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Alyeska returns new corroded generators Strategic reconfiguration work delayed after gas-fired electric power generators have to be returned to manufacturer The Associated Press
Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. has sent back four new gas-fired electric power generators to the manufacturer because of corrosion found on the units.
The setback contributed to a recent decision to delay startup of two rebuilt pump stations along the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.
The corrosion found in the generators is unrelated to that plaguing North Slope oil pipelines.
The generator corrosion was found in the core of the gas turbines, which had been installed but not started, said Curtis Thomas, an Alyeska spokesman.
The cause of the corrosion has not been determined, Thomas said. The manufacturer, Siemens, is analyzing the units.
Four of five turbines returned Four of the five turbines Alyeska purchased from Siemens have been shipped back to England where they were built. Corrosion was found in all five turbines and was deemed unacceptable in four, according to Thomas.
Thomas said he couldn’t estimate when replacement turbines would be received.
“We’re not going to start up until we’re completely sure that the system will run safely, efficiently and reliably, and that’s our primary concern,” he said.
The setback was mentioned by Kevin Hostler, Alyeska’s chief executive officer, in an April 6 message to employees.
“Following my recent visits to the field and in conversations with the pipeline reconfiguration team, it became apparent to me that we needed to alter the current strategic reconfiguration implementation plan,” Hostler wrote.
Work deferred at stations 1 and 4 Alyeska will focus its resources on completing Pump Stations 3 and 9 this year. Finishing up work on Pump Stations 1 and 4 will be put off until next year, Hostler said.
He said the decision was influenced by various factors, including issues with turbine generators, resource constraints and “continued challenges around incomplete or late design engineering.”
Rhea DoBosh, a spokeswoman for the state-federal Joint Pipeline Office, said initial reports indicated the corrosion was related to the oil used to protect the gas turbines while en route from England.
Alyeska first discovered the corrosion in January in the gas turbine installed at Pump Station 3, about 100 miles south of Prudhoe Bay.
The gas turbines rode on Alaska Railroad cars for part of the trip to the North Slope. Signs on the units carrying turbines warned against bumping the cars to link them, but the company was told that some cars had been bumped anyway, Thomas said.
Inspectors found no damage from the railroad trip, he said. But they found the corrosion.
Alyeska has three operating pump stations — 1, 3 and 4 — on the North Slope. Natural gas is delivered to those stations through an existing pipeline from Prudhoe Bay.
Alyeska has been rebuilding those stations — along with Pump Station 9 near Delta Junction — as part of the company’s effort to simplify and automate operations.
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