POWER April 2017 - 54
OPERATIONS & MAINTENANCE
The Oft-Neglected Isolated Phase
Bus Deserves Your Attention
Courtesy: SE Energy
A power plant's isolated phase bus is generally reliable, and therefore, maintenance
is frequently overlooked. However, the system is too important to neglect. Assessing
its condition during minor outages allows needed repairs to be scheduled during
more extensive downtime, saving money and avoiding catastrophic failure.
Cal Crader, PE
P
reventative maintenance and essential
system upgrades for the isolated phase
bus should be a critical part of a power
generating station's planned outage schedule.
However, not all operators give it the attention
it deserves, leading to an increased risk
of unnecessary, unplanned outages.
Taking full advantage of a planned outage
at a power generating plant is a critical
component to both maximizing up time and
avoiding costly surprises. Planned outages
differ from plant to plant, but generally, a
plant tends to have major outages once every
two to four years to upgrade equipment.
These outages often revolve around a maintenance
schedule for the turbine generators or
the boiler.
Between planning for the outage, equipment
and labor costs during the outage, and
the amount of production time lost due to
the outage, these are very costly events that
need to be meticulously coordinated. Operators
do not want to miss the opportunity to
upgrade or fix a specific piece of equipment
during a planned outage, only to discover
their mistake later and be forced to fix the
54
problem during an emergency, unplanned
outage.
The Vital Isolated Phase Bus
A critical system that is often overlooked
during planned outages is the isolated phase
bus. Operators tend to believe that because
this system is covered, it does not require the
same amount of care as other critical systems.
However, with all that is being invested
in properly maintaining the generator, an isolated
phase bus failure can essentially negate
that effort.
One reason for this negligence is that the
bus system does not really have any moving
parts like a generator does (Figure 1). However,
maintenance is just as important and
failure can be just as damaging (Figure 2).
Emergency repairs on an isolated phase bus
system will often cost up to five times more
than repairs done during a planned outage.
In days gone by, power plants had more
frequent planned outages on a more regular
basis. Under that scenario, maintenance on
the isolated phase bus was easier. There was
more time to dedicate toward making sure
www.powermag.com
POWER | April 2017
1. Out of sight, out of mind. Inspecting
components, such as the isolated phase
bus termination at the generator shown here,
can help ensure reliable operation over the
long-term. Courtesy: SE Energy
http://www.powermag.com
POWER April 2017
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of POWER April 2017
Contents
POWER April 2017 - Cover1
POWER April 2017 - Cover2
POWER April 2017 - Contents
POWER April 2017 - 2
POWER April 2017 - 3
POWER April 2017 - 4
POWER April 2017 - 5
POWER April 2017 - 6
POWER April 2017 - 7
POWER April 2017 - 8
POWER April 2017 - 9
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POWER April 2017 - Cover3
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