Flow Guide Alignment

On many LP turbine retrofit projects new exhaust flow guides have to be aligned. This is often a time consuming process, often on critical path. Mechtell has successfully aligned several sets of flow guides using a process that saved significant time and did it off critical path.

Measuring the Flow Guide Position

Mechtell first determines the rotor position based on supplied specifications or the measured position of the existing rotor. With the rotor out, a laser tracker is set up in the rotor bore area, and multiple tracker targets are attached to the I.D. of the flow guide. Custom software then drives the laser tracker to measure the positions of all the flow guide targets and then calculates the deviation from the ideal position for each target. The measurement and calculation process takes less than 2 minutes.

Flow Guide Measurement Targets Flow Guide Wireframe

The flow guide assembly is adjusted and measured repeatedly until the desired position is attained. The laser tracker can aid the adjustment process by monitoring position changes of specific targets as adjustments are made to the flow guide.

Flow Guide Measurement Results