We’ve been having ongoing issues with the S17 shrouded vanes on our GE turbines. The welds on the shrouded vanes tend to fail prematurely, especially during frequent load cycling. This has led to unexpected downtime and higher maintenance costs.
We’d like to switch back to singlet vanes, as they seem to provide better long-term reliability, but we’re constrained by our current AGP upgrade. Has anyone else made this transition? What are the pros and cons you’ve experienced with shrouded vanes versus singlet vanes?
We’ve been using singlet vanes for a while now, and we’ve seen fewer weld failures and better performance under cyclic operation. The main drawback is that singlet vanes can be more time-consuming to install during maintenance, but the reliability gains are worth it.
Check your weld inspection schedule. We found that early detection of crack formation allowed us to perform targeted repairs before a complete failure occurred. However, I agree that shrouded vanes have more inherent risks with the weld points.