When a power generating company headquartered in the South Central United States acquired an existing power station, it inherited a circa-1967 generator step-up transformer as part of the deal. Although the transformer had been remanufactured in 1993, it required a major overhaul. According to Norris Chamberlain, general manager of the Service Group at SPX Transformer Solutions, “Our customer wanted to ensure we could get the work done within their timeframe, and that the transformer would be reliable for the long haul.” In addition to the unit’s inefficiencies and potential failure points, the transformer was leaking oil. Although the leakage was contained, the customer wanted the issue addressed quickly.
“We committed to work within the customer’s 22-day window for a planned facility outage. Our project team outlined the pre-site work and laid out a series of on-site requirements, which included a long list of upgrades and replacements. The cooling system upgrades alone included 15 cooling pumps, 32 cooler isolation valves, 15 flow gages and 15 drain valves,” said Guy Coffey, regional manager for the on-site SPX Transformer Solutions service team. When the job was complete, the scope of work encompassed not only cooling system upgrades, but also oil preservation system replacements, oil processing, generator-to-transformer connection repairs and regasketing of the entire transformer.
Following internal inspections and vacuum filling with oil, the transformer underwent extensive field testing and was re-energized. “There are no leaks or gassing, and the dissolved gas analysis of the oil we took ourselves looks good. Temperatures seem to be representative of the transformer’s normal operation, and the oil level sets where it should,” said the customer’s project engineer. “The [SPX Transformer Solutions] service crew knew how to handle our issues, performing the work with a high degree of professionalism, sense of urgency, attention to detail and safety.” Meeting our customers’ requirements by providing exceptional service when required is what we do well and why customers rely on SPX Transformer Solutions.
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