POWER PLANT DIAGNOSTICS GO ON-LINE

The current standard approaches to power plant maintenance are: (1) corrective maintenance, which involves fixing something when it breaks and (2) preventive maintenance, which is scheduled periodically based on the recommendations of manufacturers and the experience of the plant operator. Predictive maintenance, which this article explains, is a relatively new concept. It makes early fault detection possible by monitoring machine parameters and process variables and by comparing these measurements with normal baseline readings. A study cited indicated that the annual power plant maintenance cost per horsepower for the corrective approach was $17-$18; for the preventive approach, $11-$13; and for the predictive approach, $7-$9. A test program of the Philadelphia Electric Company and the Electric Power Research Institute to more thoroughly explore the value of online predictive maintenance and evaluate future diagnostic monitoring needs is discussed.