Millennium Power Services Featured in Combined Cycle Journal
Our Executive Director, Aaron Florek, recently spoke with the Combined Cycle Journal about one of the issues our industry faces (that many are not aware of yet) and what Millennium Power Services brings to the table. Read the article below:
Stellite delamination is preventable, but owner/operators must ‘enforce’ the solution
Liberation of cobalt-based hardfacing (oft-used Stellite being one of these materials) from large Grade 91 valves installed in combined-cycle main and hot-reheat (HRH) steam systems, and in steam turbines, was a hot topic in the industry about a decade ago. With the need for an evidence-based solution, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) assembled a committee consisting of owner/operators and stakeholders in the valve manufacturing supply chain to collaborate on the development of guidelines to mitigate the issue.
Three reports on that effort were released by EPRI in 2015 and the solution identified has prevented disbonding of the hardfacing where employed–at least CCJ has not identified any cases where the solution has not met expectations. Although there are only five or six years of field experience to validate the successful approach at this time, that’s a big improvement for some plants where delamination had occurred in as little as 12,000 hours of operation.
With a solution available, why is CCJ covering this topic again? The answer is brief: Not everyone who should know about this relatively recent development is aware of it. Proof of the knowledge gap came by way of a phone call from Aaron Florek of Millennium Power Services, a major player in the valve repair business, who told editors that his firm recently had repaired valves suffering disbonding at three plants in a three-month period.
