A new laser welding technique is repairing power station turbine rotor blades in minutes, rather than days, thanks to advances in the way metals fuse together. It allows flaws from wet steam erosion on the blades of low-pressure steam turbines to be repaired in place, without the need for the turbine to be dismantled and the blades removed.
The in situ laser surfacing process was developed by several Australian research institutions and power station operators. Some utilities have reported that current blade repair or replacement costs $250,000 per turbine per day in downtime, or up to $2.5 million in total per turbine.