Online monitoring of plant assets in the nuclear industry

Abstract

Today's online monitoring technologies provide opportunities to perform predictive and proactive health management of assets within many different industries, in particular the defense and aerospace industries. The nuclear industry can leverage these technologies to enhance safety, productivity, and reliability of the aging fleet of existing nuclear power plants. The U.S. Department of Energy's Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program is collaborating with the Electric Power Research Institute's (EPRI's) Long-Term Operations program to implement online monitoring in existing nuclear power plants. Proactive online monitoring in the nuclear industry is being explored using EPRI's Fleet-Wide Prognostic and Health Management (FW-PHM) Suite software, a set of web-based diagnostic and prognostic tools and databases that serves as an integrated health monitoring architecture. This paper focuses on development of asset fault signatures used to assess the health status of generator step-up transformers and emergency diesel generators in nuclear power plants. Asset fault signatures describe the distinctive features based on technical examinations that can be used to detect a specific fault type. Fault signatures are developed based on the results of detailed technical research and on the knowledge and experience of technical experts. The Diagnostic Advisor of the FW-PHM Suite software matches developed fault signatures with operational data to provide early identification of critical faults and troubleshooting advice that could be used to distinguish between faults with similar symptoms. This research is important as it will support the automation of predictive online monitoring techniques in nuclear power plants to diagnose incipient faults, perform proactive maintenance, and estimate the remaining useful life of assets.