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ROCHEM Fyrewash Ltd
5-6 Sun Valley Business Park
Winnall Close, Winchester
Hampshire
SO23 0LB
ROCHEM Fyrewash Inc
23707 West Hardy Road
Spring
Texas
77373
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17 Aug 2026
Compressor deterioration is one of the biggest causes of gas turbine performance loss.
You may not even realise it, but avoidable lost power quietly eats into your profits, while unscheduled shutdowns for maintenance interrupt operations with costly consequences.
Approximately 70% of gas turbine performance loss can typically be attributed to
gas turbine compressor deterioration caused by blade fouling. Upgrading your wash system can:
The price of the upgrade is recuperated many times over in regained power and reliability.
Today we’re looking at the results a real customer achieved following a gas turbine compressor wash system upgrade with us. Find out how we helped and the improvements they’ve reported…
As a general overview, gas turbine compressor fouling reduces airflow and compressor efficiency, resulting in:
Gas turbine sites should conduct a regular cleaning schedule to minimise these issues and keep their site running safely and efficiently. However, old wash equipment compromises the efficacy of cleans, leading to a number of issues and expenses.
A large combined cycle power station:
The power station put out a tender to upgrade their offline wash system. The existing GE wash system had been operating for over 10 years and was suffering:
They stipulated they wanted to resolve/improve all the above issues while reducing downtime and cutting down the existing equipment as much as possible.
After a thorough evaluation of the site and requirements, we supplied and retrofitted off-line wash nozzles and a fully automated wash delivery system:
While the specialised wash nozzles inject atomised cleaning solution for full, effective blade coverage, the wash delivery system also plays a critical role. This system, with a modern DCS in place, was designed to improve efficiency while reducing operational issues.
Accurate dilution of cleaning chemicals, automatic heating of solution to optimum levels, and auto-pumping it to the cleaning nozzles streamlined the process and eliminated human inaccuracy during cleans.
The customer was extremely pleased with the results achieved:
There have been significant financial savings made thanks to the new wash system:
Typical performance losses of 3-4% can occur after approximately 8 weeks of operation: equivalent to approximately 8 MW on a GE 9FA that can potentially be recovered through effective compressor cleaning.
This project demonstrates that upgrading a compressor wash system can deliver benefits far beyond maintenance requirements. Reduced downtime, lower waste volumes, improved reliability and greater operational flexibility all contribute to a more effective compressor cleaning programme with huge benefits for the operation as a whole.
If your compressor wash system is becoming increasingly labour-intensive, difficult to maintain or costly to operate, contact Rochem FYREWASH® to discuss upgrade and retrofit options. We’ll be happy to talk through your specific requirements.
Post written by Martin Howarth
An extensive knowledge of mechanical and electrical engineering together with hands on experience with gas turbines provides a bedrock for his work at Rochem.
