Mike Dolan, Hytorc’s chief engineer for fasteners, had only a dozen slides and told the 7F audience at the outset that he probably would finish up in 45 minutes. Not! He barely got done the hour maximum for his session. And it was all “good stuff,” including lessons learned and best practices of particular value to O&M technicians—an ideal presentation for a lunch-and-learn at the plant.
Proper tooling for bolting, he stresses, can make maintenance safer, faster, and more efficient than it is with the tools you might now be using. While acknowledging that most bolting work can be done with simple hand wrenches, Dolan continues, large fasteners require power tools to load and unload them. Gas turbines can be a particular challenge: They have large bolts, and long-term operation at high temperatures and loads exacerbates bolting challenges. He calls gas turbines “galling incubators.”
Dolan discusses torque control offered by powered wrenches and their safety attributes, and reviews hydraulic, bolt-heating, and mechanical tensioning. Galling gets deserved attention as does the company’s tension nut system which eliminates that condition.
Access this recorded presentation today; you won’t be disappointed.
