Preventative Maintenance in Hydro Power Plants

Investments in new very efficient power plants and upgrading existing damps to improve asset utilization, is common practice today.

Company's Inobalt Message devicesare frequently used in hydropower plants for turbine condition monitoring. One integrated system is available to cover the measurements and diagnostic analysis.

The system is efficient, cost effective and reliable. Over 100 units are installed all over the world.

Hydro power – environmental friendly The hydropower industry is an environmentally friendly energy source. With a contribution of 19% to global energy production, hydropower is the largest source of renewable energy. It is ranked fourth in electricity generation and has become an increasingly important mainstay in power production.

It protects our earth's fossil fuel reserves, it is always available, it does not run out, it does not produce waste and it does not add to global warming. From rivers and reservoir lakes, a total of 15 billion MW could be generated annually. Currently only 20% are used. Therefore the demand for hydroelectric power is expected to grow of the next few years.

Areas for Application:

Today the customers require that the plant is operating reliable and continuously with very few downtimes. In order to increase equipment availability a vibration and condition monitoring system is a prerequisite.

Inobalt has an answer to those demanding requirements and provides a comprehensive and flexible system which can be adapted to individual applications.

The message device is acquiring vibration and process signals and PLC / Profibus communi-cation data synchronously. The integrated AMDT/V2 module enables vibration analysis and monitoring in combination with other digital and anlog IO modules from Inobalt.

The devices are easily integrated into the existing company network via an Ethernet connection. The measurement data is than accessible to any department depending on the access rights. The huge advantage of the Inobalt Message devices is that that one comprehensive system covers all measurement, monitoring and alarm management functions. The powerful diagnostic analysis functions give a clear indication of the current status of the hydro turbine and pin points to any area with a rising problem. The early detection of technical problems prevents the system for major damages and gives an indication where to focus on during the next maintenance stop.

The modular concept of the Message devices enables the customers to develop tailor made solutions. The devices can be adapted individually to any number of inputs. The equipment is usually DIN rail mounted and fitted to control cabinets.

Software for Monitoring & Diagnostics

Inobalt offers the ProfiSignal software which provides a full development environment to configure easily individual HMI screens to give the operator in the control room a maximum overview of the equipment status. The powerful software channels inside the device can be used to configure many alarm functions with the ability to switch outputs or to regulate the equipment or to initiate emergency shut downs.

The integrated event channels can report any limit violations e.g. through SMS or e-mail messages. For larger applications it is recommended to configure an Alarm table for a consolidated overview of the plant status.

The device provides an internal data storage capacity of 1 GB with 128 Mio records. The software package provides a convenient analysis through a seamless transition between online and historical offline data. However, for permanent monitoring the online trend plotting and evaluation is most appropriate.

Portable Systems

Inobalt offers also many different products to cover the requirements of the maintenance and commissioning engineers in the hydropower sector. Very popular are the custom-made mobile measurement cases for vibration and process analysis. The system records vibration, process and performance data for the duration of the commissioning and final approval phases. Sensor connectors are available as required with 4 mm plugs, screw terminals and thermo or BNC connectors in common usage. Message devices are protected against earth loops and are therefore secure against errors occurring during data recording. Sensor inputs are true differential and consequently ensure a high level of accuracy.

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