Sealing Compounds for Steam Turbine Overhauls in India
A steam turbine overhaul is one of the highest-value maintenance events in a power plant or industrial facility. The sealing compounds used at each joint determine how long the machine runs before the next opening. Project Sales Corp supplies the correct products for every joint in the overhaul.
Steam turbine overhauls are planned years in advance, executed to tight schedules, and judged on one outcome: the machine must run at rated performance until the next planned outage. Every joint that leaks represents a performance loss and a reason to open the machine ahead of schedule — at a cost that dwarfs the entire consumable budget for the overhaul.
Sealing compounds are a small part of the overhaul budget and a large part of the outage risk. Project Sales Corp supplies the complete range of sealing compounds required for Indian steam turbine overhauls.
The Joints That Need Sealing in a Steam Turbine Overhaul
| Joint | Surface Condition | Correct Product |
|---|---|---|
| HP/IP/LP casing parting plane — sound surface | Damage ≤ 0.2 mm, Ra 0.8–1.2 μm | BIRKOSIT (900°C, 250 bar butt joints) |
| HP/IP/LP casing parting plane — sound surface, higher pressure rating preferred | Damage ≤ 0.2 mm | FILLING Basic (950°C, 275 bar split joints) |
| Parting plane with moderate surface damage | Damage 0.2–0.5 mm | FILLING 1000 on damaged areas + FILLING Basic on remaining surface |
| Parting plane with heavy surface damage | Damage 0.5–1.0 mm | FILLING 2000 on damaged areas + FILLING Basic on remaining surface |
| Inner casings, blade rings, vane supports | Per surface inspection | BIRKOSIT or FILLING (Siemens-specified for all inner casing joints) |
| Bearing housings and cover plates | Oil-side, lower temperature | Arexons Motorsil D Red (confirm suitability per joint conditions) |
| Shaft expansion joints and cross joints | Movement-tolerant joint | BIRKOSIT or FILLING Basic |
| LP hoods and oil seal surfaces | Per condition | BIRKOSIT or FILLING |
BIRKOSIT and FILLING — Both Are Turbine-Grade. Surface Damage Decides.
Both BIRKOSIT and the FILLING product family are rated for full turbine service temperatures and pressures. BIRKOSIT is rated to 900°C and 250 bar on butt joints. FILLING Basic, 1000, and 2000 are all rated to 950°C and 275 bar on split joints — 50°C and 25 bar above BIRKOSIT. The selection between them is not made on temperature — it is made on surface damage depth.
BIRKOSIT and FILLING Basic both handle surfaces with damage up to 0.2 mm. FILLING 1000 handles damage up to 0.5 mm. FILLING 2000 handles damage up to 1.0 mm. If surface damage exceeds 1.0 mm, mechanical re-machining is required before any sealing compound can be applied.
Operational Test Requirements After Overhaul
| Product Used | Post-Assembly Test Requirement |
|---|---|
| BIRKOSIT | No specific minimum — workload immediately after assembly |
| FILLING Basic | Steam test required. Minimum 80°C and 15 bar. Cold hydrotest alone is NOT suitable — temperature is essential for the material to activate and bond permanently. |
| FILLING 1000 and FILLING 2000 | Cold hydrotest suitable. Minimum 15°C and 3 bar. Steam test also acceptable. |
This test requirement difference has practical implications for outage planning. If your recommissioning protocol is a cold hydrotest, FILLING 1000 and FILLING 2000 are fully compatible. If FILLING Basic has been applied, a steam test to the minimum conditions is required before cold water testing alone can be considered sufficient.
Siemens and GE Approval on Indian Turbines
BIRKOSIT and FILLING products together carry Siemens Energy approval (TMI-Nr. 431/93b) and GE/Alstom approval for turbine inner casing and blade ring joints in fossil and nuclear units. Indian power sector organisations including BHEL, NTPC, NPCIL, Tata Power, Triveni Turbines, and Kirloskar have established use of these products in service. Project Sales Corp is the sole India supplier.
Project Sales Corporation — Sealing Compounds for Indian Industry
sales@projectsalescorp.com · +91-891-256-4393
Product Support: Anil +91-98664-67276 · Shivani +91-96031-66448
28 Founta Plaza, Suryabagh, Visakhapatnam — 530020, Andhra Pradesh