optimize your maintenance costs and wind turbine output:

Damage was detected on the nose cone structures of 7 Gamesa G90/2000 wind turbines in a French wind farm. Instead of just repairing, Maintenance Partners used its vision of Engineered Services to improve the lifetime and reliability of the equipment.

Cause of nose cone structure damage

Wind turbines are subject to continuous vibrations. Due to poor design and quality, this type of wind turbine is prone to nose cone structure cracks due to vibrations. These cracks can form a hazard for the structural integrity of the wind turbines. Moreover, the damage could lead to potentially very large repair costs and turbine downtime in case of a complete nose cone replacement.

Inspection

To determine the extent of the damage, Maintenance Partners was asked to inspect the nose cones of all turbines in the wind farm.

MP’s field teams carried out visual inspections and used non-destructive testing techniques to check the welds for cracks. The inspections showed cracks developing in the connecting welds between the tubes that form the nose cone structure.

After the inspections, a detailed report with repair proposal was drawn up. The repair proposal offered the most cost effective solution to the client in which production losses were reduced to a minimum.

To correct the nose cone structure problems, MP’s Engineering department has developed an upgrade method with improved solution to safely extend the lifetime in the long run (until decommissioning of the wind turbine).

Repairs: Temporary Safety Kit

Due to the winter windy season coming up, to reduce the outage time to a minimum and to avoid further damage, MP proposed the customer to repair the nose cone structure in the shortest possible timeframe and on the shortest notice. First, Temporary safety kits were installed to immediately reduce the hazards caused by this damage.

Structural Upgrade

After installation of the safety kits, MP implemented the upgrades to each turbine. The upgrade included:

• Safety kit
• Dismantling
• Cleaning
• Replacing 6 damaged structural tubes for each nose cone structure
• Welding of structure using special purpose procedures
• Application of Strengthening plates
• Installation of additional calipers
• Passivation for corrosion resistance
• NDT including Cofrend 2 welding certification
• Conformity certificate
• Material certificate

Because all works had to be performed onsite and inside the nacelle, elaborate safety measures were taken to ensure the safety of all workers onsite and the turbine itself.

Afterwards, the turbines were recommissioned and started up by MP’s field team.

Results for Customer

After applying the upgrades, the customer is now sure that the nose cone structures are solid and that they will last until decommissioning.

Contact us

Are you looking for an inspection of the nose structures in your Gamesa G90 turbines or do you want to know how we can optimize your wind turbine efficiency? Call us at +32(0)81 40 08 21 or send us a message using the form below:

Technological developments rapidly change the jobs of maintenance specialists. How is it possible to put all these developments to the customer’s advantage?

Maintenance Partners (MP), the maintenance specialist in the field of industrial rotating machines for 15 years now, provides more than maintenance, repairs and overhauls. MP provides engineered services, a total maintenance package customised to the customer’s production process and expectations. MP uses modern, state-of-the-art tools for this comprehensive service.

Director Wim Schelfaut: “Many of our customers have machines that are 40 to 50 years old. Old, but high-quality, in other words, which in most cases still work perfectly. The engineered services we offer allow us to optimise the maintenance which means the customer does not have to make major investments in new machines. We draw up an action plan for the maintenance of the existing machines and take into account all parameters that affect the operation of the machine and the production process. In practice this means: no useless, unprofitable repairs but customised solutions and thinking along with the customer.”

Read the full interview at: http://insights.goomedia.nl/maintenance-engels/

MP’s electrical specialists have fully rewound a 15 MVA ELIN generator rotor in 8 weeks time.

ELIN DTG 100/2-227 Generator from 1966

• Manufacturer: ELIN
• Type: DTG 100/2-227
• Stator Voltage: 10 500 V
• Output: 15 MVA
• Year: 1966

Customer’s request

The customer’s original request was to replace the original retaining rings by new retaining rings in an anti-magnetic material. MP was asked to re-engineer, manufacture and install the new retaining rings. The anti-magnetic characteristics of this material reduce leak flux (electromagnetic losses) in the retaining rings. Moreover, this material is less prone to corrosion than the original retaining rings.

Both the stator and rotor were transported to Maintenance Partners’ workshop in Zwijndrecht for overhauling.

When the rotor was dismantled, MP’s engineers found that the rotor’s insulation material was severely deteriorated. A full rewind turned out to be the only solution to ensure safe and reliable operation.

Rotor

Rewinding the rotor was a very extensive project that included 300 turns that had to be installed and insulated individually.

The generator is a critical machine in the customer’s plant, because of this teams of 3 specialists worked in 2 shifts to finalize the rewinding within 8 weeks.

Engineered Services: Improvements

Besides the re-engineering of the retaining rings, Maintenance Partners’ engineering department applied two other important conceptual improvements:

• The rigid connection between the north-south was replaced by a flexible connection
• In the original design, there was no room for the windings to expand, the modifications now allow this

These improvements are a good example of MP’s Engineered Services: offering more than just repairs. We do so by applying high quality materials, improving designs and evaluating the functionality of rotating machines within the process.

Stator

During the rewinding of the rotor, the stator was also overhauled. To make the overhang more rigid, epoxy was injected and the original wooden winding supports were replaced by expoxy supports.

Balancing

After installation of the retaining rings, the rotor was ready for balancing in MP’s high speed balancing machine. During the balancing, Repetitive Surge Oscillograph (RSO) measurements were conducted to detect any short circuits.

Result for the customer

Thanks to the reverse engineering of the rotor and stator, the generator’s relability is at the highest level. In addition, the project planning of this project has helped reducing the downtime of the generator to a minimum.

More information

Do you want to know more about the generator rewinding, repairing or re-engineering? Call us at +32(0)3541 71 40 or send us a message using the form below:

After evaluating the major shutdown in one of its French plants, Borealis has awarded Maintenance Parthers the ‘’Diplôme d’Excellence HSE’’ for taking actions in the areas of health, safety and environment.

Diplôme d’Excellence HSE

The ‘’Diplôme d’Excellence HSE’’ is awarded by Borealis to the top three contractors that have performed the best in QSHE terms. Safety, health and environment are the highest priority for Borealis and suppliers are expected to comply with the highest demands.

By obtaining this award, Maintenance Partners’ employees show that QSHE is a major priority. Moreover, this is acknowledged by one of Europe’s largest chemical companies.

Works executed by Maintenance Partners

During the 3 month Grand Arrêt of the entire plant, Maintenance Partners dispatched 15 specialists on average, including supervisors, technicians, mechanics and project managers. Maintenance Partners was contracted for the major and minor overhauls of the turbomachines that are part of the plant’s nitric acid and ammonia trains. These trains are critical to the customer’s production process and consists of multiple steam turbines, compressors and expanders.

We are proud to announce our latest expansion in France with the establishment of Maintenance Partners France S.A.S. in cooperation with Altawest to serve the turbomachinery market.

With the newly formed company, Maintenance Partners brings its extensive experience on turbomachinery (steam turbines, compressors and generators) to the French market and acquires the expertise and knowhow of Leroux et Lotz Turbomachines. LLTM is a 10 year old company with strong skills on steam turbine, project management and retrofits/upgrades of turbomachinery.

Moreover, this development also grants the full support from Maintenance Partners’ workshops and field service teams, allowing customers to benefit from a broad range of services and short lead times.

Maintenance Partners France S.A.S. will operate from its office in Nantes.

Should you have any questions about our services on the French market, feel free to contact us:

Maintenance Partners France S.A.S.      

Tél          +33(0)2 40 95 96 41

Fax         +33(0)2 40 95 96 73

819 969 338 R.C.S. Nantes