Catastrophic Failure of a Steam Turbine in a Power Plant

At the request of an insurance company, APTECH was retained by a Midwestern law firm to investigate the catastrophic failure of a power plant's intermediate-pressure (IP) steam turbine. Blades had fractured and been thrown through the outer casing. APTECH performed on-site failure investigations, failure analysis, and attended meetings at the turbine manufacturer's factory. We examined and tested the blades, nozzles, and stationary diaphragms. We determined that severe erosion and corrosion led to the blade failures. APTECH obtained proposals for replacement components. With APTECH's assistance, this loss was successfully adjusted to the client's satisfaction. This matter is typical of the many steam turbine investigations that APTECH has done over the years.

Our primary contacts for matters involving steam turbine failures can be reached at (408) 745-7000.
Name Email Specialty
Satish Almaula
email button Plant failure and root cause analysis; process and design engineering analysis; process technology development and testing; plant engineering, operations, maintenance and safety management; plant and process control system management.

Michael Cronin, P.E. email button Turbomachinery, stress analysis, design evaluation, engineering mechanics

Steve Lefton email button Boiler and turbine failure analysis, power plant operation and maintenance

Kimble Clark, Ph.D. email button Failure analysis, heat transfer & thermodynamics, process plant equipment failures & explosions, fuel science, combustion, industrial fires and explosions.

Geoffrey Egan, Ph.D. email button Engineering mechanics, welding engineering, stress and fatigue analysis, risk analysis, nondestructive examination, project management.

 
   


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