Failure Analysis of Actual Piping Using the Automatic Pipe Vibration Suppression Proposal System

In recent years, the power industry has seen a rapid increase in renewable energy, leading to more frequent start-ups and shutdowns of thermal power generation facilities to cover output fluctuations and adjust supply-demand balance. Various types of piping are used in thermal power plants, and during the start-up and shutdown processes, the internal fluid fluctuations are significant, resulting in increased vibrations. Vibrations that were tolerable under conventional operation methods may lead to pipe rupture as the frequency of start-ups and shutdowns increases, posing a concern for stable power supply. Until now, it has been difficult to determine whether countermeasures are necessary, as some pipe vibrations lead to rupture while others do not. Moreover, to suppress pipe vibrations, it is necessary to add fixed supports at appropriate locations. However, identifying the appropriate locations for fixed supports requires vibration measurements and advanced analysis by expert technicians, which demands significant time and cost. To address this, our company has developed a device called the "Automatic Pipe Vibration Suppression Proposal System", which can quickly determine whether the vibrations are problematic and automatically propose the locations for fixed supports to suppress vibrations early and cost-effectively when vibration issues arise. In this paper, we report on the analysis and proposal of countermeasures for actual piping failures caused by resonance phenomena at a thermal power plant. The study combines three approaches: observation of the fractured piping surface, analysis using our automatic proposal system, and examination of operational data.