Design and Development of Reliability and Maintenance

Strategy Optimization Analysis Platform for Equipment of

Pumped Storage Power Unit
FENG Ling-yun
Guangzhou Pumped-storage Power PlantGuang Zhou 510950China

Abstract: With the rapid development of clean energy, Pumped storage power station
construction in China has entered a rapid development period. Pumped Storage Power
Unit bear the load in power grid, frequency modulation, phase modulation, and
emergency and absorb excess electricity etc, is the most important node in the current
power grid energy storage and power regulation. Because of the particularity and
importance of this kind of power station, more and more attention has been paid to the
reliability and economy of power plant operation, and the unit maintenance strategy is
one of the important topics in the research field.
In this paper, the weibull distribution theory is used to evaluate the reliability of
the equipmentand An algorithm for calculating the planned maintenance period of
pumped storage units based on the maximum availability rate and minimum
maintenance cost is proposed. Based on this algorithm, the reliability and
maintenance strategy optimization analysis platform of pumped storage unit is
developed by using MATLAB software. Based on the data of a large pumped storage
power station in China, a practical example is analyzed and calculated, and the
conclusion is drawn.

Key Words: pumped-storage unit;reliability;schedule maintenance;weibull distribution

availability rate ;maintenance cost.

1. Introduction
Generator unit is the key equipment of electric power system. The reliability and
economy of the generator unit have a great influence on the safe and economical
operation of the whole electric power system and the development of the national
economy. The schedule maintenance is the key to improve the reliability of unit
operation and prolong the service life of the unit. The schedule maintenances purpose
is periodically preventive maintenance of the generator unit, so that the equipment can
keep good technical condition, to reduce the failure and prolong the service life, so as
to improve the power system reliability and economy[1].
2. Model and algorithm design
2.1 Reliability index
In the long time of operation and maintenance of power equipment, the
engineering technical personnel can analyse and judge the frequency of equipment
failure statistics using the method of mathematical statistics to assess the reliability of
equipment.
2.1.1 The Weibull distribution model
Weibull distribution is a mathematical model which is porposed by Swedish
Weibull physicist. It is fitting ability very strong for kinds of generator units of the
reliability data. It is widely used as a reliability mathematical model used in reliability
engineering technology. The application of Weibull distribution in the power plant has
a precedent[2][3]. Two parameter Weibull distributions with parameters changes may
represent various of failure rate with time change[4], so the two parameter Weibull
distribution are used to analyze reliability of pumped-storage power station
equipments. It is assumed that there is a vulnerable component in the generator unit,
and the reliability index of the component is expressed by function.

Reliability function R t is:

t
R t exp t 0 1

The Failure distribution function of the Weibull distribution F t is:

t
F t 1 R t 1 exp t 0 2

Fault density function f t is

1
dF t t t
f t exp t 0 3
dt
2.1.2 Estimation methods for The Weibull distribution parameters
 Parameter estimation of weibull distribution generally have mapping method and
numerical calculation method[5] .The numerical calculation method include Least
squares estimation(LSE),Maximum Likelihood Estimation(MLE),Best Linear
Unbiased Estimator(BLUE)Good Linear Unbiased Estimation(GLUE)and Interval
Estimation etc. The calculation method of the following is the least squares estimate
method.
Least squares estimation(LSE)
We deformate at both sides of the formula (1), take two consecutive time log, the
results is:

ln ln R t ln t ln 4

Set:
x ln t y ln[ ln R t ]
A B ln
Then formula (4) can be changed into:
Y AX B 5
For the Linear regression equation (5), the least squares solution to the regression
coefficients of A and B are as follows:
n

xi yi nxy

A n i 1

6
xi 2 nx 2
i 1

B y Ax

1 n 1 n
In formula x i
n i 1
x y yi
n i 1

Average Rank Time Method

When the parameters are estimated by the least square method, the key is to
improve the accuracy of the empirical distribution function in order to get the best
regression line. Traditional empirical distribution function is calculated by formula
approximate median rank of formula (7),and have a larger error.

i 0.3
Fn ti 7
n 0.4
 In formulaI is the sequence number of the failed device; n is the total capacity
of the sample.
The literature [6] points out that the mean rank method is an effective method to
improve the accuracy of the cumulative distribution function. Average rank time
method calculation formula such as (8) ~ (11):

n 1 Ak 1
Ak 8
n i 2

Ak Ak 1 Ak 9

Ak 0.3
F tk 10
n 0.4

R tk 1 F tk 11

In formulaAk is the average rank of the fault sample; k is the sequence number
of fault samples; Ak-1 is the average rank of a previous fault sample; Ak is average
rank increment; i is the chronological order of all samples. tk is the running time
before the first fault of the i sample. In the case of known fault data,a set of
reliability index can be calculatedthen the least square method can be used to fit the
regression line.At last, the scale parameter and shape parameter of the
Weibull distribution model can be obtained.
2.2 Optimization index model
2.2.1 Establish tradeoff model based on optimized availability rate
Unit availability is an important indicator to measure the reliability of the unit.
We suppose the scheduled maintenance time is Dpm and the Non-scheduled

maintenance time (fault maintenance) is Dcm. The rest of the index model is set up as
follows.
The mean interval between two available moment of the equipment

Interval tf t dt R Dcm F Dpm R (12)
0

In formula, Interval is the average running time of equipment since the last
maintenance was completed and put into operation to this time completed and put into
operation. is planned maintenance cycle, R(t) is the reliability function of the
equipment, F t is the Failure distribution function of the equipment, f t is the

fault density function.

Average running time of equipment Eup

Eup tf t dt R (13)
0

Eup is the running time of the equipment since the last maintenance was
completed and put into operation to the maintenance of this time.
Equipment availability Ava

Ava
Eup

tf t dt R
0

Interval
tf t dt R D
0 cm F D pm R
(14)

2.2.2 Establish tradeoff model based on Minimum maintenance costs

Unit equipment maintenance cost is one of the important indicators to measure
the economic performance of the unit. We suppose the Scheduled maintenance cost is
Cpmand the Non-scheduled maintenance cost (fault maintenance) is Ccm. The rest of
the index model is set up as follows.
The mean interval between two available moment of the equipment

Interval tf t dt R (12)
0

In formula, Interval is the average running time of equipment since the last
maintenance was completed and put into operation to this time completed and put into
operation. is planned maintenance cycle, R(t) is the reliability function of the

equipment, f t is the fault density function.

Average cost of equipment maintenance P

P C cm F C pm R (16)

This value is the average cost of preventive maintenance and fault maintenance
during the operation of equipment.
Average operating cost of equipment C

P
C (17)
Interval
 The value of the maintenance cost is allocated to each operating day, the daily
operating costs.
2.3 Maintenance strategy optimization algorithm flow
The principle of Pumped-storage power station equipment maintenance strategy
optimization is based on reliability and optimization index model.The purpose is to
get the optimal maintenance strategy through calculation with the equipment failure
statistical data,maintenance time data and maintenance cost data etc.
Calculation is divided into three steps:
To build reliability related functions1The failure density function f(t)2
The Failure distribution function of the Weibull distribution F(t)3The reliability
functionR(t).
The optimization objective is calculated with the maximum available rate.
Known the equipment failure density function f (t) and preventive maintenance and
fault repair time,When the Ava take the maximum value in formula (14),the cycleis
the optimal preventive maintenance cycle.
The optimization objective is calculated with the the minimum maintenance
cost. Known the equipment failure density function f (t) and preventive maintenance
and fault repair time, When the C take the minimum value in formula (17),the cycle
is the optimal preventive maintenance cycle.

3. Case Analysis
3.1 Establish reliability function
Taking the field failure data of a certain equipment in the Pumped-storage power
station as an example, the construction process of the equipment reliability function is
illustrated. Choose 30 sets of the same model the equipment, under the same
operation level and the same conditions, record their first time of the failure of
operation. Among them, 9 equipments quit running due to failure .The equipments
failure time (days) as shown in the third column in table 1.Another 21 equipments
quit running without failure. As shown in table 1 in the fifth column and the sixth
column,The average rank and The failure distribution function value of the fault
equipment are calculated by using the mean rank method through Formula 8 to 11.
Taking the failure equipment of the sequence 3 in Table 1 as an example, the value of
failure distribution function is determined as follows.

n 1 A2
A3 A2 A3 A2
ni2

30 1 2
2 3
30 3 2

A3 0.3
F t3 0.0888
30 0.4

Tab 1 Average Rank Method to Calculate the Reliability Index of the Equipment

i k tk Ak Ak F tk R tk x Ln tk y ln ln R tk
1 1 1065 1 1 0.023 0.977 6.9707 -3.7595
2 2 1327 1 2 0.0559 0.9441 7.1907 -2.8552
3 3 1527 1 3 0.0888 0.9112 7.3311 -2.375
4 4 1796 1 4 0.1217 0.8783 7.4933 -2.0419
5 5 1953 1 5 0.1546 0.8454 7.5712 -1.7841
6 6 2069 1 6 0.1875 0.8125 7.6348 -1.572
7 7 2161 1 7 0.2204 0.7796 7.6783 -1.3904
8 8 2317 1 8 0.2533 0.7467 7.7480 -1.2307
9 9 2526 1 9 0.2862 0.7138 7.8344 -1.0873

The calculated values of other Equipment are shown in Tab 1. In Tab 1, the
values of x and y are calculated as the coordinates of discrete points. The coordinate

values plug in equation (6) can get the regression coefficient A 3.0594

B ln -24.9423 , then the parameters of Weibull distribution model can be

calculated as 3.0594 3.4724 103 . The failure distribution function, failure

density function, reliability function of the Equipment are shown as follows.

t 3.059
t0
F t 1 exp ,
3472
2.059
3.059 t 3.059
f t e t /3472 ,t 0
3472 3472
 3.059
t t 0
R t exp
3472
The reliability function is shown in fig.1:
Fig.1 Reliability Function Diagram

3.2 The highest availability Optimization Objective

At present, the pumped storage power station equipment preventive
maintenance cycle of the equipment Described in chapter 3.1 is three years (1095
days), The duration is 14 days which consistent with the common preventive
maintenance. The equipment failure will cause the unit outage. After conversion
evaluation, Power Grid Corp minus 42 days of available time. That is, Dcm=42,
Dpm=14, we calculate According to formula (14) as follows.
Ava(1095) 0.9866

The optimization objective is calculated with the maximum available

rate(Formula 18).Then we can come to the conclusion that the maximum value of Ava
is 0.9904(As shown in Figure 2) and the best preventive maintenance cycle is 2206
(day) which the highest availability can be obtained.

tf t dt R

MAX Ava MAX
0 0.9904 18
tf t dt R D F D R
0 cm pm
Fig.2 Availability Function Diagram
3.3 The Minimum maintenance costs Objective
At present, the preventive maintenance cost of the equipment described in
chapter 3.1 is 240 thousand and the Fault maintenance cost is 600 thousand/time in
pumped storage power station. That is, Ccm=60, Cpm=24, we calculate According to
formula (17) as follows.

C 1095 0.023

The optimization objective is calculated with the minimum maintenance cost

(Formula 19). Then we can come to the conclusion that the minimum value of C is
150 yuan (as shown in figure 3)and the best preventive maintenance cycle is 2437
(day) which the minimum maintenance cost can be obtained.

C F C pm R 19
M IN C M IN cm 0.015
tf t dt R
0

Fig.3 Maintenance cost Function Diagram

 3.4 Optimization effect comparison
According to above analysis, before and after optimization ,the maintenance
strategy of a certain equipment in pumped-storage power station is as shown in table 2.
After optimization, After optimized maintenance cycle, Availability or operating costs
have improved, achieve the goal of optimization the maintenance strategy.
Tab 2 Comparison of maintenance strategy
The highest availability Optimization Objective
Maintenance cycle Availability
Before optimization 1095 day 98.66%
After optimization 2206 day 99.04%
The Minimum maintenance costs Objective
Maintenance cycle Availability
Before optimization 1095 day 230 yuan/day
After optimization 2437 day 150 yuan/day

4. The Reliability and Maintenance Strategy Optimization Analysis Software of

Pumped Storage Unit
The Reliability and Maintenance Strategy Optimization Analysis Platform of
Pumped Storage Unit is developed by MATLAB. Due to its powerful numerical
calculation function in numerical analysis, modeling and simulation, etc , MATLAB
have important applications. Software platform application process can be designed
according to the article 2.3 algorithm, As shown in figure 4.At the same time ,we use
integrated development environment of Matlab GUIDE to develop graphical
interactive interface, avoid operating the command line, make the solving process
simple and intuitive, clear, as shown in figure 5.
Fig.4 Program Flow

Fig.5 Software Interface

5. Conclusion
The majority of pumped-storage power station in the current domestic power
system adopt the strategy of schedule maintenance, so the research on making the
optimal decision under the schedule maintenance is very meaningful. This paper
designs a set of maintenance strategy optimization algorithm based on the above
requirements, and uses matlab software to develop a unit equipment reliability and
maintenance strategy optimization analysis platform. An equipment as an example in
pumped-storage station, we use Weibull distribution model and the least square
method and mean rank method to obtaine the equipment reliability analysis model,
and then calculate an optimal schedule maintenance cycle based on the highest
generator unit availability rate or minimum maintenance cost. However, different
types of equipments optimal maintenance cycle is not the same.Even with the same
device,the optimal maintenance cycle is not the same. So we need to calculate optimal
preventive maintenance cycle for each subsystem according to the calculation method
given by this paper. Finally make a comprehensive evaluation, choose the optimal
maintenance strategy to achieve maximum benefit.

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