T&M instruments help the power utility to enhance efficiencies

Kalidas Bhangare, Managing Director, Testo India Pvt. Ltd., in an interview with EPR Magazine, elaborates on the importance of the testing and measuring in power plants and the latest solutions from the company for better power plant performance. 

How do you evaluate the demand for T&M instruments at the plant level?

Due to the increasing demand in electricity for domestic, commercial as well as industrial sector, the prime energy consumption is increasing at a greater pace. As a result of this, the corresponding growth in the power generation, transmission and distribution is obvious. In order to keep such a massive process always operational, the demand for the testing and measurement (T&M) tools also grows in same proportion due to the increase in the application areas. T&M instruments help the power utility to enhance the efficiencies by keeping asset availability to maximum and reduce the losses. From small electrical components to switchyards and transmission lines (up to point of coupling) need proper inspection and thus, the market for proper T&M equipment continues to grow for the power plants.

Which instruments are majorly used to evaluate the performance of plants?

Plant performance is a necessary task for the facility managers where they must ensure healthy components and continuous operation of the set-up. For their assistance right T&M equipment is indispensable. Electrical Instruments are excellent instruments to inspect the electrical components and circuit failure threats. Along with that, they ensure longevity and efficiency of various power electronic components that control and regulate the plant performance. Another important tool is thermal imagers which are mostly used for predictive and preventive maintenance. These electrical instruments and thermal imagers are the best solution for troubleshooting in power plants. Then there are other data logging and condition monitoring instruments also that can help in keeping proper ambient conditions of the plant. Instruments for emission analysis in thermal plants can prove to be beneficial in maintaining the desired performance level of the facility.

What are the challenges seen while measuring the life expectancy and performance of power plants?

Power plants under shutdown or higher lead time can cause a massive loss to the facility as well as the consumers. Many a time, maintenance engineers encounter unforeseen problems like power losses, system failures and at worse even accidents. 

Primarily what can be a hindrance for the enhancement of life of any power plant can result due to irregular or inadequate predictive maintenance which can be noted at different stages of the power plant. Consider for example, the installation phase, where setting up benchmark parameters is very critical and if it is not governed well then defects and failures can keep occurring repeatedly. In power generation phase of the power plant, a small lapse in preventive and predictive maintenance can lead to highly unsafe conditions. Even in T&D, the electrical connection points and insulators in substations or the overhead power lines in high-voltage systems, switch yards and transmission lines, if run under inconsistent check-up for routine maintenance, may lead to multiple thermal anomalies in the plant components. For inaccessible locations, testing and checking can be a challenge and in the absence of a proper predictive maintenance tool, the performance of the plant can experience a setback. 

What are your measuring offerings for the plant level?

Testo is a well-known brand in India and our products are very relevant for inspection and troubleshooting in balance of plant. Specifically, our new and advanced thermal imager testo 883 with smartphone integration designed to deliver networked thermography, are used for the thermal inspection of transmission lines and transformers. Inspection of modules, cable joints, inverter section or even switchyards can be easily conducted with our smart instrument. We have successfully operated in several solar power plants where our testo 872 thermal imager was used for the thermography of entire solar PV plant to determine various technical defects such as hotspots, open and closed circuits, overheating, cracks and cell ruptures, corrosion etc, and troubleshooting in the balance of plant was conducted using testo 885. Our electrical range of instruments have been of great advantage in troubleshooting and electrical maintenance applications. The unique clamp meters, testo 770 and multimeters, testo 760 are intuitive and can measure several parameters in a single component. Testo clamp meter can even be connected to thermal imagers via Bluetooth which can instantly display electrical parameters along with thermal profiles. In thermal power plants, testo flue gas analysers are used for emission and efficiency analysis. We have so much to offer to this segment and with the latest advancements, we expect to provide even more improved solutions to the industry in future.