In operations support the devil is in the details

Operational support – where the devil Is in the detail

For more than 10 years, we have also provided operational support to utility companies.

Operational support means using our specialist knowledge and deep understanding of physical plant systems when a problem occurs in day-to-day operations and when the utility’s own staff either don’t have the time or need to pair their hands-on experience with our expert insight to locate the fault, so we can decide together what actions to take.

In practical terms, we’re called in when a steam turbine loses performance, a gearbox begins vibrating excessively, or a steam pipe bursts. Our specialists' job is to identify why it's shaking or operating irregularly, determine how to fix it, and find out who can carry out the repair. It's rarely straightforward because the devil is almost always in the detail.

Sherlock Holmes in workwear

To provide the best possible advice, we combine our in-house expertise with input from our extensive external network when needed. But first, we literally suit up.

We put on our safety gear to see, hear, and feel the issue firsthand before analyzing available data together with the utility’s operations staff, and, if necessary, disassembling machines or system components. By “getting oil on our hands,” we’re able to take a more systematic approach and investigate whether the fault lies in the obvious “gadget” or if the root cause is somewhere entirely different.

Systematics, analysis, and documentation

It’s crucial to document why a specific fault occurred and what can be done to prevent it from happening again. And above all, it's essential to find the best and fastest solution, because taking a plant out of operation is expensive.

That’s why we support our deep, interdisciplinary expertise with in-house tools like AVPlan, Modelica, and Thermoflex to dig into the technical details and pinpoint the issue. And we don’t hesitate to draw on our unique network of specialists and testing institutes to, for example, perform a material test on a damaged pipe.

Our top priority is to thoroughly analyze and document the problem, so we can identify the right solution for the client and get the plant safely back online.