HomeMy WebLinkAbout20190924Avista to Staff Daily Log of GSU.pdf Page 1 of 14
DAILY REPORT
COYOTE SPRINGS 2
AVISTA CORP.
By Jeffrey Abbate
Owner Representative
{PRIVATE }
Date: Thursday August 19, 2004 Weather Conditions: Hot
Low Temperature (F): 61 High Temperature (F): 98
Summary of Activities (Include pictures & issues concerning safety, schedule, materials & quality):
Major Activities:
• I arrived in Boardman last night. Today is my first day back on-site for the transformer commissioning.
• The transformer is still not at the rail siding. It was supposed to be at the rail siding already.
• Alan O-Heron arrived on-site early this afternoon. We drove to Union Pacific’s switchyard in Hinkle. We spoke to
one the train coordinators there about expediting the transformer to Boardman. He said the transformer was not
moved last night because the track was not guaranteed to be cleared. Apparently, the railroad needs 12 hours to
ensure the track is clear for large loads. He said the transformer will be at the rail siding in Boardman tomorrow
morning.
• The high voltage bushings and 3 of the low voltage bushings arrived on-site at 8:30 pm. Neither Alstom nor EPS
is on-site to offload the bushings. We sent the truck driver to a hotel and told him to return in the morning when
Alstom and EPS will be on-site to offload the equipment.
• I worked with Roger Schneider to re-install and re-program the new SR-750 Multilin protective relay for the 52-2M
feeder breaker. This is the new relay that is replacing the failed relay.
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Summary of Activities (Include pictures & issues concerning safety, schedule, materials & quality):
Major Activities:
• The transformer arrived at the rail siding in Boardman early this morning (approximately 2:00 -4:00 am).
• No obvious physical damage was found on the outside of the transformer. The transformer is still under nitrogen
pressure.
• The truck driver from yesterday returned to the site at 7:00 am. By 8:00 am Alstom and EPS had arrived and
unloading the equipment. The bushings appear to be in good condition.
• Wilhelm has moved the transformer from the railcar to the heavy hauler. Wilhelm has also started the cribbing at
the transformer foundation. The transformer will not be on the foundation until tomorrow. This is disappointing as
we were counting on the transformer being on the foundation by tonight.
• The 2 Alstom guys are on-site watching the transformer being moved.
• It has been discovered that the high voltage turrets and 3 of the low voltage bushings are still in Houston and are
in the process of being shipped to Boardman via truck. It appears that it is too late to ship this equipment via
plane. Alstom said they are going to add another driver with this truck, so they can drive 20 hours a day instead
of just 10 hours. The truck should be in Boardman by Sunday or Monday. These turrets and low voltage
bushings are critical components that could delay erection and commissioning until they arrive. The plant must
be operational by September 1, 2004.
Date: Friday August 20, 2004 Weather Conditions: Sunny & Hot
Low Temperature (F): 61 High Temperature (F): 99
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=Summary of Activities (Include pictures & issues concerning safety, schedule, materials & quality):
Major Activities:
• The vice president of Wilhelm, Duane Downs, arrived on-site this morning to assure Avista that everything will be
okay. The bottom line is that the transformer is still on the foundation. Duane said the transformer will be on the
foundation by the end of the today.
• The heavy hauler moved the transformer next its foundation. The transformer was moved off the heavy hauler.
• The Wilhelm crew left around 4 pm. The transformer is just west of the foundation. It is still not on the
foundation.
• The 2 Alstom guys are on-site watching the transformer being moved.
• There is not much other activity happening.
Date: Saturday August 21, 2004 Weather Conditions: Cloudy
Low Temperature (F): 64 High Temperature (F): 91
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Summary of Activities (Include pictures & issues concerning safety, schedule, materials & quality):
Major Activities:
• The high voltage turrets and remaining low voltage bushing have not yet arrived.
• The 2 Alstom guys are on-site watching the transformer being moved.
• The transformer was set onto the foundation at 12:00 pm today.
• Wilhelm spent most of the afternoon cleaning up. They were complete and left the site at 4:00 pm.
• Just after the transformer was set onto the foundation, the Alstom boys retrieved both shock recorders from the
transformer. They downloaded the shock recorder data. The data looked very good. The largest impact was 1.8
g. This occurred somewhere in the beginning of the recording (somewhere in Turkey).
• We installed the radiators on the south side of the transformer.
• EPS and Alstom worked until 7 pm.
• The remaining low voltage bushings and high voltage turrets still have not yet arrived. They were supposed to be
here today. Alstom has not provided any shipping update for this missing equipment.
Date: Sunday August 22, 2004 Weather Conditions: Rain
Low Temperature (F): 62 High Temperature (F): 68
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Summary of Activities (Include pictures & issues concerning safety, schedule, materials & quality):
Major Activities:
• The south section of radiators are being installed.
• PGE (Roger Schneider) is re-installing the fire protection poles, grating, and transformer grounding. He is also
rethreading and nutting the anchor bolts.
• I talked with the truck driver this morning at 10:00 am. The truck driver is carrying the remaining low voltage
bushings and the high voltage turrets. He is somewhere in Idaho. The truck told me he should be on-site tonight
around 5:30 – 6:30 pm.
• The remaining transformer accessories arrived on-site at 6:29 pm.
• The conservator was erected today.
• PGE has started to dig up another Unit 2 blowdown pipe that is leaking near the Unit 1 Cooling Tower.
Date: Monday August 23, 2004 Weather Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Low Temperature (F): 57 High Temperature (F): 81
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Summary of Activities (Include pictures & issues concerning safety, schedule, materials & quality):
Major Activities:
• We started to install the new metering CTs today. One of the main problems encountered during the installation
was the re-termination of the CT secondary wires. All 4 CTs had to be removed from the turret. In doing so, the
secondary wiring leads had to be cut from the terminal junction box. The connection to the terminal junction box
is made by compression. Therefore, the connection can only be made once. After cutting the secondary wires
on the CTs, Alstom was planning to use a butt splice the CT wiring to the terminal junction box using cooper
refrigerator tubing. Avista does not want any butt splices in any of the GSU transformer wiring. Therefore, new
terminal boxes must be shipped to site from the factory. 6 new terminal boxes were shipped with the new CTs,
but we need 6 more terminal junction boxes to reconnect the existing relaying CTs. This will delay commissioning
by at least 2 days.
• It was raining most of the day. No outside work on the GSU transformer was completed. We worked in the
turbine building all day.
• The 50 amp winding resistance test set arrived today.
Date: Tuesday August 24, 2004 Weather Conditions: Rain
Low Temperature (F): 59 High Temperature (F): 70
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Major Activities:
• Continued to work on the installation of the new CTs in the high voltage turrets.
• The Alstom TAs used the 6 new terminal blocks that came with the new CTs to terminate some of the CT wiring.
We are still waiting for 6 more new junction boxes for the remaining CT terminations.
• EPS personnel installed all the transformer fans.
• Not much has been accomplished today.
• The repair to the leaking Unit 2 blowdown line is almost repaired.
Date: Wednesday August 25, 2004 Weather Conditions: Partly Cloudy
Low Temperature (F): 57 High Temperature (F): 75
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Major Activities:
• Amet arrived in Portland this afternoon. Amet and the two Alstom folks from on-site met at the Dalles where Amet
delivered the key to the Alstom transient monitoring cabinet and the new terminal boards for the CT junction
boxes. Amet returned to Portland to fly to California for another project. Apparently, he will not be present during
this commissioning.
• The high voltage turrets and bushings have been installed today. The remaining low voltage bushings for the
steam turbine have been installed today. More conservator piping has been installed as well. PGE started to pull
the transformer power and control cables from the manhole back into the stub-ups at the GSU foundation.
• Ray, the crane operator, has completed all his picks. He will return tomorrow to pickup his crane.
• EPS moved their oil processing truck onto the site. They began processing oil overnight.
• Dave Moeller arrived on-site today. Alan O-Heron returned to Spokane.
Date: Thursday August 26, 2004 Weather Conditions: Afternoon Rain
Low Temperature (F): 57 High Temperature (F): 78
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Major Activities:
• The remaining conservator piping is being completed.
• Ragip and the other Alstom guy are installing the new terminal boards for the remaining 6 CTs in the high voltage
turrets. No splices were made in any of the CT leads.
• Vacuum was started today.
• Oil processing continues.
• Roger Schneider and I started to terminate the cables in the transformer control panel.
• Dave Moeller returned to Spokane.
• Larry, the Avista IT Guru, setup the VPN concentrator for direct access to the Avista network. My internet
connection is faster, but I am now restricted to most internet websites.
Date: Friday August 27, 2004 Weather Conditions: Very Nice
Low Temperature (F): 57 High Temperature (F): 82
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Major Activities:
• The wiring of the control panel was completed today. All the wiring and jumpers are now terminated.
• The Alstom transient monitoring and associated wiring was installed today.
• Vacuum of 1 Tore was reached this morning at 2:00 am. Alstom is planning to continue to pull vacuum for 40
hours (starting from 2:00 am).
• Oil filling should begin Sunday evening at 6:00 pm.
• Alstom and EPS went to buy touch-up paint.
Major Activities:
• Vacuum continues.
• The EPS boys (Todd & Billy) are touching-up the paint of the transformer. EPS – Environmental Protection
Services.
• Oil filling began at 6:00 pm.
• The transformer oil in each Baker Tank (2) was processed approximately 5 times.
Major Activities:
• PGE completed the re-installation of the fire protection system at GSU transformer.
• Turks are still painting some sections of the transformer.
• Oil filling continues.
• Dave and Steve form ERS are on-site. They are testing the new SR-750 relay that is located at circuit breaker
52-2M. They also tested to the PQM for the UAT to verify that accuracy of the station service metering.
Major Activities:
• Dave and Steve from ERS and I arrived at the site at 5:50 am to start the transformer testing. I was informed by
plant personnel that at 1:00 am the oil processing rig ran out of transformer oil. We are approximately 1,000
gallons short of transformer oil.
• In the field, the oil cannot be completely drained due to the location of the oil drain valve. Therefore, the
transformer was shipped back to Turkey with approximately 1,000 – 2,000 gallons of oil inside the transformer
tank. At the factory, the transformer oil was drained below the level at which the field can drain the oil. Therefore,
we do not have enough oil at the site. The factory knew that we are reusing the transformer oil that is stored at
the site. The factory should have shipped the transformer with more oil in it.
• We are trying to get more transformer oil. The transformer oil is Shell Diala AX. However, Shell Diala is no
longer shipped in bulk. Therefore, we have purchased (40) 55 gallon drums of the oil from Don Thompson
Petroleum in Portland Oregon. The oil is supposed to be onsite tomorrow morning at 10:30 am.
• Since there is about 180 gallons of oil in the conservator, the remaining portion of the transformer is under oil.
Date: Saturday August 28, 2004 Weather Conditions: Clear & Warm
Low Temperature (F): 53 High Temperature (F): 82
Date: Sunday August 29, 2004 Weather Conditions: Clear & Warm
Low Temperature (F): 53 High Temperature (F): 89
Date: Monday August 30, 2004 Weather Conditions: Hot
Low Temperature (F): 51 High Temperature (F): 95
Date: Tuesday August 31, 2004 Weather Conditions: Hot
Low Temperature (F): 54 High Temperature (F): 93
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Once this was confirmed, ERS started the transformer testing. The transformer was still under vacuum since the
conservator still needed to be filled with approximately 1,000 gallons of oil.
• ERS completed the frequency sweep test, the doble power factor testing for the bushings and windings, and the
CT testing. All test results are acceptable.
• Onur, Galip, and another Turkey factory employee arrived on-site today. They look at the transformer and then
returned to the hotel. They really didn’t do anything.
Major Activities:
• The 50 amp DC winding resistance test set that was provided by Alstom is broken. It is not working. We called
and spoke to the test set supplier for troubleshooting assistance. He told us that the test set was probably broken
and it should be shipped back to them. This 50 amp DC winding resistance test set is one of the only 50 amp test
sets in the United States.
• We managed to find the 40 amp DC winding resistance test set that we used during the last transformer
commissioning. This test set belongs to PGE. PGE was using it on another site. We sent Don V, from the plant
to Portland to pick-up this test set. PGE was using this test today, but can perform their test tomorrow. In the
meantime, PGE is driving to meet Don V, from the plant. Don V is driving the test set back to the plant.
• 1,990 gallons of oil arrived in 55 gallon drums today at approximately 1:00 pm.
• Oil processing began immediately after the oil arrived.
• Dave from ERS is on-site continuing to test the transformer. He is performing the TTR, Meggar, and DC winding
resistance test today. Steve from ERS left for another project last night.
• The PGE line crew arrived on-site. They went through the site safety course and then toured the transformer
area. They will be back on-site tomorrow morning to start the high voltage connection.
• Onur, Galip, and another Turkey factory employee arrived on-site today. They looking at the transformer for
about an hour. They then left the site and headed to another project in California.
• Arnie from BPA arrived at the BPA control building at approximately 8:30 am. We measured the resistance in the
metering wires from the BPA control building to and including the metering CTs in the GSU transformer. Dave
from ERS also lifted the field wiring at the GSU transformer and injected 1.00 amp of current at a measured
voltage to the BPA control building where the current was verified at the JEM metering test switch. The
impedance of the wire was then calculated.
• I emailed the GSU transformer power factor test results to Charlie Raymond. He reviewed the test results and
was satisfied with the results.
• The PGE boys arrived on-site at 6:00 pm to connection the low voltage side of the GSU transformer to the iso-
phase bus. Jim Cain arrived and helped out the PGE boys. I left around 11:30 pm.
Date: Wednesday September 1, 2004 Weather Conditions: Cloudy
Low Temperature (F): 57 High Temperature (F): 80
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Major Activities:
• The PGE boys completed the low voltage side of the GSU transformer to the iso-phase bus at approximately 8:30
am. They worked all night.
• An oil sample was taken today and sent to ATI in Minnesota for testing,
• The oil level gauge in the conservator was not rising despite the conservator being completely filled with oil.
Areva beat the conservator with a 4X4 to “unstick” the oil level gauge. This did not work. Areva then drained the
conservator and opened the top and bottom of the conservator to look at the bladder. They poked at the bladder
and oil level gauge with some kind of stick. They then refilled the conservator with oil, but the oil level gauge was
still stuck in the low/empty level. EPS/Areva drained the conservator again and then opened the entire side of the
conservator. Oil dripped everywhere. “Johnny” the Areva TA went into the conservator. The bladder was not
damaged, but it was being weighted down with a pool of oil on top it. Apparently since the conservator was
stored outside, on-site, for 8 months in the heat with no oil, the bladder become “stuck” to the bottom of the
conservator. When the conservator was filled with oil, the bladder did not float to the top of the conservator as
expected. It stayed stuck on the bottom of the conservator pushing down on the oil level float. To fix the
problem, EPS bought a garden hose at Boardman hardware and sucked out the excess oil that was left on top of
the bladder (they sucked the oil out with their mouth). “Johnny” then pulled the bladder loose from the
conservator bottom. The conservator was refilled and the oil level gauge indicated the correct oil level.
• By the end of the night, the oil conservator was refilled and the desiccant jars installed.
• The PGE line crew arrived this morning and hooked up the high voltage connection. It took them about 12 hours
to complete the connection.
• Ragip and I started the GSU transformer control panel checkout today.
• I restored the DCS communications between the transformer and the control room by replacing 2 blown fuses in
the DCS cabinet.
Date: Thursday September 2, 2004 Weather Conditions: Very Nice
Low Temperature (F): 53 High Temperature (F): 75
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Major Activities:
• The deludge system was activated and tested. The Boardman Fire Marshall was present to witness the test. The
Fire Marshall accepted the test.
• Ragip and I performed GSU transformer trip checks to the lockout relay 86-TA.
• The transformer was successfully energized at 17:02.
Major Activities:
• The Avera TAs briefly came to the site this morning to check up on the transformer. Everything appeared to be
okay. The Turks lefts the project and headed to the airport.
•
Major Activities:
• Station service was transferred to the Unit Auxiliary Transformer. The UAT was loaded with about 600 kW of
house load. The turbines were put onto turning gear.
• Everything with the transformer appears to be okay.
Date: Friday September 3, 2004 Weather Conditions: Very Nice
Low Temperature (F): 48 High Temperature (F): 77
Date: Saturday September 4, 2004 Weather Conditions: Very Nice
Low Temperature (F): 57 High Temperature (F): 79
Date: Sunday September 5, 2004 Weather Conditions: Very Nice
Low Temperature (F): 53 High Temperature (F): 77
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