Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Thomas Laird
I&C and Diagnostic Operations ALSTOM Power Inc., Midlothian, Virginia
Michael Drpic
Generator Global Product Management ALSTOM (Switzerland) Ltd, Baden, Switzerland
Keywords:
Condition Based Maintenance (CBM), Turbine Generator Monitoring, Data Mining, AMODIS, Generator Diagnostics, Human Machine Interface (HMI)
Abstract:
A cost effective maintenance strategy that provides high reliability of a plants turbine generator is critical for profitable generation of power. Early warnings concerning potential generator-related issues, effective planning, and extension of the interval between overhauls can reduce maintenance costs. In the past, plant maintenance personnel have used ad hoc methods for transition from the traditional time-based maintenance methodology to a condition-based maintenance strategy for the turbine generators. This paper discusses a new holistic approach that is available for generator diagnostics and monitoring. The equipment used for monitoring the critical components for the generator are integrated into a single comprehensive monitoring system. Generator condition status is available to the plant operator through the units Human Machine Interface - HMI providing early warning of generator issues. Detailed information including trends and the location of a generator problem can be accessed by the plants maintenance engineering resources locally or remote. This new system also incorporates the use of Alstoms large database of fleet design, maintenance records, and operational performance information. Recommendations for corrective action of identified problems can quickly be provided to help ensure maximum availability and reliability of the unit.
Copyright 2007 by ISA -The Instrumentation, Systems and Automation Society. Presented at 17th Annual Joint ISA POWID/EPRI Controls and Instrumentation Conference 50th Annual ISA POWID Symposium, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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Introduction:
The holy grail of a profitable power plant is maximum availability, operational reliability, and reduced maintenance costs of critical equipment. To gain competitive advantage, utilities are mainly interested in how to detect degradation of power equipment at an early stage. Unplanned costly interruption of service and extension of the lifetime without losing reliability is of vital concern. To meet goals, exploration of maintenance concepts based on actual condition of the equipment is replacing traditional time-based preventive maintenance programs. Timebased maintenance strategies applying fixed-interval inspection and repair schedules are far from optimal regarding costs and operational availability of power equipment. The regular schedules for off-line diagnostics and maintenance are usually based on past experience with that specific type of equipment. Even though planning of maintenance can be optimized, utilities are often not able to use their resources in a most efficient and economic way as they like to. Generator components, like stator winding, stator core, rotor winding, rotor-retaining rings, generator bearings and high voltage bushings, are subject to continuous high stresses. Failures will inevitably occur when maintenance is not sufficiently considered. Utilities usually apply different maintenance methodologies depending on the kind of power plant and the specific operation requirements for their turbine generators. Justification for maintenance procedure will be different according to the type of power producer. For example, a nuclear power plant with requirements of fixed outage schedules with critical path of the outage linked to refueling will have much different maintenance requirements compared to an industrial power producer. Major utilities using combinations of time-based maintenance and condition-based maintenance strategies usually have a team of in-house generator experts looking for better ways to improve reliability and reduce maintenance costs.
Copyright 2007 by ISA -The Instrumentation, Systems and Automation Society. Presented at 17th Annual Joint ISA POWID/EPRI Controls and Instrumentation Conference 50th Annual ISA POWID Symposium, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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reliability requirement
experience
problem identification condition assessment diagnostic decision leads maintenance
experience
assessment of actual risk
Fig. 1: Knowledge infrastructure needed for a diagnostic decision making process within CBM strategies The application of CBM requires various basic elements, to allow reliable diagnostic decision making to be realized. In Fig. 1 main emphasis is given to the knowledge infrastructure needed and to the general process of diagnostic decision-making. The following elements are considered being essential for a CBM process: 1. Measurement data from on-line monitoring of the equipment during service. 2. A set of appropriate diagnostic parameters, derived from the original measured data. This ensures the detection in a high degree of sensitivity and selectivity to the relevant degradation mechanisms. 3. A catalog containing detailed information about typical failure modes for the specific generator. 4. Design, system, and material know-how, for generator assessment since different components react differently to operational long-term stresses and possible shortterm overstresses. 5. A large diagnostic database reflecting expert knowledge on decision-making processes and unit history information. 6. Clear decision rules that provide an unambiguous assessment of equipment condition, based on the information available. When reviewing all theses requirements, it becomes obvious that the application of CBM is a demanding task, which needs much more than just to monitor a machine and make a guess about the meaning of the measured data. An important question is how to proceed efficiently and how to process the huge amount of information, virtually in real time, within advanced CBM strategies. The diagram in Fig. 2 illustrates a basic methodology for the quality of real-time condition assessment. It considers known and unknown weakness identification of the generators major components and monitoring of the stress factors (Temperature, Electrical, Ambient conditions, and Mechanical stresses, also called TEAM factors).
Copyright 2007 by ISA -The Instrumentation, Systems and Automation Society. Presented at 17th Annual Joint ISA POWID/EPRI Controls and Instrumentation Conference 50th Annual ISA POWID Symposium, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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OEM Information
Nameplate information OEM Maintenance recommendations OEM Technical bulletins
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Fig. 3 Notification of Generator Issue Early warning of impeding generator issues will be noted by the control room operator. The operator in turn will notify the plants maintenance engineer for investigation. Using the HMI, the maintenance engineer can investigate the area of concern in more detail,
Copyright 2007 by ISA -The Instrumentation, Systems and Automation Society. Presented at 17th Annual Joint ISA POWID/EPRI Controls and Instrumentation Conference 50th Annual ISA POWID Symposium, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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isolating the problem. For example, in Fig.4 Turbine Generator Status Page, the Concern flag appears for monitored assessed condition of the stator winding. The flags are in three categories for the assessed condition, OK, Concern, and Critical. The Concern and Critical alarms have associated Recommendation boxes. The Recommendation box shows the next action to take to investigate the concern or critical condition in more detail.
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Fig. 4 Turbine Generator Status Page Fig. 5 shows the monitored trends with generator output. Note that the partial discharge activity level for phase A of the generator stator winding was gradually increasing over time giving an indication of when the deviation from the assessed condition started to occur. The rate of degradation can be calculated thus providing important information for risk assessment for continued reliable operation.
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Fig. 6 shows the resultant phase resolved partial discharge pattern used for analysis of the concerned generator issue. These patterns can be compared with the stored patterns created when the service provider assessed the units condition (the units signature).
Fig. 6 Phase resolved PD distribution patterns If the risk assessment for operational reliability is not obvious, then help can be provided electronically using the OEMs database and generator design know-how to obtain recommendations for corrective measures.
CONCLUSION
The key to the holistic approach of generator real-time condition assessment is to take advantage of todays technology in diagnostics and monitoring. Combining known OEM design information and the monitored data regardless of the sensor or acquisition equipment provides usable and reliable information for the control room operator and
Copyright 2007 by ISA -The Instrumentation, Systems and Automation Society. Presented at 17th Annual Joint ISA POWID/EPRI Controls and Instrumentation Conference 50th Annual ISA POWID Symposium, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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maintenance engineer. The integration of the monitoring system within the plant HMI reduces the need to give attention to different screens, including remote operation. Recognizing the quality of information available and eliminating risk of misinterpretation will increase the quality of real-time condition assessment. The holistic approach shall respect the fact, that control room operators in the power plant, have a different function and need, in data information content, than the responsible maintenance engineer. The adaptation of the information content to what the user needs, also reduces the risk of decision taking based on insufficient or incomplete data content. The holistic approach to generator diagnostics and monitoring will maximize reliability through early detection of condition changes, will increase availability through reduction of unplanned outages and reduce maintenance cost through optimized outage planning. The ultimate goal is to use this approach to give power plant operators the ability to react to generator issues in a proactive way.
REFERENCES
Laird, T.; Hoof, M.; A Strategy for Advanced Condition Based Maintenance of Large Generators. Electrical Insulation Conference EIC 2003, Indianapolis, Indiana, September 2003 Maughan, C.V.: Generator Reliability as Influenced by Engineering Design Parameters. Electrical Insulation Conference EIC2001, Cincinnati, USA, (2001), 159-79 Bindert, A.; Hoof, M.; Stephan, C.-E.: Lifetime Assessment A Tool for Improving Generator Availability. POWER-GEN Europe 2002, Milan, Italy, (2002) Hoof, M.; Laird, T.: Assessed Condition Trending System - A Tool for Generator On-Line Diagnostics. Electrical Insulation Conference EIC2001, Cincinnati, USA, (2001), 411-16 Hoof, M.; Lanz, S.: PD Diagnostics on Rotating Machines Possibilities and Limitations. Electrical Insulation Conference, Cincinnati, USA, (1999), 195-200
Copyright 2007 by ISA -The Instrumentation, Systems and Automation Society. Presented at 17th Annual Joint ISA POWID/EPRI Controls and Instrumentation Conference 50th Annual ISA POWID Symposium, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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