Operating and Maintenance Experience With Model V-94 100/135 MW Heavy-Duty Gas Turbines

Towards the end of 1974, the first Model V-94 gas turbine with an ISO base-load rating of 91 NW was placed in service and three further similar machines shortly thereafter. The prototype unit has been operated to date for more than 21,000 hr and started up over 3,200 times. It has demonstrated over the past few years excellent operating availability, as well as starting reliability. The paper gives a detailed report of the operating experience and findings gained from the overhauls. It also describes the measures that were taken to achieve high reliability. Since the end of 1979 three uprated V-94 gas turbines employing air-cooled turbine blades with a unit output of up to 125 MW have been taken into operation. The initial experience with these machines is discussed.