The new AIC214 Condition Monitoring module and revised software from Bachmann lets operators monitor more wind-turbine features for useful O&M data.

The new AIC214 Condition Monitoring module from Bachmann introduces a range of additional features that extend its capabilities. The ring buffer enables continuous values to be produced, so the condition monitoring system (CMS) can also be part of a machine or plant protection system, based on values from ISO standards.

This also enables continuous monitoring and event triggered recordings with no danger of missing any sections of data for remnant life monitoring. The specification includes three extra IEPE channels (which not only measure but also power the sensors) and an increased range of selectable sample rates and filters.

The new module also features improved signal-to-noise ratio performance through 24bit A-D resolution, giving a dynamic range in excess of 95 decibel. In addition, Bachmann is launching the cut down four channel version AIC206, which provides the same functionality in a reduced-cost package.

The software to drive these modules provides the opportunity to add extra functionality through plug-ins. The goal is integration, to help plant operators use the CMS to identify and monitor all the relevant issues on wind turbines.

“There are lots of useful technologies coming to the market to support wind turbines, but if each has its own communications requirements this is a point of failure, and a burden on the wind farm” said David Futter, product manager at Bachmann Monitoring. By integrating the functionality into a single system the existing communications and security infrastructure is also used for the additional functionality. “This gives owners a much easier path to holistic health monitoring for their turbines,” he added.

Bachmann’s first plug in – the Blade Unbalance Calculator – provides a measure of rotor unbalance based on a single additional accelerometer, a 2D MEMS motion sensor added in the nacelle. The calculator uses a simple mathematical model of the tower to identify both mass and aerodynamic unbalance from this motion. The calculation is merged seamlessly with the normal condition monitoring functions, and so provides this valuable extra information via the existing system.

The Bachmann team is currently working on another feature. A sensor designated for blade monitoring. Visitors to the Global Wind Summit in Hamburg will see the early results. This sensor detects the bending of the blade, which is something that can be used for detecting ice, monitoring the fatigue loads and changing the control to pitch the blades individually to get the most power from the wind.

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Meeting operational compliance within the ERCOT region for wind sites is important from a safety perspective and, failure to do so, can result in hefty fines for project owners. This was motivation for one 170-MW Texas wind facility — which lacked the necessary hardware to collect high-resolution frequency data required for demonstrating compliance — to seek a third-party solution. New hardware and software developments make it possible to provide the necessary data outlined in standard BAL-001-TRE-1, and automatically acquire and archive complete history for the site, enabling site operators to reconstruct grid events down to the second with mHz frequency resolution.

Bachmann’s U.S. team recently received a request to develop a solution consisting of hardware and software capable of acquiring and archiving high-resolution frequency data for a 170-MW wind farm operating in Texas. The customer’s existing hardware lacked the capability to collect high-resolution frequency data and calculate frequency performance calculations at the resolution necessary to prove operational compliance for the ERCOT region. The goal of the project was to help the customer achieve a state of compliance within the ERCOT region according to standard BAL-001-TRE-1 through implementation of a fully automated solution.

In April 2015, NERC released a standard entitled, Primary Frequency Response in the ERCOT Region (BAL-001-TRE-1). Its purpose is to “maintain interconnection steady-state frequency within defined limits.” By establishing tight limits for frequency tolerances and corrective actions, grid stability is ensured throughout the region. Balancing Authorities, operators, and owners are also provided with performance metrics for their role in the integrity of the grid.

Wind farms operating in the ERCOT region work with defined frequency limits for which they are allowed to supply power to the grid. These limits are defined by the Max Deadband, a term that describes safe operating bounds around the ideal frequency of 60.000 Hz, at which the grid should be operating. Within BAL-001-TRE-1, the Max Deadband is stated as ±0.017 Hz for wind turbines, meaning that if the frequency on the grid is measured outside the operating limits defined by the Max Deadband, the Balancing Authority needs to issue curtailment commands to the plant operators.

Each exceeded measurement of the Max Deadband is called a Frequency Measureable Event (FME) and the time at which the event occurs is denoted by t(0). The amount of curtailment required for a given site is dependent on the size of the site and the frequency deviation from the Max Deadband.

Here’s the formula for calculating how much curtailment is needed when the frequency deviation has exceeded the Max Deadband:

Total curtailment needed = [(Total MW capacity for site)/2.983 Hz] x Hz over max deadband
C_{total needed} = [T_{site cap} / 2.983 Hz] x D_max
where C_{total needed} = Total curtailment needed, MW; T_{site cap} = Total site capacity, MW; and D_max = Max deadband, Hz.

Each time an FME occurs, the standard states that the Balancing Authority is required to notify the Compliance Enforcement Authority (in this case, ERCOT) within 14 calendar days and provide detailed frequency data pre and post-event.

A wind operator is responsible for making the appropriate corrective action to bring his or her site back into the defined operating range. In addition, the wind operator is required to collect and provide specific frequency data for the wind farm — demonstrating corrective actions, response, and frequency correction in a timely manner. Although a more detailed description of the formulas can be found within the standard, the calculations rely on one-second frequency data with mHZ frequency resolution. A window of this one-second frequency data must be provided, which captures 16 seconds prior to the FME and 60 seconds, following the FME.

It is important to note that the responsibility of providing this data falls on the wind-farm owner and operator.

The standard provides Balancing Authorities, wind owners and operators with a 30-month implementation plan divided into four compliance milestones. Failure to achieve full compliance within 30 months can result in fines.

At the time of this request, the wind-farm owner in this case had already faced fines. Due to the hardware limitations of the site, the existing governor was incapable of acquiring the data necessary for performing the frequency response calculations outlined within the standard.

Using Bachmann’s Grid Measurement and Protection module, the GMP232/x, an M1 solution was developed that recorded a one-second sliding window average of the grid frequency and archived each second’s frequency average with respective date and timestamps. Due to the frequency resolution achievable through the GMP232 module, the one-second frequency data was collected with 0.1 mHz resolution, but rounded to the nearest mHz for this application. Frequency, power, and power factor were also acquired and archived with corresponding date and timestamps for post processing.

Bachmann’s hardware setup containing an MX213 controller and a Grid Measurement and Protection Module (GMP232).

The power values were recorded with kW resolution. Curtailment required based on actual frequency was also calculated and stored. Daily files containing 86,400 data entries per day (one-second frequency average/sec generated for each second of the day) were automatically saved in CSV format, organized into monthly folders, and compressed into a single annual folder at the end of each year.

The M1 controller interfacing with the GMP module was programmed to upload data to a server and clear old data stored locally on the device. In the event that communication to the unit is disrupted, the controller is capable of storing nearly three years of data on its 4-GB CF Card. Once communication is reestablished, the M1 system then uploads the backlogged data to the server.

An initial proposal suggested solely providing the frequency data around each FME needed for computing the values specified in the standard. The downside of such a narrowly focused solution was twofold. One, it failed to provide any context surrounding each FME. Without additional information leading up to or following the event, it was impossible to recalculate the frequency response measurements or recreate previous events.

Second, this suggestion was far from future proof in the event that new modifications to the standard become implemented in coming years. High resolution, one-second frequency data for each day, month, and year let the customer recalculate previous calculations and perform additional calculations that may be required by future modifications to the standard. This allowed the customer to see if their previous operational strategy would continue to be in compliance going forward or if additional modifications would be needed.

Since deployment, the GMP232 module has successfully provided the data needed to calculate necessary frequency performance values and bring the site into compliance with BAL-001-TRE-1. It has also let the owner retroactively analyze their site’s frequency, power, and power factor data for previous years, with minimal data storage demand on their server.
Although this project was developed to satisfy requirements for a wind site operating within the ERCOT region, it is compatible with any operating wind farm that contains voltage and current transformers at the wind farm feed-in point (connection point to the grid) in any electric reliability council. Most wind farms typically include hardware for measuring the wind farm’s power and frequency at the grid connection point. However, the frequency resolution achievable through the GMP232 module, coupled with automated historization of FMEs and power data, allow customers to reconstruct grid events, making this solution unique.

Bachmann’s M1 setup, which uses the GMP232 module, provides increased resolution and accuracy, and the ability to build a complete history for the site’s performance down to the second of operation. This GMP/M1 setup only requires access to the voltage and current transformer located at the connection point to the grid to make its measurements.

An intro to ERCOT
According to its website, the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) manages the flow of electric power along the Texas Interconnection and oversees the majority of the state’s electric load. With over 40,000 circuit miles of high-voltage transmission under its governance, ERCOT’s primary focus is to ensure the following:

• System reliability, including planning and operations
• Open access to transmission
• Retail switching process for customer choice
• Wholesale market settlement for electricity production and delivery.

Having over 90% of the state’s electric load under its governance, the ERCOT region covers nearly the entire state of Texas with a relatively small number of counties along the state’s perimeter falling into the Western Electricity Coordinating Council, Southwest Power Pool, and the Southeastern Electric Reliability Council.

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Bachmann Monitoring GmbH, experts for condition monitoring systems (CMS), was awarded the contract in November following a call for tenders by JUVENT SA and its main shareholder, the BKW Group. The internationally active energy and infrastructure enterprise has chosen Bachmann to equip the biggest Swiss wind farm JUVENT with the Omega Guard CMS. The wind farm is situated on the heights of Mont Crosin and Mont Soleil in the Bernese Jura, and is comprised of 16 Vestas V90 and V112 wind turbines.

Everything under control from afar

The wind farm is situated on the heights of Mont Crosin and Mont Soleil in the Bernese Jura, and is comprised of 16 Vestas V90 and V112 wind turbines.

“We will already begin to deliver and install our CMS in the 1,200-metre altitude wind farm this year”, announced a delighted Holger Fritsch, managing director of Bachmann Monitoring GmbH. Considering the approaching winter, this is a challenge in terms of logistics and time, but one that he and his team are more than willing to take on. The data from all the rotating power transmission components – main bearing, generator and gears – will be constantly diagnosed by means of the web-based system. This means that it will be possible to plan repairs for each and every one of the 16 turbines that were put into operation between 2010 and 2016 in good time. This not only saves money for service team logistics but also prevents long downtimes and the possibility that minor defects can turn into very expensive consequential damages. “We particularly like the collaborative partnership because it means that in future we can also manage all the data ourselves”, says Johannes Vogel, managing director of JUVENT SA.

Tested and found to be good

A strategic partnership has also recently been agreed in Germany between Berlin-based BKW Wind Service GmbH and Bachmann Monitoring. After an extensive test of the CMS, BKW Deutschland decided to embark on a path to establishing health monitoring for its wind turbines together with Bachmann Monitoring. BKW’s German operation currently operates ten wind farms. The test phase saw its wind farm in Bockelwitz, Saxony, equipped with the Bachmann CMS. Other wind farms will follow

The BKW Group is an internationally operating energy and infrastructure business based in Bern, Switzerland, with over 6,000 employees. Its network of firms and skills provide comprehensive overall solutions. It plans, builds and operates energy production and supply infrastructures for businesses, private clients and the public sector, providing digital business models for renewables. The BKW Group’s portfolio now ranges from planning and engineering consulting for energy, infrastructure and environmental projects, to integrated solutions for building technology and the construction, servicing and maintenance of energy, telecommunication, transport and water distribution networks.

Bachmann Monitoring GmbH develops and markets online measuring systems for the worldwide, permanent, condition-oriented maintenance of decentralized plants such as wind turbines and ships. As part of a comprehensive service concept, these manufacturers and type independent condition monitoring systems significantly increase the security of investment in the wind turbines. Bachmann has to date equipped more than 9,000 wind turbines from over 27 different manufacturers and 79 different types ranging from 600 kW to 8 MW worldwide with its CM technology, both on land and offshore. Bachmann Monitoring GmbH currently monitors c. 4,500 of these CMS in its own certified remote monitoring center.

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