Electricity and Control November 2023

PLANT MAINTENANCE, TEST + MEASUREMENT : PRODUCTS + SERVICES

Condition monitoring in power utility systems

In a recent blog, Kenneth Elkinson in Condition Monitoring at Doble highlighted that power and utility companies today are facing a slew of new challenges – and outlined how condition monitoring technology can help them manage their power systems. Among the challenges, an aging workforce and aging infrastructure are leading to knowledge gaps and skills shortages. Growing cybersecurity concerns plague the industry, with cyberattacks on the grid’s critical infra structure happening frequently. And the rise of renew ables makes the operating model of the power system more complex as organisations increasingly integrate wind and solar energy sources into the grid. These challenges are driving organisations towards digitisation and a search for technology to provide data driven insights that enable better decisions. (In the USA the Department of Energy has estimated outages cost the US economy $150 billion annually. Elkinson notes that this makes the need to leverage technology to safeguard the optimal health and performance of transformers and new critical infrastructure all the more important.) With that in mind, he sets out three ways in which the latest addition to Doble’s Calisto ® Condition Monitoring Platform, the Calisto ® N1, can help users reach their digi tisation goals and gather the asset-health data they need to ensure reliable power for all. Quick access to asset health data Today’s power and utility teams are tasked with what some would consider impossible – to proactively monitor assets, spot signs of failure and take action by sched uling maintenance or other interventions before it’s too ing manufacturing, power generation and more. The WearCheck team will provide world-class condition moni toring services to the Bengalese mechanised sector. WearCheck Regional Managing Director, Sundip More, outlines the concept of proactive maintenance: “By mon itoring a component’s condition regularly over time, our scientific techniques provide reliable data which enables our diagnosticians to predict accurately whether and when that component will potentially fail. “We identify a potential failure before it occurs and recommend a remedy. This way, catastrophic failure can be avoided and machine availability and performance are enhanced. The repair work to the component can be scheduled for a time that suits the work programme. “With forewarning about potential component failure, our customers avoid unnecessary maintenance costs and maintain efficiency by upholding optimum production levels.” Continued from page 26

late. Traditionally, it would take teams countless hours to install, collect and read insights from multiple sen sors in the field, slowing data interpretation and fault identification. With the Calisto N1, teams can check the readings di rectly on site from various devices and immediately act on the data to ensure asset performance. With this new insight, power and utility teams can be confident in their asset management decisions. Seamless Integration with existing systems As power grids continue to grow and evolve to include new technology, sensors and other third-party devices in the field, it can become difficult to visualise critical as set health data that lives in various formats and systems. The Calisto N1 provides teams with centralised access to asset health data from any third-party data source in the field – such as sensors, dissolved gas analyses (DGAs), power meters and other intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) that use standard protocols including Modbus and DNP3. The device also integrates with en gineers’ current applications across multiple assets si multaneously to support proactive event investigation, troubleshooting and enhanced decision making. This overcomes the need to leverage multiple systems across multiple assets due to varying system requirements. Enhanced collaboration via cloud-based technology The Calisto N1 also enables teams to collaborate on event detection and mitigation. A built-in webserver makes it easy to manage user access, alert settings and data visualisation for sensors installed in the field. This way, engineers can be alerted to potential faults auto matically, seamlessly visualise the data and share it with other stakeholders, and take action to prevent failure. In addition, the new technology makes it easy for super visors to get a clear view of asset health in the field via the cloud, while complying with the cybersecurity con straints of the organisation. Condition monitoring of the future The best way to prevent asset failure is to intervene early. But with skills gap issues, the rise of renewables, cybersecurity concerns, and other factors adding to an already complicated monitoring landscape, detecting faults early has become more challenging. It is time for teams to digitise and leverage technology to increase confidence and success in identifying failures so they can effectively mitigate asset health issues as they arise. □

Condition monitoring of power systems enables early identification of faults and effective mitigation.

For more information visit: www.wearcheck.co.za

NOVEMBER 2023 Electricity + Control

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