Damage has always accompanied operation. Some, if identified too late, become the source of failures. If it requires repair during equipment/unit outages, it should be analyzed regardless of whether the outage is classified as a failure, as it always poses a technical and economic problem. The most serious of these can pose a threat to operator safety. We always strive to minimize the likelihood and consequences of such damage, but they cannot be completely eliminated. However, they can always be used to gain knowledge that can eliminate or at least significantly reduce its direct and, especially, indirect causes. Damage requiring repair, not only during unplanned outages, is generally the result of multiple causes, including, especially recently, the increasingly regulated operation of power units. Due to the requirements of the operator, who is most concerned about stabilizing the National Power System due to the growing number of weather-dependent sources, the availability of controllable sources, including coal-fired ones, is becoming a highly desirable feature. Downtime associated with repairing damage and the associated costs can be reduced by knowing the current technical condition of equipment. Analyzing direct and indirect causes, appropriately combined with ongoing analysis of operating history and conditions, can not only help update equipment's technical condition but also identify threats and predict damage, especially preventing future failures and significantly reducing their consequences.
Symposium Topics:
- Thermal-mechanical equipment failures and unit availability (impact of failures on the operation and availability of generating units).
- Thermomechanical, erosive, and corrosive damage (degradation mechanisms during operation and downtime).
- Identifying damage and analyzing its causes and failures (identifying direct and indirect causes and their relationship to operating conditions).
- Diagnostics and assessment of technical condition of equipment (using operational data to identify hazards and assess the technical condition of critical components and those affecting reliability and availability).
- Risk analysis and failure prediction (using operational experience and analyses to reduce the risk of failure and improve availability).