On-line Monitoring, Diagnostics & Predictive Maintenance

Within our comprehensive portfolio of Siemens Energy products and services for generators, digital services are an essential and future-orientated area for us as well as for our customers. We offer customized solutions for reliable on-line monitoring, predictive maintenance and digital data analysis for generators and high-voltage equipment. The modular products and services of our predictive maintenance or on-line monitoring systems allow flexible configurations to provide tailored solutions.

The modular GenAdvisor™ platform provides various systems for monitoring Siemens Energy generators as well as generators from other manufacturers. Each system can be used individually or in combination with a central server and other monitoring systems.

With GenAdvisor, Siemens Energy provides you with customized solutions for reliable in-service monitoring of generators and high-voltage equipment. Advance recommendations based on generator condition can enable scheduled outages to be optimized and shortened, as necessary repairs and spare parts ordering can be planned in advance.

Our GenAdvisor partial discharge monitoring is based on coupling capacitor sensors that are installed in or near the generator, such as on the generator main bus bars. Electrical faults may generally not occur suddenly in high-voltage components such as generators. Such faults can frequently develop with partial discharges that bridge parts of the high-voltage insulation. These discharges can be detected using high-frequency measurement methods.

Rotor interturn short circuits due to aging-induced damage to the insulation can occur in all generators that are older or have been subjected to service loads. In some cases, an interturn short circuit will not initially result in generator failure, but it can have unfavorable effects on generator operation. A sensor in the air gap between the rotor and stator is used to detect rotor interturn short circuits. The signals from the sensor are transmitted to a data acquisition unit in the turbine building.

The GenAdvisor shaft voltage and shaft grounding current (SVC) monitoring system is designed for continuous monitoring of shaft voltage and shaft grounding current during generator operation. Insulation defects in the bearings as well as malfunctions of the grounding brushes can be detected which can help prevent potential bearing damage with the continuous monitoring of the shaft voltage and grounding current through the grounding brushes.

The high electromagnetic flux and currents created inside a generator can lead to end-turn basket vibration on some units. Generator stator end winding vibrations can loosen the winding, weaken insulation and ultimately crack conductors.

Siemens Energy pioneered Fiber Optic Vibration Monitor (FOVM) technology to directly measure end winding vibration in the early 1980s, and now offers the Fiber Optic Vibration Monitor Model 4, the latest and most advanced monitor of its kind.

Excited by power system transients, load unbalances and disturbances, turbine-generators can be susceptible to torsional vibrations occurring at or near rotor torsional natural frequencies. When torsional vibrations are excessive, the resulting cumulative fatigue damage can reduce life in components such as shafts, rotors and blades. If high levels of torsional vibrations continue without corrective action, severe component breakdowns can occur, causing equipment damage and forced outages.

Siemens Energy offers an advanced monitor – the Siemens Digital Torsion Monitor (DTM). It can be applied to all OEM turbine-generator configurations. The monitor features engineering analysis capabilities and customized settings for monitoring the level of torsional vibrations.

A secure Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection enables trend and alarm data from the GenAdvisor™ server to be transferred to the Power Diagnostics® Center (PDC) for remote evaluation and analysis.

GenAdvisor™ Remote Monitoring via Power Diagnostics® includes:

Daily processing of GenAdvisor™ data for the installed monitor(s)
Health checks for applicable connection and sensor(s)
Call center support available 24/7 for alarm clarification
Anomaly detection based on rule-based algorithms
Proactive anomaly insights and recommendations reported directly to customer via email

On-line Monitoring, Diagnostics & Predictive Maintenance

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Genadvisor™ Monitoring and Diagnosis System

Fiber Optic end Winding Vibration Monitoring

Digital Torsion Monitoring

Power Diagnostics® Remote Monitoring for Genadvisor™

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