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Strategic Program

Sensors and Operations


Technology Innovation

Advanced sensors will expand real-time monitoring and control capabilities to


support condition-based maintenance, enhance safety and reliability, and improve
efficiency and asset utilization throughout electricity infrastructure.

Real-time data on component status will help identify developing


STRATEGIC DRIVERS problems and support condition-based maintenance to prevent
failures and avoid outages. Improved situational awareness will
Smart Grid
allow operators to extend maintenance intervals and maximize
Long-Term Operations asset utilization, helping reduce costs and improve productivity
without impacting safety and reliability. The ability to monitor key
Near-Zero Emissions parameters in areas that could not previously be accessed—or
Renewable Resources & Integration only accessed with significant cost and safety implications—will
enable O&M interventions for addressing incipient problems and
INNOVATION TARGETS otherwise improving the performance of electricity infrastructure.

• Expand online monitoring Technology Gaps


• Reduce sensor costs Ongoing strategic work is building knowledge and advancing the
technology readiness level (TRL) of innovations to address the
• Advance data handling, analysis, and
following capability gaps:
application
• Sensing and condition assessment capabilities for challenging
environments
EPRI is pursuing novel sensor designs for steam turbine and • Lower-cost online monitoring for critical components
combustion turbine compressor blades, pressure-retaining • Enabling technologies, including power harvesting and
components, overhead transmission lines, transformers, under- visualization
ground distribution cables, and other applications, as well as
core technologies for data analysis, decision support, and power
harvesting. Innovation scouting seeks to find electric sector
applications for best-in-class technologies identified from other
industries. Building on proof-of-concept testing and sensor
development activities under this program, the overhead transmis-
sion line inspection robot is being pursued as a Breakthrough
Technology (1021514), and additional innovations have
transitioned to EPRI’s sectors.

Strategic Value
This program transfers advanced sensors and tools to the
Generation, Nuclear, Power Delivery & Utilization, and Environ-
ment & Renewable Energy sectors for application-oriented Sensors capable of autonomous, self-powered operation and suited for
development and field demonstration. New technologies are deployment at compression connectors on overhead transmission lines
designed to expand online monitoring and control capabilities are expected to allow low-cost online monitoring of conductor
and improve operations and maintenance (O&M) practices. temperature, current, sag, and vibration.

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R&D Highlights
Blade Vibration Sensors. Since 2009, EPRI has been PROGRAM LEVERAGE
leading efforts to create a microelectromechanical (MEM) sensing
system for direct, online vibration monitoring of large blades in 10%
low-pressure steam turbine stages to detect incipient damage and
avoid catastrophic failure, which poses major cost and safety risks INNOVATION NETWORK
at fossil and nuclear plants. The system is also expected to be
applicable for combustion turbine compressor blades. University
• Carnegie Mellon University
Initial conceptual design studies yielded a wireless electronic
• Pennsylvania State University
device, called a mote, with a footprint of just over 1 square inch,
small enough to be mounted at the blade tip. It incorporates a • Stanford University
MEM accelerometer, charge amplifier, analog-digital converter, • University of Albany
clock, transmitter, power harvester, and energy storage. Through
• University of North Carolina - Charlotte
bench-scale tests, an aluminide nitride accelerometer has been
validated for vibration monitoring under high-g off-axis loading • University of Colorado
like that experienced during high-speed blade rotation. Modeling • University of Tennessee
of the design and circuitry indicates that electromagnetic energy • University of Utah
harvesting via inductive charging represents a viable solution for
meeting the mote’s power budget.
Public & Private Sector
Research to date has advanced this innovation from TRL1 to TRL4. • BC Hydro
In 2013, a prototype will be fabricated, integrating off-the-shelf
• Consolidated Edison
electronic components with an available MEM accelerometer and
energy harvester. Functional and survivability tests will be • First Energy
conducted under sustained high-g loading, and an advanced • Micron Optics, Inc.
prototype incorporating a purpose-designed accelerometer is • Oak Ridge National Laboratories
scheduled for evaluation in a turbine spin test facility in 2014.
Demonstration of the advanced prototype in an operating turbine
• Powertech Labs, Inc.
is anticipated in 2015 through the Steam Turbines-Generators & • Resilient Cognitive Solutions LLC
Auxiliary Systems Program (P65). • Sandia National Laboratories
• Smart System Technology &
2013-14 Milestones
• Fabrication and testing of initial prototype mote, development
Commercialization Center
and integration of purpose-built accelerometer, and evaluation • Southwest Research Institute
of advanced sensor prototype in research-grade turbine • Tennessee Valley Authority
(TRL5-6) to support demonstration through P65

Laser-Based Sensors for Coal Gasifiers. Reliability Alabama, first for syngas temperature measurement and then for
problems challenge the economics of integrated gasification monitoring particulate loading and CO2 and moisture levels.
combined cycle (IGCC) plants, creating the need for a system to Strategic work has advanced TDL sensing for gasifier applications
prevent the temperature excursions that damage refractory linings. from TRL1 to TRL6. Continued field evaluation and commercializa-
Based on exploratory research initiated in 2000, EPRI demon- tion for both air- and oxygen-blown gasifiers is anticipated
strated the feasibility of applying tunable diode laser (TDL) through the CoalFleet for Tomorrow - Future Coal Generation
technology for this application. An initial prototype delivered Options Program (P66). Commercial TDL sensors are expected to
accurate temperature readings and the first direct, real-time provide real-time data for precise monitoring and control of the
measurements of key chemical species in the high-temperature, gasification process to improve reliability, conversion efficiency,
high-pressure particulate-laden gasifier environment. Follow-on and environmental performance at IGCC plants.
scale-up experiments supported development of a TDL sensor
system incorporating advanced spectroscopy techniques and Online Monitoring of Overhead Transmission Lines.
multiple diodes tuned to the wavelengths of targeted species. A suite of advanced sensing, communications, analysis, and
power harvesting technologies is being created to inform O&M
In 2012, field evaluation was initiated in the air-blown transport and improve asset management. Strategic work began in 2009
gasifier at the Power Systems Development Facility in Wilsonville, at TRL1 with a survey of the state of the art, which supported the

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development of the conceptual underpinnings for a comprehen- tion in operational transformers and commercialization of MIS
sive online sensing and monitoring network addressing conductor technology in conjunction with a sensor manufacturer. Another
sway and sag, insulator performance, connector failure, vibration, novel approach to transformer monitoring, identified through
fault currents, lightning strikes, avian interactions, and other issues innovation scouting, is also is being developed through P37.
facing overhead transmission lines. Guiding principles include
low cost, data transmission via radio-frequency communications, Distribution Cable Monitoring & Fault Detection.
and autonomous operation via power harvesting or multi-decade Exploratory research launched in 2011 established proof of
battery lifetime. The overall concept has achieved TRL5, while concept for use of commercially available power quality analyz-
individual sensors are at varying stages of development. ers to detect high-impedance arcing on underground distribution
line segments before further damage and failure. Online detection
Building on promising results from experimental studies, a novel and monitoring—including the ability to distinguish arcing
sensor design for measuring temperature, current, sag, and signatures from those created by loads—has been demonstrated
vibration along conductors was demonstrated at a number of in bench-scale experiments, achieving TRL3.
utility sites. In 2013, a next-generation system will be tested,
integrating a piezoelectric sensor created by Oak Ridge National In 2013, measurement methods and algorithms for impedance
Laboratories with EPRI-developed packaging, communications, monitoring, damage detection, and alerting will be implemented
and power harvesting technologies that will allow deployment in a commercial analyzer. Validation testing on distribution cable
and long-term operation at compression connectors. The Over- segments will support optimization of an analyzer design tuned to
head Transmission Program (P35) is planning demonstration for appropriate threshold levels and able to verify that measured
2014 in conjunction with manufacturers. impedance traces represent actual arcing rather than false
positives. Demonstration of a near-commercial system for detect-
In 2012, field evaluation of a prototype sensor for measuring ing incipient failures on underground circuits is anticipated in
insulator leakage current was conducted based on successful 2014 through the Distribution Systems Program (180). In
laboratory work. Field trials scheduled for completion in 2013 complementary work, EPRI is exploring development of an online
address instrumentation for detecting lightning strikes and faults system for isolating the location of arcing due to high-impedance
based on impulse and power-frequency current measurements, as faults. This will require development of a sensor head, as well as
well as imaging systems for monitoring conductor sway and avian an integrated package incorporating communications and power
interactions. Based on field results, refinements are planned, harvesting modules.
leading to extended trial on operating lines through P35.
2013-14 Milestones
2013-14 Milestones • Conduct validation testing, refine algorithms and measurement
• Develop and test advanced compression connector/conductor methods, and develop power quality analyzer optimized for
sensor and refine other sensing and imaging system designs high-impedance arc detection (TRL4-6) for field demonstration
(TRL4-6) to support demonstration through P35 through P180
• Develop conceptual design and establish proof of concept for
Sensors for Online Transformer Monitoring. Since sensor capable of locating high-impedance faults (TRL2-3)
2001, EPRI has been leading development of solid-state sensors
to enable cost-effective online dissolved gas analysis (DGA) and Bragg Grating Sensors for Nuclear Power Plant
monitoring for all transformers within transmission and distribution Applications. A 2009 state-of-the-art review highlighted
substations. Laboratory and field work on metal-insulated possible nuclear plant applications for fiber Bragg grating (FBG)
semiconductor (MIS) sensors has led to a patent for selective, sensors based on this technology’s ability to measure changes in
sensitive detection of hydrogen—an indicator of partial dis- temperature and strain along a fiber-optic cable. Follow-on study
charge—in transformer oil, as well as a provisional patent for established proof of concept for monitoring flow-accelerated
detection of acetylene—an indicator of arcing. Both technologies corrosion (FAC) in pressurized piping systems by detecting
employ a catalytically active metallic surface that dissociates variations in strain associated with small changes in wall thickness
gaseous molecules into charged ions that alter electron flow along a piping run. Demonstration of a commercial FBG sensor
across the semiconductor junction in an amount correlated to the for continuous FAC monitoring is under way through the Nuclear
gas concentration. Sector (P41). This technology, suitable for installation under piping
insulation, will provide an alternative to periodic ultrasonic
Strategic work, completed in 2012 with in-depth laboratory inspection, which can require time-consuming insulation removal.
validation testing, has advanced solid-state MIS sensors for online
DGA of transformers from TRL1 to TRL6 and established their Continuing strategic research focuses on designing and demon-
feasibility for high-pressure, fluid-filled, pipe-type underground strating an FBG-based pressure sensor for nuclear reactor
cable. The Substations Program (P37) is pursuing field demonstra- applications that would allow the monitoring and communications

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electronics to be located in a less demanding environment than sources to support the autonomous operation of sensors and
the sensing element. This is expected to improve reliability and associated electronics within power generation and delivery
extend lifetime. To date, this technology has been advanced to infrastructure. As noted above, power harvesting strategies have
TRL5. In 2013-14, environmental qualification and performance been created for sensors being developed by EPRI for use in
testing of an FBG sensor and associated reactor building overhead transmission, substation, and turbine environments,
hardware will be conducted to support commercial demonstration advancing the overall status of this emerging technology area
through P41. Innovation scouting will continue to pursue other from TRL1 to TRL5. In addition, a laboratory test bed for evaluat-
potential FBG sensor applications for nuclear plant environments. ing harvesting technologies has been constructed. Under
standardized protocols, the viability of promising concepts for
2013-14 Milestones capturing kinetic, thermal, light, and other ambient energy sources
• Demonstrate FBG pressure sensor system in test environment will be assessed in 2013-14. Innovation scouting will focus on
and support safety qualification (TRL6) for future commercial applications of self-powered sensors in nuclear, fossil, and
demonstration through P41 renewable generation systems and on the transmission and
distribution grid, leading to sensor development and field trials as
Transient Analysis Methods. Because components are appropriate.
under the most stress during start-up, load change, and shutdown
cycles, EPRI has explored use of transient analysis methods to 2013-14 Milestones
uncover data anomalies and trends indicating the onset of aging • Conduct standardized laboratory tests on power harvesting
or failure. In a 2010 proof-of-concept study, aging-related and storage concepts and identify innovative applications
performance degradation of a high-speed motor not evident in (TRL3-5) for follow-on development
steady-state data was clearly detected in start-up data. Follow-on
work has established a novel method, Sharp time distribution Sensor Laboratory. To support experimental and field
mapping, as a generalizable approach for applying transient evaluation of advanced sensors, a dedicated laboratory infra-
sensor data to improve anomaly detection for power generation structure is being developed. It includes test beds and a server to
and delivery system components. Now at TRL5, this technology is collect, store, analyze and display data gathered on site and
available for demonstration and implementation within commer- from sensors deployed at other EPRI laboratories and in field trials.
cial prognostics tools. The test beds will be applied to support technology development,
as well as to assess commercially available sensor systems. The
Decision-Support Technologies. EPRI is creating a laboratory is scheduled to be completed in 2013.
knowledge and capability base to enable accurate and timely
decision-making in power plant and grid control centers where Recent Deliverables
personnel are challenged to handle large amounts of complex Wireless Vibration Measurement of Turbine and Compressor
and diverse data from sensors and other sources with support Blades (1026665)
from growing amounts of automation. A long-term, multidisci-
plinary research plan has been defined for addressing the Fiber Bragg Gratings for Pressure Monitoring in Nuclear Power
industry’s decision-making needs with interactive human-system Plants (1025732)
interface (HSI) technologies, including analysis, visualization, and
simulation tools. Equipment Monitoring via Transients: Methods Applied to
Laboratory Data (1025280)
In addition, based on advanced HSI test cases, design guidelines
have been developed to ensure that decision-support technologies Decision-Centered Guidelines for the Design of Human System
meet application-specific needs while avoiding loss of situation Interfaces for Electric Power Industry Applications (1025791)
awareness and other new types of errors associated with
increased automation. The guidelines will aid in the design of Plant Engineering: Fiber Bragg Grating Monitoring of Flow-Accel-
user-centered HSIs, responsibilities, and workloads to support erated Corrosion (1023189)
decision making in environments where cognitive processing is
essential, such as control rooms, control centers, and monitoring Power Harvesting for Sensors in Electric Power Utility Applica-
and diagnostics centers. Training materials to aid in the use of tions: State of Science Review and Test Bed Development
these guidelines are expected to be developed through the (1024457)
Nuclear Instrumentation and Control Program (P41.05.03).
Virtual Reality and Simulation Technologies to Improve Worker
Power Harvesting & Storage. Based on a state-of-the- Training and Performance, Work Planning, and Facility Design
science review launched in 2009, a number of promising and Operations (1022310)
methods have been identified for exploiting ambient energy

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For more information Contact
For more information, contact the EPRI Customer Assistance Andrew Phillips, Director, Transmission, Power Delivery and
Center at 800.313.3774 (askepri@epri.com). Utilization, aphillip@epri.com, 704.595.2728

EPRI’s Technology Innovation (TI) program helps maintain a full pipeline for the Generation (GEN), Nuclear (NUC), Power Delivery & Utilization
(PDU), and Environment & Renewable Energy (ERE) sectors. Technology readiness levels (TRLs) mark the progress of individual technologies and
guide their transition from TI into the sector programs and toward commercial application.

Technology Development Timeline


Proof of Early Early
Exploratory Concepts Concept Subsystem System Demonstra- Demonstra- Commercial Commercial-
Research Formulated Validated Validated Validated tion tion Deployment ization

Project Area TRL 1 TRL 2 TRL 3 TRL 4 TRL 5 TRL 6 TRL 7 TRL 8 TRL 9
Steam Turbine GEN/NUC
Blade Tip 2009 2014 (P65)
2016
Vibration Sensors
Laser-Based GEN
Sensors for Coal 2000 (P66) 2015
Gasifiers
Online Monitoring PDU
of Overhead 2009 2013 (P35) 2015
Transmission lines
Sensors for Online PDU
Transformer 2001 2014
(P37)
Monitoring
Distribution Cable
PDU
Monitoring & 2011 2014
(P180)
2015
Arc Detection
Bragg Sensors for
Nuclear Plant 2010 2014 NUC 2016
Applications
Transient Analysis
Methods 2010 NUC 2016

Power Harvesting PDU,NUC


& Storage Methods 2009 2014 GEN,ERE 2016

= TI Progress Through 2012 = Future TI Progress Transition to Base Program Industry Adoption

1023485 February 2013

Electric Power Research Institute


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800.313.3774  • 650.855.2121 • askepri@epri.com • www.epri.com
© 2013 Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Inc. All rights reserved. Electric Power Research Institute, EPRI, and TOGETHER . . . SHAPING THE FUTURE OF ELECTRICITY are
registered service marks of the Electric Power Research Institute, Inc.
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