damn I cant see the pics at work.
Similiar failure and I cant find the work email with pics. We had a GE 7FA turbine catastophic failure over XMAS a few years back at a plant in Mojave Valley, Nevada (across the river from Needles, CA.) The turbine was spinning at 3600rpm putting 250mw's to the grid, and the weight of the rotating assembly is 65tons. We had a failure in the turning gear (starter motor) engaging the spinning assembly.
The turning gear itself weights 750lbs. The machine LAUNCHED the Turning gear, it went through the housing, then the building and out into the Mojave desert somewhere. Seriously a 750lb round gear flew so far into the air and into the desert they never found it. It is assumed it had enough momentum that when it hit the earth it buried itself.
$10m is what the rebuild cost. It liberated multiple rows of blades in the turbine, as that debris fell and made its way though the turbine as the mass was slowing down it carved grooves in the half shells that encase the turbine assembly.
When they removed the top half of the sheel assembly it looked like someone dumped a load of scrap inside the housing. Total desimation.
I'll come up with pics. It was a spectacular display of destruction.
Awesome
