News Detail
NAES Turbine Services Brings Williams Plant Back from Hurricane Damage
07/13/2006 - The Williams Field Services Cameron Meadows plant in southwest Louisiana sustained extensive damage from Hurricane Rita in September 2005 when it made landfall in Cameron. The Cameron Meadows plant is a natural gas cryogenic processing facility that takes rich gas & hydrocarbon liquids from the Gulf of Mexico production platforms, removes natural gas liquids (propane, butane and natural gasolines) and provides dehydrated natural gas to the Williams pipeline system.
The heart of the plant is a 1960s vintage GE Frame 5 model R 19,000 HP combustion turbine. The turbine drives a Cooper centrifugal five stage compressor, which compresses the inlet gas up to a pressure necessary for removal of the liquids.
When the eye of the hurricane passed over Cameron, the storm surge associated with it was as high as 8-10 feet. Most freestanding buildings were swept away, along with any items that were not anchored down. Within the Cameron plant, the salt water level rose up to the split line section of the turbine and much of the major equipment was under water. Dirt and debris also covered the entire area, infiltrating even the smallest of spaces.
Two key people from Williams' Ignacio and Bloomfield plants were sent to Cameron to survey the damage and make recommendations. NAES Turbine Services was selected to repair the Cameron Meadows plant because of outstanding work performed at several other Williams Field Services facilities. NAES Turbine Services was awarded the contract of over $2 million to perform the work necessary to repair the damaged turbine compressor unit and bring it back to operating condition in the shortest time frame possible. NAES Turbine Services was able to staff the project immediately. According to Williams personnel, NAES Turbine Services has been one of the most responsive contractors on site.
NAES Turbine Services began work at the plant on November 1, 2005. The scope of work
included performing a complete disassembly, cleaning, and refurbishment of the combustion turbine. Shop inspections of the turbine/compressor rotor determined that sea water attacked the internals of the stacked wheels. The turbine rotor was completely un-stacked, new turbine buckets installed, re-stacked with new hardware, and high-speed balanced. In addition, the entire compressor rotor was un-stacked, all new compressor rotating blades installed, re-stacked with new hardware, and high-speed balanced.
Sea water damage necessitated the installation of new on-base wiring for all devices including the installation of new conduit. Every device and gauge was either replaced or completely refurbished. The turbine control system was re-used, but essentially every internal component was replaced. Since the turbine had no pre-existing dedicated control cabinet, NAES Turbine Services took an unused enclosure and modified it to create a new control cabinet. It was installed in an elevated orientation to assist in protection from future storms. Both the load gear box and accessory gear box were overhauled, and all gears from the load gear were sent to the Houston shop for refurbishment. Accessory gears were suitable for service, but new bearings were installed.
All combustion and hot gas path components were refurbished by NAES Turbine Services' Houston Shop. Every combustion can, liner, transition piece, fuel nozzle, stationary nozzle, etc. was thoroughly cleaned, repaired, coated, or painted as necessary, and returned to the site at the proper time for reassembly. The shop also served as a staging area for marshalling the parts and components prior to shipment back to the site since there was not any covered storage available at the site due to the storm.
The inlet system and exhaust system had to be cleaned of a considerable amount of mud, crawfish, seaweed and other foreign debris. In addition, the inlet bell mouth required a new application of 2-part epoxy paint.
After the turbine package refurbishment was completed, NAES Turbine Services supported the plant throughout the startup process, assisting in other tasks as needed. As a result of our extensive effort, the plant was returned to service in February 2006. Williams Field Services has been very pleased with the work conducted by NAES Turbine Services and we look forward to continuing our business relationship on other projects.
Gas turbine following Rita Gas turbine after refurbishment
