Life Cycle Management for Power Assets – SKF

POWER-GEN India & Central Asia took place in New Delhi on the 5th of May 2014 and became a platform for lot of industry giants operating in the region like SKF to showcase their world class products and solutions for the power industry.

Power Info Today found few interesting answers to the questions put forward to Greg Toomey, the Global Segment Manager for Traditional Electric Power for SKF.

Greg Toomey
Global Segment Manager for Traditional Electric Power
ID USA

Greg Toomey is the Global Segment Manager for Traditional Electric Power for SKF. He is responsible for the business development of SKF solutions into the industry globally. He has been with SKF since 2002 and resides in the USA.

During his tenure of almost 10 years with SKF he has held positions as Vice President in our Reliability Systems(RS) unit responsible for business in Traditional Electric power and as the global segment manager focused on traditional electric power industry.

Prior to joining SKF, Greg was associated with ERIN Engineering(acquired by SKF in 2002) where he worked as the Senior Vice President responsible for maintenance services to the power industry globally with over 18 years of experience with ERIN.

Greg believes in high standards; during his over 30 years supporting the power industry by providing engineering or consultancy, he has gained invaluable experience specializing in developing and optimizing maintenance programs and resolving equipment problems for all types of power plants.

Q 1. What makes SKF a renowned name in the traditional power industry?

With global demand for traditional energy continuing to grow, particularly in the Asia Pacific regions, the race is on to find new sources and boost efficiency in existing power generation facilities and oil and gas onshore and offshore operations.  New generation facilities are required to have higher levels of availability and reliability than ever before. SKF assists power producers  get more from their existing plants while balancing costs and also sets up programs for new plants to ensure they will perform as required for their life. SKF does this through maintenance program optimization and setup as well as improved critical and important equipment reliability and cost improvement.

For over 100 years, SKF has been helping equipment manufacturers and end-users worldwide to improve at every phase of the assets’ life cycle. Combining expertise in bearings, seals, lubrication, mechatronics and services with decades of industry experience, SKF has a range of integrated solutions to help increase production, reduce the need for maintenance and extend machine service life while cutting energy consumption and lowering costs.  Continuous research at our R&D facilities has helped SKF to gain deep insights into the consumer’s need and develop better products and services for them. These are some of the key elements why SKF is renowned in the industry.

Q 2. What is the best product SKF has to offer to the industry?

Bearings, Units &Accessories  :

Total Shaft & Three Barrier Solution FOR Fans
New Generation Housings (SNL & SE Housings)
E2 Bearings  for Motors, Insocoat& Hybrid Bearings for Motors
Super Grip Bolts for Turbine Couplings to improve outage times

Seals :

LDS for Coal Pulverizers
Oil seals for Gear Box
Hydraulic Seals for Hydro Turbines & Cylinders

Reliability Services (AMS):

Operator driven reliability and @DSS
PdM Service Package which none of the Bearing manufacturer offers (VA, Infared Thermography,  Motor testing& Lube oil Analysis)
Maintenance program optimization and initial setup including EAM/CMMS setup using extensive power plant experience

RS (CoMo) :-

Portable vibration data collectors
Wired and wireless on-line vibration monitoring
Electric motor static and dynamic testing equipment including continuous online monitoring using our NetEP system
Software that can integrate data from process systems, vibration and oil analysis and operator rounds tied to the customer’s CMMS

Q 3. Define any innovative development which creates SKF’s monopoly in the traditional power industry?

Supergrip Bolts for Gas and Steam Turbine couplings are widely used and contribute to improved turbine outages particularly for plants that are base loaded
Our multi-stud tensioning machine(MSTM) that robotically tensions and de-tensions nuclear reactor head studs
LDS with PTFE lip is innovative product for coal pulverizers roller assemblies and can help increase reliable life on roller bearings. In fact, SKF can bring complete           packages for bearings, seals and condition monitoring
CARB Bearing is an innovative and monopoly product or power industry can help increase FAN BEARING operations.

Q 4. Are there any service and support available after the sale of the product?

SKF has a wide range of highly specialized expert services – from engineering consultancy services to optimize equipment design, application engineering and mechanical services to consulting services to optimize asset management for end users – available from SKF Solution Factories.

An SKF Solution Factory is a facility to directly transfer SKF knowledge engineering to industries such as oil and gas and power generation. This gives access in one place to the SKF’s five knowledge platforms – bearings, seals, mechatronics, lubrication, and services.

Q 5. Why you chose PowerGen India 2014 ?

POWER-GEN India & Central Asia is the ideal platform to connect with key industry professionals and gain valuable new insights, ideas and solutions. The conference gives us a chance to hear from regional and international speakers who highlight key issues and discuss the latest research, technologies and project developments in the power sector.

Q 6. What was the focus of SKF in PowerGen 2014?

SKF showcased world class products and solutions for the power industry in PowerGen this year. The products and solutions focus on Life Cycle Management for Power Assets. The solutions cover all aspects of the life cycle from improved designs with integrated solutions to enhanced operations and maintenance.

SKF today is helping power plants to improve performance and reduce Total Cost of Ownership through SKF Life Cycle Management, a proven approach to improving machine reliability and operational efficiency. This is what we tried to showcase at PowerGen.

Q 7. How would you define your experience at PowerGen India 2014 and its benefits to you?

Effect of industry challenges, economy slow down and political scenario was quite visible in terms of non-participation by some of the giants like BHEL, ALSTOM, ABB, NTPC, NHPC etc. Also, we saw less interest shown by Chinese manufacturers as compared to last Power Gen 2012 held in Delhi.

However as far as benefit to SKF, there was foot fall and good discussion happened with OEM, Utilities & Consultants. Crowd was missing but whatever discussion happened was of quality as OEM could get time to discuss with other exhibitors in the event.

Q 8. What were some of the products and solutions showcased in PowerGen 2014?

The products and solutions showcased were:

Supergrip bolt Demo Flange
Vibracon Demo Kit
SKF Microlog Analyzer accessories
EXP4000- The SKF Dynamic Motor Analyzer
AWAIV- The SKF Static Motor Analyzer
Remanufacturing Services
Energy Efficient Bearing
Upgraded Explorer
Self-Learning Tools
SKF 3 Barrier Solution
SNL Housing
Mapro Tools Kit – TKSA 80
Large diameter seals
On-site welding
Seal welding training