[DESCRIPTION] [Invention Title]
SEPARATOR FOR REMOVING A ROTARY BLADE OF GAS TURBINE [Technical Field]
The present invention relates to a separator for disassembling a rotary blade from a rotational shaft of a gas turbine equipped to a combined cycle power plant, and more particularly to a separator for disassembling a rotary blade of a gas turbine, which allows shortening of an overhaul period when dissembling a damaged rotary blade from a rotational shaft, thereby ensuring convenient dissembling operation.
[Background Art] A gas turbine generator, for example, MS7000F series gas turbine generators (General Electric Co., U.S.A.), equipped to a combined cycle power plant is typically subjected to regular overhauls, such as a C grade overhaul or a combustion overhaul at 12,000 hours of operation, a B grade overhaul or a hot gas overhaul at 22,000 hours of operation, and an A grade overhaul or a major overhaul at 44,000 hours of operation. Specifically, for the combustion overhaul, components of a combustor, such as a fuel nozzle, a ventury tube, a liner and a flow sleeve, are replaced with new ones, and for the hot gas overhaul, fixed and rotary blades of a gas turbine are replaced with new ones together with the combustion overhaul. Furthermore, for the major overhaul, a disassembling overhaul for an air compressor is conducted together with the combustion overhaul and the hot gas overhaul. A period of time for these overhauls takes, for instance, about 14 days in
case of the combustion overhaul, about 28 days in case of the hot gas overhaul, and about 42 days in case of the major overhaul. Generally, an overhaul cycle of the gas turbine is determined such that the components of the gas turbine can be periodically replaced with new ones before damage of the components in order to ensure reliability of the gas turbine.
However, foreign substances induced from the outside or removed from all components constituting the gas turbine often collide against rotary blades, therely generating dents or cracks on the surface of the blade. The rotary blades mounted on the rotational shaft of the gas turbine generator consist of a first stage rotary blade to a third stage rotary blade, and the number of rotary blades equipped to the gas turbine combustor is about 270. Accordingly, even if one of the rotary blades is damaged, a process for disassembling and assembling the rotary blade required for the hot gas overhaul must be conducted, and this process takes at least 23 days. Conventionally, in order to replace one fixed blade of the gas turbine, as shown in Fig. 5, after a gas turbine upper casing 100 is pulled up, operation for disassembling a combustion nozzle, a flow sleeve, a liner and a transition piece from the gas turbine must be conducted in this order. Then, a first-stage nozzle 103 is disassembled, and a hit is made on the first rotary blade 101a in the direction of arrow, as shown in Fig. 5, allowing the first-stage rotary blade 101a to be separated from the gas turbine rotor 110. That is, the first-stage rotary blade 101a of the gas turbine can be separated from the gas turbine by hitting and pushing the first-stage rotary blade 101a with an aluminum hammer from the first-stage rotary blade 101a toward the second-stage rotary blade 101b (in the direction of combustion gas flowing in the gas turbine) after securing a space by disassembling the first-fixed nozzle 103. As such, without any improvement, a method of disassembling the rotary blade by pushing it in the direction of the combustion gas flowing in the gas turbine has been conducted as a process for disassembling the rotary blade suggested by a manufacturer.
Furthermore, since the hot gas components, such as the fixed and rotary blades, can be reused about three times by way of a refurbishing overhaul, a block- type overhaul has been conducted for replacing all the fixed and rotary blades after pulling up the turbine casing. Considering the overhaul periods, overhaul costs, and the like, this method was a general operating method in power plants. That is, even if one of the rotary blades is damaged one or two months before the next planned overhaul, an overall replacement of the components is conducted since the overhaul of the damaged rotary blade takes a period longer than the remaining period till the next planned overhaul, and the replaced components are used until the next overhaul time. The overhaul of the gas turbine is conducted according to an overhaul cycle (OH conducting cycle) in which A grade - C grade - C grade - B grade - C grade - C grade - A grade overhauls are circulated. The rotary blade is subjected to the overhaul of the B-grade or more, and, as for the gas turbine power plant having an approximately 38 % utilization rate, the overhaul is conducted once a year, whereby the C grade overhaul is conducted once every year, the B grade overhaul is conducted once every two years, and the A grade overhaul is conducted once every four years. Thus, according to the overhaul cycle circulated as described above, there is a problem in that, since a partial replacement is not allowed upon damage of the rotary blade, the overhaul cycle is shortened due to the overall replacement of the components prior to the planned overhaul. Such disassembling operation of the rotary blade is a long-term process taking about 23 days. Accordingly, if one wants to replace a partially damaged rotary blade before the regular overhaul, not only the same period of time is required for the overhaul of the damaged rotary blade, but the utilization rate of the power plant is also reduced due to a forced outage resulting from an unplanned outage (except the planned outage), thereby causing instability of a power system and impeding power generation profits. Generally, the planned outage is an outage plan for maintaining an
appropriate reserve ratio of 20 % for every power plant in the power system and a reserve ratio of 7 % or more for the summer peak.
[Disclosure] [Technical Problem] Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a separator for disassembling a rotary blade of a gas turbine, which can improve an overall replacement-type overhaul method requiring about 23 days or more when replacing damaged rotary blades with new ones before a regular overhaul for the gas turbine generator due to defects or cracks of some of the rotary blades.
[Technical Solution] In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a separator for disassembling a rotary blade of a gas turbine, allowing shortening of an overhaul period and convenient operation when disassembling a damaged rotary blade from a rotational shaft of the gas turbine generator equipped to a combined cycle power plant, the separator comprising: a latch having a slot formed on a surface thereof to allow a fixing jaw of the rotary blade to be latched to the slot in the state of being fitted into the slot; a rod screwed, at one end of the rod, to the latch; and a hammer restricted in movement by a stop end provided at the other end of the rod. The slot may be transversely formed on the latch at an angle to the rod.
[Advantageous Effects] The separator for disassembling the rotary blade of the gas turbine according to the present invention allows only the damaged rotary blade to be
disassembled therefrom and replaced with a new one after pulling up only a turbine casing without disassembling a combustor and an exhaust casing at the rear end of the turbine casing, thereby ensuring an advantageous effect of remarkably shortening an overhaul period. [Description of Drawings] The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a separator for disassembling a rotary blade of a gas turbine generator according to the present invention; Fig. 2 is a side view of the separator shown in Fig 1; Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating the separator mounted on a rotary blade of a rotational shaft of the gas turbine generator according to the present invention; Fig. 4 is a schematic explanatory view, in which the rotary blade is disassembled by using a separator according to the present invention; and Fig. 5 is a schematic explanatory view, in which the rotary blade is disassembled by using a conventional method.
[Best Mode] Preferred embodiments will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figs. 1 and 2 are a perspective view and a side view showing a separator for disassembling a rotary blade of a gas turbine according to the present invention, respectively. A separator for disassembling a rotary blade of a gas turbine according to the present invention comprises a latch 4 having a slot 3 formed on a surface thereof to latch a fixing jaw 2 of a damaged rotary blade 1, a rod
5 screwed at one end thereof to the latch 4, and a hammer 7 restricted in movement by a stop end 6 at the other end of the rod 5.
The slot 3 may be transversely formed on the latch 4 at an angle to the rod 5. The latch 4 and the rod 5 are connected to each other by means of screw fastening, and the cylindrical-shaped hammer 7 is restricted in movement by the stop end 6. Meanwhile, as shown in Fig. 3, when separating a damaged rotary blade la from the gas turbine, the slot 3 of the latch 4 is fitted onto and latches the fixing jaw 2 of the rotary blade la, and a tool, such as a hammer, hits the cylindrical hammer 7 in the direction of arrow A shown in Fig. 3. Then, the rotary blade la is separated from a turbine rotor 10 in the direction of arrow shown in Fig. 4, thereby allowing the rotary blade la to be conveniently and independently separated therefrom. The rest rotary blades lb and lc can also be separated from the turbine rotor 10 with the same method as described above. As many as ninety two rotary blades, typically subjected to a combustion temperature of about 1,300 °C, are attached to a first stage of the gas turbine, and these rotary blades are expensive components having a price of about thirty million won (Korean currency) as of 2003. Although the prices of the rotary blades are different, the same number of rotary blades is attached to second and third stages of the gas turbine. Instead of an overall replacement of the rotary blades, when one rotary blade is selectively separated from the gas turbine, the rotary blade must not be damaged by a destructive and removal method, such as welding. In case where the damage exceeds a strict refurbishing limitation, the destructive and removal method can be used for separating the damaged rotary blade from the gas turbine by way of welding on the condition that adjacent rotary blades are prevented from being damaged. That is, the rotary blade damaged beyond a predetermined degree can be pulled off after welding the rod 5 to a lower root of the damaged rotary blade. However, the greatly damaged rotary blade must be separated from
the turbine rotor without being damaged any more. Thus, with the separator according to the present invention, the rotary blade can be separated from the gas turbine without being damaged any more, and can be reused after refurbishing. [Industrial Applicability] , i With the separator for disassembling the rotary blade of the gas turbine according to the present invention, the overhaul operation, which takes about 26 days in the prior art by way of disassembling and assembling all combustors, fixed and rotary blades, can be conducted for 46 hours, thereby shortening the overhaul period, leading to a remarkable reduction in overhaul costs. Additionally, since the components subjected to a high temperature do not require the refurbishing overhaul, not only environmental contamination but also the overhaul period can be shortened, allowing rapid resumption of power production, thereby preventing loss of power generation profits and of expected benefits due to outage of power generation. Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.