Steam is ubiquitous in many industrial applications.
The low cost of production and wide variety of uses to add energy into a process make it a continued staple of industry every day. Steam turbines have become essential machines to drive pumps, compressors, blowers, fans, generators and other pieces of rotating equipment needed during the production process. These machines need to operate for years without interruption and with minimum maintenance, providing steady horsepower to the process.
Yet, steam turbines are often operating well beyond the OEM-recommended maintenance cycles, often at 100 percent of the rated capacity or more. After years of continued abuse, these machines were intended to be pulled out and replaced. Unfortunately for new equipment OEMs, the plan to completely replace is uncommon and, in many ways, not cost-effective. Independent repair providers such as Conhagen Inc. can integrate the latest engineered solutions into the older equipment while completing the needed repairs. This allows customers to benefit from new advances in materials and engineering designs while maintaining the existing asset footprint and interface to the plant systems.
Engineering. For 80 years, Conhagen has been primarily known as a rotating equipment repair company, specializing in horizontal and vertical centrifugal rotating equipment of almost any size. Conhagen services steam turbines, compressors, blowers, positive-displacement pumps and gearboxes, as well as houses a full computer numerical control machine shop in La Marque, Texas. Conhagen also has similarly capable repair shops in Kenner, Louisiana, and Benicia, California.
What Conhagen is less known for is its engineering department. Recent changes have increased the expertise to its team, which now has a combined 75-plus years of experience. Conhagen has invested heavily in improving this talent; the team's skillset has grown to include hydraulic and mechanical design expertise to vibration analysis and rotordynamics, precision metrology and reverse engineering, root cause failure analyses, advanced welding and material/design upgrades.
As advances in engineering are adopted, Conhagen is ready to design and implement repair solutions to rotating equipment problems. Recently, Conhagen began expanding its inspection and repair capabilities to meet API standards, as well as capture growing demand for third-party repair options in lieu of the traditional OEM shop. Its engineers develop unique solutions while focusing on customer and unit-specific problems. Conhagen engages the customer with its engineering team to brainstorm and be part of the engineering collaboration.
Documentation. One of the signature philosophies Conhagen has developed in the 80 years since its inception is that the customer truly owns the equipment, designs, and all of the pertinent information that accompanies its proper function and troubleshooting. Upon completion of a job, engineering reports, calculations, manufacturing drawings, assembly drawings and models, and inspection reports are all submitted to the customer for its records.
This detail differentiates Conhagen when compared to other repair facilities. This equipment is critical to the customer's operations and its team of engineers, specialists, and operators should be able to pull reports on how this asset assembles and operates, as well as check for dimensional and clearance issues. Conhagen's support team is always available, but the company also believes there is value for customers to understand their equipment and be able to independently troubleshoot it if needed.
Dedication to customer service. Whether the asset requires repairs per API standards, customer-specific specifications or unique one-off custom solutions, Conhagen's engineering team will take the plan from conception to commissioning. Conhagen's manufacturing, assembly and testing capabilities are top tier in the industry, combined with the company's experience in power systems, utilities, refining, and chemical plants allows it to make informed decisions with customers about the equipment that keeps them operating safely and without interruptions.
For more information, visit www.conhagen.com or call (409) 938-4226.
