Data centers are buying jet engines. Here is how we inspect them.
Aeroderivative turbines — LM2500, LM6000, TM2500, SGT-A65 and converted CFM56 cores — are powering AI campuses. They need the same eyes an airline engine gets.
Why aeroderivatives, and why now
An aeroderivative gas turbine is an aviation engine adapted for power generation: the LM2500 descends from the CF6/TF39 family, the LM6000 from the CF6-80C2, and trailer-mounted TM2500 units can be running within weeks of arriving on site. Output per unit sits in the tens of megawatts — the LM2500 family in the 25 to 35 MW class, the LM6000 in the 40 to 50 MW class — and developers are ordering them by the gigawatt. Retired CFM56 cores are now being converted into gensets in the 25 MW class as well.
What changes when a jet engine runs at base load
An airline engine sees a few thousand hours a year with cycles of take-off power and cruise. A turbine behind a data center can run flat out around the clock. Hot-section exposure accumulates two to three times faster, fuel quality and site air quality vary, and the consequences of an unplanned outage are measured in megawatts of compute offline.
What we inspect
- Baseline borescope at commissioning, so every later inspection has a reference.
- Periodic hot-section borescope: combustor, high-pressure turbine nozzles and blades, measured against the OEM manual limits.
- Cold-section borescope and general visual inspection of the compressor, inlet and package.
- Records review, trend monitoring support and witnessing of performance runs against the warranty or contract minimums.
What is different from aviation work
The reference documents are the OEM's industrial manuals and service bulletins rather than an aircraft maintenance manual, access is through package doors and port covers rather than cowlings, and the customer is often an energy developer or EPC contractor rather than an airline. The engine does not know the difference. Neither do our borescopes.
Do you inspect turbines at the data-center site?
Yes. We mobilize to the plant the same way we mobilize to an airport, with our own Waygate borescope kits and turning tools.
Which industrial turbines do you cover?
LM2500, LM6000, TM2500, SGT-A65 and converted CFM56 cores. Ask us about other aeroderivative models.
Can you set up a recurring inspection program?
Yes. A baseline inspection at commissioning followed by scheduled hot-section borescopes, with trend data reviewed between visits.
JTech Turbines performs borescope, GVI, QEC, pre-purchase and lease return inspections on site in 30+ countries. Reports are drafted in InspectView and signed by the inspector.