April always seems to be a busy time of year and 2017 met all of our expectations. We’ve built our reputation completing some of the most difficult jobs within difficult timeframes. Once again, this year’s outage season kept a couple of our crews extremely busy working to keep our customer’s projects on schedule.
This transformer had a massive 475,000 pound core. A-Line was hired to remove the transformer directly from the pad so that the replacement unit could be moved in, saving excessive downsizing and relocation expenses. In addition to the removal, A-Line aided with a forensic examination. This customer has a large fleet of these transformers and wanted to investigate this transformer core to determine an action plan moving forward.
The A-Line team worked diligently to strip this unit of its large radiator bank and remove the tank to expose the transformer core for initial inspection.
Once the core was inspected and the transformer’s upper yoke was inspected, the crew removed the windings and placed in a laydown area for additional inspection.
These large windings were then shipped to our facility for additional processing and recycling. The core steel was removed and shipped for recycling and the site was cleared of all remaining transformer components.
We’ll be taking a sister transformer out in the coming months and look forward to assisting on another in-depth root cause failure analysis on that transformer as well.
After the completion of this large transformer the crew mobilized to another customer’s site to remove this 536,000 pound transformer during their outage.
Once the unit was undressed, the crew cut and removed the lid and walls, exposing the core for further downsizing.
The crew systematically removed the upper yoke, transformer windings, core steel and remaining tank material to clear this pad for additional work in preparation for the new transformer placement.
Another A-Line crew filled their weeks with a large shell style transformer and another badly damaged core and coil style transformer. They headed out to tackle the shell first. While this transformer only had a 324,000 pound core its location in raised containment made it a bit more challenging.
The crew got to work stripping this unit of its bushings and radiators then prepped the tank for the top section removal.
After the top tank on this transformer was removed the crew worked to extract the core steel and package it for shipping and recycling.
Once all the transformer’s silicon steel has been removed the winding phase packs were then removed and loaded out. These windings, often referred to as pancakes or rugs, are shipped to our facility where we remove the residual insulation and ship the copper for reuse in other products.
The transformer was cleared from the pad in just over 3 days, leaving this team a little rest and relaxation time before heading over to the next project site.
You’ll see that this next transformer was placed in a great working area, but the fire damage that incurred kept the crew on its feet, as they carefully dissected this compromised unit.
The radiators were carefully removed and the crew took special care in opening this transformer up.
The team dealt with some rainy weather but was able to keep moving forward, removing the upper yoke and transformer windings.
Once the windings were removed the team carefully removed this transformer’s core legs and shipped all materials from the site.
This transformer removal took just over 3 days and this crew was cleaned up and headed for home to rest for the long weekend. Two weeks and over two million pounds isn’t a bad run but April isn’t over and the team is already working toward another large transformer removal project that we’ll be excited to showcase in an upcoming blog.
When you’re seeking on-site transformer removal and recycling the A-Line E.D.S. teams top the charts when it comes to the safety, environmental compliance and on time completion. We always look forward to the next transformer challenge. If we can’t do it, it can’t be done.
