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POWER2014
July 28-31, 2014, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
POWER2014-32003
MOHAMMED ALISMAIL
Ghazlan Power Plant
Saudi Electricity Company
P. O. BOX 31422
Dammam 31422, Saudi Arabia
+966136679006, mjismail@se.com.sa
ABSTRACT
The circulating water system is a very important system in
Ghazlan Steam Power Plant- 4276 MW, as it supplies the sea
water to the tubes side of the Condensers during normal
operation. A large butterfly cross-connect valve was installed at
the circulating water pumps discharge header to isolate the
pumps and the header for maintenance. A forced unit shutdown
occurred due to valve's shafts end leakage and collapse after
maintenance work. This paper explains the wrong design
location of the valve in the piping as the root cause of the
problem. Analysis with ASME reference will be presented. This
paper will also present potential solutions and actions taken as a
lesson learned to avoid occurrence in other plants.
INTRODUCTION Cross-Connect
Valves are installed in various locations in the plant's piping Valve
systems. The operation, maintenance and installation Figure 1. LOCATION OF THE VALVE IN THE HEADER
requirements should be considered to avoid valves failures. For
the circulating water system at Ghazlan Power Plant, a large DN
2400mm butterfly cross-connect valve (MAMMOUTH), BACKGROUND
manufactured by KSB-AMRI was installed in the discharge In 2007, water leakage was observed in valve gearbox. A
header of four circulating water pumps (See Fig.1). In this visual inspection was done and found that the shaft indicator
valve, leak-tightness is provided at shaft passages by means of was fluttering. During the annual maintenance outage, valve
the spherical molding on the rubber liner which matches the gearbox was removed from the shaft for inspection and repair.
shape of the disc [2]. The valve is normally in open position and When the gearbox was dismantled, the internal parts were found
only closed for isolation purpose in case of pumps or header corroded and defective due to exposure to seawater for long
maintenance. Normal conditions are three pumps operating in time. Due to the startup schedule requirements, the valve was
winter time; and four pumps in summer time. Two pumps are returned to service without the gearbox. A special flange was
operated during maintenance outages [3]. fabricated and installed to hold the shaft and the valve in the
open position instead of the gearbox. After few days of unit
operation, a valve failure occurred consisting of a broken
OPTIMUM SOLUTIONS
As the repair of the valve will not solve the root cause of
the problem, several solutions were studied.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to KSB-AMRI and the Saudi representative
company; Bandariyah International Ltd. for their cooperation to
investigate and analyze the failure of the valve. The
professionalism towards solving this issue including the KSB
factory and research center visit by clients was highly valued.