Many plants are today reaching their original design life of 100.000 hours of operation of heavy loaded parts. As a result of systematic and high standard of maintenance, many of these plants are in a generally good condition. An extension of the plant life is attractive, as the cost of a new plant is high and the gain in plant efficiency is often limited compared to an up-dating of existing power plants, which might be 15-20 years old.

The assessment of the remaining life of power boilers, steam lines and turbines requires a know-how in engineering and metallurgical fields. Such evaluation involves several activities of which the three most important are:

• Documentation of operational history,
• Detailed examination of the condition of the plant,
• Evaluation of findings and re-calculation of critical components.

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