Power plant life assessment and extension

Power plant life assessment and extension is an integral part of the plant lifecycle management strategy. During this, TÜV SÜD experts examine critical information on your plant’s current state and determine its remaining service performance. We then suggest measures to optimise plant availability and reliability, and prevent losses from machinery damage and accidents.

TÜV SÜD becomes involved in Power plant life assessment and extension much earlier than conventional inspections. We take your power plant design, layout and operating conditions into account to identify weaknesses early on and avoid unscheduled downtime.

Lifetime survey

We determine the remaining lifetime of power plant components through damage mechanisms such as creep damage, fatigue damage, crack propagation and corrosion propagation.

Our experts use methods such as non-destructive testing (NDT) and Finite Element Method calculation (FEM calculation) for risk assessment to formulate a total diagnosis. This assesses the condition of power plant components and the suitability of a power plant for further operation.

Non-destructive testing (NDT)

To obtain a comprehensive analysis of a power plant component’s condition, our experts use a combination of conventional non-destructive testing methods. These include dye penetration testing, eddy current testing, ultrasonic testing, magnetic particle testing, hardness testing and replica testing. 

We assess the extent of power plant component degradation by evaluating the hardness, embrittlement, microstructure and corrosion mechanism of its material properties.

We then evaluate the plant’s operational history (including temperature and pressure data) and analyse its material properties to determine its remaining lifetime.

FEM calculation

As the impact of some failures detected by NDT requires further evaluation, we use computational methods such as FEM calculation.

We develop a holistic view of related components and extrapolate future material degradations through the use of FEM modelling, stress and fatigue calculation, fracture mechanics, creep analysis, modal and dynamic calculations (including multi-body simulation), fluid dynamics and missile analysis services.

Further operation 

We support you in making informed decisions regarding the safety of a power plant’s continued operation and its potential for future operation.

This assessment considers the operational history of power plant components, various NDT methods and FEM calculation.