Case description
Brazilian pulp and paper company Suzano contacted Fortum in early 2017 for support because one of their spare rotors had been damaged in the balancing pit after a rewind performed by another company. As the rotor could not be repaired, the customer wanted to know whether it would be possible for Fortum to manufacture a similar type of ASEA-GTP rotor from scratch. The challenge was that ASEA had delivered the last rotor in the 1970s and nobody had manufactured a rotor like this in almost 40 years. Also, the OEM had told the customer that it could not be done.
Having maintained the engineering know-how of the technology and how these rotors are designed and how they should be rewound and high-speed balanced, Fortum was able to offer the delivery of a completely new rotor based on the old design of the one that failed, but enhanced with upgrades and modern material.
Capturing the know-how and the know-why from experienced personnel and transforming that into how a rotor like this should be built today, with modern production equipment, Fortum’s engineering department made the design of the new rotor.
“I was impressed with how the know-how of designing and high-speed balancing of these rotors has been maintained within Fortum. It’s not easy to find a service provider in Brazil with the equipment, the facilities, and especially a big enough balancing pit like the one in Västerås to overhaul a generator like this,” says Alessandro Moscardini de Morais from Suzano’s Corporate Engineering Department.
