On June 19, now referred to as ‘Wind Day,’ the SmartSignal Availability and Performance Center (APC) built out the assets of 126 wind turbines. WindAPS is a software and services predictive-analytic solution that detects, diagnoses, and prioritizes developing mechanical and instrumentation turbine failures for SmartSignal’s wind customers and provides them with exception-only notifications of impending failures.
“Wind Day” was the culmination of a one-month project, from planning, to developing the model structures, to building out the assets. Wind Day set a new record for the number of assets that SmartSignal has built out in a single day.
According to SmartSignal CEO Jim Gagnard, “With skyrocketing crane and maintenance costs, wind farms need to know ahead of time when to plan outages. Being able to avoid surprises and take control of maintenance in a proactive way translates to massive cost savings. Unlike OEMs, SmartSignal makes this possible. And through our full-service, in-house monitoring center, the APC, customers can benefit from both the SmartSignal predictive-analytics software and SmartSignal’s engineers who provide comprehensive monitoring, maintenance, and notification services.”
Wind Day Planning
SmartSignal developed personalized empirical models for all 126 wind turbines within one month. Each model is composed of a sophisticated combination of interrelationships of all related sensors that affect turbine performance. These unique turbine models, using SmartSignal’s new and patented VBM technology, automatically adapt to fluctuations in wind speed, direction, shear, turbulence from ambient conditions, and equipment performance.
Wind’s Unique Challenges Not Met by Traditional Methodologies
Efficient wind-farm management presents distinct monitoring challenges. Time-based maintenance and traditional condition-based monitoring techniques have been ineffective in the dynamic environment of wind generation. Ambient conditions vary widely, and wind turbines don’t offer a constant load, but rather cycle up and down, presenting a unique wind regimen and set of data points. Each turbine has 60+ analog sensors, with data reporting every few seconds.
How SmartSignal Works
SmartSignal’s predictive-analytic solution analyzes in real time all the data collected in the nacelle. The data collected in predefined time intervals is sent to the SmartSignal APC, which analyzes the data and provides notifications to customers of impending problems. SmartSignal filters through the plethora of data-rich sensor input - literally tens of thousands of data points daily on a typical wind farm - so wind farm owners need only focus on turbines with impending issues.
About SmartSignal
SmartSignal maximizes worldwide industry equipment performance, availability, and reliability by detecting, diagnosing, and prioritizing equipment and process problems before they become costly failures. Drawing on over 40 patents, SmartSignal delivers specific, relevant, and actionable intelligence that makes people more proactive and productive. SmartSignal serves customers in power generation, oil and gas, mining, aviation, pulp and paper, and other process industries worldwide. SmartSignal and its customers have won over twenty awards for excellence, including a Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award and the 2009 ITA (Illinois Technology Association) Lighthouse Award for excellence in product and services. www.smartsignal.com