Advanced Analytics for Aging Generator Fleets

As part of TransAlta’s long-term strategy to improve their capability to track generation plant condition over time, METSCO performed a comprehensive review of their demographics, inspection, maintenance, and telemetric data. Key indicators that strongly correlate to end-of-life criteria and failure modes were identified and combined into an Asset Health Index, or AHI, which is a yardstick for measuring overall health of the asset. The AHI was then used to assess the condition of four steam turbine generator units as a proof-of-concept.

In terms of component degradation and failure modes, steam turbine generators are among the most complex assets to manage. To overcome this challenge, each asset was segmented into its rotor, stator, and supporting equipment. Degradation factors for each component were aggregated to formulate the AHI for each. An overall AHI for each unit was also calculated by combining the rotor, stator, and supporting AHIs.

The framework notably makes use of data from both online (monitoring) and offline (testing) sources for a comprehensive picture of asset health. This solution provided the client with valuable insights into not only the generator’s overall condition, but the condition of each component which can be used in reliability-centred maintenance and risk-based planning.

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