To increase its turbine rebuilding shop capacities, the venerable South Elgin, Illinois, US field
machining pioneer Field System Machining (FSM) recently added a new 5,000ft² turbine bay
addition to its previous 17,000ft² facility. This new turbine bay allows FSM to simultaneously repair two turbines of up to 40t each.
To complement the turbine bay addition, FSM also purchased and installed a
vertical boring and turning mill with a 92in swing. This new mill allows FSM, after its custom
weld repairs, to machine steam turbine diaphragms double the diameter previously possible.
“We have doubled our capacities in three ways,” said Dusan Radakovic, company president and
founder. “We’ve doubled the rotor sizes we can accommodate, from 20t to 40t;
we’ve doubled the swing possible on our previous vertical boring mill capabilities, from 44in to
92in; and we’ve doubled our ability to handle shop turbine outage rebuilds, going from
accommodating one large in shop turbine rebuild to accommodating two turbines, each up to 40t, at the same time.”