Case Study: How HYTORC Helped a Power Plant Save Days on Their Maintenance Schedule
Maintenance outages at major utility plants are a high-stakes race against time. Every hour a turbine is offline represents lost revenue and potential strain on the regional power grid. When a massive facility goes offline for maintenance, the goal is always to get back to work as quickly and safely as possible. In December 2020, the team at a Japanese power plant faced a critical scheduling crisis when their site’s maintenance outage fell significantly behind its projected timeline.
Challenge: A Deadline Under Pressure
When the maintenance team arrived on-site, they found a project under significant stress running a week behind schedule. The plant had a hard deadline to be back online and providing power before December 24th. With the holiday season approaching and the schedule slipping, the team needed a way to make up for lost time without cutting corners on safety or quality.
By using the STEALTH tool and HYTORC Nuts, the customers were able to reduce the outage time and also manpower required to complete the job. – Paul Ossing, Growth manager, HYTORC Japan
HYTORC Solution: Precision Bolting for Critical Steam Flanges
To get the project back on track, the plant our HYTORC’s AVANTI hydraulic torque tool and the HYTORC Nut to speed up the work on high-pressure steam systems, including one of the most critical parts of the plant - the massive steam flanges. This advanced technology allowed for faster and more accurate fastening on the most difficult parts of the turbine.
The team focused on two main areas:
- The Main Steam Inlet Flange: The team used 2.5-inch HYTORC Nuts with the AVANTI tool, running at a pump pressure of 2,150 PSI.
- The Reheat Steam Flange: The team used 2.0-inch HYTORC Nuts paired with the AVANTI tool, running at a higher pump pressure of 4,000 PSI.
By using these specialized nuts and tools, the crew was able to tighten the bolts faster and more accurately than with traditional methods. The ability to bolt hands-free made the job much safer for the workers.
Results: Back on Track for the Holidays
The results were immediate. Installing the HYTORC Nuts went perfectly, allowing the maintenance crew to work much faster than expected. Because this bolting technology worked so efficiently, the plant’s engineers were able to recover the lost days and get it back on schedule.
Thanks to this boost in productivity, the plant met its December 24th deadline. The engineers were very impressed with how the AVANTI tools and the HYTORC Nut performed under pressure. As a result, using HYTORC’s advanced bolting technologies made an immediate impact on the project's bottom line.
Looking Ahead
The success that came from using HYTORC tools for this project has changed the way the plant thought about maintenance. The customer was so satisfied with the time savings and safety improvements that they have already decided to use the same HYTORC systems for the upcoming projects other plants.
When your schedule is on the line, the right equipment makes all the difference. By replacing traditional methods with advanced industrial bolting systems, the power plant proved that the right technology isn't just a maintenance cost, it's a critical tool for schedule insurance. Find out how HYTORC can help you.
Snapshot
Using HYTORC tools led to fixing issues with the project timeline.
- Efficiency: The installation of the HYTORC Nuts went smoothly, allowing the engineering team to recover the lost days.
- Schedule Recovery: The plant was successfully put back on schedule to meet its December 24th deadline.
- Engineer Feedback: Engineers expressed they were "very impressed" with the performance of the AVANTI tools and HYTORC Nuts.
- Future Planning: Based on the success of this project partnership, the power company decided to use HYTORC systems for future planned outages.
