AUSTRALIAN-developed laser technology that is saving the power-generation industry millions of dollars in costly turbine maintenance also could be used by the aerospace and defence industries.

A laser-equipped robot developed by Swinburne University repairs turbine blades

The result of a collaborative effort between research teams from Swinburne University of Technology and CSIRO, through the Cooperative Research Centre for Welded Structures, the technology uses robots to carry out on-site repairs of power station turbine blades.

A spin-off company, Hardwear, set up to commercialise the technology, signed a contract last year with AGL worth in excess of $500,000 to repair 160 blades - a complete turbine.

Next month, a research team from Swinburne will carry out on-site maintenance of a turbine aboard AGL's Torrens Island power station in Adelaide.

In 2010 and 2011, there is an option to repair two more turbines.

The Swinburne team, led by Milan Brandt from the University's Industrial Research Institute (IRIS), has played a leading role in developing the technology. About every eight years, the blades of the steam turbines in coal-fired power stations suffer erosion from the impact of water droplets in the steam and need repairing. Companies face costs of up to $250,000 per day in down-time to allow blades to be repaired off-site - removed and refitted later.

The In-Situ Laser Surfacing technology overcomes the need to remove blades by allowing on-site repair.

"What they (power stations) were looking for was a solution where they could repair the blades in-situ," Professor Brandt said.

"The rotor is taken out of the turbine and put in a cradle. We don't remove the blades, but use laser technology to put a new coating on them."

The repair process combines a programmable robot, a special diode laser and a "gun" that feeds a metallic surfacing compound into the eye of the laser, which deposits it along the edge of the turbine blade.

The direct diode laser mounted on a coaxial head operates at any angle to reach inaccessible places. The process gives the blades a tough coating designed to significantly extend their working life.

Using this technology, the repair of a turbine's blades can take up to four weeks, compared with about 10 weeks for off-site repair, which results in savings of about $2 million.

Professor Brandt said the team would look at different powders to see if it could further decrease the blade erosion rate. "We are also looking at robotic technology for the profiling of the blades."

The technology could be applied to other sectors such as mining, automotive, aerospace and defence for repairs on submarines, Professor Brandt said.

"We are in discussion with some overseas companies to see if we can get the technology pushed abroad," he said. Professor Brandt said the overseas market would include power stations in China and Hong Kong, Southeast Asia as well as Europe.