PeRSPecTIVe
COST SAVINGS AND
AVAILAbILITY ImPROVEmENT WITH
SPLIT CASING DESIGN FACILITATING IN-SITU REPAIR AND mAINTENANCE
GE's Gas Turbine
By TIm ouTlAnd,
del RogeRS, geoRge AWISzuS
GE MarinE
A
reliable gas turbine is what
gives a ship its striking pow-
er, and without a working
prime mover, a naval vessel
is dead in the water. There-
fore, a gas turbine that can be repaired
in-situ and quickly returned to service
is of tremendous value to a navy. GE's
LM2500 is the backbone for battle ships
for 33 navies worldwide, providing the
most reliable form of power and an out-
standing 99% reliability. GE gas turbines
also provide the most power dense solu-
tion for meeting high speed missions.
1, 2
There are significant lifecycle cost dif-
ferences between the gas turbine options,
and these variances need to be a major
consideration when selecting the engines.
One of the most significant design differ-
ences could result in a minor in-situ repair
versus an extremely costly engine removal
with a very long turnaround time in an
overhaul shop.
This paper explores how the in-situ re-
pair and maintenance design philosophy
for GE's LM2500 and LM6000 marine
gas turbines with a split casing has pre-
vented hundreds of engine removals and
eliminated long periods of unavailability.
3, 4
Unexpected shipboard events, includ-
ing ingestion of Foreign Object Damage
(FOD) that happens to all gas turbines,
and preventative maintenance actions
are the leading reasons that GE in-situ
top case repair is used. Conversely, gas
turbines without split casings require
complete engine removal from the ship,
increasing repair time and gas turbine un-
availability to weeks or even months. In
addition, the cost of repair per event in-
creases to ~$1.5 to $3 million.
Using historical data from three naval
38 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2018 www.vanguardcanada.com
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