Method for installing a gas turbine assembly on a foundation, and gas turbine assembly

Abstract

A method for installing a gas turbine assembly of a first type at a position of an existing power plant where previously a gas turbine assembly of a second type was installed on a foundation specially designed for said second type. The gas turbine assembly includes at least one housing, a compressor, a combustion chamber, a gas turbine, and a plurality of venting and removal lines guided along the exterior of the housing. Modifications to the venting and/or removal lines of the gas turbine assembly of the first type are carried out in a first step, and the modified gas turbine assembly is installed on the existing foundation in a second step.

Claims

1. A method for installing a gas turbine assembly of a first design at a position of an existing power plant, at which position a gas turbine assembly of a second design was previously installed on a foundation which is designed specifically for said second design, the gas turbine assembly of the first design comprising a housing, a compressor, a combustion chamber, a turbine and a plurality of bleed air and removal lines which are routed on the outside along the housing and which prevent the gas turbine assembly of the first design from being mounted on the foundation due to physical interference between the plurality of bleed air and removal lines and the foundation, the method comprising: in a first step, replacing an original line of the plurality of bleed air and removal lines of the gas turbine assembly of the first design with a changed line of a different design to create a changed gas turbine assembly and thereby make it possible to mount the changed gas turbine assembly on the foundation, and in a second step, installing the changed gas turbine assembly on the foundation.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first step is carried out at a different location than the second step.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein relative to the original line the changed line comprises at least one of: a movement of a connection position; a change in a shape; a reduction in a cross section; a reduction in an external diameter; a reduction in a thickness of at least one insulation means; and a different compensator.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising at least one of: decreasing a size of a housing flange via which the changed line is attached to the housing; and changing a position of the housing flange via which the changed line is attached to the housing.

5. The gas turbine assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the physical interference is between the changed line and a foundation block of the foundation.

6. The gas turbine assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gas turbine assembly of the second design comprises a second design housing, a second design compressor, a second design combustion chamber, and a second design turbine.

7. A gas turbine assembly, comprising: a housing which extends in a longitudinal direction, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and a turbine which are arranged behind one another in the longitudinal direction, and a plurality of bleed air and removal lines which are routed on the outside along the housing, which in each case comprise at least one line section which extends: in the longitudinal direction along a bottom half of the housing; above a foundation block of a foundation on which the gas turbine assembly is installed; and substantially parallel to the housing, and wherein the plurality of bleed air and removal lines are connected on an end side via housing flanges to the housing, wherein each section of the at least one line section comprises at least one of: a non-constant external diameter; an insulation means of non-constant thickness and/or a plurality of laterally offset line subsections which each extend in the longitudinal direction and substantially parallel to the housing.

8. The gas turbine assembly as claimed in claim 7, further comprising the foundation comprising the foundation block, wherein the gas turbine assembly is mounted to the foundation block, wherein the at least some of the plurality of bleed air and removal lines are disposed directly above the foundation block, and wherein each section is configured to avoid interference with the foundation block.

9. The gas turbine assembly as claimed in claim 8, wherein absent the non-constant external diameter, the insulation means of non-constant thickness, and/or the plurality of laterally offset line subsections, at least some of the plurality of bleed air and removal lines would interfere with the foundation block.

10. A method, comprising: removing an original line from an original gas turbine assembly that comprises a housing, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and the original line, wherein a physical interference between the original line and a select foundation would prevent installation of the original gas turbine assembly on the select foundation; creating a changed line of a different design than the original line; and installing the changed line in place of the original line to create a changed gas turbine assembly, wherein the different design of the changed line is configured to avoid the select foundation and thereby enable installation of the changed gas turbine assembly on the select foundation.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein relative to the original line the changed line comprises at least one of: a movement of a connection position and/or a change in a shape of a line section; a reduction in a cross section and/or a reduction in an external diameter; a reduction in a thickness of at least one insulation means; and a different compensator.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein in the original gas turbine assembly the original line connects to the housing at an original connection comprising a flange at a flange location; the method further comprising changing the original connection to a changed connection by changing at least one of a size of the flange and a location of the flange, wherein the changed connection is configured to connect the changed line to the housing of the changed gas turbine assembly.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Further features and advantages of the present invention will become clear on the basis of the following description of a method in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, with reference to the appended drawing, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a diagrammatic perspective view of a gas turbine assembly at a position of an existing power plant, at which position a gas turbine assembly of a second design was previously installed on a foundation which is designed specifically for said second design,

(3) FIG. 2 shows a side view of the gas turbine assembly which is shown in FIG. 1,

(4) FIG. 3 shows a perspective view which shows bleed air and removal lines of the gas turbine assembly which is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,

(5) FIG. 4 shows a perspective view which shows the bleed air and removal lines which are shown in FIG. 3, in a state, in which they have been revised according to the invention, and

(6) FIG. 5 shows a perspective view which shows the revised bleed air and removal lines in the installed state.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

(7) FIGS. 1 and 2 show a gas turbine assembly 1, which is one of a first design of a first manufacturer, and which comprises a housing 2, which is assembled from a plurality of housing parts in the present case, a compressor 3, a combustion chamber 4, a gas turbine 5 and a plurality of bleed air lines 6 and removal lines 7 which are routed on the outside along the housing 2 and in each case have at least one line section which extends in the longitudinal direction and substantially parallel to the housing 2. Furthermore, FIGS. 1 and 2 show a foundation 10, which has two foundation blocks 8 and 9, and a docking means 11, which are constituent parts of an existing power plant 12. The foundation 10 is designed specifically for a gas turbine assembly (not shown in greater detail) of a second design of a second manufacturer, which gas turbine assembly was previously installed at that position, at which the gas turbine assembly 1 of the first design is now illustrated. The fact that the foundation 10 is not provided for receiving the gas turbine assembly 1 of the first design leads to a situation where bleed air lines 6 and removal lines 7 which are provided in the lower region of the housing 2 would collide in the region (labeled by way of the designation 13) below the combustion chamber 4 and the turbine 5 with the foundation block 9 (shown on the right in FIGS. 1 and 2) if the gas turbine assembly 1 were placed in the present form onto the foundation 10. Against this background, there are two procedures in the prior art for replacing an existing gas turbine assembly by a new gas turbine assembly. The first procedure consists in using a new gas turbine assembly of the same design, since this can be placed onto the existing foundation 10 without parts of the gas turbine assembly colliding with the latter. If a gas turbine assembly of another design is to be used as new gas turbine assembly, the old foundation 10 is removed according to the second procedure and is replaced by a new foundation which is designed specifically for receiving said gas turbine assembly of another design.

(8) In the following text, a method in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, by way of which method the gas turbine assembly 1 (shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) of a first design is installed on the existing foundation 10.

(9) FIG. 3 separately shows the bleed air lines 6 and removal lines 7 of the gas turbine assembly 1 (shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) of a first design, more precisely the bleed air lines 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3 and the removal lines 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4 and 7.5. All of the lines 6, 7 are provided with axial compensators 14 which serve to compensate for length changes of the lines 6, 7 which occur during the operation of the gas turbine assembly 1 and are primarily induced thermally.

(10) In a first method step, changes are then made to at least some of the bleed air and removal lines 6, 7 which are shown in FIG. 3, in order to prevent a collision of said lines with the foundation 10. Said changes can fundamentally comprise movements of position, reductions in the cross section and/or external diameter, a reduction in the thickness of insulation means which surround lines, a replacement of compensators, or combinations of these measures, it being possible for all the measures to also be carried out only on regions of the lines. In the present case, the changes which are carried out in the first method step relate to the bleed air lines 6.2 and 6.3 and the removal lines 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3. FIG. 4 shows the changed state of said lines after the first method step has been carried out. The cross sections and external diameters of all of the lines 6.2, 6.3, 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3 in FIG. 4 have been reduced in the regions which are labeled by way of the designation 15 and are shown in a shaded manner. Furthermore, movements of position and/or changes in the line course have been carried out at least in regions on the lines which are shown in FIG. 4. The lines 6.3 and 7.3 thus then have, for example, not only one line section but rather in each case two line sections which extend in the longitudinal direction and substantially parallel to the housing 2, the longitudinal axis of the respective rear line section which is positioned in the region of the combustion chamber 4 and the gas turbine 5 being arranged closer to the housing 2 than the longitudinal axis of the front line section of the same line which is positioned in the region of the compressor 3 and extends in the longitudinal direction and substantially parallel to the housing 2. Furthermore, in the case of some of the lines which are shown in FIG. 4, those positions have been changed, at which the lines are connected via housing flanges 15 to the housing 2. Moreover, the housing flanges 15 have been reduced at least partially in cross section. In addition, the axial compensators 14 have been replaced by new compensators 16 which also act laterally in part.

(11) In a second method step, the gas turbine assembly is installed on the existing foundation 10. To this end, an adapter construction is used which has two adapter plates 18 and 19 which are placed onto the foundation blocks 8 and 9 and are fastened to the latter. The adapter construction serves to compensate for different positions and/or a different number of anchor points of the two designs of gas turbine assemblies. FIG. 5 shows that the lines 6.2 and 6.3 and 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3 then no longer collide with the foundation 10 or with the foundation block 9.

(12) The method according to the invention is distinguished, in particular, by the fact that a gas turbine assembly of a first design can be replaced by a gas turbine assembly of a second design with retention of the foundation, although the latter has been designed only to receive the gas turbine assembly of the second design and is actually unsuitable for receiving one of the first design, since it does not make available the design or installation space which is required to receive it. Thanks to the method according to the invention, downtimes and costs which are associated with a replacement of the foundation can therefore be avoided.

(13) Although the invention has been illustrated and described in greater detail by way of an exemplary embodiment, the invention is not restricted by way of the disclosed examples, and other variations can be derived therefrom by a person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of protection of the invention.