Energy-Tech Magazine

At a proposed 570 MW combined-cycle gas-powered plant in Alabama, construction was underway and then put on hold.
Two years later, the plant was purchased by a major utility with the goal of being online by the end of 2009. The piping, flanges and components had been sitting in a field for two years, and corrosion took a heavy toll.
Chuck Stuckey, president of Portable Machining Services, was hired to determine if the flanges could be salvaged. After examining the pieces, he concluded the flanges could be re-machined efficiently using portable machine tools right at the job site. On-site machining eliminates the time and costs associated with having to transport the parts to a machine shop and back.
To ensure meeting the utility's stringent spec requirements, Stuckey rented two rugged portable flange facers - the FF4000 and FF5000 - from Climax Portable Machine Tools, and had them shipped to the job site where several work stations were set up.
The flange facers have the precision, strength and speed to re-machine flanges up to 24" in diameter to a depth of 1.97", producing a surface finish of 63-500 RMS, with a typical material removal rate of 1 cubic inch/minute. They are easy to set up, align and operate, enabling Portable Machining Services' machinists to machine 8-10 flanges/day.
Because all machining is done on-site, the project team experienced substantial productivity gains, keeping the job ahead of schedule.
Most importantly, all the flanges machined to date have met the tight specifications set by the utility and the project is on schedule to meet the end of year deadline.
 
For more information, visit www.cpmt.com.