Isolated Phase Bus Emergency: Forced Outage Recovery Tips

By August 28, 2014 March 8th, 2016 Blog, News

We recently presented our isolated phase bus emergency services and outage recovery project case study with NRG Energy at the Turbine Generator User Group (TGUG) annual meeting. The project case study evaluated the situation that led to the bus duct emergency repair at Waukegan Generating Station in Waukegan, Illinois. The presentation gave a detailed timeline from the moment the bus duct emergency occurred to the complete turnkey isolated phase bus emergency services provided by EBI, including same day response, situation analysis, plan development, replacement component emergency fabrication, scope of work, through isolated phase bus testing and final project completion.

How would you respond in a forced outage situation?

Drawing on our 40 years in the industry, we’re sharing five critical things to keep in mind, so that you can get up and running safely and efficiently.

Remember: The isolated phase bus is the only system critical component that has no redundancy and no ‘quick’ fix when it goes down. When your plant is down, money is lost.

Isolated phase bus duct repair

These 5 best practices will help you resolve your isolated phase bus emergency:

INITIAL IPB ASSESSMENT: Before any IPB repair efforts begin, it’s important to perform a complete assessment of the isophase damage with detailed documentation, including photos/video of the entire area and interviews with anyone near the site at the time. Like a crime scene, if evidence has been tampered with or moved before assessment takes place, identifying the root cause could be more difficult to determine.
ISOLATED PHASE BUS VENDOR SELECTION: Contact an experienced and qualified isolated phase bus contractor. Your qualified contractor should not only have vast IPB experience, but extensive isolated phase bus emergency service experience delivering permanent solutions that get you back online as quickly and safely as possible with reliable and lasting results.
INTERNAL ISOPHASE INSPECTION: Request an internal inspection of the complete isophase system and related components. This can include an inspection of the generator neutral bushing compartment, generator neutral bushing CTs, GSU low voltage bushing compartment, IPB covers, and PT compartment flange. Remote IPB rover camera is the preferred method of inspection; it provides 360 degree photo and video documentation of your entire system.
IPB REPORT: Your isolated phase bus service provider should deliver a complete written inspection report along with video/photo documentation that you can incorporate into your lessons learned discussion.
AVOID ANOTHER ISOLATED PHASE BUS FAILURE: It’s important to include regular isolated phase bus duct maintenance and inspection in your pre-outage and outage planning to avoid a bus duct emergency repair. However, don’t forget to include the critical components connected to the isophase system, as well. The isolated phase bus duct is one aspect of your complete electrical system. It’s critical to pay regular attention to the apparatus that’s located upstream and downstream of the physical bus duct, as they’re all electrically connected and have critical impact on each other.

Bus duct emergency repair

For the full project case study or to receive a complete list of our isolated phase bus emergency services…

Contact us