Here’s a riddle:
What has 600 years of power plant experience working with some of the most sophisticated technologies on Earth, yet they rarely leave the comfort of their own offices and homes? Who can be “in” a power plant in Malaysia in the morning and working on a generator in Latin America in the afternoon?
Give up???
It’s the FieldCore Remote Outage Support (ROS) team. The ROS team delivers the advantages of deep domain expertise and a direct connection to the original equipment manufacturer combined with utilizing technology to be virtually anywhere in the world.
At a time when travel and getting people with specialized technology experience mobilized to outages can still be difficult because of the ongoing pandemic and travel restrictions, this team continues to rise to the challenge using modern and innovative technology solutions like Microsoft Teams, video chats and Help Lightning augmented reality tools in order to deliver great support in outage planning, problem solving, equipment shutdowns and other remote operations.
About the FieldCore ROS team:
This elite team includes experienced field engineers with a mix of skills and specialized expertise who operate remotely from various locations around the world. 
Thanks to their varied remote locations, the team is available 24/7 for technical consultation and remote support. There is no other team in the industry like them.
With more than 600 years of combined field service experience, they offer deep domain expertise covering both GE and legacy Alstom equipment, technical documentation and processes.
ROS team members work in close collaboration with GE Engineering and the Engineering Request Quick Response Center which means customers feel the advantage of a support team with deep domain expertise and a direct connection to the original equipment manufacturer.
Recent projects:
Outage Planning: 6B Dry Low NOx (DLN) conversion
The first step to any successful outage is good planning, especially taking into account potential contingency scenarios. A maintenance upgrade in California, USA, will include all new combustion hardware and upgrading the fuel skid, fuel manifold and controls systems. This project is more like an EPC construction project vs. a typical turbine outage so the project team turned to Paul Duggan, Remote Outage Advisor, for his specialized technical expertise to ensure smooth outage execution.
Paul supplied the site team with documentation from similar projects so they can better understand scope and execution deliverables. He also gave guidance on items that need to be considered in the planning such as scope duration, manpower needs, inventory precautions, startup requirements and execution sequences.
Paul worked with the team to identify major contingency requirements before the project even began. He will continue to provide dedicated support throughout the duration of the upcoming outage.
“I love being able to help the teams in the field from the comfort of my home office. I feel like such an important part of the process and that I’m still contributing to the success of our customers… even though I’m not physically at the site,” said Paul.
Remote Operations: Bucket replacement
A recent bucket replacement outage in China was completed safely even though COVID restrictions meant a bucket specialist could not be available at the site. Buckets are blades that are located on the rotor of the gas turbine.
Ramy Mitias, Remote Outage Advisor, stepped in to provide critical support with the On-Site Repair procedures that were required. He further advised the site team on using the balancing bucket chart in numbering the new buckets before reassembly. He provided detailed description of how the first stage buckets (S1Bs) could be disassembled and reassembled, including that each bucket could be removed and reassembled individually unlike second and third stages. Having someone available to support the outage remotely and who had experience and knowledge of the procedures was invaluable to completing the outage safely. Ramy remained available and worked with the site team throughout the outage for supplemental support on all technical and documentation issues.
These are just a few recent examples of how our unique Remote Outage Support teams are enabling world-class execution for customers. Building off the success of remote support, the ROS team has recently added new areas of expertise. The FieldCore ROS team now also provides technical support on GT Remote Tuning and Engine Adjustment technical issues. The team can also provide full support on technical and planning issues for Aero GT Mechanical and Controls Outages.
