Sheffield Forgemasters Engineering Limited (SFEL) has current orders for turbine
rotors for fossil fuelled power stations beyond 2011. Typically these rotors weigh 75-
95 tonnes delivered, which is the limit of the current technical capability at SFEL.
SFEL has encountered issues relating to the internal quality of the forgings. The
company is also seeking improved gas consumption and press efficiency during the
forging process. There is a continuing demand in Europe and China for these types of
rotors as power generation moves to 1 OOOMW super critical technology. Currently
Alstom require one rotor every 6 weeks and Harbin Electric Company in China
require four rotors per year.
In order to produce such forgings consistently SFEL need to tackle critical
steelmaking issues and forging challenges. The current manufacturing route results in
unacceptable levels of rework and increased risk of failure.
The first stage of this project requires fundamental research of the steelmaking
process in order to explore the possibilities of implementing tundish technology. This
would be unique in this type of manufacturing process and will give SFEL a
significant advantage against competition by dramatically improving steel cleanliness.
The second stage of the project will concentrate on ingot and forging research and
development. Here, computer simulations will be carried out in order to develop the
most suitable technology in terms of ingot and forge tooling to manufacture these
types oflarger rotors. This would represent a new market opportunity with access to
markets valued in excess of £200 million per annum. SFEL has also been
investigating with various customers the market for turbine units for nuclear
application. Typically forgings in this sector weight up to 250tonne and this research
project is a key step in the strategy to extend our business capability.