HOLZ team replaces damaged expansion joints at electrical power plant

HOLZ expansion-joint design and replacement came to the rescue at a damaged power plant.

Northern Industrial Supply Company (NISCO) remains Canada’s source for expansion joints by HOLZ Rubber Company, a top American manufacturer of rubber products. Not only does HOLZ make great joints; it also uses its expertise to find unique solutions for customers’ individual situations. From joint replacement to specially designed products, HOLZ meets any client needs.

One example involved a combined cycle power plant, which was having trouble with one of its supply fans a few years ago. As always, HOLZ had the right answer.

Moving large volumes of air

During the plant’s regular, everyday operations, one of its industrial-size supply fans broke apart, which caused a high level of damage to three different expansion joints. This also cause the force of the blades to destroy duct work and flow liners in the system. The equipment damage led to an unscheduled outage and a need for immediate repairs.

Power plants require an adequate amount of airflow in order to generate electricity. That is why they use these large fans, which create the airflow by rotating at an extremely high speed, which moves a large volume of air. This is why the fan breakdown created an emergency at this combined cycle plant: with the equipment offline, the plant could not generate any power. Unfortunately, the plant found that it did not have any adequate drawings on file. This meant that somebody would have to measure the damaged equipment in place in order to determine and produce the necessary joint replacement.

This is where HOLZ entered the picture. The power plant contacted the company through a partner distributor, after which a HOLZ representative travelled to the plant to measure the equipment and make recommendations for replacing the expansion joints. Because the damaged joints were of a non-standard size and had an unusual bolt pattern, HOLZ’ engineers needed to custom-machine special ones.

The HOLZ team managed to expedite the order before deadline, and joint replacement was accomplished. Today, the plant is generating electricity and making profits. With NISCO’s help, HOLZ expansion joints can do the same for Canadian power plants.

For more information, contact NISCO.

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