12 team members
Almost 4 million pounds
14 days
The A-Line E.D.S. team spent part of their November decommissioning some of the largest transformers ever built. Over the course of a couple weeks our crews covered 3 locations and almost 4 million pounds of transformer material. If you run the math that’s over 275,000 pounds per day!
One crew enjoyed the last of some beautiful fall weather removing these 3 large single phase transformers.
Each transformer weighed over 900,000 pounds a piece and it didn’t take long for this crew to get them prepped for tank removal.
Once the transformer tanks were removed the team went to work removing and loading over 30 loads of core steel! Thanks to our patented equipment and process, we’re able to remove this safely and quickly.
With other contractors completing the station upgrade adjacent to our work the team had to keep a clean work area to ensure safety at all times.
Once all of the core steel was removed from the transformer and loaded for recycling the crew focused on the large task of removing these giant transformer windings.
After winding removal our team worked to downsize these large transformer tanks to load out for further recycling. Once all of the transformer materials had been removed the site was cleaned and the crew departed.
As one crew worked through these 3 large transformers another crew braced for the first storm of the winter to tackle this 800,000 lb. three phase transformer.
After this transformer failed prematurely, the customer was left to determine the cause. A-Line was hired to perform a root cause teardown and assist with the failure analysis.
Once the tank was removed the customer carefully inspected the core assembly to examine for any obvious failure areas.
After the initial core inspection was complete, A-Line began removing the core steel in sections allowing our customer to inspect layers at a time to check for any potential hot spots. While this can be a tedious task, it’s important for us to provide this service which allows for information and evidence gathering in order to learn and prevent future failures. We always look forward to presenting our transformer forensic services at the Doble Life of a Transformer Seminar which you can check out and get registered for here.
Once all of the core steel had been removed and loaded, and the winter storm moved in, A-Line focused on the careful removal of each transformer winding phase pack in order to allow for a detailed inspection of the windings.
After the windings were removed from the main transformer tank they were sectioned out and inspected layer by layer. When inspection was complete, they were loaded and sent to our facility for further recycling.
We always allow our customers to retain any evidence and take photos of any potential failure areas.
Once the transformer had been fully inspected A-Line was able to downsize all material for further load out and recycling. The site was then cleared of all transformer components and the crew returned home.
While a couple of our crews were busy battling these large transformers, another crew was busy removing this smaller transformer that weighed only a couple hundred thousand pounds. While its size wasn’t comparable to the other sites, the level of difficulty to remove certainly was. Its proximity to live substation equipment and overhead obstructions required a unique removal process, but saved our customer the expense of relocation.
Once the transformer’s auxiliary components were removed the tank was prepped, cut and removed to expose the core for dismantling.
Our crew was able to complete this transformer removal in just a few days in order to prepare the site for its replacement.
2016 has been one of the busiest years on record for the A-Line team. We continue to work to improve our processes by making them safer and more efficient. We always look for alternative methods of removal to save our customers time and money. There is no challenge too big or too small for our team. While we’re proud of the year we’ve had, we can’t wait to see what 2017 will bring. Happy New Year from all of us at A-Line E.D.S!
