The 600 MW Masinloc coal-fired power plant (CPP) is located in the Masinloc, province of Zambales on Island of Luzon in the Philippines. Originally a government-run facility, the plant is now owned by Masinloc Power Partners Co. Ltd (MPPC) and a subsidiary AES Corporation of the US. On site, there are two boilers and seven Hayward Tyler boiler circulating pumps (BCPs). Each boiler nominally requires three of them, with an additional BCP used as standby.

However prior to the takeover by AES, a lack of expenditure on planned maintenance had meant that the BCPs had been running continuously for a number of years. With a lack of any planned maintenance, the number of pumps in service was, in some cases, reduced to just two pumps per boiler, rather than the nominal three pumps. The overall condition of the units had deteriorated and had run into a state of disrepair.

According to Anil Patel, export sales engineer at Hayward Tyler Service Division (HTS): “This, in effect, had reduced the output of the Masinloc power plant significantly, which in turn equated to lost revenue. Therefore, any attempt at scheduling in planned maintenance was given low priority and outages were deferred.”

“The AES takeover period was controlled, but added more time during which the condition of suspension allowed the plant to degrade further. However, provision and coordination with AES enabled the rapid release of orders and financing to initiate the supply of goods and services from Hayward Tyler Services (HTS) to support the extensive maintenance programme that followed the handover,” added Patel.

This type of onsite overhaul work depends heavily on the availability of spares at the site. The procurement of spares alone can take 10 to 14 weeks. Through good teamwork, spares were procured by HTS in just eight weeks, enabling onsite work to progress as planned. The work began in March 2008 and the onsite mechanical and electrical overhaul (including stator rewind) of two BCPs in was completed just 35 days.

Paul Green, maintenance manager at AES commented: “AES was delighted by the prompt and professional approach demonstrated by HTS sales and service teams on the first overhaul.”

This resulted in the request of a further two BCPs to be overhauled later in 2008. The work was completed in a 40-day period. This is some achievement when you consider that a typical mechanical overhaul of one BCP, including electrical rewinding, normally takes 30 days to complete.

Green concluded: “We would like to thank HTS for the excellent job they have done in supporting our power station, which is now operating at increased output levels since the overhauls.”