TECHNICAL BULLETIN

TIL 2151: Inlet Guide Vane Actuator Turnbuckle Arm

Adjustment Recommendation
Abstract
This Technical Bulletin is to inform Customers of the applicability of TIL 2151 to units serviced by BHGE.

Serviceable Units
All heavy duty gas turbines using hydraulic inlet guide vane (IGV) actuators, excluding 6F.01, 7FA.04-200, 7FA.05
and HA frames.

Compliance Category

M - Maintenance Identifies maintenance guidelines or best practices for reliable equipment operation.

C - Compliance Required Identifies the need for action to correct a condition that, if left uncorrected, may result in
reduced equipment reliability or efficiency. Compliance may be required within a specific
operating time.

A - Alert Failure to comply with the Technical Bulletin could result in equipment or facility damage.
Compliance is mandated within a specific operating time.

S – Safety Failure to comply with this Technical Bulletin could result in personal injury. Compliance is
mandated within a specific operating time.

Timing Code
1 Prior to Unit Startup / Prior to Continued Operation (forced outage condition)
2 At First Opportunity (next shutdown)
3 Prior to Operation of Affected System
4 At First Exposure of Component
5 At Scheduled Component Part Repair or Replacement
6 Next Scheduled Outage

Nuovo Pignone Tecnologie S.r.l. con socio unico (Registro Imprese di Firenze, Codice Fiscale 06593380485 e Partita IVA di Gruppo 06872660482)
Capitale Sociale € 100.000.000,00 i.v. - Società soggetta a direzione e coordinamento di General Electric Company

Nuovo Pignone Tecnologie S.r.l. Proprietary Information

The information published in this Technical Bulletin is offered to you by GE in consideration of its ongoing sales and service relationship with
your organization. However, since the operation of your plant involves factors not within our knowledge, and since operation of the plant is
within your control and responsibility for its continuing successful operation rests with you, GE disclaims responsibility or liability for damage
of any type, including but not limited to direct, consequential or special damages that may be alleged to have occurred as a result of applying
this information, regardless of whether it is claimed that GE is strictly liable, in breach of contract, in breach of warranty, negligent, or is in any
other respect responsible for any alleged injury or damage sustained by your organization as a result of applying this information. The
information contained in this Technical Bulletin is confidential and proprietary. This Bulletin and the information contained in it are protected by
copyright and/or other intellectual property rights. This Bulletin and information are provided for authorized use only, and may not be used by
or disclosed to others without the prior express written consent of Nuovo Pignone Tecnologie S.r.l.
 GE Power
POWER SERVICES ENGINEERING TIL 2151
PRODUCT SERVICE Date Printed:13-AUGUST-2019
Publish Date:13-AUGUST-2019
Compliance Category - M
Timing Code - 6

TECHNICAL INFORMATION LETTER

INLET GUIDE VANE ACTUATOR TURNBUCKLE ARM ADJUSTMENT RECOMMENDATION
APPLICATION
All heavy duty gas turbines using hydraulic inlet guide vane (IGV) actuators, excluding 6F.01, 7FA.04-200, 7FA.05
and HA frames.

PURPOSE
To inform users about the torque specification to be followed for the IGV turnbuckle lock nut that helps prevent
changes in IGV angles during operation.

COMPLIANCE CATEGORY
M - Maintenance Identifies maintenance guidelines or best practices for reliable equipment operation.
C - Compliance Identifies the need for action to correct a condition that, if left uncorrected, may result in reduced
Required equipment reliability or efficiency. Compliance may be required within a specific operating time.

A - Alert Failure to comply with the TIL could result in equipment damage or facility damage. Compliance
is mandated within a specific operating time.
S - Safety Failure to comply with this TIL could result in personal injury. Compliance is mandated within a
specific operating time.
TIMING CODE
1 Prior to Unit Startup / Prior to Continued Operation (forced outage condition)
2 At First Opportunity (next shutdown)
3 Prior to Operation of Affected System
4 At First Exposure of Component
5 At Scheduled Component Part Repair or Replacement.
6 Next Scheduled Outage

© 2019 General Electric Company

The proprietary information published in this Technical Information Letter is offered to you by GE in consideration of its ongoing sales and service
relationship with your organization. However, since the operation of your plant involves many factors not within our knowledge, and since operation of the
plant is in your control and ultimate responsibility for its continuing successful operation rests with you, GE specifically disclaims any responsibility for
liability based on claims for damage of any type, i.e. direct, consequential or special that may be alleged to have been incurred as result of applying this
information regardless of whether it is claimed that GE is strictly liable, in breach of contract, in breach of warranty, negligent, or is in other respects
responsible for any alleged injury or damage sustained by your organization as a result of applying this information. This Technical Information Letter
contains proprietary information of General Electric Company and is furnished to its customer solely to assist that customer in the installation, testing,
operation and/or maintenance of the equipment described. This document shall not be reproduced or distributed in whole or in part nor shall its contents be
disclosed to any third party without the written approval of GE Power Services Engineering. All rights reserved.
BACKGROUND DISCUSSION
On all heavy duty gas turbines, the compressor serves to compress incoming air to an appropriate pressure for the
combustion system. The amount of air allowed into the compressor is determined by the variable inlet guide vanes
(IGVs) located at the inlet of the compressor. The IGVs are modulated by means of the IGV actuation system.

The IGV actuation system consists of a hydraulic actuator, a control ring, and a turnbuckle connecting the actuator
to the control ring. The turnbuckle consists of a body, rod ends at either end, and lock nuts to secure the rod end to
the body. The length of the turnbuckle may be adjusted as a part of IGV calibration. Once the desired turnbuckle
length is achieved, the rod ends are secured in place using the lock nuts. A locking strip is then welded on the
assembly to secure the lock nuts to the turnbuckle body to serve as a secondary locking feature to prevent the
turnbuckle from turning loose (as shown in Figure 1).

Figure 1: Typical arrangement of an IGV actuator assembly

A 9FA.04 unit recently experienced a compressor event caused by an R0 blade liberation. An investigation following
the event identified that the IGV turnbuckle lock nut was loose, which resulted in the unit operating with a larger IGV
opening angle. The locking strip on the turnbuckle was intact as shown in Figure 2, indicating the lock nut was not
torqued adequately prior to welding the strip.

An increase in IGV angle beyond the maximum specified limit may result in flow instability and could potentially
subject the hardware to higher stresses than intended. Therefore, it is imperative that the IGV turnbuckles are
locked to support reliable gas turbine operation.

© 2019 General Electric Company

The proprietary information published in this Technical Information Letter is offered to you by GE in consideration of its ongoing sales and service
relationship with your organization. However, since the operation of your plant involves many factors not within our knowledge, and since operation of the
plant is in your control and ultimate responsibility for its continuing successful operation rests with you, GE specifically disclaims any responsibility for
liability based on claims for damage of any type, i.e. direct, consequential or special that may be alleged to have been incurred as result of applying this
information regardless of whether it is claimed that GE is strictly liable, in breach of contract, in breach of warranty, negligent, or is in other respects
responsible for any alleged injury or damage sustained by your organization as a result of applying this information. This Technical Information Letter
contains proprietary information of General Electric Company and is furnished to its customer solely to assist that customer in the installation, testing,
operation and/or maintenance of the equipment described. This document shall not be reproduced or distributed in whole or in part nor shall its contents be
disclosed to any third party without the written approval of GE Power Services Engineering. All rights reserved.
 Figure 2: IGV actuator turn buckle arm lock nut

RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that the following inspections be performed at the next outage opportunity when IGV calibration
or IGV actuation system maintenance is planned.

1. Ensure IGV turnbuckle lock nut is properly torqued to 150 ft-lb prior to welding the lock strip in place. Each lock
nut must be individually torqued by holding the turnbuckle body; do not torque nuts together.

2. Locking strip for anti-rotation should only be welded on the lock nuts and turn buckle. Do not weld on any surface
on the rod ends as shown in Figure 3, as the heat affected zone from the tack welds may cause the rod ends to
crack and split open over time as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 3: INCORRECT locking strip weld Figure 4: CORRECT location of locking strip weld

© 2019 General Electric Company

The proprietary information published in this Technical Information Letter is offered to you by GE in consideration of its ongoing sales and service
relationship with your organization. However, since the operation of your plant involves many factors not within our knowledge, and since operation of the
plant is in your control and ultimate responsibility for its continuing successful operation rests with you, GE specifically disclaims any responsibility for
liability based on claims for damage of any type, i.e. direct, consequential or special that may be alleged to have been incurred as result of applying this
information regardless of whether it is claimed that GE is strictly liable, in breach of contract, in breach of warranty, negligent, or is in other respects
responsible for any alleged injury or damage sustained by your organization as a result of applying this information. This Technical Information Letter
contains proprietary information of General Electric Company and is furnished to its customer solely to assist that customer in the installation, testing,
operation and/or maintenance of the equipment described. This document shall not be reproduced or distributed in whole or in part nor shall its contents be
disclosed to any third party without the written approval of GE Power Services Engineering. All rights reserved.
 Figure 5: Cracking on the rod end of the turn buckle

Note: The IGV actuator turnbuckle may become loose after a compressor surge event and therefore it is
recommended to inspect the locking nuts in the event a compressor surge took place.

This TIL can be considered complete when the inspections on IGV turnbuckle arrangement are performed and lock
nuts are torqued to the required specification.

PLANNING INFORMATION

Compliance
• Compliance Category: M
• Timing Code: 6

Manpower Skills
One (1) customer technician or one (1) GE millwright

Reference Documents
1. MLI0548 – IGV actuator arrangement drawing

2. 249A8220- Instruction for adjustment of IGV actuator link

Scope of Work
Approximately one technician for an eight-hour shift

© 2019 General Electric Company

The proprietary information published in this Technical Information Letter is offered to you by GE in consideration of its ongoing sales and service
relationship with your organization. However, since the operation of your plant involves many factors not within our knowledge, and since operation of the
plant is in your control and ultimate responsibility for its continuing successful operation rests with you, GE specifically disclaims any responsibility for
liability based on claims for damage of any type, i.e. direct, consequential or special that may be alleged to have been incurred as result of applying this
information regardless of whether it is claimed that GE is strictly liable, in breach of contract, in breach of warranty, negligent, or is in other respects
responsible for any alleged injury or damage sustained by your organization as a result of applying this information. This Technical Information Letter
contains proprietary information of General Electric Company and is furnished to its customer solely to assist that customer in the installation, testing,
operation and/or maintenance of the equipment described. This document shall not be reproduced or distributed in whole or in part nor shall its contents be
disclosed to any third party without the written approval of GE Power Services Engineering. All rights reserved.
TIL DISPOSITION

Disposition of TILs should be entered in local records and also in GE Power ServiceNow. Follow the below instructions for
entering the disposition record;

• Log into the Power ServiceNow at https://gepowerpac.service-now.com/til_new/ using your GE SSO number and
password.

• Select "TIL Disposition".

• Click on the TIL for the serial number you want to update.

• Choose the most appropriate "Disposition Status" and enter "Disposition Notes".

• Click "Save".

Contact your local GE Services representative for assistance or for additional information

© 2019 General Electric Company

The proprietary information published in this Technical Information Letter is offered to you by GE in consideration of its ongoing sales and service
relationship with your organization. However, since the operation of your plant involves many factors not within our knowledge, and since operation of the
plant is in your control and ultimate responsibility for its continuing successful operation rests with you, GE specifically disclaims any responsibility for
liability based on claims for damage of any type, i.e. direct, consequential or special that may be alleged to have been incurred as result of applying this
information regardless of whether it is claimed that GE is strictly liable, in breach of contract, in breach of warranty, negligent, or is in other respects
responsible for any alleged injury or damage sustained by your organization as a result of applying this information. This Technical Information Letter
contains proprietary information of General Electric Company and is furnished to its customer solely to assist that customer in the installation, testing,
operation and/or maintenance of the equipment described. This document shall not be reproduced or distributed in whole or in part nor shall its contents be
disclosed to any third party without the written approval of GE Power Services Engineering. All rights reserved.
 TECHNICAL BULLETIN

Contacts
For units under warranty or covered under a Contractual Service Agreement (CSA) please refer to your BHGE
Project Manager.

For technical questions or application and commercial requests please contact:

GE BHGE
Customer Service Center
Via Felice Matteucci, 2
50127 Florence, Italy
e-Mail: customer.service.center@bhge.com
Web: https://www.bhge.com/upstream/production-optimization/turbomachinery/rotating-equipment-services
Phone: +39 055 427 2500
Fax: +39 055 423 2800
Please specify the Unit Serial Number and Technical Bulletin associated with the request and whether the
request is technical or commercial.

To directly access and download BHGE Technical Bulletins published on your fleet or to subscribe to our
Technical Bulletin e-mail notification service, please visit the Technical Updates Portal:

https://www.bhge.com/portals/services-portals

This online tool is available only to registered BHGE Customers.

In addition, Customers can update the implementation status of Technical Bulletins applicable to their fleet,
directly for one or multiple serial numbers.
To update the implementation status of Technical Bulletins:
• Log in to the TEN platform - https://www.bhge.com/portals/services-portals
• Go to the “My implementation status” page
• Search by document code or by unit serial number.
• Flag the record(s) to be updated
• Click on “Update Status”.

Expense Policy
The recommendations contained in this Technical Bulletin are for information only. Unless otherwise indicated
in a Contractual Service Agreement (CSA) in force between the parties, a specific Purchase Order must be
agreed and all costs associated with the implementation of the recommendations shall be paid by the
Customer.

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Nuovo Pignone Tecnologie S.r.l. Proprietary Information
The information contained in this Technical Bulletin is confidential and proprietary. This Bulletin and the information contained in it are protected
by copyright and/or other intellectual property rights. This Bulletin and information are provided for authorized use only, and may not be used by
or disclosed to others without the prior express written consent of Nuovo Pignone Tecnologie S.r.l.