Siemens says it installed a 3-D-printed part in a nuclear power plant, one of the first such installations in the energy industry.

The replacement part produced for the Krško nuclear power plant in Slovenia is a metallic, 108mm-diameter impeller for a fire protection pump that is in constant rotating operation.

The Krško plant in Slovenia.The water pump provides pressure for the fire protection system at the plant. The original impeller was in operation since the plant was commissioned in 1981.

Siemens says in a statement that obsolete, non-OEM parts are particularly well-suited for the additive manufacturing technology as they and their designs are often impossible to obtain. Additive manufacturing allows mature operating plants to continue operating and achieving or, as in the Krško case, even extending, their full life expectancy, Siemens says.

Engineers in Slovenia reverse-engineered and created a "digital twin" of the part. The company's additive manufacturing (AM) facility in Finspång, Sweden, then used a 3-D printer to produce the part.

Testing was performed jointly with the Krško operations team over several months, helping to ensure that the new part would perform safely and reliably. Further material testing at an independent institute as well as a CT scan, showed that the material properties of the 3D-printed part were superior to those of the original part, Siemens says.

The Krško plant provides more than one-quarter of Slovenia's and 15% of Croatia's power. For more than a decade, Siemens has performed modifications and provided service on the plant's non-nuclear side, including turbine, generator, and auxiliary equipment.

Siemens operates an AM production facility in Finspång where is has been working with the technology since 2009. Siemens says it uses AM for rapid prototyping and has introduced serial production solutions for rapid manufacturing of small fuel mixers and for rapid repair of burner tips for mid-size gas turbines.

The first 3-D-printed burner component for a Siemens heavy-duty gas turbine has been in successful commercial operation in a power plant in Brno, Czech Republic, since June 2016. It has achieved 1,600 equivalent operating hours without causing any forced outages. Siemens also recently announced it has finished its first full-load engine tests for gas turbine blades completely produced using AM technology.