Older, conventional methods of measuring turbines are very time-consuming. With a laser measurement system, work can be performed much faster and with the greatest precision. The possibility of measurement results being easily and clearly documented is also a great advantage.
Electricity production occurs in several different forms, many of which rely on the use of a turbine for the operation of a generator. E.g. gas, steam, water, solar and wind power. Sometimes diesel-powered generators are used, mainly as a backup and for equalization in the power network. To solve your particular need for solutions in this application area, a combination of parts from different measurement systems may be suitable. We have chosen to put information about wind turbines on a separate page, read more about this here: Measurement and alignment solutions for the wind power industry.
Older methods for measuring and aligning turbines sometimes includes the use of heavy dummy shafts and/or wires plus dial gauges. This requires long time to set-up for measurement. A laser system comes in relatively small and lightweight carrying cases and is set-up on the machinery in a fraction of the time needed for older methods. More benefits are for example that there is no wire in the way for the technician, all calculations are made by the software, alignment can be made with live values when suitable. And of course, you get a complete documentation of the alignment.
Aligning a diaphragm in a gas or steam turbine can be a major task. We have a special systems for this (Easy-Laser® E960) with flexible and easy-to-use brackets and software that guides the user through the measurement process. The laser transmitter is mounted at one end of the turbine’s center line (usually a bearing journal). The detector registers the measurement values at the desired positions. The measurement result displays the straightness of the bearing and the diaphragm’s center line, both vertically and horizontally, compared with two zero (reference) points.
The shaft alignment system is what is needed for alignment of the coupling between turbine and generator. The requirements for precision are high, so measurement systems with software that can take a large number of measurement values (multipoint) are used, such as Easy-Laser® XT770 or Easy-Laser® E710.
The partition surfaces of the turbine halves may need to be checked for flatness. This is done using a sweep laser transmitter such as D22.
It is very important that the bases for turbines and other machinery in the installation are flat and level so that the rest of the installation work can be carried out reliably. In the long term, it is also a prerequisite for trouble-free operation. With Easy-Laser you can make sure that is the case. Other things that can be measured and aligned using Easy-Laser include centering of mountings for sluice gates at power plant dams, straightness of pipe systems, squareness and flatness of pipe flanges etc.
