FDB has developed its new concept for field measurements in the first half of 2024 and commissioned the prototype in May.
Why(?) - Based on many years of experience with field measurements and competency in programming, hardware, measurement technique and sensors, we believed we could build a better system.
When the opportunity presented itself, we went from idea to prototype in 2-3 months (a timespan we had a lot of other work going on as well). How(?) - based on notes for improvements from measurements with the old system we had a well-defined starting point for the prototype.
The architecture promotes a more compact measurement system that is easy to set up and with great adaptability both for sensors/signals and processing/analyses.
What is the prototype used for? - It has been set up to measure / analyze live turbine efficiency based on ultrasonic flow measurement and a supporting measurement of differential pressure in the spiral casing (Winter-Kennedy).
The field measurement system has a database and utilizes Grafana for visualizing relevant measurements and turbine efficiency. The visualization (top right) shows the completion of a measurement program, that had been agreed with the power plant owner, to map turbine efficiency. This without any personnel in the power plant, either from the power plant owner or FDB.
All sensors are independent of the power plant’s process control system.
Img. 1: Fra topp til bunn – Dashboard i Grafana, analog signalinngang, og pulsinngang