REMO

Online Remote Condition Monitoring of Tidal Stream Generators

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Tidal stream power is a very environmentally attractive renewable energy source whose exploitation is being retarded by operation and maintenance problems which cause very low availability times, as poor as 25%.

So the REMO project gaol is to provide an enabling technology for tidal stream energy, by reducing the projected life cycle maintenance costs of tidal stream energy by 50% and the generator downtime to a level comparable with wind turbines i.e. to achieve availability times  96%.

This strategy will reduce present projected costs of tidal stream energy production down to levels comparable with life cycle wind turbine electricity costs (0.058€/kWh) thus ensuring the economic viability of tidal generators. Energy providers will then be attracted to investing in tidal stream energy, so that its full economic potential and environmental advantages are realised.

The REMO system will remotely and permanently monitor the entire frequency spectrum of structural vibrations generated by all the rotating components of a tidal stream turbine, by combining a suite of accelerometer and acoustic emission sensors for the low and high frequency regime respectively. The system will determine the vibrational signature of a healthy turbine and the evolution of that signature during the turbine life cycle. It will then discover any significant change in that signature that could be a symptom a structural health problem at any point in the life cycle, including the build up of marine fouling, and then issue an automatic warning.

State of the art similarity analysis algorithms based on the Euclidian distance measure in multiple dimensions will be used in both the time and frequency domain for optimally cost effective processing of all vibrational data involved in the state of health diagnosis

The system will be validated by installing it on an in-service tidal stream generator developed by one of the SMEs who will also be an end user of the proposed REMO technology.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Harnessing the energy of the eternal tides is a remarkably renewable way to power a turbine for electricity production. Novel structural health monitoring technology should encourage investment and widespread uptake.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Tidal streams are highly directional and predictable with stored energy density 800 times that in wind for the same speed. The necessary infrastructure to produce energy can be located unobtrusively under water yet stored in cages to protect wildlife and ship navigation. However, despite the benefits, tidal stream power has been under-utilised due to problems with operation and maintenance.

Structural vibrations of the large, heavy turbine parts can degrade function and lead to failure, resulting in availability times as low as 25%. Structural health monitoring is well-established in numerous fields but its implementation in immature tidal stream power plants is definitely a new concept. EU-funded scientists working on the project 'Online remote condition monitoring of tidal stream generators' (http://remo-project.eu/ (REMO)) are bringing technology up to date.

They plan to reduce projected life-cycle maintenance costs by 50% and achieve availability times of more than 96%, comparable to those of wind turbines. Energy production costs will also then be in line with those of wind turbines, encouraging investment and realisation of full economic and environmental benefits.

Researchers are first determining the frequency signature of a healthy tidal stream turbine. On-site accelerometers and acoustic emissions sensors will then sense low- and high-frequency vibrations, respectively, of all rotational components during the operational lifetime. Deviations from the healthy signature will cause an automatic alarm to be issued, thus enabling preventive maintenance before destruction of infrastructure.

The first project period has been devoted largely to preparing the drive train mock-up and underwater tidal generator for water tank testing of systems. Associated controlling hardware and software are now ready as well and the sensors have been developed and adapted for underwater operation. Acquisition and analysis software will implement International Organisation for Standardisation standards.

REMO remote structural health monitoring technology for tidal stream turbines will catch potential faults before they occur. The sensor system will significantly decrease maintenance time and costs, increasing availability and thus bringing operating and electricity costs in line with those of wind turbines. Widespread investment and market uptake will have important benefits for related industries, consumers and the environment.