About Us
Courtesy of Andy Kay www.powerstations.uk
"My fascination for power stations was sparked when I set foot in a turbine hall at the age of 17. I was instantly hooked on the noise, heat, energy and size of these incredible machines. I still have the bug today”. Mike Jones, TML.
OUR STORY
Turbine Mechanics Limited – TML – was formed by Mike Jones following a career as a principal steam turbine engineer, beginning in 1988 with GEC Turbine-Generators. Mike grew with the company through a number of mergers with Alsthom, MAN and ABB. Alstom Power was acquired by General Electric in 2015 where he worked until 2021 before leaving to set up TML.
Mike has designed steam turbine modules and components ranging from high temperature studs to 160 Tonne welded LP rotors. From small units to the world’s largest nuclear steam turbines. This work involved Finite Element Analysis and manual calculations where he gained a deep understanding of turbine and valve materials, operating stresses and behaviour. Also, manufacturing processes including casting, forging, welding and Non-Destructive Testing. All from an in-house perspective inherited from the industry’s leading steam turbine companies.
STEAM TURBINE ENGINEERING - FROM THE OFFICE TO THE FIELD
TML provides a range of specialised technical services in steam turbine engineering, including the following:
- Advice on steam turbine and valve component design, specification and procurement.
- Specialised support in steam turbine and valve retrofits and reverse engineering.
- Independent review of steam turbine events, issues and technical reports.
- Designs and techniques for rapid turbine installation.
- Diagnosis and resolution of operating anomalies.
- Failure investigation - root cause analysis and rectification instructions.
- Maintenance recommendations - methods to extend intervals and reduce outage time.
- Engineering support to outages - technical documentation; on-site condition assessments; repair recommendations, instructions and oversight.
- High temperature fastener design and life assessment.
- Rotor balancing and overspeed testing.
- Steam turbine axial and radial clearance evaluations.
- Investigation of journal and thrust bearing anomalies
- Expertise on journal concentricity and coupling alignment.
- Understanding thermodynamic principles, heat balance diagrams and thermal performance.
- Customised steam turbine training.
RETROFITTING TO FIXING
From the late 1990’s, Alstom (Rugby, UK) focussed on steam turbine retrofitting and the business became very successful. Mike led the technical teams on over 20 retrofit projects in the UK, USA and Australasia. This included the retrofit of the HP and LP steam turbines in PWR and BWR nuclear plants in the USA, with on-site support at nine installations and start-ups.
Mike led investigations in various steam turbine failures that resulted in forced outages – the root cause analysis followed rigorous OEM processes. Much of his work involved turbine maintenance – preparation of inspection recommendations, methods to extend maintenance intervals and ways to adapt inspections to align with other plant activities. Also, Design-for-Installation methodology used to rapidly install retrofit steam turbines.
CREDENTIALS
Mike has a passion for all kinds of machinery. He is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
MANUFACTURERS
Here are a selection of manufacturers that we have expertise in
To find out how we can help you